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And honestly, I believed him.
We shifted together, taking off toward the neutral territory.
Or thefemaleterritory, I supposed.
Hours passedbefore we finally made it there, but as we approached, I realized how much more chaotic it was then I had expected.
January wasn’t kidding about the houses. The damn things were going upeverywhere. Between trees, up in the branches, within thetrunksof the largest trees…
The fae were moving in, the way humans usually did.
And as I passed them, I started to see more than just the half-naked seelies. There were unseelie fae with their icy expressions, slacks, and button-down shirts, mixed in with the seelies. All of them were building homes and staking their claim in the neutral territory.
When they saw me and Priel coming through, the seelies stared.
The unseelies bowed.
My grip on Priel’s hand tightened.
He peeled my fingers out of his, placing them on his bicep so he could wrap his arm around my waist and pull me closer as we walked.
“You okay?”he murmured into my mind.
The ability had come with the mating connection, of course, we just usually didn’t bother with it. It took more focus than normal speaking, so we’d never had a reason to.
Now, we did.
Not sure I had the focus to respond mentally, I just nodded.
His grip on me tightened anyway, his fingers curving possessively around the bare strip of my abdomen.
“These bastards need to stop staring at your ass,”he growled at me.
Given how relaxed he’d been over the last few weeks—and how incredible said relaxation had made my life—I took it upon myself to at least try to preserve his calm attitude.
“Staring at my butt might result in death,” I called out to the men around us. “Don’t test my mate.”
I felt Priel’s thick, hot pride at the title, and fought the curve of my lips that tried to make itself seen.
Ervo swooped out of the sky, shifting and landing smoothly on my other side as we continued walking. Obviously, he kept up with my pace easily.
“It’s safe?” Priel asked the other man.
Lian had already told him it was, but I knew Priel would feel more confident if more of his friends confirmed that.
“It’s not safe, but your female isn’t at risk.” The phoenix didn’t bother with a lie, which was both a good and bad thing.
“Who is, then?” I asked him.
“Any male who tries to speak with one of the unmated females.” I saw the fury burn through his eyes. “The unseelie women have been told about our arrangement, and decided that it’s over.”
“That’s not their call,” Priel growled.
“No, but to challenge them is to start a fight, and fighting leads to expulsion from the females’ territory. A way for men and women to interact peacefully must be created, or the fragile peace will end.” Ervo’s simple statement of the words made me shiver.
Was he threatening to do something drastic?
“He may not admit it aloud, but he considers Mare his. Anyone who gets between them right now will be seen as a target,”Priel said into my mind.“She needs to mate with him, tell him she isn’t interested, or choose another male.”
