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Taryn raised her brows, turning briefly to look at the enforcers. She feigned forgetfulness, which seemed cheap and not exactly believable.
“Oh, there have been a series of robberies around the area. Declan wanted me to have enforcers around.Men, am I right?”
Lexi chuckled, but her eyes did not waiver. They held a different glint since she had learned to shift. Taryn felt like her thoughts were under a magnifying glass.
“How are you liking it there?” Lexi asked, swirling the straw of her raspberry daiquiri. “Is Declan making you happy? Making you comfortable?”
No one had asked Taryn such a blunt question since she had begun her life with the king. She had gone into it with a sense of excitement and adventure. She had already thought Declan was sexy, those corded muscles rippling beneath his traditional garb and a mouth that knew its way around her body. But what she hadn’t expected was the feeling of falling head first into a world of infinite possibilities, one of affection and mutual respect.
She smiled at her sister and reached out to cup her hand. Lexi smirked back.
“Declan is a wonderful king. I am very lucky to have him. Tell me about Xander and how it felt to shift.”
After successfully diverting the conversation away from herself, the rest of the dinner went off without a hitch. She said farewell to her sisters before they traveled back to their kingdoms, all lost in the thought of their futures and the bright possibilities.
Lexi hugged her tighter than the others and whispered into her ear before climbing into the car. “I want you to know I am here for you. No matter what. Keep that chin up.” Lexi kissed her sister on the cheek, and Taryn rubbed her arms in response.
“Right back at you.”
Lexi’s heightened shifter senses knew something was wrong. Luckily, her youngest sister was mature enough not to pursue it in front of Madison and Addison, who were in their own worlds. Taryn waved goodbye before being escorted back to the palace, the enforcers on her heels the entire time.
“I can drive myself home.”
The female enforcer shook her head, face frozen in stoicism.
“You know you are wasting your breath, right?” she replied.
Taryn shrugged. “Thought it might be worth a try.”
The enforcer drove her to the palace while the other enforcer trailed behind them, keeping watch for any sign of suspicious behavior. Taryn appreciated being protected so well, but it was a way of living she hadn’t signed up for. She hoped the concept of the stalker would fizzle out just as quickly as it arrived.
But when Taryn returned home, she sensed it was far from over. It lingered in the air like thick pollution.
TWENTY-FOUR
DECLAN
Declan’s visit to Phillip was calculated. He’d promised Taryn he wasn’t going to kill him, but that didn’t mean he couldn’t set the bastard straight on where his mate stood.
All of the trust had trickled away when Taryn told him about the former friend cornering her. He knew she watered down the interaction somewhat. Women had the tendency to do so, mostly out of survival instinct. The fact that she was being bullied and harassed by him only infuriated the king more.
Declan’s wolf was also bursting with an eager need to mark his beloved. He was glad their lovemaking that morning was quick and dirty. If he had been on top of her, or even remotely more intimate, his body would have taken the helm and sunken his teeth deep into the delicious crevice of her neck.
He wouldn’t do any of that until he knew that she was there to stay, of course. Declan wasn’t a shifter who got off on lack of consent; that was monstrous to him. Which only served to fuel the rage he felt toward someone who was supposed to have had his back since childhood.
Declan took a private car just after Taryn was to arrive at the apothecary. He didn’t want to alert the kingdom … or his family … about the concerns he had about Phillip. He didn’t have the courage to say it aloud, even to himself, though the strings had managed to form themselves into one intricately spun tale that he was far too intelligent not to regard.
He drove on his own into the dawn, the sky a hazy blanket over the sore, blazing eye of the sun. Smog had rushed over the horizon from the distant wildfires, which had been put out safely and successfully, but their after-effects remained. Scatters of ash trailed in pockets of the kingdom like gray snow.
It gave Declan, the ruler of it all, an uneasy feeling.
He arrived at Phillip’s estate and was glad to see Lady Cooper’s car wasn’t present. He wanted the conversation to be as private as possible and, for the sake of onlookers and rubberneckers … as safe as he could manage.
It wouldn’t look good on the royal family to initiate a seemingly random scuffle. That wasn’t even close to Declan’s intention, but the wolf in him would be quick to snap when it came to protecting Taryn.
The king knocked nonchalantly, squinting into the sun, which had steadily faded into a peachy pink-orange hue. The door opened after a few seconds of waiting, revealing Phillip with a look of utter obliviousness on his face.
“Declan! Brother, what a treat it is to see you this morning.”
