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Part of me wondered if it had been a mistake not to ask some of the hybrids to attend his arrival. It was unlike me to question things so much, but the Braxian Jakar represented my last hope. I had not wanted to risk the men acting up and letting their volatile tempers mess things up.
And now that I was standing alone near the landing pad, as the biggest shuttle I’d ever seen—with the kind of thick armored hull and high-end weapons one would expect on a warship—settled down, I began thinking taking a gamble on the hybrids potentially misbehaving might have been worth it.
Squaring my shoulders and lifting my chin with an air of confidence I didn’t quite feel, I watched with a certain level of trepidation the ramp from the shuttle lowering. My breath caught in my throat as the doors parted revealing a beast of a male.
I had known what impressive heights and piles of muscles purebloods possessed. But reading it in paper and seeing it in the flesh were two completely different things. I immediately recognized the Prince, partially surprised to see him coming out first of the shuttle instead of after his guards would have made sure all was safe.
He was his father’s spitting image, except for his eyes, which were the most intense shade of gray. His face was even more brutish and rough than the hybrids’. No words could describe how fucking intimidating he looked. Even at ease, with what would be deemed a peaceful expression on his face by Braxian standards, Jakar Keran looked like he was about to butcher an enemy and bathe in his blood.
A shiver ran down my spine. I wouldn’t call it fear. In truth, I didn’t quite know how to qualify what I felt in that male’s presence. By human standards, people often referred to me as an Amazon. With my great height, big bones, and broad shoulders, I didn’t fit the usual delicate constitution often expected for women. That I had extensive self-defense skills had always given me assurance and a sense of safety. But for the first time as the Prince and his guards closed the distance between us, I felt weak and vulnerable.
Forcing a warm smile on my lips, I respectfully bowed my head as he came to a stop a meter in front of me.
“Jakar Keran, thank you for honoring me with your presence and for answering my call so quickly,” I said in a tone that I hoped respectful enough but not subservient.
“Miss Merrick, the honor is mine,” he said in a rumbling voice so deep I could have sworn the ground vibrated beneath my feet.
To my dismay, my skin erupted in goosebumps. By the ever so subtle way his greeting smile shifted into a smirk, he had undoubtedly noticed my physiological response to him. I felt mortified. But then, Braxians expected women to be weak and skittish. He would deem this a natural response in the presence of so powerful and intimidating a male.
At 6’4”, I’d rarely met someone who made me feel small. But the Prince and his two guards made me feel tiny, with the top of my head barely reaching their chins.
“I apologize for the poor welcome, Jakar,” I said in a sheepish tone.
“There’s no need to apologize,” Keran said with a dismissive wave of his massive hand, almost bigger than my head. “We arrived sooner than expected and are grateful you still managed to accommodate us. But please, call me Keran. My people aren’t too big on formalities, least of all me.”
“Then I must insist you call me Dawn,” I said with a smile.
“Dawn it is,” Keran said, his stormy eyes giving me the impression they could see all the way into my soul.
Despite his generally warm demeanor, I didn’t miss the way the nostrils of his wide, flat nose flared as he took in my scent, seconds before his eyes almost imperceptibly narrowed. What had he picked up about me? And why did I feel it troubled him?
“These are my guards, Tagar and Nowik,” Keran said. “The rest of my team is in our main vessel. They’re already off to see what information they can gather while you get me up to speed on what is transpiring here.”
I nodded at the other two males, who stood a couple of steps behind their future Magnar. They responded in kind, their fearsome faces unreadable. Still, a wave of hope blossomed in my heart. I’d felt so alone trying to protect the stubborn fools in my care.
“That’s wonderful news,” I said in all sincerity. “But please, come in. We’ll be more comfortable discussing this inside. And you must be tired after your long journey here. I hope it wasn’t too unpleasant.”
“It was pleasant enough,” he replied politely.
Ugh, I was acting like such a klutz. He was probably thinking I was some dumb female, gone half brain-dead for merely being in the presence of royalty. I didn’t give two shits about his rank. Yeah, his size intimidated the fuck out of me, but I was well past the initial shock. And yet, I couldn’t seem to function rationally in his presence.
“If you are hungry or need to rest first—”
“We’re fine. I want to start on this right away,” Keran interrupted. “Hopefully, we can get this resolved quickly.”
“Of course,” I replied with a stiff smile.
For some silly reason, I took this as a personal rebuke, like he couldn’t wait to be done with me and away from here. Obviously, it had nothing to do with me. The news had spread far and wide that his father would soon be stepping down from the Braxian throne in his favor. Coming here to chase after a serial killer had to rank pretty damn low on his list of priorities. Frankly, I didn’t understand why he had personally come to handle this instead of just sending in a unit. As grateful as I felt about his presence, it also worried me that he would want to expedite this so that he could go back to his world and his royal duties.
“Our scanners didn’t detect anyone else here but you,” Keran said matter-of-factly, although his statement was in fact a question.
To my dismay, I felt my face heat with embarrassment. “All the hybrids who sought refuge here are now adults,” I explained. “They have their own dwellings. There’s still quite a bit of traffic here on specific days, when they come tend the fields or use the workshops. We also have a series of scheduled meetings throughout the calendar year to discuss matters of importance or issues we want to raise with the Twelve. But evenings are indeed quiet now.”
Goddess! I was babbling like a fool and over-explaining… not to say over exaggerating. While everything I had said was technically true, very few of the scheduled meetings took place anymore. Once we’d realized the Twelve didn’t give a shit about us, the men had stopped bothering discussing things they knew would never come to pass.
“I see,” Keran replied, his stormy eyes appearing to see right through my bullshit.
Feeling self-conscious, I averted my eyes, relieved that we had reached the door, giving me something to do.
