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I knew the palace was sheltered. I’d complained enough about it, obviously. But it was an entirely different thing to realize just how little anyone in the palace cared about the rest of the kingdom. How did they expect our country to flourish like that?
“Oy, Princess, there’s an issue all right.”
Despite the grimace on Halle’s face, Mad Dog launched into just some of the examples of food scarcity that affected our region. He was gentle but firm with his explanation, which wasn’t entirely surprising.
I only half-listened as my eyes scanned the crowd, looking for someone in particular. It took a minute, but eventually my eyes snagged on a familiar expanse of shoulders, and my entire body flushed.
It was Kai, all right, looking like something out of a storybook in his traditional royal outfit. His jacket was double breasted and well-tailored, with ornate golden cords winding around each set of buttons that made him look more militaristic. The deep, jeweled blue looked lovely against his darker complexion, those deep chocolate eyes of his now dreamier than ever.
I wanted to run to him, to throw my arms around his neck and smother his face with kisses. It was unusual for me to show such outward affection, but something had shifted between us. Every time I’d rejected Kai, he’d doubled down on how we were meant for each other, and had proven that he truly was the best mate I could ever ask for. Everything we’d been through pushed us together closer than I could ever imagine.
Or it was because I was in love.
Whew, that was a heady thought, and an unabashed one at that. The revelation was overwhelming, even embarrassing, but it was nice not to waste so much energy, leading myself through a complex series of mental gymnastics every time I was confronted by my own emotions.
I’d only just managed to resist the urge to grab Kai when his eyes met mine from across the room, his heavy gaze making me flush from head to toe. But then those eyes of his slid down my body, taking my whole look in, and I could see his mouth slacken.
For the tiniest fraction of a second, insecurity overwhelmed me. Did he think I looked ridiculous, like a little girl playing with her mommy’s clothing? Did I look like some poor imitation of a noble?
But that insecurity quickly vanished when I felt a bevy of emotions flood through our bond: surprise, desire, lust, appreciation, admiration. Goodness, it was a thick cocktail of input that made my heart pound and blood rush through my veins. I just wanted to…
“Ahem.”
Mad Dog clearing his throat drew me back to reality, and I shook my head, drawing myself out of the growing heat in my gut. I wasn’t sure what I wanted until I saw the wry amusement in his features.
“Leaking some pheromones there, lass,” he said quietly enough that hopefully not every shifter in a fifteen-foot radius would be able to hear it.
“Sorry,” I whispered, sending one last glance over to Kai before forcing myself to get my head on straight. Easier said than done, of course.
“Is this another shifter senses thing?” Darla asked, cutting through my rising embarrassment. I nodded and she let out a sigh. “You know, I’ve never really been into the animal form thing, but I do admit, it would be nice to smell and hear like you do.”
“Darla, you can literally read people’s minds.”
“You have a point, but I’m choosing to ignore it.”
We shared a slight chuckle at that, and it was only then that I noticed Seraphina hadn’t spoken since we’d settled in one spot. Glancing at her out of the corner of my eye, her expression was pleasantly engaged. But given that she was a royal who spent a good chunk of her energy trying to be the perfect daughter, trying to win the affection of her highly neglectful family, I didn’t think I could take her face at… well… face value.
I turned fully to the princess and pasted a smile on my face. “So, Seraphina, would you give up your enhanced hearing and smell to be able to read minds? Not to mention the accelerated healing. I imagine that’s going to be useful to both of us when these heels eventually end up giving us blisters.”
I was skirting around the fact that she didn’t have an animal form, focusing on the parts of being a shifter she did have, because even if she couldn’t become a wolf, she was still one of us—a shifter through and through.
Seraphina blinked like she was surprised I was speaking to her, but the grin in my direction was genuine if not a little nervous.
“I don’t think I could bear to give up any of my shifter abilities.” There it was. A chance for her to take pride in all that she was.
“It would certainly be a loss for the rest of us if you did,” Mad Dog added casually, his eyes skipping all of us and decidedly focused on the wide spread of food. Honestly, I was surprised he was even able to divide his attention. Mad Dog had always been enthusiastic about grub, but his interest had definitely increased since he was brought back from nearly certain death. If I had to guess, the level of magic and healing I’d forced into him had knocked his body back a decade or so metabolically. He would level out eventually, but it might take a month or two.
“Pfft, you don’t mean that.”
“Oh, but I do, Your Highness. Sometimes I worry about the next generation. You know… your lot. The world seems to just keep getting darker and darker. Makes me wonder what place we’re leaving you.”
There it was: the insightful, contemplative side Mad Dog rarely let other people see. It filled me with pride that he not only trusted Darla and me but also Seraphina. I was sure she could use more positive male role models in her life.
Oh, gods, I was far too young to be having thoughts like that. I wasn’t even a quarter of a century!
Yet I couldn’t deny my protective feelings toward Seraphina. She was only a few years younger than me, but I, too, wondered where war would leave those younger than me. If we didn’t manage to stop it…
That wasn’t a thought I should have in the middle of a gala, though. It would definitely make my skin start to itch.
