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“You, girl. What is your last name?”
Nope, he was definitely talking to us, and I did not appreciate the tone he was using toward my mate. Ayla hadn’t saved hundreds of lives, fought for everyone she knew, and defied all odds to be called girl by some random fairy.
“Excuse me?” I started, trying to sound polite but putting enough warning in my voice to tell him he needed to pull back. For a moment, I wished fae had the same scent abilities as we shifters did so he could smell the territorial pheromones pumping out.
“It’s fine,” Ayla said calmly as she stood and gave a formal bow. Had my sister taught her that? “My name is Ayla Everton. I am a healer from Fort Canid where I served under Prince Nikolai’s captaincy for several years.”
“Everton?” Oliver asked like he didn’t believe her.
I was trying my best to be a perfect diplomat, but I was starting to get right pissed. Who was this man to question my mate about something as simple as her name?
“Are you certain on that?”
“Am I certain of what my name is?”
“Yes.”
“Uh…yes, I am certain Everton is my name.”
Oliver looked from me to Ayla and then back again, with every flick of his eyes increasing my desire to punch him right in the fucking face. I wasn’t normally violent toward my elders, but he was pushing it. He looked like he was debating what to say next, and whatever was going to come out of his mouth next needed to be about one hundred and eighty degrees away from the direction he was barking in.
“I heard rumors you were seduced away from your loyalty to your father by a fated mate. Is this her?”
At that, I stood right back up, bristling. “I think I have thoroughly proven that my reasons for wanting my father removed from the throne are quite valid and in alignment with protecting our people. My mate has done nothing to influence, seduce, or otherwise bewitch me, so you will address her with the respect she has earned many times over in her service to the continent.”
By now, I understood the rest of the council were staying dead silent, watching our exchange with interest, but I also didn’t care. I could only expect to play nice for so long when a fae was blatantly disrespecting the love of my life right in front of me.
“If she’s your fated mate, then she is a wolf shifter like you.”
“Yes, she is, and what of it?”
“I’m actually half-witch,” Ayla said as a peace offering, and bless my mate for being charitable when she really didn’t have to be.
“Half-witch, half wolf shifter,” Oliver parroted like he was putting together some convoluted theory in his head. “You need to shift. You must shift right now.”
Oh, I had been more than patient, but there was only so much disrespect I’d tolerate of any of my comrades, let alone my mate. Snarling, I leaned forward on the table, gripping the wood so I wouldn’t launch myself across the table at the older man.
“Who the hell do you think you are to demand my mate to just shift on command? What, do you think we’re mere dogs for you to order about? Want us to roll over for belly rubs and drool for treats in your hands?” I was yelling but I didn’t care. I knew Ayla had been surrounded by people who loved to cut her down, but I would never allow that. “You do not get to order my mate to shift at your whims!”
I was tanking the negotiations with the Verdana Isles, but if they were going to treat Ayla so disrespectfully… well…
Fuck em.
Chapter 18
Ayla
I had no idea what to think of the incredibly rude councilor member that’d suddenly gone after me, but the whole thing was entirely awkward. I gave him some leeway because he didn’t know that in shifter culture it was incredibly rude to demand a shift from someone, but the way he was speaking to me was so uncouth.
Still, as pissed as I was at this random elder talking like I was a particularly unruly child in a schoolyard, I couldn’t deny that I was charmed by how vehemently Kai was defending me. It wasn’t like my mate to lose his temper, but the fact that he would over me turned me on a little.
“I think this conversation has strayed from a productive path,” Aodin said quickly, stepping away from the edge of the room where he’d posted himself. “Councilor Oliver, perhaps you’re unaware, but demanding another shifter take on their animal form, apropos of nothing, is a huge social faux pas in Camdarian culture. It would be the same if Healer Everton here—who is indeed responsible for saving hundreds, if not thousands of lives, from the Shrouded Shriek—suddenly demanded you take off all of your clothing. Should we put a temporary hold on this meeting?”
Thank the Gods for Aodin still being a consummate diplomat through and through, but Oliver didn’t even so much as look at his fellow fairy. Instead, his dark, dark eyes bored into mine.
“I apologize if the manner in which I asked was brusque, but I assure you, it is of vital importance I see you shift. I am asking you, with all the respect I can, to show us your wolf form.”
I didn’t understand why he was so fixated on this, and the fact that his actions were so similar to when the duke and King Nathaniel tried to force me to shift made me feel awful. Of course, I knew how incredibly important the Verdana Isles were to Kai and the general efforts to stop the war. I wanted it to go well, I really did. So, although it was incredibly awkward, would it be so bad to show my wolf side to save some face?
