“There’s been an incident with your companion, Ziem.” William said in a voice that dripped with disappointment. “He’s unharmed, but I cannot say as much for the two Skyborn he nearly killed.” The Skyborn pack arrived only the week before, under the guidance of a female Alpha, the only one of the new Council so far, who went by the name of Kit. She was, however, a far cry from being as cute and fragile as her name suggested, and her people were not the stereotypical flimsy-minded Skyborn either.
“What happened?” She looked around as though she would see Ziem, but he was nowhere in sight. Aura wasn’t sure what she could do to rescue him from a fight. “Where is he?”
“He’s being held by Princess Kit’s people.” William said with the first shred of sarcasm she’d ever heard from him. “The Prince has negotiated his release, but Kit’s stipulation is for Ziem to be kept away from all involvement with the central units.” The central units of the force had been Nick’s idea, units made up of fighters from all the different packs under their own commanders. Ziem had been a part of them since the beginning.
“What? Why? He’s one of the best fighters they have.” Aura was shocked to hear his removal, and she couldn’t understand why Nick would remove such a competent fighter.
“He also has one of the worst tempers of all the gathered fighters. And the least discipline of almost any I have ever seen.” William added sharply. The wolf was as much a liability as an asset.
“Well, how do you know that they didn’t start it?” She sighed in frustration and then placed her hand on the side of her extended stomach, wincing in a little bit of pain. Whenever she got extremely agitated, the puppies inside of her did not respond well to her elevated heart rate and fuming anger. “Do I need to go get him from somewhere? Can you take me to where they’ll release him?”
He was silent for a moment before he answered, looking at her sadly. “I know they didn’t start it because I was the one supervising the exercises.” He spoke calmly, without anger, but with heavy condescension in his voice. William was a servant, and had been all his life, but he had been born in an age where elders demanded respect. “You should be mindful of the danger he poses to you and to your pups, Aura. Even if he is their father.” William said just as calmly, then started walking away, not even waiting for her to follow him.
She followed after him quickly, glaring at him from behind. “What danger could he possibly pose to me? Or the pups? He would never hurt any of us.”
“People always say that.”
“What, do you see bruises or scars on me that I don’t see, William? Do you really think I would stay with someone who would hurt me or my puppies? You’ve known me almost all my life. I wouldn’t tolerate something like that.” Aura wasn’t weak by any measure, and though she was an outcast, she wouldn’t tolerate anyone thinking that she was incapable of taking care of herself.
They walked in silence for a little longer before he spoke again, and even then it was without looking back. “You were raised to be a princess among us, Aura. Not to throw in your lot with a drunk and a criminal.”
“He loves me and I love him. He is the only one who gives a damn about me in this place. The only one. It doesn’t matter what I was raised to be, because I’m not that. I’m not a princess. Zara is your princess now. You and I wouldn’t even be talking if you didn’t have to talk to me and Prince Nickel hadn’t so graciously allowed for my stay. My puppies deserve to grow up in a place where they never have to hunger and they never have to hide what they are. I’m here for them, and I’m here with Ziem.”
“Zara will never be our princess.” William said with a single look back at her, then kept walking into the area of the compound that had been given to the Skyborn’s delegation.
When they walked further in they were met by several guards, and she looked at all of them with anger at the way they glared in disdain. They knew who she was. “I heard that my husband is here.” She wore a ring, but they still hadn’t mated or even had an official marriage ceremony. They had plenty of time to do that once she wasn’t carrying pups inside of her.
“Your husband,” one Skyborn answered with an almost-smile, “throws a hell of a right cross. My cousin’s gonna be eating baby food for a week on his account.” Even so, the guard was moving to escort her in the direction of their main building, which looked more like a barely-framed house than anything else.
“Yeah, well, maybe I need to wear him out before I send him out in public or something.” The Skyborn’s almost-smile had largely deflated her anger.
That actually made him laugh, with the free-ringing and faintly-echoing laughter of their kind, which made the air around her shimmer with the sound. “Looks like you’ve been doing a good bit of that already, actually.” He motioned to her pregnant belly.
Aura laughed softly as she put her hand on her stomach again. “Yeah…well, the Fulness gets us all some time.”
“Got my mate last month, actually.” He grinned, but it faded slightly with the gravity of the situation. “Seriously, though, your hubby needs to heel. We’re supposed to be on the same side, and he’s not really helping. I’m just glad he didn’t go for the Stoneborn. They don’t forgive as easily as we do.”
Her smile faded as well and then she nodded. “I know. I’m sorry.” She sighed
