Blaine and Victor nodded and then they were gone. Monica and Jen said their goodbyes as well, until I was standing before Kade. His deep copper eyes were soft. He ditched his king mode now that we were alone, back to being my mate. Mate. That word held so much meaning in the shifter world. Even without a ceremony or rings we were mates, no one could deny that.
“You realize we could all die right?” I said, wishing that no one had to risk their life but me.
He stepped closer and brushed his fingers along my lower back, sending chills up my spine. “In bear culture, we take honorable deaths very seriously. What better and more glorious way to die than trying to save a beloved friend?”
I sighed and leaned my head against his chest. “Would you stop being so perfect.”
He chuckled, rumbling deep in my ear. “It comes so naturally to me though.”
Hah! I smacked his arm and was about to lean in and kiss him when Calista burst into the room.
She was dancing on the balls of her feet, clutching her tablet.
“What’s up?” I asked, stepping back a few feet from Kade to bring the PDA down a notch.
She thrust the tablet in my face. “Operation reinstate Arianna’s crown is in full effect!”
“Operation what?” I laughed, before sobering enough to read the long text before me. Kade and I were both careful not to touch the device. Even so, we were close enough that I could feel the static electricity. Stepping back a little, I read.
My dear beloved wolves,
As you may have heard, Selene and the council stripped me of my crown just after the battle on the Island, the same battle where we fought alongside the bears and defeated the fae who dared to come into our world and try and take our power – the battle where I used so much mecca to kill the fae that it nearly took my own life. I would have died if it weren’t for King Kade.
Yes, the rumors about the king and I are true. I have known him since I was fifteen, and as much as I tried I could not deny my heart, as I would never expect you to. If you believe loving a bear makes me unfit to rule, then by all means I will go in peace and allow Selene to be your leader. But if you saw what I saw on that hill, bears and wolves fighting and dying together to defeat our common enemy, and a king that loved a queen so much he put his own life on the line to save her, then I insist you speak up and stand with me.
Selene does not see the fae as a real threat. She thinks she can beat them on her own, but I know we need to band with the bears in order for our races to survive. I am sworn to retrieve my trusted friend and advisor, Violet, from the fae lands, and when I return, if it is your wish, I will rule again. And I will take the life of every dark fae that threatens us.
Forever yours,
Queen Arianna.
“You wrote this?”
I wasn’t surprised that she had chosen almost the exact same words I would have used; she knew me better than anyone else. But I was blown away by the heart in this letter. She really was okay with Kade and me, with bears and wolves working together.
Calista grinned. “I did and … please don’t hate me – I know I should have checked with you – but I couldn’t wait to send it out to the entirety of the wolf shifters on my email list.” She had hundreds of thousands of shifters in her contact list. Selene was a true idiot for not locking Calista out of everything.
“I’m not mad, Cal. I know I need to fight for my crown, but right now my focus is Violet. Thank you for stepping in and filling the gap. So what was the response?” My question came out tentatively. I would fight no matter what, but it would be easier if I wasn’t battling everyone.
“The responses are pouring in, and the majority are with you, Ari.”
Her answer nearly knocked me over, as a couple of tears spilled down my face. Kade placed his hand on my lower back, his other gripping my hand. My people had not yet given up on me, and that filled me with more drive and motivation than ever before.
I cleared my throat so I could speak. “Let’s get Violet back and then take Selene and the council down.”
Bears and wolves would rule the boroughs together, if it was the last thing I achieved.
Chapter Fifteen
There’s no business like fae business.
We spent the next several hours going over our plan and triple-checking everyone’s packs to make sure all the important stuff was in there, including the map I’d had drawn up based on the treeling’s directions, and enough dried meat and fruits to last two weeks. Now it was almost 9 P.M and we were on our way to the bench that Trixie had spoken of.
We must have looked like quite the group, dressed in dark colors, lots of leather and natural fibers, all of us wearing backpacks. We had briefly debated leaving Finn and Nix behind, but neither of them would agree, and even if we insisted I knew they’d follow us somehow. So they were coming. We were stronger with our familiars, and I was glad to have Finn with me.
As Kade’s driver pulled up to the bench, we all got out and I noticed two people sitting on the bench already, a man and woman. When we opened the door, they froze.
“K-King Kade,” the man stammered, jumping to his feet. He was dressed in nice slacks and a button-down shirt.
“What are you doing here?” The woman was standing behind him, running her hands along her dress and looking nervously down at the golden disc at her feet.
As I stepped closer I could feel the pulsing mecca coming from the disc. We were at the right place.
Kade was angry. I could feel it simmering in his energy, but we had more important things to worry about. He’d have to deal with his people’s tendency to borough hop at a later stage.
“I’m going to the same place you are, to Baladar’s club,” he said shortly. Nix landed then, in all her glory, on his shoulder.
The man and woman were frozen with fear, staring at Nix as if waiting for her to peck their eyes out.
“Ummm…” The man didn’t know what to say.
Kade waved him off. “Come on, show us how it’s done and I will allow you one more night of partying before I shut this down.”
The couple seemed unsure, like this might be a trick, but after cowering under the steely gaze of their king for about twenty seconds, they caved.
Both of them sat down again and placed their feet precisely on the disc. They started to breathe slowly in through their nose and out through their mouth. “It’s just like vortex,” the man said between breaths. “Only not as strong, so most shifters can use it. We just have to wait until after 9 P.M for it to work.” He glanced down at his watch and smiled. “It’s time. Oh and this is a direct link, you don’t have to tell it where to go. Just picture traveling along it.” Then, in a surge of mecca, they were gone.
“This is a very public place to have a vortex.” I turned around and noticed there were a few people in the park. Weirdly enough, no one seemed to be looking in this direction. If anything, their eyes skimmed over the spot like it wasn’t even here, like there weren’t half a dozen shifters standing around a golden disc.
Kade followed my line of sight. “I think it’s spelled. The energy is off and it smells strange,” he said.