Page 36 of Crescent Warrior

She stayed silent, wondering what he was apologizing for.

“I shouldn’t have taken advantage of you earlier. I was just—”

She snorted out a laugh, settling more comfortably into her position.

“It’s not taking advantage if it’s mutual, Cole. Just because there was a moment there when I didn’t want more, didn’t mean I wasn’t an active participant of everything that happened before it.” He stroked his fingers through her hair as the water fell from the rain shower, slowly soaking them in warmth. “And for the record, if you did anything I didn’t like, you wouldn’t be here right now.”

He hummed happily, making her roll her eyes. “I’m glad you enjoyed every moment of it, then.” His cocky voice earned him a smack across the chest and he chuckled, tightening his arms around her.

CHAPTER SIX

“Maybe we should leave without her,” Xander suggested, and Damen shook his head in disagreement.

“Of course not. We will wait for Lyta.” He paused and then glanced around. “Has anyone seen Cole?”

Xander turned away, a sneer on his face.

How intriguing.

Miles Lykourgos watched the interaction between Damen and Xander curiously. Hippolyta was going through her annual heat, which would set them back a bit in terms of leaving for Greece but shouldn’t do any lasting damage to their planned trip. Especially since Miles wanted to stay in Minnesota so he could work on a plan to bring down Damen any way he could.

Going to Greece would just be a waste of his time. He gritted his teeth in annoyance but hid his expression from the others.

“Cole is busy,” Xander muttered, catching Miles’ attention.

Cole led the Greek contingent of wolves. What could he possibly be busy with in Minnesota? Even Damen seemed to give this pause before shrugging, tugging his mate closer to him.

Miles suppressed the urge to roll his eyes. The alpha pair were never far from each other. It was sickening.

“We have already decided to leave Rosa and Pearce here,” Damen stated, using his own special little pet name for Ambrosia. He thought of her like a little sister when all she did was pine after him like a lost pup. It was annoying to watch. “They need to monitor the growth of the Bloodthirsty while we are gone. We cannot afford to have Hippolyta and Cole stay as well. It is a matter of a few days.”

He lifted his head to sniff the air, his eyes traveling up to the staircase. He narrowed his eyes and Miles wondered what the hell he was scenting.

“For now, we will wrap up whatever needs to be closed. Xander, please review Lyta’s schedule and handle anything urgent. If you need help, Rosa can assist. You will be handing everything over to her before you leave.”

Xander nodded, turning to walk away, his expression sullen.

“Is he okay?” Selene asked, quietly.

Damen nodded, leaning down to whisper in her ear. He had to have spoken in the lowest possible register because even Miles couldn’t hear what he said. The smile that crossed Selene’s face was too happy for Miles’ comfort.

He glanced over to where Ares was glaring at him, his own mate comfortably sitting on his lap, leaning back against his chest. Mates seemed to be falling out of the sky recently.

He knew Nicholas played a big part in these two being mated and he pondered the possibility that the male would be involved in weaving the web for other pairings as well. Narrowing his eyes, he bowed to Damen, his entire being chafing at the submissive move, before leaving the room.

I’m still forced to bow down to this giant idiot.

So far, all of his plans failed, falling to the wayside under Damen’s huge boot. Nothing he did even made a dent on the monarchy that he fully intended to overtthrow.

Meanwhile, his useless beta, Michael, was refusing to change anymore humans into Bloodthirsty and he couldn’t do it himself. He wasn’t strong enough. The newest addition to his pack, Alex, refused to do anything to harm humans. Miles scowled.

Bleeding hearts of the world, unite.

The quote seemed appropriate as a little bundle of joy ran straight for him, lifting his arms up. Miles grinned as he tossed his nephew Niles into the air before hugging him close.

“My-my,” his perfect boy murmured, cuddling into his neck and sighing deeply as if the weight of the world was on him.

“What’s wrong?” Miles crooned to him, rocking him from side to side.

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