Page 37 of Taste of Danger

And that was another thing. If anyone found out she was mated to a wolf shifter and vampire, she would be sentenced to death.

The king really was fond of death sentences for some reason.

“Since I can’t return with you to watch your back, we have to have a family meeting,” Raidh said vehemently. “We’re Frosts now, Elvine. We handle our problems head-on, not run from them.”

She smirked. “You really have become one of them, tulip.”

“Please, and you haven’t? Kalen looks at you like a daughter. Tell me you don’t feel the same way about him.”

“I do,” she admitted. “He’s like a second father. My papa is wonderful, and I love him dearly, but he’s a pacifist. Whereas Kalen fights for his family.”

He touched her knee. “I’m sorry.”

She knew what he was referring to. Her papa hadn’t fought for Henry’s life. He could have been pulled back from the darkness, but her papa had stood by and let the guards kill him.

Her parents were against stirring up trouble for fear of retribution. If she were reported missing, they would comply with whatever the king demanded.

Even if that meant turning their own daughter in.

“If you call a meeting, I won’t be able to go home,” she argued. “There’s no way Jax and Arion will allow me to return.”

“This is your home,” Raidh responded frustratingly. “With your mates, with our new family, Elvine.”

“So, I’m just supposed to let my parents be punished because I’m starting a new life with Jax and Arion, just forget they exist and go on my merry way?” she asked crossly.

Elvine really wished Raidh could go with her. The two of them could have so much fun together, just like old times.

But, by now, Raidh was probably considered a fugitive. All because his rotten father had more than likely reported his son missing and had also mated a shifter.

That was rich coming from a man who had tried to have his own flesh and blood killed. The dung pile was an envious and resentful man who couldn’t stand the fact his son was more powerful than him.

That was just how petty and vindictive Galamir Shadowlace truly was. She couldn’t even check to see if Raidh had an arrest decree because she wasn’t permitted to enter the upper-class area.

Elvine couldn’t even take Casimir—Raidh’s uncle and Galamir’s brother—with her as protection. Unfortunately, the warrior was also a wanted man in the dark realm.

Although she was wanted as well, the guard had no idea who she was, which meant no arrest decree had been placed on her. So, as long as Elvine avoided him, she would be okay.

The Frost house was just brimming with fugitives.

Ugh! She was sick of Unseelie laws. They were so archaic and stupid and had destroyed so many lives.

“Of course not,” Raidh said, pulling Elvine from her thoughts. “Eugene and Talia Sparklenest have always been more like parents to me than mine ever have. I love them too, Elvine. This is why we need to have a meeting. Maybe the wolf shifters can come up with a solution for you.”

She didn’t see how. Although Casimir and Jaytee had gone into the Unseelie realm to get back Raidh’s soul, they’d had Panahasi with them.

She couldn’t take her mates with her, especially Arion. Vampires were hated among her kind. Her honey bunny would be instantly killed—if the glaring sun didn’t do the job first—and she had no idea what they would do to her wolfie. There was no way Elvine would put her mates at risk.

This was definitely a pickle. “But I have to return now, Raidh. I’m pushing my luck and the freedom of my parents.”

“Then we have the meeting right this minute.” Raidh stood and brushed off his butt. When Elvine got to her feet, she stared longingly at her best friend then looked up at Jax’s bedroom window, praying she would see her mates again.

“I’ll gather everyone,” Raidh started toward the back door at the same time Elvine turned and walked through the passageway, heading back to the Unseelie realm.

Chapter Eleven

Raidh felt the moment Elvine disappeared. How had she done that without chanting the spell? He knew she would try to return on her own, because Elvine was as stubborn as a mule when it came to protecting those she loved. That’s why he wanted to call a meeting right away. He just had no flipping clue she was capable of creating a passageway that easily.

Not even Raidh could do that.

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