Page 72 of Foretold

Fates.

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King Bax, the Shifter King, arrives the next night with Laurel, Raiden, his son, the prince, and three other shifters I’ve never seen before. They are all strikingly handsome, massive, muscular males and share the same light green eyes. Siblings, perhaps. They tower over Laurel, and I wonder who they are to the king. All I know is that the room seems much smaller with them all in it.

“Welcome to Aravelle,” Rave says, and everyone other than King Bax bows. “This is my queen, Astrid.”

“Lovely to see you again, Astrid. Much has changed since the last time I saw you,” King Bax murmurs, lowering his head to kiss my hand.

A growl from Rave stops him before his lips make contact. “Sorry, he’s a little possessive.”

“I would be, too,” he replies, tilting his head to his son. “My heir, Raiden. And these three are my nephews I’ve taken in. Silver, Salem, and Sage.

Well, that was a mouthful.

Silver is clearly given his name because of his hair—long, silky, silver strands falling over his shoulders. He has throwing stars on his belt and a hint of cruel arrogance in his eyes. The magic tattooed runes that come up his neck look like they are moving.

Sage has black hair down his back in a long braid, strong cheekbones, and a warm smile that makes me instantly feel comfortable around him. He plays with the ring on his lip as he winks at me. “Queen Astrid.”

But Salem? Salem has short, black hair, dead, glaring eyes, and is wearing a scowl that feels permanent. He has an air of dominance around him that reminds me of Rave but feels much colder. He has scars all over his arms and one down his cheek.

He is the one to look out for.

Salem looks like the type of male who would fuck you roughly from behind, refuse to kiss you, then kill you afterward if you asked to cuddle.

I smile at them all in welcome, and Rave takes over their attention while I turn mine to Laurel, who Bax didn’t even bother to introduce. I smile at her and ask her how she is. She doesn’t reply, of course, but at least I’m treating her like an actual person.

I don’t know how the hell I’m going to get her alone, but I’m hoping she finds me when she’s able to. I give her a look thatsays, I need to speak with you,and hope she’s fluent in silent conversation with our eyes.

Her stare remains blank, but I know that’s how she’s trained herself to react.

What do I want from this meeting?

I want Laurel to train me, and I want to ask her if she wants to escape from King Bax.

And if she does?

I might have jumped from one war into another.

CHAPTER THIRTY-THREE

Astrid

Rave distracts the guests by taking them into the dining hall and plying them with alcohol. I sneakily ask Kai to join us to see what he reads and picks up from them all, along with Soren to make it less obvious. The three brothers make me nervous, though. I physically feel their power and dominance, and if they pick up on Kai trying to filter through their minds, we might have a problem on our hands.

Three large, six-foot-six problems.

Maybe stay away from those three,I loudly project into his mind. I’m not sure if he can hear me, but his slight nod lets me know he does.

“So Rave, not going to ask how Saylor is?” Salem asks, that cruel smirk appearing as he loudly cracks his knuckles. Okay, so there is some kind of history there. Rave didn’t give anything away when he saw them with King Bax, so I assumed they didn’t know each other. As usual, I’ve assumed wrong.

Rave sits back in his chair, his arm resting behind the back of mine. He’s full of casual arrogance as his hand cups my nape. “And why would I want to do that?”

“Because you two had… history.” Salem smirks, his eyes running over me. “Or doesn’t your mate know about her?”

If he is trying to cause problems, he knows right where to start.

Of course, I want to demand who the hell Saylor is and why he would bring it up, but I keep an emotionless mask on, not giving anything away.

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