Page 50 of Bound to Four Alphas

She swallowed a gulp.

His expression loosened and he pressed a kiss to her forehead. “The mystery deepens.”

The rest of the day passed with little by way of discovery. By the time Elian was nearly pulling his hair out in frustration, she hopped down from the bench and tugged his hand. “Maybe we should call it a day?”

Throwing his head back, he let out a distinctly childish groan. “I should be able to work it out, but your pregnancy is throwing all kinds of complications into it. The magic in you, its essence, keeps changing. I can’t keep up.”

“You’ll get there,” she smiled, the omega in her driving her to want to comfort her agitated mate. “We’ll work it out. Together. Now come on, it must be nearly dinner time, I’m starving!”

When they got back to the Northern Suite, Selena giggled to see Ronan and Kaelen still very much asleep, their great hulking forms snoring softly in the darkened room. Malek glanced up as they entered, surrounded by piles of books inside a little nest he’d constructed near the fire. Hopping over Ronan’s tail, she joined him, curling into his arms and asking him about what he had read.

“Is it morning?” Kaelen blinked and sat up slightly, rubbing his eyes.

“Not quite,” replied Elian, “but I didn’t want to wake you beauty queens up. Shall I have dinner sent up?”

Kaelen rolled back over with what Selena thought was a muffled assent.

It took a while, and the promise of food, to finally drag Kaelen and Ronan out of their sleep. As they dressed, platterspiled high with meat and bread and cheese appeared, startling Selena and making her mouth water.

Just as they were settling on the cushions before a great roaring fire that Elian had sparked to life, there was a pounding at the door.

“Elian!” Caeda’s voice was muffled through the thick wood. “Elian, Phaendar has summoned you to the throne room!”

Elian’s brow furrowed as he opened the door, revealing his sheepish sister alongside a few Fae handmaidens holding goblets of liquid.

“He wants to see you and the other alphas.”

Elian glanced back at Selena, his jaw working. “Not Selena?”

Caeda shook her head. “Syllia here brought the message. He’s heard of Selena’s … condition, and doesn’t want to disturb her rest. But given three of your packmates are rulers of their own territories…”

“He made us wait,” finished Elian. “Typical political nonsense.”

“One of us should stay with Selena,” argued Ronan, his hand coming to rest on her shoulder.

“It’s okay,” she smiled at him, “you won’t be gone long, and I’ll be safe here.”

“Of course she will be,” said Caeda, sweeping into the room with the handmaidens, “I’ll stay with her. We’ll eat and drink and gossip, I can tell her all about the time Elian released a wild boar into the—”

“Yes, alright,thank you,Caeda,” Elian growled at his sister. “it’s just a formality. Posturing. We won’t be long. I’ve gotsome questions of my own for him, like why the hell he wasn’t at the gate.”

Ronan and Kaelan seemed hesitant, but relented when Elian cast a few wards on the door that prevented anyone from entering.

“We won’t be long, little dove.” Elian kissed her forehead before leading her other mates away to meet his father. Selena shuddered. She was grateful not to have to face the wily old lord in her tired state.

“So,” Caeda flopped onto the cushions in front of the fire, patting the space next to her for Selena to join, “you’re mated to my brother? How did that happen, he won’t tell me.”

“It’s a long story.” Selena lowered herself onto the rug next to her. “I’m more interested in what Elian was like before I met him. He’s very good at evading my questions when he wants to.”

Caeda snickered, gesturing to a handmaiden to hand them each a goblet of pomegranate juice. “Yes, he’s always been like that, ever since I was a child. I used to pester him relentlessly with questions, Father never let me outside you see. Elian was far too skilled at only answering the ones he wanted to.”

Selena laughed as Caeda took a long sip of the juice, and Selena raised her own cup to her lips. The pomegranate was sharp and tangy on her tongue, and she nearly moaned at the explosion of flavors.

“Of course, I was much better at finding out information than he ever knew. When I was eight, I learnt how to pick locks and got into his … into his …in-to…”

Caeda collapsed forward, the goblet hitting the stone floor with a sharp clang, the ruby liquid seeping over the marble. Selena gasped and lurched towards her, but her own eyelids grew heavy. Her mind foggy. Her limbs numb.

As she slumped over, the last thing she saw was the sweep of a handmaiden’s skirt. Darkness enveloped her.

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