Page 25 of Exiled Prince

What battle do I have on my hands?

I’m met with varying expressions when my brothers finally arrive and see the desserts on the counter. Suspicion from Silver, worry from Sage, and hunger from Salem.

“What have you done now?” Silver asks, crossing his arms over his chest. His throwing stars are sitting on his belt, just waiting to be used, and the runes that move up and down his neck look even more ominous than usual. His silver hair has small braids scattered throughout. He still won’t tell me who does them for him.

Meanwhile, Sage’s hair is in its usual long, thick, black braid, yet somehow, he makes it look masculine. He plays with hislip ring as he studies me, his light-green eyes flickering with concern.

Salem is the only one who wears his hair short, now in a buzz cut. He doesn’t have the time or inclination for vanity and wears the scar on his face without giving one single fuck.

I choose actions over words and slide my gloves down to show them my mating bands.

“You bonded with him?” Sage mutters, his mouth dropping open. He shares a look with my other brothers, then all of them step closer to me, forming a semi-circle around me.

And then they surprise me.

They all start laughing, hard.

“What the fuck is so funny?” I snap, my hands on my hips.

They are meant to be angry, protective, and threaten Bane to take good care of me.What is so motherfucking funny?

Silver wipes away the tears in the corner of his eyes. Okay, that’s better. “Nothing, we’ve just been waiting for this moment.”

“For what moment?” I ask, scowling.

Salem slaps his hand down on the counter, which shakes the desserts. “The day when you’re not our problem anymore.”

Sage turns around to look away from me, but I don’t miss the movement of his shoulders as he continues to laugh, at least having the decency to try and hide it from me.

“You guys are unbelievable!” I yell, poking Silver, who is closest to me, in the chest. “You all threatened any male that came near me. Salem even broke a few arms for anyone who even innocently trusted me, and now you’re laughing that I’msomeone else’sproblem?”

The audacity.

Sage spins back around and puts his hand on my shoulder. “We wanted you to wait for your mate, not fuck around with anyone else.”

“You know I’m not a virgin, though,” I point out because they found out about Rave.

He’s the only one they know about, though.

Salem’s jaw clenches. “Don’t remind me. He’s one fucker I can’t kill, even though at the time I really wanted to.”

“Why, because he boned and bailed?” I ask, wincing at the memory. He probably still had blood on his dick when he zipped out of there.

Silver rubs the back of his neck. “About that. We threatened that if he came near you again, we’d go to war. So there was that.”

Okay, that actually does make me feel a little better.

“You threatened the Shadow King? Bold,” I mutter, leaning back against the counter.

“You gave the Shadow King your virginity,” Sage unhelpfully reminds me, smirking. “Not who I would have chosen for my first time. Does Bane even know about that?”

“No,” I reply, wincing. “And he’s close with Astrid, so I’m sure that’s going to be a wonderful reunion. Can’t wait.”

Salem smirks at my sarcasm. “At least he only has to be jealous about Rave, who he can’t kill because of Astrid. He’s only the second man to have you.”

Yeah.

About that…

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