Page 60 of A Bond in Blood

I walked forward, heading toward the exit when Olen stepped in front of me.

“You threatened Bjorn today.”

My stomach sank. I stared into Olen’s dark eyes.

“I did.”

Olen grinned. “He reported you.”

“I should have reported him,” I snapped.

“Yes.” Olen stepped out of my way, his wide beast form barely giving me room to move past him. “You should have. Instead, you disappeared for hours. Ulrich thought you’d run away.”

I scoffed. “Running means I put the very people I’m trying to get back to in danger.”

“Attempting to kill the king didn’t do that?”

I paused my steps. “Fair point.”

Olen appeared beside me, keeping a casual pace while I made my way through the library. He yelled back at Adalie to get into her rooms and bed before we exited the room. When we arrived in the hall, I turned right, heading towardthe looking glassinstead of straight to the stairs leading to the bedrooms below.

“How well do you know Oberon, his court, and his wives?” Olen asked.

“Why does that matter?” I asked, meeting his gaze.

Olen’s fur stood slightly before his shoulders shrugged. “It matters because you’re residing in the home of Oberon’s most notorious rival.”

My hands went to my pocket, protectively grasping the letter. I kept a blank expression on my face until we’d reached my hall of windows.

The light of the blood moon came through the glass. The red—brilliant, sensual, dark. Tempting and dangerous.

I sank onto a bench, propping my feet out before me. Olen grunted then lowered himself by my feet.

“To answer your previous question,” I said, “my family is distantly related to Oberon. I knew our island had been a gift. One that required there to always be a full-blooded fae on our throne.” I turned to meet Olen’s gaze. “I just wasn’t aware of the underlying conditions behind that gift.”

Olen remained quiet, his fur-lined body moving with the breaths he took. I held in my laugh. The beast appeared as though he were listening intently.

I leaned back against the stone wall. “I’ve lived over a century and for as long as I can remember, we have done our duty to visit our homeland during the harvest moon. Titania—”

I bit my lip, unsure if I could continue opening up. My eyes drifted to the beast, still silent and staring at me.

“She and Oberon had no children. Not like he did with Mab. She saw me, a motherless half-fae with no magic in her bones and took an interest in me.”

“Is she a motherly figure?” Olen asked.

“Yes and no,” I replied. “More of a friend. Someone whose face was familiar and kind in a world I barely knew.”

Olen let out a loud sigh. “Were you hoping to be in Aesir this harvest moon?”

I stared out the windows, my heart pulling at the red giant in the sky.

“I wanted to be in one of the most beautiful cities I’ve ever seen the night I saw the dark blue night sky for the first time.”

“Muspell is beautiful,” Olen yawned.

I laughed. “I’ve barely seen it. I didn’t even get the chance to see its beauty on the shore when we sailed in.”

Olen laughed, his paws stretched out before him. “You were sick in a cabin. That’s no one’s fault but your own.”

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