Page 13 of Owned By Four Alphas

“To the Fae from the Sharpstone Court! I have been told to give congratulations to Sarya, daughter of Lord Hagas, on reaching her coming of age!”

A sudden silence descended, and people looked at her with mouths open in shock.

Then, there was uproarious laughter from the Fae of the Benellane Court. Including Elian.

Lord Hagas stood abruptly, his wrinkled face turning a violent shade of purple, before he stormed out of the hall, his chair clattering to the hall. Sarya raced after him, her young face contorted in embarrassment.

The Fae laughed harder.

“Sit. Down,” Kaelen growled.

“What? Elian told me—oof!”

Kaelen pulled her down into her seat and stood, goblet in hand, handsome features schooled into a convincing show of good humor. His scent told a different story.

“It seems my mate has fallen victim to the great Fae tradition of tricks and mischief! I’m sure you’ll all raise another toast with me in honor of her continuing education. To Selena!”

“To Selena!” the crowd cheered, delighted at Kaelen’s words.

“What—I don’t—what’s going on?” Selena asked, her cheeks heating as Kaelen sat and took a huge gulp of wine. Foodappeared on all the tables, and the crowd was soon distracted by the feast.

“Why don’t we ask Elian?”

Chapter 6 - Elian

Even Elian had to admit, the dragon managed to handle the situation spectacularly. Just as he knew Kaelen would.

It was only to be expected that he would have a foul temper about it, and Elian wasn’t at all ashamed to admit that the barely concealed fury on the dragon’s face made him laugh all the harder.

“Elian?” Selena asked, her voice pitching upwards.

“Fucking Fae,” Ronan growled, filling his cup near to the brim.

“That was magnificent, Selena, truly brilliant,” Elian managed to choke out. “That’ll teach the old pervert a lesson or two.”

Selena turned to Kaelen, who looked about ready to shift into a dragon then and there and set him on fire. Now thatwouldbe quite the entertainment.

“Kaelen, what is he talking about?”

“Sarya isn’t his daughter, she’s his mate,” Kaelen bit out, struggling to keep his expression neutral.

“What?”

Elian raised his goblet. “Her father owed Hagas a huge debt of gold. Sarya was the deal they struck instead. A barbaric practice thatshouldbe ridiculed. Trust me, nobody in this hall will have any sympathy for Hagas whatsoever.”

“B-but…you told me…you said she was hisdaughter!”

“Ah!” Elian raised a finger, “No, I didn’t. You assumed she was his daughter. I simply failed to correct your assumption.”

Ronan slammed his goblet down onto the table beside him, scent thick with aggression. “You arrogant littleshitElian! I should rip your—”

“Ronan,” Kaelen’s smile was strained, his muscles bunching under his fine red leathers. “Save the threats for later. For now, we need to appear careless and happy.”

“Appear,” snarled Ronan. “It’s almost fucking appearances with you. No matter that he just embarrassed our mate in front of all these people!”

“Ronan!” Kaelen was losing his composure now, “If this is about Phane and Vallin,save it. We can discuss it later.”

“We shouldn’t have had to discuss it in the first place! I thought we agreed to present a united front, and you won’t even discipline your own young!”

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