Page 37 of Owned By Four Alphas

Selena didn’t answer. Egais wouldn’t understand even if she did. That moment when she had been a goddess, had felt the full power of her father’s mantle rest on her shoulders, she had been tempted to keep it. But with it, she felt her human skin melt away, shift from her, taking with it everything she considered herself tobe. And that was not a sacrifice she had been willing to make.

“She’s not human, not fully,” said Elian, tossing his blond curls away from his forehead. “She’s a demigod. More kin to the Fae in her mind and spirit than to a human.”

“But her flesh is human.”

“Wrong again,” Elian said. “Of course, the baby is massively interfering with my experiments, once she’s given birth I’ll be able to tell more definitely precisely howdivineshe is. She may have given up goddess-hood, but she’s still half-god.”

Egais didn’t bother to hide his sneer of disgust. “Gods are absolute.Sheis not.”

Anger prickled her skin, her fists clenching, but before she could speak Kaelen growled, “Watch your tone, Egais.”

“Yes, my King,” Egais replied, his voice hard.

Something in the air shifted.

“I would have thought someone as religious as you would be throwing himself at her feet and kissing them,” Theodas remarked lightly, ignoring Egais’s warning snarl. “After all, you worship a god dead and buried. Astonishing, when there’s a living one in your presence.”

“She is not a god!” Egais replied, his chair clattering to the floor as he launched to his feet. Instantly, Ronan stood, looming behind her, the warmth from his huge chest radiating into her back.

She set her teeth. “We seem to be getting distracted by what Iamoram not. A pointless discussion, as the facts remain clear. It would be a waste of time, resources, and lives to go to war with the humans. And it is not a choice I will be making until every other avenue has been exhausted.”

“Who said it was your decision to make?” Ordovic said, his voice growing louder. “Why don’t we discuss that instead,how you decided that your lineage makes you fit to be our queen?”

Ronan wrapped an arm around her, shielding her stomach. She wanted to push him away, the heat and the pressure aggravating her already overwhelmed senses, but she didn’t. She sensed he wouldn’t let her even if she tried.

“We decided she would be our queen,” said Kaelen, stepping towards her and Ronan, hands coming to rest on the hilts of the blades at his side. “We are your rulers. We have the right to declare a queen.”

Ordovic’s eyes flashed to Ronan. “For now. You are our leaders for now.”

A chill raced down Selena’s spine, and she instinctively placed her hands on Ronan’s massive arm to try and keep him calm.

“You will not make threats in my home, Ordovic,” she said, magic hissing down her limbs, “not when you are our guest.”

“And what if I do?” Ordovic replied, the other wolves near him rising to their feet, “I all but have the wolf clan under my complete control. As far as I see it, Kaelen faces dissent from his people. The Fae will side with strength. What will you do then?” His lips peel back, his tongue darting out to lick his teeth.

Malek stood, the movement entirely unnatural, his pale face seemingly carved from stone. Ordovic looked at him, true fear in his eyes.

“My Nightwalkers are Selena’s to command,” he said, his voice like cracking rock. “If it comes to war, do you really believe you would be able to stand against us? After all, it was us the humans used when they invaded. And only Selena was able tostop us. I have no care for politics or morals. If she tells me to kill you, I will. If she tells me to decimate your lands and your people, I will. If she tells me to raise this Realm to dust, I will.”

Ordovic took an involuntary step backwards, his scent spiking. The other Alphas were slowly getting to their feet, wary and ready to withdraw their weapons.

Selena gulped. Her magic coiled and darted from her belly, lashing at the constraints she was barely able to keep them in.

“You know,” Theodas twirled a knife between his long fingers, “that sounds to me an awful lot like a challenge. Do you know what I used to do to…what was it…Nightwalkersthat challenged me?”

Malek didn’t move, the shadows around him thrumming with agitation. Elian had moved closer as well, all four of her mates within stepping distance of her.

Ready to defend.

Theodas continued, the light from the fire catching on the silver blade, “I used to carve their skin from them and watch them scream as they bled out. I wonder, Malek, for all your composure, would you scream?”

The shadows were lashing now, rumbling ire spilling from Malek’s chest. His black eyes narrowed, claws trembling, muscles shifting beneath his skin.

“This is ridiculous,” said Egais. “How can we expect to take back the old lands when we can’t even control our own? We’re too weak. Too divided. But there is a solution.”

“Do enlighten us,” Kaelen’s voice was dripping fire.

“You all mock and belittle me, but you can’t deny the truth. There is a god, a god of fire and death, who would kill the humans for us. All he asks is to be released.”

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