Page 68 of Bonded to the Fallen Shadow King

My mouth dried. There was no way I could truly get out of it, so I slid my hand into his and smiled. “I’d love the honor then.”

The king drew me closer, but Thalen remained motionless, blocking us from the dance floor. The king used his free hand to gently move Thalen to the side so both of us could pass.

I expected others to follow us onto the floor, but everyone gathered around with their eyes on the two of us, like it was some sort of spectacle.

“Place your left hand on my shoulder, and follow my lead,” the king instructed, placing a hand on my waist and taking my free hand in his. He stepped slowly so that I didn’t have a hard time keeping up with him.

The lights played on the king’s face, and I could’ve sworn for a second there were dark circles under his eyes before they vanished.

“Tell me about your family?” The king tilted his head. “You have such unusual magic. Steady now. I’m going to twirl you.”

With a flourish, he spun me, and I glided back to him.

I couldn’t help but notice Vad dragging Kaylen off the dance floor. Once they reached the edge, he turned to watch while Kaylen stood beside him with a look that screamed she was constipated.

This was a trick question, and I wasn’t sure what he wanted to hear. But hell, what did it matter? It wasn’t as if I had an actual chance here. “I have an older sister who I love dearly. We lost our parents a few months ago due to a supernatural war on Earth, and we found a new family that took us in. My sister is mated to the alpha of our new pack.”

“The loss of people you love is difficult. I wouldn’t wish that on anyone.” He paused as his eyes darkened to a navy blue, like he’d gotten lost in memories. “Take smaller steps.”

Both extreme reactions had me stumbling slightly, but I managed to recover fast.

“You mentioned words I don’t comprehend in this context. What is an alpha and a pack?”

They had shadow wolves here or something like that, so I was surprised he didn’t understand these concepts. However, maybe the wolves weren’t able to shift, so they couldn’t directly communicate with the people. “The alpha is the leader of the pack who makes final decisions. The pack is like a family. At birth you’re born into one, but if something happens, you can change packs by following a new alpha.”

“So an alpha is like a ruler.” He pursed his lips. “Interesting.”

I wanted to ask about his family, but I was thinking about Vad too much, so I kept my mouth closed. I didn’t need to hear someone else talk about him too, especially his dad.

“Why did you help the weaker fae instead of protecting yourself? You were injured far beyond what was necessary because of your intervention.” The king stepped back and then returned to the same position. "Now we move back three steps."

I gritted my teeth. Of course he disapproved of my antics. I was quite certain everyone had expected Kalyen or Rhielle to win, and both of them had gone for it, leaving the rest of us behind. The difference was that Rhielle had helped others when she could or, at least, had done no harm, unlike Kaylen, who didn’t hesitate to kill. “A pack protects all its members. When my parents were alive, they believed in protecting the young, the old, the strong, and the weak equally.

“Every life is important, because our world needs balance. The weak provide strength in ways that can’t physically be seen most of the time, but they’re usually the doctors helping to heal people or working the fields to bring food to our table. Everyone has something valuable to contribute, and what kind of person would I be if I could protect someone and chose not to? I wouldn’t be able to live with myself. It should be the best for all and not just one person.”

“Interesting.” His face remained solemn. “I’m going to dip you now.”

My body tilted backwards, and the golden ceiling came into view, sparkling with all the lights from the ball, his grip on me steady and polite.

When I came back up, he’d masked his expression into one of indifference.

Yeah, he didn’t like me. However, there was nothing I could do to change that. I searched inwardly, tugging on the faint warm pack link that represented Ember. Fate, I missed her so much right now.

“Why is your shifted form a different color from the shadow beast? And what precisely does your magic allow you to do?”

The harps played even louder, causing my heart to ache even more. “When you say shadow beast, I’m assuming you’re talking about the wolf on the Ascension Hall floor and on your surcoat?”

He paused for a moment, his head tilting. “You call it a wolf?”

“Yes. And all I can tell you is that my wolf isn’t made of fae magic. Mine comes from Earth, and we turn into animals that humans expect to see. We can shift at will and can speak to other members of our pack with our thoughts.”

His face wrinkled with what had to be concern. “I’ve never heard of such a thing. Now take a step back.”

I obeyed, hating the way he seemed to be inspecting me. I glanced around, hoping Thalen would save me, but he was in the corner of the room, talking intently to a blushing Myantha.

Traitor.

“What do you think of these trials?” the king asked.

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