Page 93 of Stolen
“And did you warn your lady fair about your old love interest coming to stay?”
My jaw flexes. “I never had anything with Dauphiné. You know that.”
“Does Jules? Does she know anything about the woman?” he counters.
I cut him a look sharp enough to cleave steel. “Shade will put her in the south wing and see to her needs as a guest of the Eyrie. That’s all.”
Dagan chuckles without humor. “Wait. Dauphiné? That noble bitch from the Onyx Marches? Thought she had you marked as hers once upon a time.”
“She did, but I was not on board,” I say tightly, the words scraping like stone in my throat. “No matter. I have a mate. Jules is all that concerns me. Dauphiné is an ally and a guest of the Eyrie. That is all.”
A moment of silence stretches. Until Thorne speaks, calm and careless. “I thought Jules was a means to an end?—”
I don’t remember crossing the space between us.
But one second, I’m breathing through the hot pulse in my temple, and the next, my hand is around Thorne’s throat, slamming him back against the center pole of the war tent.
The entire space shudders with the force of my fury. His boots drag the dirt.
“She is my viyella,” I snarl, voice low and lethal. “And you will give her the respect she deserves.”
The fire in Thorne’s eyes flares higher—but it’s not defiance. It’s realization.
“Truly, Alaric?” Dagan asks, slower now.
There’s something in his tone. A shift.
I release Thorne. Step back. Look each of my brothers in the eye.
“Yes,” I say, firm. “She is my fated mate. My viyella. And we share the zareth.”
A weighted silence settles in the tent.
Thorne rubs his throat but bows his head.
“Apologies, Alaric. I did not know.”
“None of us did,” Kael mutters, his tone less amused now. “That kind of bond. I haven’t seen a Lord share one with a mate in generations.”
“It changes things,” Dagan adds, arms crossed, golden eyes watchful.
“It changes me,” I admit. “Everything I do now is for her.”
A beat.
“Still,” Thorne says, ever the strategist, voice gravel-low. “Might be wise to watch Dauphiné. That woman’s ambitions have teeth.”
I nod once.
They’re right to be wary.
But I’m no longer a Lord playing pieces on a board.
I’m a male with something to lose.
And that makes me dangerous.
I nod.
