Page 64 of Stormbinder King
“That was a damn fool thing to do,” Jack said angrily. “You should have just let us handle it.”
His jaw clenched angrily, and the prince whirled on the other shifters in Symeon’s boat.
“Isn’t it supposed to beyourjob to protect the king?” he snarled, his eyes flashing.
I saw Aurelia’s face, distant behind him, her skin tight with anger, bitterness drawn over her face like a skull.
Then he turned to me, balancing on the edge of the boat and stepping in front of his brother.
His fingers gripped my chin, hard.
“Don’t do anything so stupid again. You could have been seriously hurt.”
“Get your hands off her,” the King bit out.
Jack eyes flashed angrily. “I will touch her any way I like!” he shot back.
“No, you can’t,” Symeon said flatly. “I order you to take your hands off of her.”
Jack’s fingers tightened, and then they were nose to nose with a dagger in Jack’s hand.
“Mine,” he said. “And the moment you fucking think you can order me not to touch her is the moment I’ll gut you like a pig.”
“Stand down,” Solomon called out sharply. “Let’s get out of these gods-damned waters.”
We finally moved away but not before I could feel it tingling all over my skin.
Symeon could lie to me all he wanted, but I knew he wasn’t as uncaring as he pretended to be.
19
The Pack meeting place was where four rivers conjoined, but here the rivers were less wild, less untamed, rows of crops spreading out under the gleam of the late slanting sun.
Betas in the Pack set up tents around a circular meeting place as Alphas placed magical wards around the area.
The Packs all hailed from different regions, Solomon had told me, sleek russet Packs from the east, big wolf Packs from the chill North with thick coats, thin Packs from the South who looked like they’d had a rough winter.
Some of the lean, skinny Packs looked a little too long at me, their eyes greedy and assessing.
“Stonebrewers,” Solomon said, nudging me. “Packs like that have a hard time finding Lunas, human queens to rut during mating season in the spring.”
Mating season?
I had to somehow find a way to escape before that, my god.
“Stay away,” Solomon advised, before joining the other Alphas for the meetings.
The male and female Betas finished setting up the tent and then began to set out food for supper—savory stews and crusty breads, thick-brewed mead and prime cuts of boar.
I unpacked the dried fish and jams I had brought and laid then on the heavy tables.
There was a sharp poke in my back and I turned around to see Aurelia jabbing me with the butt end of her dagger.
“You’re so w-w-w-w-weak,” Aurelia taunted in my ear. “That’s the only reason Jack did that. He doesn’t really care about you. He’s never stopped fucking me, you know. You mean nothing to him.”
Anger flared inside me and I spread my arms wide.
“If you’re so sure, fucking prick me with the other end of that. Then I guess we’ll see if he gives a fuck or not.”
