Page 164 of The Forbidden Dragon King
Planning for this?
“As if I would,” Aurelius drawls. “You’ll need to take your shirt off for the whip, and who wants to see you shirtless?”
Sickened, I remember the peephole out onto the parade ground behind the academy, along with its whipping post.
My eyes widen.
“Hey, wait,wait.” I straighten, staring between the two Alphas. “Are you fucking kidding? You can’t do this. Daire is pack.”
Aurelius leans back in his seat. “Kit is my pet, as well as your Alpha. I’m sure that you’ve informed him by now that he’s connected to us both by golden threads. But he’s still an enemy king who is only alive because I am keeping him that way. He attacked three guards. Ten lashes is less than I received, when I first entered the academy, for having a button missing on my cadet uniform.”
I pale, remembering the times that King Ulf would whip his own son. I dreaded witnessing what Ulf did to Bard, when the Shadow Wolf King flew into his rages. As much as I hate Bard now, it stirred every protective instinct in me then.
I ball my fists at the thought of either Aurelius or Daire being whipped.
On the other hand, this is a chance for me to find out about the academy, which I want to enter.
I always have a plan, even if it’s a dangerous one.
Don’t they say that you need to take risks to win?
“How old were you when you were sent to the academy?” I ask.
“Six,” Aurelius replies, emotionless. I wince. “Our psycho fae here, therefore, can take the same type of beating that I did as a child.”
Daire ducks his head. “But should I have to?”
I rush across the marble floor to grab Daire’s arm, before he foolishly marches out to the parade ground to prove some kind of point. These two are locked in a knot measuring contest, whenever they’re in the same room.
The two dominant Alphas are trying to figure out how they fit together, and as hot as I think they’d be together with me in bed, I have no idea if they’d end up fucking me or fighting each other.
Killing each other.
“Stop,” I plead. “You don’t deserve any more scars.”
“Aye,” Daire replies, softly. “I do.”
Aurelius’ cheek twitches. “I take it back. Thrashing you isn’t worth these dramatics, when I already feel like my head is about to split open. I’ll think of something else because if I don’t, then my uncle will hear about it and use it against all of us.”
I twist to Aurelius. “You’re doing this to protect Daire from Maximinus.”
“Of course he is.” Daire rolls his eyes. “The coldDragon King in a fated match with his nemesis has only been an act. A really good one.”
I growl.
“Don’t flatter yourself, Kit, you don’t qualify as my nemesis. More like an annoying fly that needed swatting,” Aurelius says with a dangerous curl of his sensual lips. “It seems to me that the cat is a bad influence on you. Also, against the rules. Since when did I allow you, a kitten, to keep a cat? How about this as the punishment: Give me Five.”
He holds out his arms, as if Daire will simply hand over his cat.
Well, that’s a mistake.
Daire’s eyes flash with fury, before he backs away toward the door. “May the cat eat you, and may the Shadow Devils eat the cat.”
I grimace. “Graphic.”
“Is that a no, Kitten?” Aurelius’ smile becomes wicked, a predator sensing his prey’s weak spot.
I stare at Aurelius, warily.
