Page 6 of Mated to the Enemy
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Klaue gently twirled the card around in his hand. The thick cardstock didn’t bend like paper, but he supposed that was the idea with wedding invitations.
Or reminders, I guess.
The invitation had come his way three weeks earlier. It wasn’t long by human standards, he knew, but things worked differently in the shifter world. Which was precisely why he’d RSVP’d for both himself and a plus-one, even though Klaue was possibly the most single member of High House Ursa.
Not by choice. He would be quite content with a mate, but his job prevented him from being free to go out and explore female companionship as often as he perhaps wished. There were downsides to everything in life, and long ago, he’d decided that the prestige of being the second-in-command of the security component for Ursidae Manor was worth the drag on his personal life.
A mate will come eventually. When I am worthy.
That wouldn’t help with the wedding just a few days from then, but it didn’t matter. The wedding was about Kirell and Natalia, not Klaue, and he intended to keep it that way.
Getting up, he walked over through the doors to his working area, putting the reminder on his desk, so that he would see it in the morning. Not that he would forget. Kirell was his boss, after all, and Klaue had nearly been a part of the wedding party, until they’d decided to keep it smaller than was the norm with House Ursa wedding nuptials.
Klaue was happy for the man. Kirell was a perfect Captain for High House Ursa. He looked the part, had the skills, and was respected by all the men who served him. Even Klaue could only claim two of those credentials. The men obeyed him, but they didn’t respect him, not the way they did Kirell. He was practically idolized by the men. Klaue was feared. None of them dared cross him. Hell, most of them were even hesitant to be in the same room as him if they weren’t on duty.
A heavy banging at his door preceded the thick oak rectangle flying open.
“Klaue!”
He sighed. Most of the men didn’t want to be in the same room as him.
“Yes, Kincaid?” he replied patiently as the new Hunter of House Ursa gasped for air.
“Come on, we need to go! Now!”
Klaue stood abruptly, the uncharacteristic urgency in Kincaid’s voice making it clear this wasn’t just another call to come hang out.
“What is it?” he asked, eyeing the Hunter.
“You need to come with me.” Kincaid stepped back and gestured for Klaue to follow, before he swept back into the hallway outside.
Frowning, Klaue jogged after him. The Hunter was another of the Title Holders of House Ursa. Kincaid was new to the position, and so far—as of yet—had not officially done any of his duties.
The Hunter, upon appointment, was somehow altered by magic. Klaue wasn’t sure exactly how it all worked, but it allowed Kincaid to occasionally get glimpses of future mates. To see the strings that bound them.
“Let’s go!” Kincaid shouted, already jogging down the hallway, waving his arm at Kincaid. “No time to waste.”
“Kincaid. What are you talking about? Where are we going?”
The Hunter turned to face him, a gleeful look on his face. “To your mate.”
“Now I know you’ve lost it, Kincaid. I don’thavea mate.” Even as he spoke the denial though, his brain was processing who he was talking to. “Unless…”
Kincaid stopped running and waited for Klaue to catch up to him. “Yeah, sorry, I’m still new at this. It’s never happened before to me. Am I screwing it up?”
Trying not to grind his teeth, Klaue spoke slowly. “Whathas never happened to you before?”
Kincaid’s eyes were slightly yellow, he saw now, looking nothing like their normal blue hue. What was going on?
“I cansee,” the Hunter said. “Come on. She’s coming, and we must be there. Can’t delay a second more.”
Klaue jogged after him, then started running as Kincaid kept up his pace. “Who’s coming?” He asked the question but the answer seemed fairly obvious. Klaue just wanted to hear it from someone else.
“Your mate,” Kincaid said, looking back over his shoulder with a grin before barging through a door and taking the stairs four at a time.
Following the Hunter, he simply jumped from landing to landing. They went down the four floors to the basement in seconds.
