Page 77 of Mated to the Enemy
Klaue’s eyebrows lifted in surprise at the boldness. The Queen of Canis might be a human, but Kaelyn of Ursa was a full-blooded female shifter, and he wondered if the Ambassador knew that. Treating her like a child was abadidea.
“Hmm,” Kaelyn said as she stood, taking a step toward the Ambassador. “Klaue, correct me if I’m wrong, but open hostilities means no holds barred, correct?”
“Correct, my Queen,” he growled, watching the Ambassador squirm as the Queen towered over him from her throne, the fingers on one hand lengthening into long claws that would slice the Canim open from belly to throat with one swipe.
The Ambassador swallowed nervously, but—to his credit—he didn’t wilt or back down. “The terms are this,” he said, forced to clear his throat as the Queen shifted more of her entire arm, filling it with muscle and covering it in a layer of sable fur. “If High House Ursa turns over the fugitive, then her sister shall be spared.”
“Absolutely not,” Klaue and his Queen snarled in unison, both taking another step toward the Ambassador.
Klaue very nearly kept going, a scene flashing in his head of his fingers choking the life out of the pompous prick, until his cold corpse rattled its death cry and collapsed to the ground in front of him. The first of many victims he intended to claim in his quest to liberate Zoe for his mate.
Only his Queen’s upraised hand stopped him. Klaue paused in his tracks, quivering with barely-constrained rage as he stared at the Ambassador with a fire burning in his features, a promise in his eyes.You’re going to die at my hands.
“If Canis wants her, come and get her,” he snarled instead, making it clear his position on Jessica. “You won’t touch a hair on her while I still breathe. Is that clear?”
The Ambassador met his gaze and very calmly shrugged, as if he didn’t give a damn. “Very well. I have been instructed, however, to give you forty-eight hours to think about it and come up with your reply. If you choose the wise course, Queen Kaelyn, then meet us with the fugitive at the Cemetery.”
Without waiting for a reply, the Ambassador pivoted on one foot, brushed past Klaue, practically daring him to reach out and strike, and waltzed from the Throne Room like nothing was wrong.
“I’m going to kill him,” Klaue said just before the doors closed, hoping that the Canim would hear him. Then he turned to his Queen. “We can’t give her up.”
“Agreed.” Kaelyn sighed, frustrated. “You know, I’m getting really sick and tired of having to meet people in the Cemetery.”
Klaue growled in understanding, recalling how she’d had to go there with Kincaid to save his mate from a traitorous member of House Ursa who was in league with the Canim. Speaking of…
“My Queen,” he said hesitantly, looking around. “Has there been any luck finding the traitor who sold my team out and told them we were coming?”
“No,” Kaelyn said heavily. “Kincaid has been searching for the traitor for weeks now. Whoever orchestrated the uprising in our ranks has remained hidden and does an excellent job of it. Wewillfind them, and you can rest assured they will pay. But I’m sorry, no leads yet.”
Klaue nodded, then prepared to go, waiting for Jessica to join him. She may have kicked him out, but after what had just happened, the last thing he wanted was to be apart from her.
“Jess?” he called when she didn’t move.
“You guys,” she said thoughtfully in a distracted tone. “I have an idea.”
Klaue lifted his eyebrows, surprised and curious. “What’s that?”
Jessica looked up, an evil smile spreading across her face. “I think we should do exactly what the Canim expect from us.”
