Page 78 of Mated to the Enemy
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Klaue freaked out, exactly as she’d expected him to.
“Absolutely not!” he shouted. “No way. We are not giving you up at all. It’s not happening, I’m putting my foot down. They will kill you in a heartbeat, and probably your sister too.”
The Queen came down from her Throne, putting a hand on Jessica’s shoulder. “I’m afraid he’s right, Jessica. Theywillkill you. Without hesitation or regret either. To give in is suicide.”
She held up a hand, silencing them both, the smile never fading. “Now hold on. I never said we shouldgive in.”
Klaue’s mouth snapped shut for a nanosecond. “I’m not letting them have you. The argument ends there.”
Sighing, she turned her gaze on the Queen, pleading to be allowed to speak.
“Klaue?”
“Yes, my Queen?”
“Shut up and let your mate talk for a minute.” The Queen winked at Jessica as Klaue’s mouth slammed closed.
“Thank you,” Jessica said, taking her time, the idea coming to her as she spoke. “Now, I said we should do what the Canimexpectfrom us.”
“Fine, I’ll play along,” Klaue said unhappily, crossing his arms in front of his chest and pouting. “What do they expect us to do?”
“Okay, bear with me here.” She snickered at the termbear. Neither of the shifters seemed amused. Spoilsports. “Right, anyway, first off, thank you both for being so protective, that means a lot. In different ways.” Walking forward, she reached out and uncrossed Klaue’s arms so she could hold both his hands, giving them a squeeze, hoping he would see she wasn’t feeling insane or suicidal, but that she actually, maybe, had a plan.
“What you need to know first of all, is what I heard.”
The two bear shifters—and the Queen’s Guards—went still.
“My sister, as you know, is mated to Lorran who, according to Klaue here, is the Captain of House Canis. Am I right?”
“Yes,” Kaelyn said quietly, the Queen looking at her with an intensity that would have left Jessica unnerved before the events of the past week.
“I was visiting her, and went to go get us another bottle of wine, when I heard voices coming from his study. Three, to be precise. One was Lorran’s. One was the mage, though I never caught his name. The third was too muffled to make out, I’m sorry. It sounded vaguely familiar, but I couldn’t place it.”
She ran her hands over her head and through her hair, recalling just what she’d overheard that night. “There appears to be a schism in House Canis,” she said slowly. “The older shifters, such as Lorran and the mystery speaker, they despise you all. Hate you with everything they have.”
“No surprise there,” Klaue said. “Look at what they did to us, corrupting dozens of our number into acting on their behalf and trying to usurp control. Despicable.”
“Well,” Jessica said in a lighter tone. “What you might not know, is that apparently, many of the younger ones wish to fostercloserrelations with you. They want to put aside the blood feud of old and stop the hostilities.”
“Yeah right,” Klaue scoffed, but the Queen just remained quiet, encouraging her to continue.
“If that were so untrue, then why would the older shifters be conspiring to plot against the younger? To kill them before they can take control of the House.”
“Is that what you heard?” Kaelyn asked, coming closer. “You heard them talking about it?”
“They need to be eliminated,”she repeated in her best impression of a male voice.“The sooner the better. Canis and Ursa will never be friends, no matter the wishes of these young bloods. If they can’t accept that, then they will be put down like any disobedient dog.”
Both Klaue and the Queen stared at her in astonishment.
“You’re talking about a purge within Canis,” the Queen said quietly.
“That’s how I interpreted it,” Jessica agreed. “I couldn’t keep my surprise quiet, and one of them heard me. I had to run. I only escaped with the help of my sister, and wound up here in front of your gates. You know the rest.”
“If this got out,” Klaue said quietly.
“Then Canis would be where we were weeks ago,” the Queen finished. “Now I understand why you were so reluctant to tell us.”
