Page 13 of Lord of the Lone Wolf
“Thanks, it means a lot.” Maseo’s heart overflowed with gratitude for the shifter monarch. “I appreciate you indulging my selfishness. I know it’s an odd request.”
“It is no trouble.”
Maseo bowed his head. “I’m still grateful. I hope you’re right about better things lying ahead for me. If anyone could use a reversal of terrible fortune, it’d be me.”
Chapter 6
Maseo
After arriving at the Tiora castle the next afternoon, Kitsuki summoned Kisano and Jaega to discuss the events that had transpired during his absence.
Despite his earlier bravado during their journey, Maseo struggled to suppress his nerves about meeting Kitsuki’s older brother and uncle. His palms were damp with sweat, and he resisted the urge to fidget with the luxurious clothes that Kitsuki had provided. They were more opulent than anything he had ever worn as a rejected halfling. What if they deemed him too much of a risk to keep alive?
Stop it, he chided himself.You’ve faced your father’s rage countless times. You can handle meeting two dragons who have no reason to want you dead.
Yet.
Maseo felt better when Auslin sat down beside him at the polished oak table in a show of support; the mage’s familiar presence was a soothing balm for his anxiety. Kitsuki took his place at the head of the table, his regal bearing makingthe spacious meeting space feel smaller. Afternoon sunlight streamed through tall windows, casting geometric patterns across the stone floor and illuminating the dust motes that danced in the air like tiny spirits.
When Kisano entered, he was nothing like what Maseo had expected. Despite being a full shifter, Kisano was even shorter than Auslin, with delicate features suggesting scholarly pursuits rather than battlefield prowess. He startled upon seeing Maseo, his steps faltering before he regained his composure and sat across from Auslin.
The next person to arrive made Maseo straighten his posture in response to the dragon shifter’s authoritative aura. Jaega was an imposing man, over a head taller than Kitsuki, with broad shoulders that suggested centuries spent wielding heavy weapons.
Yet, for all his intimidating stature, the general’s eyes held wisdom and compassion rather than the cold calculation Maseo had learned to expect from his father’s military leaders.
Most intriguing of all were Jaega’s orange shifter lines, which intertwined with another set that shifted through every color of the rainbow in a mesmerizing display. Maseo had never seen anything like it before. The colors seemed to pulse and flow like liquid light beneath the general’s skin, creating patterns that were both beautiful and unreal. He had so many questions about why the colors changed, but he didn’t feel he had the right to ask. It was enough that they allowed him to sit in the same room as them.
Kitsuki gestured at the half-wolf shifter as he made introductions. “As you can see, Maseo joined us on our journeyhome from Mizujil. Maseo, this is my older brother, Kisano, and Jaega, my uncle and head general of my army.”
When Maseo bowed low, he kept his gaze downcast in a gesture of submission he had perfected under his father’s rule.
Kisano stared at him with wide eyes that seemed to take in every detail of his appearance. “Maseo? As in Nasume’s son? Kio’s lover?”
“Ex,” Maseo replied, the single word coming out sharper than he intended. It was an important distinction that mattered more than ever. “Former lover. That relationship is over for good.”
Kisano’s gaze drifted over to Auslin with silent questions, his eyebrows raised in a way that asked for clarification. They seemed to communicate without words, a skill Maseo envied. He had never had that kind of connection with anyone.
Auslin squeezed Maseo’s hand under the table, grounding him in the present moment. “It was my idea for him to join us.”
Jaega arched an eyebrow at Kitsuki, the expression conveying curiosity rather than disapproval. “And you allowed this?”
Maseo held his breath, waiting for Kitsuki’s response. Everything hinged on his answer. Would they accept him or cast him out? He prayed he had found a sanctuary instead of delaying the inevitable.
“The safest place for Maseo is with us, especially since Nasume tried to murder him,” Auslin argued when Kitsuki remained silent. “He almost succeeded. If we hadn’t found Maseo when we did…”
The memory of lying in that forest clearing, feeling his life ebb away with each labored breath, flashed through Maseo’smind. He could still taste the metallic tang of blood and feel the crushing weight of his father’s boot against his bones. The phantom pain made him shift in his chair.
“Murder?” Kisano repeated in shock, his scholarly demeanor cracking to reveal genuine horror. “His own son?”
“And he came close to succeeding,” Auslin said. “Thankfully, we found Maseo in time for me to heal him. But given the way things are going, his only chance of surviving this upcoming war is by coming here with us.”
Auslin’s fierce protectiveness touched Maseo, even as part of him wondered if he deserved such loyalty. What had he done to earn Auslin’s friendship except be a victim? The thought sat uncomfortably in his mind.
Kisano frowned as he studied Auslin. “But if Maseo is a target for Nasume, that makes him a liability for us by harboring him.”
The words stung, even though Maseo had expected them and far worse. Of course, they would see him as a danger since he was Nasume’s son, trained in their enemy’s tactics, carrying information to use against them. Why should they trust him? Especially given his history with Kio.
“That’s all the more reason we should protect him,” Auslin insisted. “Nasume can’t hurt Maseo while he’s here. There’s no harm to us and everything to benefit him.”
