Page 65 of The Crownless King
The King of the Bayi didn’t hide, and he certainly didn’t cower from anyone.
Rolling her shoulders and lifting her head, Amaya decided then and there that she would be the same. Hell, she’d been abducted by her mate and hadn’t broken; with him by her side, she could take on the rest of the world. Still, there were butterflies in her stomach as she reached the end of the hallway and the top of the stairs. Below her, Levi waited in the middle of the stairs, and below that, his coven filled the space of the foyer spilling into the dining and living room on either side of that. Her stomach fluttered.
‘What’s going on?’
Levi smiled but didn’t answer. He grabbed her hand when she met him and lifted it to his lips. His soft kiss sent a shiver of want throughout her body.
He turned and faced his coven. “I’m sure all of you felt the change in me, but let this be the official announcement and introduction to your queen.”
She sucked in a surprised breath, her hands getting sweaty.
“Allow me to introduce Queen Amaya Cauly of the Bayi.”
Whistles and cheers went up, the applause flooding the space with sound. Her once-nervous smile widened as she was swept up in the goodwill coming from his coven. Through her tie with Levi, she could feel it all.
It was a heady power.
Levi’s eyes speared her and heat flushed her cheeks. Her legs weakened when he smiled showing off his gold fangs. Gods, this man was too fine. Privy to her thoughts, his smile turned lascivious. Winking at her, he turned back to face his coven.
“Along with the introductions, I want to say something to all of you. Under the influence of the Akachi stone, I was not myself these past few months. I want to apologize to y’all. My arrogance had our coven in disarray. Thanks to your new Queen, I’m back to myself, and back to the business of taking this coven to the top of all this shit.”
A deafening roar of agreement went up and Amaya laughed. Her mate’s coven was filled with both males and females as bloodthirsty as their master. She prayed she was enough to live up to their expectations.
‘I don’t expect anything less from you, baby doll,’Levi encouraged, pulling her into his arms.
The king held up his hand to quiet the noise. “It’s a new time in our coven’s existence. We gon’ claim back thepower stolen from the Bayi and ain’t nobody standing in the way of that. With every new mating in this coven, our power is expanding, and that’s a good thing for us. We’re done hiding in the shadows, accepting scraps. We’re no longer allowing the Collective to tell us who we can and cannot mate. They’ve starved this coven and others like ours and that ends now.”
He leaned down and kissed Amaya until everything around her disappeared. His tongue swept into her mouth and she wanted to melt on the spot. Now that they were mated, Amaya understood his obsession with her because she felt it for him. She would follow this man to the ends of the Earth, and clearly, his coven felt the same.
His loyalty was well-earned. She saw the way he moved for the Bayi, the sacrifices he’d made over the years. It had all been there in his heart and mind when they’d merged. The Bayi were lucky to have him as their leader.
Giving Amaya one final kiss, he turned back to the crowd and touched his fist to his chest.
“Thank y’all for riding this out with me. We’re going out tonight because clearly muhfuckas forgot who I was. But in the upcoming days, feel free to make yourself known to my queen. Dismissed.”
Levi guided her the rest of the way down the stairs and though he’d dismissed the coven, some still stuck around to greet her as they headed to the door. She waved and smiled, accepting their hand kisses as she passed through the crowd. She looked forward to getting to know everyone. Bas and Raven were waiting at the SUV when they got outside.
Raven pulled her into a hug. “Congratulations!”
There was worry in the other woman’s gaze, but Amaya could still feel her happiness for the mating and that relaxed her.
“Thank you, Raven.”
“Are you ready for tonight? We’re going to get stares,” Raven told her, as they both shuffled into the very back of the SUV.
Amaya nodded. “If I can survive Levi’s bad temper, a few stares should be easy.”
Sebastian chuckled as he buckled into the seat in front of them.
“Not too much on me, baby doll,” Levi said dryly as he did the same.
She smiled, rubbing her mate’s shoulder. Headlights illuminated the interior of their SUV, so she turned in curiosity. There were two other SUVs being loaded behind them.
“All these people are coming with us?” she asked.
“Just the one behind us. Lucas already sent enforcers ahead to the restaurant,” Levi told her.
On cue, her stomach grumbled. Food sounded good.
