Page 9 of Queen Takes Triune
“That’s better.”
“Your wish is my command, my queen.”
I hesitated slightly as I neared Rik, who still stood at the bathroom door. Her silent, watchful alpha missed absolutely nothing. He was almost as tall as me, a feat since I was nearly seven feet tall, but he easily dwarfed me in sheer bulk and muscle. I’d never seen a man so heavily ripped, as if he pumped steroids and threw iron all day.
He was Shara’s alpha. Not me. Never me.
I’d been her mother’s alpha for centuries, and in hindsight, I’d been a relentless, unforgiving asshole. If a new Blood had dared touch a single strand of our queen’s hair without my explicit permission, I would have ripped his head off. Literally.
I had the age and experience to challenge him for the alpha position. But we both knew I would never do so. A queen chose her alpha for very specific personal reasons. Rik was Shara Isador’s alpha and always would be. I had no desire to interfere with their special bond, though I could only hope he’d allow me space enough to make my own bond with her.
I stared back steadily into his eyes, waiting for his reaction. I sensed a tightening in Shara’s bond, a slight quiver of anxiety, but she released that tension quickly. I forgot that she’d only had Blood at all for a few months and knew nothing of our ways. That little reaction told me she’d once feared for Rik’s safety, until she fully understood the crucial role her choice played in who led her Blood. Maybe Mehen had shaken her confidence early on. Leviathan was certainly a formidable beast, but nothing that her alpha couldn’t handle with ease.
She said nothing to us, allowing Rik to handle whatever discipline he wished to hand out. As her alpha should.
His sudden grin made my eyebrows shoot upward with surprise. “Mehen? Really? Ask our queen how we handled the king of the depths when she first took him as Blood.”
Released from his alpha stare, I looked into our queen’s dark eyes glowing with heat. “We fucked him into submission.”
I tightened my grip on her. “You can sign me up for that anytime.”
* * *
SHARA
Llewellyn set me slowly into the hot water and I sighed with bliss. It wasn’t the grotto with its incredible hot spring bubbling up out of the ground, but it was a close second. Even better, Winston had managed to find a tub that was large enough for both Rik and Llewellyn, with plenty of room to spare if I wanted another of the Blood to join me too.
Another time. I had some unfinished business to go over with my mother’s former Blood.
“When I touched your memories in New York City, you said you had one for me alone.”
Llewellyn’s head cocked slightly, his eyes bright and keen as he slid into the tub with me. “I do. I have many memories of her that I’d love to share with you, but she had one message she encoded in my memory specifically for you.”
I leaned up enough to catch Rik’s hand and tugged him toward me. “You should see too.”
He stepped in and slid behind me, drawing me back to lean against his chest. “If you wanted privacy for this message—”
“No. I have no secrets from my alpha.”
He didn’t reply, but I sensed a heaviness in him. The Triune talk had affected him, too. If my life changed, so did his. We’d have more Blood, siblings, and political agreements to work out. Eventually, I might be forced to consider taking Bloodnotof my own choosing and managing them all fell to my alpha.
I’d sworn to only take Blood that I loved. That oath still burned inside me, etched into my bones by my own will as queen. But such a promise might hurt me later. For instance, if I refused to take a Blood offered to me by Marne Ceresa…
The queen of Rome wouldn’t take such an insult lightly. I couldn’t remember who’d suggested it, but queens sometimes exchanged Blood as a sign of goodwill.
A furious flare of jealousy seared through me, making me dig my nails into Rik’s forearms. I would not give up one ofmyBlood. Ever. Especially to another queen.
I hadn’t intended to feed so soon, but I’d broken his skin and blood welled from the small wounds. My strange nails sucked up those droplets of blood and hit my system with endorphins. I could taste him on my tongue. Hot smoking rock and iron, fresh from the forge. My mouth watered and I had to swallow or start drooling.
His chest rumbled against my back on a deep purr of satisfaction, and he tightened his arms around me.
Drawn by my rising hunger, Llewellyn glided closer. “The message is one of the last memories I have of her.”
He hesitated, averting his face.
I reached up and cupped his cheek, turning his face back to me. His eyes were shadowed, and grim lines bracketed his mouth. “Forgive me, my queen, but at times, I hated you, even before she conceived you. I didn’t want to lose her.”
I flinched, my eyes filling with tears. “Having me killed her.”
