Page 43 of All for the Beast

Katy could have sworn she saw something pass through V’s eyes, perhaps something mournful, when another shifter walked up to the table to interrupt their silent exchange.

“Hello, I hate to intrude upon this lovely dinner,” the man said. “But I wanted to introduce myself to you, Prince of Siborim.”

All three attendants at the table turned to look up, seeing a man that was lean and tall, quite like Vharlk, but not as handsome. His eyes had a gray dimness about them, with little lines of bloodshot veins coursing through them. They made Katy think of a horror movie version of ChristmasLights.

V turned to face the man, a look of bemused annoyance on his face. He kept his arm wrapped around Melyn, who continuously leaned into him like they were attached with glue.

“I know who you are, Dimess,” Vharlk began. “You’re some distant cousin with a flimsy claim to the throne.”

Dimess smiled minutely, then bowed his head toward Katy, who he seemed to be directing most of his words toward.

“I am a gentleman at heart, sir. I must make myself known to these lovely ladies if you’d allow it, My Prince.”

The tone of Dimess was obviously sarcastic, but V bowed his own head in feigned respect, allowing the man to go on with his own tale of supposed rights.

“My name is Dimess Brontze. As our prince stated, I am a cousin of the Siborim family pack, related some ways down the line, I freely admit. But I assert that I am indeed the rightful heir of the throne.”

V lazily leaned onto his palm and raised some wretchedly condescending eyebrows. Katy knew they were both wolf shifters, which meant that a fight could realistically erupt at any second. She was sitting between the two men and really didn’t want to get caught in the crossfire.

Something in Katy assured her that Vharlk would never let that happen.

“Do go on,” V said sarcastically.

Dimess didn’t skip a beat.

“You must do the honorable thing, Prince Vharlk, and step aside to allow someone such as I to take the place of heir once your father has passed.”

All Vharlk did was blink heavily, then waited, his chin still pressed into his palm.

“Say it,” V sneered.

Katy’s heart hammered as she gripped the empty glass in her hand. She wasn’t a shifter, but she knew that she could easily shatter it if she became afraid enough.

Dimess leaned on the table, his long stringy fingers curled up against it like two massive spiders. His top lip rolled up and over bright pink gums, almost the same shade as the Nova Aurora sea.

“I challenge you,” Dimess hissed. “To a fight to the death.”

A part of Katy expected the din of the restaurant to freeze, to drain into utter suspenseful silence, but none of that happened. Patrons merely continued on with their meals and banter like their leader wasn’t being threatened.

V flashed Dimess a smirk. It was the smirk that made Katy want to tumble with him into bed from the moment they’d met. He slid his arm out from under Melyn’s head and cupped his hands to lean forward on the table, narrowing his glare.

Although it was a highly tense scene, a part of her body longed for V again.

“And what makes you think that you have any right to that?” V said, growling low.

It was Dimess’s turn to smirk.

“I have a mate. You do not.”

Katy felt her heart sink, and at the same time, Dimess shot her a look. Their eyes met briefly, but Katy couldn’t look into them. There was too much pain and too much truth in there that she wasn’t yet ready to consider.

Vharlk began to chortle with laughter, but Katy knew him well enough to know that it was forced, an attempt to veil his apprehension. He banged on the table and wiped away a tear, not realizing that Melyn was slowly slithering out of the booth.

“And that’s your only threat?” V said, still chuckling. “And what makes you think I don’t …”

“We know you don’t.”

Melyn had snuck away from V in the booth, then stood next to Dimess. She gripped his hand as he stood from the table, both staring down with their ghastly stares.

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