Page 28 of Roar Letter Word

A smile wormed along Mahes lips until he could no longer contain himself. He let out a jolly chortle of a laugh, leaning forward in his wingback chair and clutching at his stomach for air. Robert was deeply offended.

“That is an absurd suggestion,” Mahes said, wiping away tears from his eyes. “You are telling me that after all of these years of studying Nova Auroran and human relations that the only resolution to a problem such as this would be for me to flee my kingdom?”

Robert gazed around the room, unable to meet Mahes’s glare. He tugged at his tie and swallowed hard, and that was when the king knew something wasn’t quite right.

“You must take into consideration the profound effects if you refuse to depart. You will lose your fated mate, quite literally across galaxies. What is more vital to your existence … your mate or your kingdom?”

It was a question Mahes never thought would be posed to him in his lifetime. One slice of his heart belonged to Nova Aurora, while the rest belonged to Addie. It was a shifter’s nature, yet his stomach dropped at the idea of losing either.

Before he could share his thoughts, Ruzyll came running in, eyes bulging out of his sockets, hand empty of spring water. Mahes frowned and snarled about the interruption.

“Ruzyll, whatever is the matter?”

“There is a man! A human man!” he said, obscenely out of breath. “A human man, a body, outside the property. He’s been killed!”

Mahes’s eyes darted to Robert, gathering up the pieces before his chief of staff had time to line them. The ill-fitted suit and the knowledge of the springs all fit together a moment too late.

When he tugged at his tie, Robert revealed a scar that was instantly identifiable. It was the color of their oceans, a salmon pink, and it gleamed like a full moon.

Robertwasn’t Robert at all. He was a shifter, a lackey, the king scolded himself. His name was Obert Wzanlnd, and the scar that ran along his neckline was put there by Mahes himself.

The king leapt into action, flipping the coffee table and releasing a guttural roar. Obert, ever the coward, fled on unbalanced legs, shoving past Ruzyll and making his way out the front door.

“Close off the gates!” Mahes howled at his chief of staff.

He stormed out of the lounge, through the hallway, and out into the bright and calm day. He trailed behind Obert quite easily, letting out another ground-shaking bellow as the gates of the estate slammed shut, rattling with metallic rage.

“Stop!” Mahes screamed.

Obert eventually did stop, but not out of bravery. He shot out of his suit and human skin at the speed of a gun, the material splitting into sad pieces of confetti over the stone driveway. Mahes was insulted that a lackey of one of his sworn enemies thought he could take on a king, all by his lonesome.

It was clear that he had less brains and far more commitment to the lost cause. Zorrtan had been whispering sweet nothings into his ear, a utopia where he ruled, and Obert would be granted gold and riches.

Mahes would put a stop to all that plastic dreaming.

He shifted, splitting through his own clothing like an electrical storm. Obert charged with slobbering lips and a tangled mane. It took Mahes all of three seconds to slap him aside, his lion body throttled to the ground with a thunderous thud.

The king pounced upon him, pinning his head to the ground and pressing his face into the stone. If he pressed any harder, the bones of his face plate were going to disintegrate into ruby shades of dust.

Mahes flipped him over instead, throttling him with a few punches as he straddled his thin frame. He then clasped his throat, pressing down each pad of his finger one at a time. His enemy struggled for air, his limbs flailing under the weight of the king, his previously golden fur fading to a sickly blue.

Before he was completely drained, Obert shifted back to human form. Mahes did as well, holding him still between his thighs, the flat of his palm pressed taunt against Obert’s vocal cords.

“Why?”the king hissed.

Obert was snickering, blood filtering out through the spaces in his teeth. It wouldn’t be long until his light went out for eternity.

“You … can’t … have it all …” Obert said, bubbles of blood stifling his enunciation. “Pick one … kingdom, or mate … Zorrtan will make sure the female dies …”

Mahes had heard enough. He sat up, relaxing his grip on Obert’s throat for only a moment, then drew across his jugular with a gentle swipe of his most prominent claws. He followed the scar and found dark satisfaction as he watched the streaming of crimson emerge silently down the front of his chest. It was poetic, somewhat, watching it flow like water.

The King got up, emotions stirring inside him that were prominently nameless. Then he gazed up and spotted something that made his heart ache.

Addie was watching him from the terrace.

THIRTEEN

ADDIE

---