Page 10

Chapter Ten

Hunter

W hen we get to the dining room, Gryff’s parents, Gracelin, Violet, and my mother are already seated and talking animatedly as we sit. My father apologizes for our tardiness, explaining the magic situation to the king. King Lucas’s eyes widen in shock, and he exchanges a glance with his wives.

“We thought only the palace was affected, but hearing that the grounds were as well is surprising. Is everyone okay? Were there any casualties?”

My father assures the king there weren’t.

“Do you know what caused it?” Gryffin asks his dad, placing a kiss on each of his mothers’ cheeks before finally taking a seat next to Gem. I’m pleased to see the two of them have finally worked out whatever the hell is going on between them, but Lucas’s answer has my attention returning to him.

“Yes, it seems the goddess wasn’t happy with the amount of mates Colbie has and decided to add two more,” the king replies, his brow wrinkled in concern.

“Eight mates?” Brodie exclaims. “Then why haven’t any of them shown themselves yet?” He sounds angry, and I can’t blame him. I also want to wring their necks for leaving the new queen hanging. I’m wondering if someone interfered and stopped them from coming to the palace. If they wanted to interrupt the coronation, it would be a surefire way to achieve it.

Lucas shifts uncomfortably in his chair, and it’s such a rare and unexpected reaction that I’m instantly suspicious.

I look around the table and take note of the fact that Gretchin, Violet, and Gracelin all seem just as uncomfortable. What do they know, and why are they reluctant to talk about it?

“Where is Queen Colbie? Liam is missing as well.” Dad’s eyes narrow. “What’s going on?” he asks, and Mia clears her throat.

“Let’s wait for the queen to arrive. She went to get changed for her shift training this afternoon.” Her chin juts out stubbornly, and I smother a smirk. I know that look, and nothing else will be discussed until the queen reaches the dining room. Even my father, the powerful shifter general, knows when to back down, so he drops his head in a short nod of acquiescence.

“Where is Liam?” Layla asks, feigning casualness, but her body is tense.

“I sent him to get changed. He shredded his clothes during a shift and was only wearing a pair of shorts. I didn’t think it was appropriate for him to come to lunch half naked,” my dad explains gruffly. He’s annoyed about not being in the know.

“Shredded his clothes?” Evie latches onto this information like a hawk, and Brodie chuckles. “He picked up every scrap of material, didn’t he? I don’t like it when you boys leave your bits lying around the grounds.”

“Oh, I can assure you, Mother, none of us want to leave our bits lying around the grounds either,” Gryff remarks dryly, and the rest of us chuckle, his comment loosening the tension at the table. My gaze goes to the man sitting next to Gryff. I can tell they are holding hands under the table, but Gem’s eyes are slightly glazed, like he’s lost in thought. My whole body tenses like we’re on the edge of a cliff, and one wrong movement could send us tumbling down.

The doors to the dining room open with a bang, and Liam, fully dressed in a pair of jeans and a T-shirt with no shoes, strides through, followed by a frazzled queen. She’s dressed in a tight pair of capris and a loose tank top, perfect for the light self-defense moves we are going to put her through today. I can’t help but notice how well the material hugs her delicious figure, molding to the curves of her hips and breasts as well as accentuating the mound between her legs, which my dragon wants to lick.

My cock hardens with a rush of blood, and I shift uncomfortably when the scent of arousal hits my nostrils. Everyone must smell it at the same time, because their attention instantly turns to the two new arrivals, and now that I look a little closer, both of them appear disheveled. Liam’s hair is in disarray, like he or someone else has been running their hands through it, and Colbie’s cheeks are flushed pink, like she’s been exerting herself.

“What the fuck did you do?” my father roars, jumping to his feet, his glare turning lethal as he looks at my bond mate, instantly suspecting the two of them have been up to no good.

Fuck, Liam has done it now. There is no helping him, because the general’s ferocious wrath is focused on him. Liam stops in his tracks and looks at my dad with a flash of hurt before he continues walking, but Lucas gets to his feet and holds up a hand to stop the smoke puffing dragon at the same time as his wife puts a hand on his arm.

“Sit down, Bry, and hold your temper. Goddess, you’re worse than a dragon with a thorn in its claw,” my mother scolds him. My father struggles to gain control of his urge to shift and eat Liam as a snack. I jerk in surprise as Colbie reaches for Liam and whispers something in his ear that’s too quiet for any of the shifters at the table to hear. Then, to my surprise, he leans in and presses a kiss to her forehead before joining us at the table while the new queen remains standing.

“What the fuck?” Brodie mutters next to me.

Gryff’s eyes widen with shock, but Gem nods like he’s finally worked something out inside his mind. My heart races as I smell Colbie and Liam’s combined scent. Whatever they were doing, they were close enough to each other for their scents to mingle, but why were they that close together? Liam’s bear is getting out of control, but he knows Colbie isn’t the one for us. I feel my anger rise, and smoke drifts from my nose. He’s such a manwhore, and I know his bear has been unruly, but putting his hands on the queen is going too far. She is off-limits.

Colbie takes a deep breath, her chest rising and falling with the action, and approaches her spot but stays standing. She laces her hands together nervously as all of us at the table focus our attention on her, but she ignores everyone else and instead addresses my team.

“Ah, so, um… Fuck, this is hard. Oh shit! Should I be saying fuck as a queen? That’s probably not allowed, is it?” she rambles adorably, and some of my anger drifts away.

Gracelin giggles and gives her an encouraging nod. “You can say whatever you want, Colbie, you’re the queen. Go on, tell them what they need to know.”

Gracelin’s words have the desired effect, and Colbie nods decisively, straightening her spine and looking at the five of us, her eyes sparkling with mischief.

“Could the five of you please remove your shirts and show me your chests please?”

Liam doesn’t even flinch and quickly does as she asks. I think, like me, the other guys are stunned into inaction.

“You want us to remove our shirts?” I ask, trying to wrap my head around her request.

“Your queen gave you an order, boys, so I suggest you comply,” Lucas growls at the four of us, and I slowly get to my feet and pull my shirt off, bewildered by the strange request. Gryff, Brodie, and Gem do the same thing. I toss my shirt onto the table in front of me and raise an eyebrow at our queen.

“Darling, if you wanted to get us naked, you only had to ask, but really, do you think the dinner table is the right place for this?” Gem smirks at the queen, his eyes sparkling.

She rolls her eyes and gestures at our naked chests. “If you would indulge me for a moment, please look at your bond mark. Is it different than it was when you woke up this morning?”

My frown deepens, and I exchange a look with Gryffin. Is the queen losing her mind? My eyes drift lower to his chest and widen in shock. The mark that is, or was, the exact match of mine has changed. It now has eight branches instead of six. I gasp and look down at my own, running a finger over the mark that has sat over my heart for ten years now.

“Holy fuck, it has changed. Did the magic do this?” I ask as the other three mutter something along the same lines as me, but Liam is not surprised. I narrow my eyes on him suspiciously. “What did you do?”

He throws his hands up in disgust. “Why does everyone automatically assume I did something?” he mutters, sounding pissed.

“We think the goddess made some changes when that wave of magic hit us today. Like we told you, there are now eight crowns in the throne room…” Lucas trails off as if he’s expecting us to react, but for the life of me, I can’t figure out why.

“Eight crowns and eight branches,” Gem murmurs, his eyes going wide as his attention locks on the queen, and she nods her head.

“I guess it might make sense if I do this.” She strips her tank top off, leaving her in a sports bra. Colbie turns around, and my jaw drops. In the middle of her back, sitting above the band of the sports bra, is a bond mark that is an exact match to the one above our hearts.

“Mate,” I whisper reverently. Holy fuck, the queen is our mate. Brodie, Gryff, and Gem look as stunned as I feel, but Liam is smirking. He obviously knew about this already.

“When? How?” I stammer and lean forward to grip the edge of the table so I don’t haul her over my shoulder and drag her back to our apartment to have my wicked way with her. My dragon is screaming to do just that, but we are a bond group of five, not eight, so we can’t be a match.

“I knew there was another member of our bond group,” Gryff shouts triumphantly before frowning. “Does this mean there are actually three more members of our group?”

“Put your shirts back on and sit down, then we can discuss our theories over a meal. Colbie needs all her energy if she’s going to spend the afternoon shifting with you,” Layla suggests, and I drop into my seat, quickly tugging my shirt over my head. There’s an impatient silence as Lucas directs the staff to serve the meal. I can’t tear my eyes away from my mate. I see her squirm under the intense scrutiny of all five of us, but she’s smiling like she’s happy.

“This explains so much, like why my tiger couldn’t get enough of you in the stables and felt comfortable going to sleep on your lap.” Gryffin stares at her with wonder. He reaches for Gem’s hand again, but this time it’s in plain sight, like it’s automatic, and I sigh in relief when Gem doesn’t push him away. Colbie will need to understand they come as a package, but I don’t think she cares. She looks at their joined hands and smiles, squirming in her seat. A fresh waft of cookies and frosting hits my nostrils, and I almost groan out loud, not upset in the least.

Lucas instructs the staff to leave us and gestures for us to begin eating. Everyone else at the table does, but the six of us don’t. It’s kind of like nothing else exists around us and we’re in our own little bubble, all of our attention focused on the queen and her on us.

Dad clears his throat. “Well, I’d say congratulations are in order and welcome to the family, Colbie.” He beams at her and raises his glass to the six of us. “You couldn’t find a better group of mates if you picked them yourself, but I don’t envy you trying to keep them in line. It’s taken the six of us all our strength since their group formed to keep them out of trouble.”

Everyone at the table laughs, and the tension in the air breaks. “Eat, my queen,” I rumble. “You are going to need all your strength,” I tell her, not hiding the desire I feel for her anymore.

“For shifting?” she asks, picking up her fork.

“And other things.” I wink at her, and it’s like her brain short-circuits for a moment, her fork pausing on its way to her mouth. A pretty blush heats her cheeks, and I chuckle at her discomfort. God, she’s adorable.

“Phew, the sexual tension at this table is off the charts.” Gretchin wrinkles her nose. “Can we maybe discuss our theories about the magic and what happened?” she asks.

“So eight mates? Does this mean there are three more out there somewhere?” I drag my eyes away from the woman who just became the most important person in my life.

Gryff is frowning but is still holding Gem’s hand while he eats with the other one. “The witch only told me there are six of us.”

“I told you she was a crackpot,” Liam mutters.

“I think originally there may have only been six of you,” Lucas says thoughtfully, “but something we did today must have changed it.”

Violet gasps. “Colbie decided to invite the fairies and mers to have representation on the council.”

My eyes widen in shock, and I look at our queen with surprise. I’m not the only one. Dad and my brothers are doing the same.

“You did?” Brodie asks her, and she nods and smiles, returning her attention to her meal.

“But she also invited the equine shifters as well, so why wasn’t it nine mates instead of eight?” Mia argues, and Colbie puts her fork down.

“Actually, I think I have the answer to that.” She looks like she’s running some things around in her mind before she nods. “When I was first marked, I thought I could run away. I didn’t want to be the shifter queen and thought that if I didn’t appear, the magic would choose someone else.” My heart sinks at the thought that our mate doesn’t want to be here. “But the goddess quickly took care of that when she appeared on the beach and basically told me to suck it up. Shortly after that, I ran into a man who offered me shelter from a storm.” She blushes again, and it doesn’t take a genius to work out something happened between them.

My dragon roars inside me, and I bend the fork in my hand in my rage. Some other man had his hands on our mate. Growls and snarls echo from Brodie, Liam, and Gryff, while Gem’s entire body lights on fire again. He swears and jumps back from the table again so he doesn’t set anything alight. He stands there, staring at our mate with a look of betrayal.

Her eyes widen, and she stands as well, holding her hands up in a placating manner. “He had the same mark on his chest that the five of you do,” she says in a hurry. “But at the time, I just assumed it was a tattoo. He told me it was from a former life, and I had the feeling he didn’t want to talk about it, so I didn’t push. He’s the one who gave me this.” Her hand goes to the pendant around her neck. “He had a matching one, and I’m assuming he was hiding the fact that he was a shifter. Before I got to the palace, I just assumed he was human, but too many things have happened for him not to be one and a part of your bond group.”

“But why wouldn’t he present himself to the bond center to find his group?” Gryff sounds bewildered, his snarling cutting off with her explanation. “I’ve been searching for him for years. I didn’t look in the human zone because shifters aren’t allowed to live there, so I thought there was no point.” He sounds crushed.

Colbie shrugs helplessly. “I don’t know, but I do know where to find him and will show you as soon as we can,” she promises.

“He obviously doesn’t want anything to do with us.” Liam sits down and crosses his arms, a stubborn set to his jaw. Liam won’t understand because being in a bond group was a blessing for him. His family members are assholes, and it gave him the means to get away from them. Most shifters see being part of a bond group as a blessing, and we are stronger as a group because of it, so why wouldn’t this stranger feel the same way?

“Well, he’s not going to have a choice. Colbie can’t be crowned without him,” Dad points out, and Colbie winces.

“I don’t want to force anyone to do anything they don’t want to do. Nox has an underlying sense of sadness, but if I had to guess, I’d say he’s been hurt by something or someone, and if we are going with the assumption that my other mate must be an equine shifter, it would explain why he’s reluctant to join a bond group. You said they were treated as lesser because they aren’t predators.”

“That would also explain why you can shift into a pegasus. He must be one,” Violet blurts with excitement.

My mother nods, a look of understanding crossing her face. “That actually makes sense. Equine shifters, even the mythical ones, have always been looked down on, and some of the shifter towns have made their equines feel very unwanted. Most of them have banded together in Zalfari to escape persecution.”

Gryffin looks startled at this information, and his lips purse as he frowns. He’s about to say something, but Mom looks at Colbie with intense scrutiny.

“If he is a pegasus, that means you can shift into two of your mates’ forms.” She nods at Brodie. “Brodie is a wolf, and Nox is a pegasus. I wonder if you can actually shift into all your mates’ forms. When you practice this afternoon, you should try one of the others as well. If it doesn’t work, it’s not a big deal, but if it does, it would be incredible.”

Lucas growls and slams his fist down on the table. “I tried to put a stop to the way the equines were treated, but the council wouldn’t let me. They insisted that shifters are a hierarchical species and if the equines couldn’t fight back, then they deserved what they got. Even with the equine mythical species, most of their magic is passive—tracking, healing, illusions, and weather manipulation—so not much in the way of attack magic, and they were run out of towns.”

Evie reaches over and grabs his hand, giving it a squeeze. “Don’t beat yourself up. Colbie is going to fix everything that is wrong with our society, I just know it.”

Colbie winces and looks unconvinced but gives Evie a small nod. “I’m certainly going to try my best,” she promises.

“I was just at Zalfari, and I didn’t see any sign of equine shifters. It was weird, actually, The village alpha was shifty as fuck and gave off distrustful vibes. He wouldn’t let me question anyone except a few people selected specifically by him. He claimed that because they lived at the base of the Aramis Rift, a curfew was in place due to the ferals that occasionally wandered into town. It certainly wasn’t the equine haven you make it sound like,” he tells my mother, and she exchanges a worried glance with my father and the king.

“So where are the equines then? And if the feral problem in Zalfari is so bad, then why haven’t they called in the armed forces?” Dad growls, and I know the alpha of Zalfari is going to get a visit he probably doesn’t want.