Page 20

Chapter Twenty

Colbie

L ike me, Micah has a pack, but the rest don’t. I guess they have what they need at their apartment. They haven’t moved everything to the palace yet, because we haven’t exactly told anyone but their families that they are my mates. It will be common knowledge soon enough, but for now, we want the people who are after me to think they still have a chance at the crown. They might get sloppy and reveal themselves, or that is at least what we hope. Essentially, I’m bait, which isn’t exactly comforting, but I’d prefer they make a play for me and fail than for this to drag out too long. I’d hate to be constantly looking over my shoulder for my entire reign.

Hunter shifts, and Micah and I climb onto his back. Micah wraps his big arms around me and drags me back against him as Hunter takes off into the sky. The temperature drops rapidly as he picks up speed, and I shiver, my shifter body heat not doing a lot against the frigid temperatures. The clouds are thick, and the smell of snow is in the air. Hopefully it won’t actually happen, or it will make our mission uncomfortable.

“Are you okay?” Micah murmurs into my ear.

I tuck my chin in, making myself smaller, and mumble, “Yes, but I think I’m going to need some warmer clothes.”

Hunter must hear me, because his body warms beneath us, making my stiff legs relax.

“You will be fine when we’re on the ground again. Gryffin says they have a vehicle for us to use in the human zone. It wouldn’t be very stealthy for the humans to see a group of shifters running through the streets or flying overhead.”

A flash of light out of the corner of my eye catches my attention, and I turn my head to find Gem’s phoenix keeping pace with us.

“I bet he isn’t cold,” I grumble, watching his flames with envy. “He also isn’t very stealthy,” I point out. Despite being huge, Hunter’s dragon’s dark purple scales blend in with the night, but Gem’s phoenix is like a beacon, but just as the words leave my mouth, Gem disappears from sight. I cry out and lurch forward, looking around the sky for him, but he’s gone.

“What happened? Where did he go?” I shout to both Hunter and Micah, and Micah tightens his grip so I don’t slide off in my panic.

“Hunter says Gem has the ability to go invisible. He must have heard you comment about lacking stealth. He’s still there, we just can’t see him—something about a phoenix being able to bend light.”

I sag with relief but turn my head to look at the merman. “Hunter said?”

“Yeah, it’s pretty cool. We have telepathy now that I have the bond mark. Hunter says that you should be able to do the same with Liam. Just concentrate on that feeling inside you that you gained when your mating bond snapped into place and push your thoughts to him.”

I do as he says and find that ball of warmth that I know is Liam inside me. Liam?

Colbie, are you okay? I hear his voice in my mind, and I feel his concern. That is so cool!

Everything’s okay. I just found out about the telepathy with bonds and was trying it out, I assure him, and his worry recedes before I feel his amusement.

Yeah, it’s pretty handy. It means I can do this . His amusement fades, and I’m gripped with an intense rush of desire that causes me to gasp while my core throbs with need.

“Colbie, are you okay?” It’s Micah’s turn to sound worried, but I just wave a hand at him, signaling I’m fine because I’m doing everything I can not to moan and beg him to touch me to ease the ache.

“Colbie, why do you smell like you want to fuck?” he rumbles in my ear, then he pulls me tighter against him, his cock pushing against my backside as one of his hands slides from my waist up to my breast where he cups it firmly.

“Liam is showing me the fun things he can do with the bond,” I rasp, and Micah groans.

The desire eases away, and I hear Liam in my head again as the lights of the neutral zone come into view. Your mer mate is no fun, he grumbles, but his presence recedes. I guess Micah must have used their bond to tell him to cut it out. I appreciate it, but I’m also kind of intrigued about what it would feel like to fuck Micah on Hunter’s back while we’re thousands of feet in the air. Jesus, maybe the high altitude is getting to me.

Micah gives me a little squeeze but stays silent as Hunter coasts over the neutral zone, descending slowly until we get to the tall building that I recognize as night watch headquarters. He touches down gently on the roof of the building, and Micah and I climb down before he shifts. A guard pokes his head out of the security building, and Micah steps in front of me, blocking his view.

“Commander Hunter, you’re here early,” he says, and Hunter also moves to block me from his view.

“Not an early start, but a late evening, if you get my drift,” Hunter replies suggestively. “My friends and I are just heading to our apartment.” He makes it sound like we’re having a late night booty call, and it seems to work.

“Have fun,” the guard calls with a laugh and returns to the building. Hunter wastes no time ushering us to the stairwell and down into the structure. No one else seems to be around, but I keep my head down so I can’t be recognized on any security cameras the building may have.

We don’t talk as we make our way down in an elevator then out into the street. Thankfully there weren’t any teams around. Hunter quietly explained that they should all either still be out on patrol or in their apartments sleeping.

The weather has gotten worse. It isn’t quite cold enough to snow, but there is a steady drizzle, and I wrinkle my nose. Ugh, although it isn’t raining heavily, we are still going to be wet by the time we make it to the bakery, so we don’t waste any time. The three of us move swiftly, but not too hastily to attract any attention if we happen to come across a watch team. They should know Micah and Hunter have permission to be out after curfew, and hopefully they won’t stop to question us. I also have permission, but we don’t want it to be common knowledge that the queen has left the shifter zone. The girls, the king, and queens will cover for us for a few days, even if they have to share that I found a mate and I am busy sealing the bond. That will buy us time if the rest of the council starts poking around. I’m supposed to have a meeting with them in a few days, but Lucas told me he can delay it if we tell them I’m in the mating frenzy.

We use the back alley to the bakery when we arrive, and I call out so I don’t give my grandparents a fright when I surprise them with my visit.

“Granny, Grampy, it’s just me,” I call as I push the door open. The heat of the kitchen rushes out, and I sigh with relief as I enter, clothes completely soaked from the drizzle. Both the guys seem to be in better condition, and I wonder if their uniforms are water repellent.

“Colbie, what a lovely surprise.” Grampy has a piping bag in his hand, and there is a smudge of white powder on his nose, which makes me grin.

“Goodness, child, you are soaked,” Granny scolds me and hurries to the cupboard, pulling out some towels and passing them around.

“Micah, these are my grandparents, Jenny and Joseph. This is Micah. He is one of my mates,” I tell them. “And so is Hunter.” My grandparents both greet them warmly.

“You found your mates!” My granny looks at me with sparkling eyes. “And such handsome ones too. You’re a lucky girl.” She gives me a wink, and the guys chuckle while I blush.

“We aren’t the only ones. She has a few more,” Hunter tells her, and Grampy frowns.

“How many?”

“Ah… Um… Six more,” I tell him awkwardly, and his mouth drops open in shock, but Granny’s grin just gets wider, if that’s even possible.

“Very lucky girl,” she says as Grampy grumbles under his breath. “And what kind of shifter are you?” she asks, and this brings a look of excitement and anticipation to Grampy’s face, distracting him from the other news. She’s such a clever woman.

“I’m a hydra,” I tell them, and they both gape in shock.

“A hydra? Oh my, that is certainly a surprise.” Grampy sounds proud and relieved despite his shock. “Nothing will stop you now.”

“No, but we need to keep that on the down-low. We haven’t been making it common knowledge,” Hunter explains as he towels off his hair. Micah is doing the same, and I take a moment to look around my kitchen, feeling a pang of longing. I miss being normal so much, but I can’t deny that my life is certainly a lot more exciting now, and wasn’t that what I secretly wanted?

I take stock of what they have already made, and it seems like all the muffins and cupcakes are baked but need to be iced. Granny has something bubbling on the stove, which I’m assuming is the marshmallow that Grampy has been piping into animals. He has half a table full of them. I see dragons and wolves so far. He sees me eyeing the creations and winks at me. “I’ll have to come up with a hydra design for your coronation.”

My eyes prickle with tears, and I concentrate on drying myself off so no one sees them.

A commotion at the door has everyone turning to look at it again, and Gem, Brodie, Gryffin, and Liam all walk in. Liam strides straight to me and tugs me to him, giving me a quick kiss before stepping away and inhaling deeply.

“God, I missed you,” he mutters quietly. “That was rough. I don’t want you out of my sight again, if possible, for a little while. The mating bond is making me needy.”

“Pfft, you’re always needy,” Gem scoffs, grabbing my granny by the waist and spinning her around before kissing her on the cheek. She squeals with surprise but smiles at him when he says, “Jenny, you are looking gorgeous, as always.”

“Get your damn hands off my wife,” Grampy grumbles, but I see his eyes sparkle with amusement, and I’m a little shocked by how comfortable they are with one another.

“What is going on?” I ask, and my granny pats Gem’s cheek.

“These boys have come by every day to make sure your mother isn’t here causing us problems,” she tells me, and I gape at the guys in surprise.

“Well, we couldn’t have her stirring up any more trouble for our queen, who is also our mate,” Gem says, and Granny claps her hands.

“All of you?” she asks, looking at them as Brodie snatches a muffin from the cooling rack.

“Yup, isn’t she lucky?” He winks, breaking it in half and shoving one piece into his mouth.

“More like you’re the lucky ones, and the damn menaces have been conning your grandmother out of our wares. Been cutting into our profits,” Grampy mutters and starts piping again so the marshmallow doesn’t set before it can be formed into creatures.

Jesus, how did I get so lucky? They didn’t even know we were mates before yesterday, but they were still making sure my grandparents were okay. I fall in love a little more with all of them.

“Now how about you all get out of my kitchen? It’s too crowded with all of you assholes in here.” Grampy shoos them away with the piping bag. “Going to get stray hairs in my little critters. Go make yourselves a coffee or something.”

I give my mates a nod of reassurance, and thankfully, they don’t argue. They all march through the kitchen door and into the café, and Grampy sighs heavily with relief.

“Have your hands full there,” Granny comments as she returns her attention to the pot bubbling on the stove.

“You have no idea,” I reply, smiling. Her eyes go to the bite mark on my neck, and she sighs happily.

“It’s such a relief to know you have mates who will look after you like you’re the most precious thing in the world.”

“And so they should,” Grampy mutters, “though I don’t know why she needed so damn many of them.”

I grab the sieve of corn flour he uses to set the marshmallows and start shaking it over the animals as he pipes, and then I fill my grandparents in on everything that has happened, knowing I can trust them. They listen intently, only interrupting for clarification here or there, and we have a neat row of tigers and bears by the time I’ve finished telling them everything.

“Phew, Colbie girl. Seems like you are in a right pickle,” Grampy says while washing and drying his hands before leaning against the sink. “Well, don’t you worry about a thing here. Jenny and I are loving it here, so at least that’s one worry off your shoulders.”

I give him a big hug, and he hugs me back. I sag against him, feeling no small amount of relief at his words.

“Thank you. Both of you have made this transition so much easier. I know I’ll probably never be able to return, but I would have hated closing down my dream. Once I’m crowned, I’ll put out feelers for a full-time baker, I promise.” I tell them, but they quickly assure me there is no rush. I feel no small amount of relief that at least one thing in my life is going right.