Page 43 of Ascendant King

I glanced at Cade, but he looked away, so I turned to Nia.

“Get the prison rooms ready.” The rooms we’d kept Cade and Isaac in had been unused since we’d all decided that “reluctant allies” was more conducive to taking care of Leon. “We have a mage ‘guest’ again.”

Chapter

Fourteen

“That’s what you’re wearing?” Declan snorted as I examined myself in the mirror. I didn’t look at him because he wasn’t there, even when he came close, blocking my view of myself. “Christ, Miles, a littlecolor, someflair. You know, something to get the underlings excited about this whole thing. You look like a security guard at a Britney Spears concert.”

“She isn’t touring,” I said, unable to resist. Still, I looked around the room. We were alone. Everyone else was busy packing, giving last-minute orders to the people staying behind, or making sure that the wolves taking care of the kids had access to enough funds to keep everything stable until we got back.

“She isn’t touring,” Declan sneered. “Okay, TMZ. Glad for that breaking news. You still look like you’re the guy who gets paid by the guy in charge. It’s going to affect how everyone treats you, especially these other wolves. Alphas can smell weakness—it’s why I always made sure it was clear what was mine.”

“Is that why everything around here always smelled like your cheap cologne?” I tugged on my shirt. “Because we don’t actuallymark territory like that, Declan. That’s real wolves you’re thinking about.”

“I’ll tell you what Iamthinking,” Declan said. “I’m thinking that you look weak, you feel weak, because youareweak.”

I couldn’t let his words get to me. He wasn’t real. Hewasn’t real.He was my own mind making up stories because part of me was scared of being the alpha I was born to be.

“You aren’t real.” I stared over his shoulder into the mirror.

“All right,” Declan said, leaning against the wall, arms crossed over his chest. “All right, Miles, I’m just a figment of your imagination, just your insecurities whispering in your ear that you aren’t good enough.”

Somehow, that made it worse.

The door opened, and Cade walked in. I startled—I hadn’t heard him in the hallway or his hand on the door handle. That was dangerous. I’d been so distracted by something in my head that I hadn’t sensed someone real coming into the room.

“Cade,” I said blankly. “Can I help you?”

Cade frowned at me, and his eyes skimmed the room, as though checking for anyone else.

For a second, I thought,Maybe he’ll see Declan, but his eyes focused on me, not even glancing at Declan when he straightened and whistled.

“Jesus, Miles, nowthere’sa man who’s in charge. Look at that suit.” He walked over to Cade, stopping only a foot from his face and examining the sharp lines of his clothes, the dark pinstriped blue jacket and pants, the high-collared shirt that hid any hint of skin below his jaw.

I kept my eyes focused on Cade’s mouth, reminding myself that he was real, that he was speaking to me, and that I wasnotgoing crazy.

“Are you sure?” Cade finished, and I struggled to remember what he’d said, what he’d come in to talk about.

“About?” I turned around, back to the bed where the supplies and clothes I was taking were laid out.

Carefully, I began putting them in the bag, trying to keep my eyes on the supplies and not on Cade where he stood, staring at me. I didn’t even glance at Declan where he’d retreated to the wall, arms crossed, clearly not about to distract me while I was talking to Cade.

“Taking all of the other packs,” he said slowly, as though he was worried about me. “You don’t know how much you can trust them, and the dryads aren’t going to be happy if you reveal their town to people who could hurt them.”

I blinked, the rest of the conversation coming back to me quickly. “A wolf pack wouldn’t go up against a dryad, especially not in their territory.”

There were stories I remembered my mother telling me, about wolf packs who made the mistake of going into dryad territory. They were eaten alive or sealed inside a tree trunk, their howls drawing every wolf within a hundred miles to the tree, only for them to be pulled deep into the earth, their bodies fertilizing the ground so baby dryads could grow.

“Whether they would or wouldn’t, the dryads might see it as a threat. A dozen packs showing up on their doorstep, ready for battle?” Cade’s voice was dry, and I couldn’t help it. I wanted to see his expression, so I looked up and found him staring at me, his eyes focused on my hands where I was busy packing in T-shirts and pants.

“They can see it how they want. It’s not a threat.” Before he could respond, I nodded, sighing. “But, yeah, I see the problem.”

Cade licked his lips, and my gaze snapped to his mouth, the plush pink of his lower lip, the line of moisture his tongue left behind.

“I won’t question you in front of the others. I understand why that’s a bad idea.” At his words, I dragged my gaze away from his enticing mouth, catching his eyes.

Ever since we had gone to Flores, I felt as though Cade was a different person. He was chilly, but I could see the cracks underneath. He wasn’t the same burning pyre of hatred that was all I had been able to get from him since he found out who my parents were.