Page 290 of Bitten By the Fae

Right. I needed to end this the hard way, then.

I took her next attack and squashed it before it left her hand, then wrapped her in a rope of electricity that sizzled against her struggling form. She screamed and tore through the binds with an impressive wave of power that had my lips parting in surprise.

And all hell broke loose.

Fire poured off her in ripples of purple, red, green, and cerulean, swimming across the floor with dangerous intent. Several of the fae at my back began to scramble, but one of them sent a bolt of lightning directly into Aflora’s chest, momentarily stunning my mate and sending her to the ground on an anguished cry.

Another bolt followed, the red hum telling me the identity of the perpetrator.

“Dakota,” I snapped. “Enough.”

She sent a final enchantment, one meant to paralyze her prey, then looked at me with astute defiance. “You didn’t have the balls to do it, so I did it for you.”

“I didn’t ask you to intervene.” Nor would I have asked her to.

“You didn’t need to. I knew what you needed.”

“Your presumption is out of line,” I informed her, striking out a similar bolt of power to bring her to her knees. “Never touch my queen again.”

“Kai,” my father interjected.

“No. I had this under control.” I focused on all the power humming through the room and canceled it out with a single wave of my hand. The burning thwomp disintegrated to ash, and Aflora’s ropelike flames sizzled into a calming mist. With another brush of my fingertips, the room returned to normal,the paradigm responding to me—its master—and righting all the wrongs.

Then I turned to Dakota’s quivering form on the floor and sent another bolt into her to even the score. She’d hit Aflora twice with that magic before paralyzing her. “While you may have acted with good intentions, Aflora is still your queen and I am your king. You do not attack her without cause.”

“Kai, she felt threatened and reacted,” my father interjected.

An understatement.

Dakota had felt threatened by Aflora since the first time I mentioned she was my mate. The power-hungry Elite Blood had been after my cock since day one. I saw right through her antics—she wanted to use me for her own gain. Just like she’d used Kolstov and Zephyrus. The difference between me and them? I knew how to think with my head.

She would never be welcome in my bed.

I’d made that clear from day one.

It had nothing to do with my ties to Aflora and everything to do with taste.

Just like Dakota’s attack had nothing to do with defending the others today and everything to do with her growing jealousy. I hadn’t missed her little display of possession when Aflora had arrived. The only reason I hadn’t put the Elite Blood in her place was because of the hint of irritation it had sparked inside my mate.

She didn’t like the notion of another woman touching me. I understood that, as I hadn’t been all that fond of her taking other mates. But we’d been separated for years, and the intention had always been to break our bond upon our reunion.

I wasn’t a saint.

I’d fucked around.

However, I hadn’t bonded anyone else. Nor would I.

Aflora was it for me, something I knew the moment I saw her in the dreams. Perhaps even before. I hadn’t been able to look at another woman since the coffee shop. It wasn’t something I’d spent a lot of time evaluating until she’d commanded me to go down on her the first night.

I’d been hers ever since.

She just didn’t know it yet.

Her pain spiked through our bond, causing me to turn toward her. She had curled herself into a shivering ball on the floor, the spell having worn off, leaving her utterly defenseless.

Fuck, she looked so small and fragile like that. A broken little flower, devoid of life.

No one should ever see a queen in this manner.