Page 15 of Hunted (Love and Revenge #5)

“No,” I said. “I’m pushing exactly as hard as I need to so I can ensure my court’s survival. I am supposed to be your alpha and the emperor’s end.”

Yukio shifted, finally looking at me. His gaze was sharper than usual.

Not angry. Just... watching. Measuring. “Robin,” he said flatly.

“Your magic is slipping. Your court is fraying at the edges like a bunch of soft-hearted morons. Your unbonded true mate and your stolen heritage are driving you mad. And the insane, insufferably annoying vampire queen is walking the court with her meat-puppet, being incredibly annoying and not actually offering us any information to help us.”

I narrowed my eyes at him and let a bit of alpha command bleed into my voice in response to his audacity and utter lack of confidence and respect. The ass. “I’ll handle it,” I said.

Martina raised a brow. “You think so?”

Not her too. Did everyone in my court have a death wish these days? The constant insults and challenges to my authority were starting to occur with dangerous frequency.

“One more,” I said softly, in the tone that dared them to keep pushing. “One more person let something stupid fall from their lips please, so I know which of you to roast to perfection and eat as an example to the others.”

Yukio leaned forward, tapping the edge of the table with one finger and sending little branches of frost across the tabletop. “You’re not a martyr, Robin.”

I huffed, smoke curling from my nostrils. Martyr. Now he sounded like Ruya.

I straightened. “You think I’m an unfit alpha?”

Yukio rolled his eyes. “I think you’re so busy trying to protect and corral everyone, that you keep forgetting you’re a part of that ‘everyone’ too.”

Martina didn’t interrupt. She just watched the exchange in silence, her alpha presence heavy but not oppressive. Yukio being all caring like this was a startling turn of events. Maybe I had passed out from the strain of my missing magic and this was all some sort of weird dream.

“I’ve outlined all the resources we have and some possible ways to proceed,” I said, ignoring his odd behavior— and the cat who had the absolute gall to jump up in my lap and make herself at home.

Again. “But it’s impossible to make any real plans until Acacia gets around to providing us with the emperor’s location, or until we manage to find him ourselves,” I said.

“Planning for possible contingencies is all well and good. But it doesn’t help us with our goal.

If we’re going to survive Acacia’s interference, we need to obtain some usable information. ”

Yukio’s voice dropped. “What if Acacia is just toying with us, and has no intention of actually helping us find the emperor?”

I sighed. Clearly Sanka had followed my orders and kept from spilling the tea about Acacia’s other demands.

I hadn’t quite made up my mind what to do about that yet.

On one hand, it might be easier to comply just to shut her up for a while.

But on the other hand... fuck that bitch and everything she stood for.

“She’s waiting for us to dance for her amusement,” I said flatly. “She had Josh deliver a message a couple of days ago. She wants us to jump through hoops for her before she gives us the information.”

Yukio narrowed his eyes at me. “What hoops?”

“Oh,” I said airily, giving a dismissive little wave. “Just a few little assassinations, that sort of thing.”

Sanka huffed. “Lazy fucking vampire can’t even murder her own rivals. How has she managed to stay queen for more than a day?”

Martina sighed. “And I take it we’re not doing the job for her?”

I sneered. “I’m not that idiot’s slave.”

“You know this is probably why she’s been acting out, right?

” Sanka said, crossing his arms over his broad chest and giving me an unimpressed look.

“That bullshit with the wards, attacking Sadavir... it’s probably all just because we didn’t immediately jump to do her bidding the second she delivered her demands. ”

“I’m aware,” I growled. “But I don’t mean to give in to the demands of a petulant child. It will only encourage the behavior.”

Yukio raised one black brow at me, as if silently reminding me that we were already playing along with Acacia’s offer to be allies, so she clearly already thought we were her slaves.

“Regardless of whether we do what she asks, we’re still back to the same question,” he said flatly.

“What if she really has no intention of delivering the information she promised?”

“Then we kill her and find the emperor ourselves,” I said flatly. “That was the plan all along, after all, before she decided to toy with Ruya’s little pet human.”

No one was happy. But they didn’t object.

Martina tapped a sheet of paper that was lying in the center of the table.

“There are some other things we’ve been able to do while we’re waiting for information.

We’ve started preparing additional shelter locations for the unaligned that usually hang out around here.

If The Fox is compromised, we can relocate small clusters of them out of the reach of this area’s syndicate, so they don’t suffer the backlash. ”

Talking about the vulnerable unaligned paranorms and the potential of my nest being compromised flipped a switch inside me all of the sudden, out of nowhere.

I stood and paced once around the room. My hands twitched.

The pressure behind my eyes hadn’t left since yesterday, but now it grew.

This was my nest. Those outcast, homeless, helpless unaligned paranorms were my people.

The syndicate had already harmed them enough, they wouldn’t touch them!

The dragon wanted out. Wanted to take control and burn the whole world down.

But I wouldn’t let it.

Martina watched me carefully. “How long can you keep holding it back?”

“Long enough,” I ground out between gritted teeth.

Yukio’s voice was gentler than I expected. “You’re burning yourself out.”

“I’m fine,” I snapped.

“You keep saying that,” Sanka muttered.

“It keeps being true.”

Silence.

Then the door creaked open. I didn’t have to look to know who it was.

Ruya entered like she always did—quiet, but immediately drawing the focus of everyone in the vicinity, the kind of presence that soothed every paranorm in the room before she even opened her mouth. Omega. Goddess. Mine. I gave myself a mental shake. Focus. Don’t let the beast take over.

She carried a small tray with three teacups and a matching pot, steam curling softly above it, navigating the room with her usual stately bearing and grace, despite her lack of sight.

“I thought I might find you all here without me,” she said as she carefully set the tray on the table.

“Now I feel left out.” That playful little pout of hers nearly ended me.

Martina smiled for the first time all night. Our stunning omega had that effect on people.

Ruya carefully poured the tea and handed cups to each of us.

Her fingers brushed mine when she passed me my cup.

Deliberately, letting her omega aura reach for me, soothing and sweet.

My own magic flared in response, demanding that I claim her.

Pull her onto my lap and sink my teeth into the tender white flesh of her neck.

Drag her back to my nest and fill her with my egg. ...

Fuck.

That was not a thought I should entertain. Ever. I ripped my eyes away from the tempting death-called witch and focused on my tea. But I could feel the others watching me. Waiting for me to lose control.

Yukio’s frosty blue eyes met mine over the edge of his cup as he sipped. “Tasty, don’t you think, Robin?”

He wasn’t talking about the tea, and I was going to kick him in the shin if he kept it up. Or take a bite out of him. I arched a brow at him in challenge. Keep it up, pixie, and you’ll pay.

“You made the damned herbal blend,” Martina said, ruining the fae’s fun by completely missing the innuendo. “Stop bragging about your own shit.”

“It is quite good,” Ruya offered. “And I picked this one because I thought everyone might need some stress relief.” She quirked a wry look in my general direction.

“Or are you planning to pull an all-nighter again.” Her tone said she knew how little sleep I’d been getting, and wasn’t a fan of that plan.

It had been far too long since I’d spent the night curled up with Ruya in my bed. Simply sleeping next to the woman who was meant to be my mate. But I couldn’t. Not with how I was feeling lately. Not with how unstable I was.

I watched her handsome face, wondering if she knew how badly my dragon was insisting on not only making her my true mate, but acting in ways that were.

.. contradictory to my usual preferences.

I wasn’t one to go around wanting to impregnate people, for fuck’s sake.

This woman turned my entire world upside down.

She smiled. Calm. Warm. Knowing.

Gods, I wanted to kiss her. Taste her. Feel her soft hands on my skin.

Instead, I sipped my tea, enjoying the cool wash of magic from Yukio’s herbal infusion. “It’s so perfect, I could drown in it,” I said. And no, I wasn’t talking about the damned tea. A faint blush crept over Ruya’s cheeks, as she finally understood the silly double-entendre.

The silence that followed was warmer. Free from some of the earlier tension and despair. And I knew it was all due to Ruya’s mere presence. She was growing into the queenly omega she was always meant to be.

Martina stood and stretched. “I should go relieve Dusek and take a turn on security.”

Yukio rose as well. “I’ll check our pet vampire, make sure he’s still in his room and see if Acacia has anything useful to offer.

Then I’m taking a nap.” He shook his head at our sorcerer.

“Come on, Sanka, before you blow off a finger or something.” He glanced at Ruya, paused, then very deliberately walked over to her and wrapped an arm around her waist, pulling her in close so he could press a kiss to her cheek.

“You’re right. We all need rest or we’re going to start stabbing each other. ”

A small smile lingered on Ruya’s lips after he released her.

It was so rare for Yukio to publicly express tenderness for anyone.

Even those of us he’d been intimate with for years.

It was a beautiful thing to witness. And it made my dragon want to hoard them, draw them close and keep them always in my sight and never let them go. ...

I pushed the possessive alpha dragon back with iron will and watched Yukio and the others leave abandon me to my struggles.