Page 6 of Hunted (Love and Revenge #5)

“I understand we’re just humoring Acacia until we can get Josh free,” I said, reluctantly bringing everyone back to the topic at hand.

“But this isn’t sustainable. We can’t just stay on high alert and hope Acacia doesn’t act on her threats while we prepare to go after the emperor.

We need a plan that doesn’t mean Josh has to suffer alone with that monster in his head.

At least, not for a single second longer than absolutely necessary. ”

Robin’s red aura flared. She was probably pissed that I’d made it sound like she wasn’t doing anything. “We’re working on it,” she murmured.

“With Josh?” I asked. “Have you included him at all in your scheming?”

The heat and power coming off her subtly increased. “It’s my responsibility to find a solution. I’m the alpha here.”

“Josh is mine,” Sadavir ground out verbally, voice low. His responsibility, he meant. Because Sadavir was Josh’s alpha, not Robin. But... Robin had just implied that the vampire was hers to protect. Interesting.

I held up my hands to quell the alpha posturing that I could feel coming.

“I know you both want to do your alpha thing and keep him safe. But isolating him isn’t good for him.

I think it’s making things worse.” It was driving him mad.

I was truly afraid he might go crazy if he didn’t get out of that room and feel like he was contributing to his own salvation.

The silence that followed was... exhausted.

Everyone was tired. Everyone was angry. Everyone was scared, whether they admitted it or not.

We all knew Josh was suffering. But we also knew Acacia could use him to spy on every single thing we did.

And if we wanted to eventually beat her to the backstabbing.

.. well, we’d need to be one-step ahead.

And we couldn’t do that if she knew everything we discussed.

We also couldn’t talk to Josh about breaking her hold on him if she was just going to listen in and counteract every attempt.

I let my aura expand again—just a little. A balm over fraying tempers. A gentle nudge toward calm.

“I think we should take some time and regroup,” I said. “Not to argue about what’s been already been done, but to decide what comes next. Together. And I think Josh should be involved. This affects him more than anyone else in this room.”

Cicely patted my arm. You sound like an alpha.

I rolled my eyes. “No, I sound like an omega ,” I muttered, under my breath.

“Silly me,” Robin drawled, apparently having the same thought as Cicely.

“I thought I was the alpha of this court.” There was power and warning in her tone, but I knew she didn’t mean it.

She was just going through the motions for the sake of appearances.

Her alpha nonsense didn’t work on me. Mostly.

At least, not in the usual way. I had no desire to cower or apologize.

It wasn’t fear that slithered through me at her warning tone.

I pushed away the surge of lust and the need to please that washed over me at her dominance.

“Hopelessly optimistic,” Robin said dryly, ignoring the surge of power and magic between us.

As if she couldn’t sense that I suddenly wanted her to throw me down and claim me right here, right now, while the whole court watched.

.. “But who knows?” she was saying. “Maybe your squishy heart will be more effective than all of our logic. Stranger things have happened.”

The room was silent, probably waiting to see if she was truly angry.

But Robin just sighed. “Fine. We will do it your way, Ruya. I’ll speak with Josh and include him in our plans.

” Her long nails made a sharp sound as she tapped them on wooden arm of her chair.

“And I’ll come up with some way to allow him a bit more freedom around The Fox, if that makes you feel better. ”

Good. Plan made. Meeting adjourned. My skin felt like it was on fire, and every beat of my heart sent a bolt of need through me.

I needed my alpha. I needed to be touched.

Praised for my contributions. Lavished with attention.

Covered in her scent.... I stood, slowly, and walked toward her, careful not to trip over the coffee table.

Sadavir’s aura flared in response, pulling at me like a magnet, and I hesitated, frozen in the middle of the room, both of my potential true mates calling to the omega need inside me.

Then Sadavir hissed as if someone had pinched him, and Sanka’s deep voice said, “Come on snake boy, I need to check the magic I cast on your pet vampire earlier. Maybe it’ll cheer him up to see your face. I think he’s sick of my ugly mug.”

I felt everyone around me leaving the room, but my focus was narrowed to Robin’s heat and power. Good. This was fine. I wasn’t losing control. I just needed to talk to the alpha. Robin would be less likely to go all defensive on me if I spoke with her alone. There were... things... I needed to say.

I lowered my voice as I moved closer to her. “You’re not alone in this, Robin. And you don’t have to use cold logic and calculation for everything. No one here will think you’re weak if you show kindness.”

“I know,” she said, too fast. She was struggling with her aura. With her dragon. And it wasn’t just because of my omega charms. She needed her birthright back before she splintered into a million pieces.

I reached out and found her cheek, brushed her silky hair behind her ear. Her skin was too warm, even for her. “You’re burning up,” I whispered.

Queen Cat complained as Robin clenched her fingers too tightly in the cat’s fluffy fur, then muttered a haughty complaint, jumped down, and trotted away in search of treats.

“I’m fine,” Robin said softly.

I said nothing.

After a moment, her warm hand covered mine where it lay on her cheek. “I don’t know how to keep them safe if I can’t even keep myself stable.”

“That’s why you’re not doing it alone,” I said gently. “Let us help.”

Her tone softened. Just slightly. “You say that like it’s easy .”

“It can be,” I said with a wry smile. “If you stop fighting it so hard.” I wasn’t just talking about her asking for help, and I think we both knew it.

She still resisted the true mate bond between us, when I knew she craved it as much as I did.

She feared it would just be one more complication, when in reality it might actually help her.

Everything I’d learned about the subject made me think a true mate bond to an omega might stabilize her power.

“Not much actual planning got done in this farce of a planning meeting,” Robin sniffed, deflecting. “Though I knew that’s how it would go. You really do like to fuss over your little pets.”

I knew she wasn’t talking about the actual pets.

Josh was technically an outsider in her court, but she knew I cared for him.

She was willing to go against her ruthless nature and do the illogical thing—keep him alive and placate Acacia—for no other reason than to make me happy.

At least, she wanted everyone to think it was all for my sake.

Btu I knew better. She was an alpha who was strongly driven to care for those under her protection, and the moment Josh—and Sadavir—walked into The Fox, they became hers to protect, whether or not any of them liked it.

Someday, I hoped she and Sadavir could accept that fact and work things out. She hadn’t killed the rival alpha yet, so I had to believe there was hope. Robin was really such a softie.

I laughed at that thought and moved closer, letting Robin pull me into her arms and onto her lap.

The tension eased, immediately. It wasn’t gone, not even close—but as my alpha’s aura settled around me and her hands smoothed over my skin, I was able to finally draw a full breath.

And I felt it in her too, that little bit of ease. Of coming home.

We were meant for each other, and it was so frustrating to be kept at arm’s length. But I understood Robin’s hesitance to complete our bond, saw it for what it really was—fear. For now, this was enough.

Josh was still lost and hurting.

Acacia was still a threat.

The emperor still needed killing and the syndicate needed to fall.

Bur for right now, Robin’s arms curled around me, and her strong, bright alpha aura sang to mine, and the world seemed far less bleak.

Unfortunately, the feeling didn’t last very long. Robin tensed slightly, and a moment later I was able to pick up on what she had. Sanka’s arua drew near again, and his heavy boots thumped across the rug as he re-joined us.

“Sorry to interrupt this lovely little scene,” he said with a bit of wistfulness in his voice that reminded me it had been too long since the three of us shared a bed. “But I’ve got something you need to see, Robin.”

She sat up taller and I shifted around, preparing to get off her lap, but she held me there with one arm around my waist as she reached past me with the other arm. “Give it here,” she said impatiently. “And it better be important, or I’m going to barbecue you for ruining my rare moment of peace.”

Sanka grunted, and paper rustled as he handed something over to Robin. “From Acacia. She had Josh give me a message while I was checking the wards on his room. I wrote it down so I didn’t mess up the name.”

Robin read whatever he had written down, her posture going rigid and her grip around my middle tightening with every passing second.

“What is it?” I asked, gently prying at her arm until she let up enough to allow me to draw a full breath. “Did she say where the emperor is hiding?”

Robin snorted. Her voice was laced with irritation. “No. The little fool has the gall to make more demands.” A low rumble rolled through her chest. “Oh, how I’ll enjoy the feeling of her bones crunching between my teeth one day.”

Sanka sighed. “She’s demanding we carry out some ‘errands’ for her before she gives us any information about the emperor and his movements,” he explained.

Robin let out another short, low rumble of a growl before she caught herself and cleared her throat. “She thinks she can order me around like one of her puppets. The nerve.”

“Can’t she?” I asked, turning to face Robin. “If you don’t do whatever it is she wants, she’ll withhold information. She could tell the emperor we were the ones who attacked him in the pocket world. Or she’ll take her anger out on Josh.”

Robin gave a disdainful sniff. “And? I’ve got resources working on the emperor’s whereabouts as we speak.

Acacia could potentially speed up the search, if she has any real information.

But I don’t strictly need her. Cooperating with her thus far was simply a means of getting her out of my hair so I didn’t have to worry about her tattling on me before we’re ready to face the emperor.

But honestly, if she rats us out, we could easily implicate her in the attack.

We did use her to get into the pocket world, after all.

I doubt the emperor will care that it was against her will.

She knows exposing us would be a risk to her own precious hide.

” She shrugged, as if that was all there was to it.

She was toying with me. I smacked her arm. “And Josh?” I reminded her sternly.

“Oh, yes. Him,” she drawled, as if she had forgotten all about the real reason she had agreed to Acacia’s alliance. “Don’t worry, love. I’m sure Acacia won’t do anything too awful to her new slave—she needs him to convey messages and exert her supposed leverage over us after all.”

That was not comforting.

“What are these ‘errands,’ exactly?” I asked, dreading the answer.

“Assassinations,” Sanka said calmly. As if this was just run-of-the-mill, every day information around here.

“She wants us to get rid of a bunch of people. Reading between the lines, she sees them as competition for the position of empress, or barriers to her full takeover.” He snorted.

“She wants them out of the way before the emperor is gone, so she can step in and take his place without challenge.”

“Assassinations,” I repeated, my voice flat.