Page 18 of Rejected By the Shifter King

We'll need to customize—-ah!Estrella squeaked in surprise when Lysander scooped her off her seat and placed her on his lap instead. Twisting around, she gazed up at him, confused.Lysander?

Violet eyes glittered down at her.The beast in me...needs you...near...constantly.

Estrella's lips parted in silent surprise. No one had ever been this possessive towards her before, and for it to be Lysander...

The feel and sound of movement underneath them was a welcome distraction, and Estrella quickly looked away as the van started moving. Her cheeks felt a little too hot, and she resolutely pinned her gaze to the window, where she could see the crowd of humans lurching into movement as soon as their van rolled down the road.

Lysander's attention was also drawn to the stampede. The moment their van sped away, the humans had seemed to turn into a zombie horde, running with their arms stretched out, pushing and shoving at each other for the sake of...a photo?

Estrella saw Lysander's gaze snap back to hers after watching the humans nearly kill each other for a chance to get one clear shot of them. His puzzlement was obvious, and she remembered too late that all of this must still be new to him. Before he left, their existence had been a secret. Now, the whole world didn't just know them. Now, humans either feared or worshipped their kind...and neither was a good thing in the long run.

"Your Highness." Alain's gaze drew their attention, and Estrella noticed the way Lysander's gaze had narrowed sharply at the twins. The two men were seated on the row opposite them, their handsome faces calm but unreadable.

Estrella touched his paw, a tiny part of her worried that Lysander might have forgotten the decades-long friendship he shared with the two.You remember they're on our side, right?

I...remember.

Her brows furrowed.But?

Instead of answering,he spoke of a different topic.Since when have humans known?

Not long after you left.Estrella accepted the change of subject without question. Perhaps it was because she had always been the most quiet and overlooked of all the Moretti children, she had grown adept at reading the undercurrents of a situation. Instead of prying, she had learned to watch and wait, patiently biding her time until she knew it was the optimum moment to speak or act.

And right now, what Lysander clearly needed most from her was to step back. Whatever issues he had with the twins, he intended to be the one to personally resolve it, and that was good enough for her.

Lysander...She waited until his violet gaze found hers before making an attempt toshowhim her thoughts instead of merely speaking them in her mind. She wanted to see if she could use her own memories and have him see and relive them so that he would understand the events that had transpired and forced Domenico to reveal the truth about their existence.

A vampire-led attack at a detention camp, with Danilo Moretti hoping to turn all the stateless immigrants and have them join his army. It would have been a complete massacre if not for Domenico being nearby and making the split-second decision to come to their rescue, even if it meant exposing the truth about his nature.

At that time, it had just been Domenico and his brothers, but as soon as news of the fight reached the Moretti pack, the rest of his men rushed to join him in battle...along with all other Lyccan packs and Domenico's numerous allies from other races.

From being outnumbered and standing at death's door, the tables had instantly turned and fortunes reversed, and the vampires had been forced to retreat. Lives had been lost, but more - so many more - had been saved, and it was in light of Domenico's selfless heroics that L'Alliance had come to pass.

A moment later, she saw Lysander nodding—-

Oh thank God, it had worked!

Such a thing could be incredibly advantageous, especially now that they were in war, and Estrella was about to exclaim (mentally) how happy this new shared talent of theirs made her when she felt Lysander suddenly stiffen just as the van rolled to a stop.

They had finally reached her apartment building, and a huge platoon of Fae soldiers was waiting outside it, all of them eager to welcome their prince come back from life.

"Lysander—-"

A snarl, one she heard not just in her mind but out loud, too, and feral enough to have the twins right away placing their hands on their sword handles.

Tell everyone to...get out,Lysander gritted out.I need...to be...alone. With you. NOW.