Flustered, I chuckled, unfortunately sounding damn guilty as I tugged my fingers out of my hair — getting that last f**king tangle out, of course, right when they saw it — and pointed to the food across the way. “Sorry about that. I’m just going to get lunch at the…” I jabbed my finger again at the…what the hell was the word?

“Buffet?” Antonio’s golden brows rose as he leaned to rest a crooked arm on top of the table, his chin on his palm with a balled-up napkin covering his mouth.

“Yep,” I snapped, swinging my pointed finger at him. “That’s it.” I started walking backward…and my ass slammed against another table that was, like, a foot away. I didn’t even look at that one, for fear of who might be sitting there. Why the hell did they put them so close? “Food. Yeah, at the…” I pointed once more. Shit.

“Buffet,” Antonio offered again, his napkin still covering his mouth suspiciously.

“Honey, are you alright?” Concern clouded Fi’s expression. “Your face is flushed.”

Oh, Lord, have mercy.

I squeaked, “I’m good.” A point to the food. “I’m going to the…” Shit. “Over there.”

King Kincaid stared. “Come and eat with us when you’re done at the buffet.”

Instantly, I hitched a thumb over my shoulder. “I was going to sit with—”

“I would prefer it,” he clarified, interrupting me.

Oh, God, no.

Out of the corner of my eye…I glanced that way, and saw Felix and Aros storming toward me, all types of pissed. Uh-oh. No time to argue. “Okay.” I looked back at the table, their heads swinging toward me, following my head movements. “Be back in a minute.” My feet pedaled as fast as they could without the appearance of running until I got to an area where there were no tables — I watched where I was going this time — and went a few feet more, then stopped and waited.

“Where the hell did you go?” Felix loomed over me.

“Won’t happen again.” I paused. “Sorry to worry you.”

Aros growled, “We can’t protect you if you run off like that.”

“And with a f**king Vampire,” Felix hissed on a mere breath.

“We were just running up the hill,” I muttered. “We both needed to get away from all these people for a few minutes.” Truth to all.

Both inhaled heavily, then shut their mouths, cognizant of when to push and when not to.

Good elite guards. I was the boss. End of story.

Still, I apologized once more, “I’m truly sorry for worrying you both.”

They nodded slowly, and stepped back, giving me space, so I moved on to the buffet.

Ezra was already there, on the other side of the table farther up the line, giving me a raised eyebrow once-over, most definitely having heard the conversation with his gifted ears, and even seen it, since there hadn’t been any trees in the direction I’d had to run.

I rolled my eyes.

His lips twitched as he lifted a brownie in question.

My mouth watered, and I peered at the table. Last one. Damn. He needed it, since I had just taken his blood. I shook my head, and he placed it on his plate as he progressed down the line. Filling my own plate, I moved to each dish and couldn’t help but be envious, since he was going to sit with Pearl and Jack instead of…

“Ezra!” Cahal barked loudly. “Come sit with us!”

I didn’t have to glance back. I knew Ezra had been walking toward our friends’ table, and now, he wouldn’t be. I wasn’t sure if that was a good thing or a bad thing. Both of us sitting at that table…on second thought, probably not so good. Finished loading my plate, I actually debated skipping orders and going to sit with my friends, but King Kincaid was watching, so I made my way through the tables and sat beside him.

Fi sat on his other side, and she leaned forward, peering around him, asking, “Are you sure you’re alright? Your face is still rosy.”

I waved a hand, trying for calm. “I’m really okay.” I stuffed my mouth full of pasta.

Antonio’s lips pursed and he jerked his head toward where Felix and Aros were standing. “What was that about?”

I had an answer for that one. The truth. “They lost me there for a minute in the crowd and were worried.”

“They’re your elite,” Antonio stated. “Don’t let them lose you.” A command.

My mouth full again, I nodded, and then found my plate fascinating in examination.

That was, until Ezra, who was sitting next to his dad across the table, reached to grab the salt from the middle of the table, and King Kincaid went quiet. Predatory quiet. More than likely, only a Shifter would notice his animal’s wildness silencing, so only Fi and I glanced at him. He was peering down at his plate with his nostrils flared.

Unexpectedly, he moved so brutally fast he scared the shit out of me. He stood, seizing my arm and jerking me to my feet. I dropped my fork and my chair knocked over, but I did manage to keep my yelp at bay. He proceeded to drag me away from the table at a fast clip, not saying a word, working his way through the tables to the woods behind.

No one tried to stop us, and after the initial movement, I tried to keep up the best I could, so we wouldn’t make a scene for whatever this was about. Honestly, only a few people noticed, thank goodness. When we were past the tree line, he continued stalking, taking us deeper into the woods, so far that no one would be able to hear us. Eventually, he halted, releasing me with a jerk.

Pacing back and forth between oaks, his wolf growled low and, still being cautious, quietly he hissed, “I thought King Venclaire told you to be private about your goddamn affair!” His nostrils flared. “And, today, of all days, you decide it’s a great idea to f**k a Vampire on school property?” His wolf snarling, he got right in my face, making my own wolf want to growl, but I knew better than that. “Tell him as soon as he’s done eating to dunk himself in the damn pond. He reeks of you. Any Shifter who comes within a few feet of him is going to recognize, at the very least, he’s sleeping with a wolf Shifter. And no-one can f**king know!”

His forehead banged against mine, staying there, so our eyes were an inch apart. “Both of you need to get your f**king acts together before you two start a goddamn revolt! You’re going to be the Queen Shifter. He’s going to be the King Vampire. The two don’t mix, unless it’s behind a locked, sealed, and barred damn door, and even then, to almost every single Mys out there, it’s f**king wrong. Do you understand me?”




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