Chapter 22 Chapter 22
Ty
One second she was dancing in my arms, and the next her lips were on mine and my arms clutched her to me. Insistent and needy.
Sloane's lips were soft, tentative almost but the moment she kissed me, mine weren’t.
I clutched her tighter, my hands touching as I cupped her waist and lifted her clean off the floor, she was so small it was the only way I could kiss her properly.
And kiss her properly was what I was going to do.
I felt her lips tremble, almost like she didn’t know what to do next and then my mouth parted hers. Just slightly, just enough that my tongue could slide and taste the inside of her lips.
Need exploded inside of me. A beast even more terrifying than the one that lived inside of me and even harder to tame.
In all my years alive, I had never felt a need like it. It was like a volcano that had laid dormant for years and was now ready to blow.
If I hadn’t known years ago that Sloane was destined to be mine then I knew it now and there was absolutely no doubt.
It was her, that touched the tip of her tongue to mine tentatively. A little wanton act that hit me somewhere in the lower stomach.
My body rumbled with the need to take her away from the prying eyes of my pack and lay her down somewhere more private so I could kiss her properly.
Sloanes mouth on mine was the only thing I could think about , right up until I felt the air around her shift. And my brothers rumbling chuckle filled my ears.
“Are you playing without me?”
My eyes flew open, dimly I could see him pressed to her back. So she was trapped between our much bigger bodies but then her face caught my attention.
She was staring up at me , with wide eyes. Full of something I couldn’t name.
Was that fear? Or something else?
Clearing my throat I tried to force my body to relax. Dropping her back to the floor. “Are you alright?”
She nodded , her soft eyes still tilted up to my face.
“You’re eyes.” She whispered.
Instinctively my hand went to my face.
Had I changed? Had I started to shift because I had lost control for a split second.
“They are beautiful.” She whispered.
I froze.
Had she really just said that? Or was this all wishful thinking?
“I’m-“ I swallowed hard. “Glad you think so. I would have thought you were afraid of us.”
“She screamed when I first shifted in front of her.” Eirian chuckled. “So I don’t know whether to be offended.”
He was only half joking I knew.
Twisting her neck she turned her head to him. “That was before.”
My eyebrows flew up. “Before what?”
“Before I knew I was safe with you.”
It was like someone stomped the air out of my lungs in a whoosh.
She felt safe with us.
Over her shoulder I caught my brother's message and a silent message passed between us.
“I’m not afraid of you , I am afraid of-“ she trailed off and I watched as her eyes danced around.
Her meaning was clear, she wasn’t afraid with us. She felt safe with us. It was the rest of our people she feared and with good reason. Each person here would rip her limb from limb if they got the chance.
It was up to us to make sure that never happened.
The sooner we could officially claim her, the safer she would be. No one would dare touch her then.
“Nothing can happen to you whilst we are with you.” Eirian whispered in her ear, scooping her hair to the side to brush his lips against the delicate shell.
“And we will always be with you Sloane.” I added ,quietly pulling her more snugly into my arms.
Why did she fit so perfectly between us? Again I looked at my brother and I could see the same realisation in his eyes.
She was the one. And we didn’t have any time to waste.
“Like we have always been with you.” Eirian finished softly. His lips were still on her ear.
“Let’s dance.” I brought my mouth to her other ear. “Let us show you the beginning of how it will feel pressed between your two mates.”
Her eyes widened. “Both of you? At the same time?”
I chuckled. She was so shocked and I didn’t know whether she was talking about dancing or what would come later, when she was ready.
It didn’t really matter.
“Of course.” Eirian said softly. “You are ours, we will always-“
From the doors, a commotion sounded. Panting and whining and my head snapped around in that direction angrily to find a young page running into the room. He skidded to a stop , looking around wildly.
“Where is-“ he was panting with exhaustion but it took me a few seconds to realise why.
His uniform wasn’t from the palace, it was from one of the outlying guard towers.
No wonder he was out of breath, he had clearly run miles.
Shifting my hands on Sloane's waist I pulled her into my side protectively.
“What is going on here?” I asked loudly as the crowd parted so he could approach.
“How dare you enter here uninvited, how dare you interrupt our-“
The boy, who could be no more than fifteen threw himself at our feet. His face pressed against the stone.
“Forgive me Lord Ty, Lord Eirian. The guard captain told me to come-“ his chest heaved. “The north tower was attacked this morning. They are coming.”
I threw a glance at my brother. Saw the way his hands went to Sloane instinctively.
“The tower will fall.” The boy said with tears in his eyes. “We tried to stop them but their army was-“ he struggled to find the right words. “Lords. It’s massive. It’s unstoppable. They will be here within days unless.”
I stepped forward but only half an inch. I couldn’t be away from Sloane , not now. It was just too dangerous.
“Nothing is unstoppable.” I said flatly. “They moved faster than I thought they would but that doesn’t mean they win. Their rashness will be their downfall. Nothing changes.”
“It changes everything.” Eirian snapped. “We are under attack. We need to move things forward before it’s too late.”
“What’s going on?” Sloane asked between us. “Who is attacking?”
No one answered.
“Ty,” her fingers squeezed my arm and drew my attention back down to her beautiful face. “Who is attacking? Is it the humans?”
I couldn’t help it. I laughed. “No Sloane. It’s not the humans.” I ran my fingers down her smooth creamy cheek. “It’s something so much worse than humans.”
“It’s the Lycan King.”