A prayer of thanks to Katsia and Veri turned to grin at Asher. “I’ve brought you a bear for your dinner, mia principe.”
Asher grinned and took the horn from his saddle and blew it three times to alert the other hunters. Veri had felled an animal first, and the largest one in the forest. Hunters and servants filled the trees and someone handed Asher a crown. She couldn’t take her eyes off the ruby.
With one strong jerk of her arm the spear slid out of the bear and she spun it around once before sinking it into the ground. She went to one knee and bowed before Asher.
“Lady Veri,” he said, loud and clear for all to hear. “I crown you Queen of the Hunt.”
She looked up into his dark eyes and Asher was the only person in that forest. He was all she saw as he placed that crown of bleached bone and the single, fat ruby on top of her head. Asher smiled down at her and she grinned back. Somehow, Asher had given her everything she’d ever wanted, just not in the way she thought she’d get it.
Chapter Ten
Nadyah
Stella di Draga
Planet Draga Terra
Nadyah kept a close eye on Adelina. After watching the Game of the Wolf she was—concerned. That Game always left one…restless. Letting the wolf out like that was a risk, no matter how fun and free and wild it could be.
It wasn’t only that either. Adelina was on edge and hurting. Nadyah had seen the way Joslynn had shied away from her and the pain in her princess’s face when she’d realized Joslynn actually feared her after what she’d seen during the Game of the Wolf.
Nadyah hoped their friendship could overcome this. Joslynn was dominant enough to play with royals, but the shock must have been too much. The red-haired countess would come to understand, and Nadyah prayed Adelina would forgive her.
Adelina needed Joslynn. A wolf couldn’t survive without a pack.
Nadyah wore leather pants, identical to the ones Adelina wore. Her princess was silent ever since they left the palace. Their cloaks fluttered behind them as they walked towards the palace gates. The boots Adelina had lent her kept her footsteps quiet and they were sinfully comfortable. It was no wonder her princess preferred them. She couldn’t keep from adjusting the loose shirt, or touching the black hair.
It was so strange to see. Nadyah had never worn a disguise before.
Despite all the drama, her princess looked rather…sated.
Nadyah had feared Adelina as the Wolf would further distance her from Raena and put her in danger after everything that had transpired that morning, but oddly it seemed to have done the opposite. During dinner Raena had chatted with Adelina and there was a strange – almost recognition between the two of them. As though Raena had looked inside Adelina and saw a part of herself there and instead of reacting as if it were a threat, she’d embraced her youngest sister like Adelina had been missing for cycles. Even Asher had smiled at Adelina, in public; blood running down her face.
In that moment Nadyah had seen them all click – all three of them became one when they recognized the merciless creature Adelina harbored so deeply no one had ever seen it before. Those Draga genes had bred true and Adelina was most definitely one of them. The realization somehow cracked Asher’s viciously bored mask and the beauty of the three of them together…
Asher and Adelina had taunted and teased Raena, hunting with her as she searched for her prey as the Wolf. They cornered and held onto those running from her, and all the while Veri had tagged along – blending perfectly amongst them.
It was enough that Nadyah had been silent ever since, watching as they all interacted during the dinner in the Banquet Hall. What she knew had to realign with what she’d seen. As a courtesan the Wolf was a game she would never play, she simply didn’t have that same instinct. It was one of the drawbacks of being able to move up and down the dominance spectrum.
If someone had asked her what she thought of Veri before the Game of the Wolf, Nadyah would have said she was a vain and vapid creature with no sense of loyalty. Lady Veri was still vain and selfish, but there was a kindred spirit in her that harmonized with Asher, with Raena and Adelina. How Veri ever thought Hayden was a good match for her was beyond Nadyah.
Veri was utterly made for Asher.
It made her shiver as she contemplated what those two could do together.
Perhaps—perhaps they should wait to see Varan. The wolf still roiled under Adelina’s skin, so close to the surface Nadyah wasn’t sure what would happen with the thief. Nadyah glanced at her. The playful look was gone from Adelina’s face and her mouth was a grim line, as though the consequences of the day had settled in. She wanted to ask, but didn’t think Adelina was ready to talk.
Alpha was already at the palace gates, waiting for them. “Did you enjoy the banquet?” he asked, as though they were any other citizens.
“Yes, thank you milord,” Adelina said, her whispery voice nearly unrecognizable as she shied away.
Alpha’s eyes twinkled with laughter. “I’m no lord, but I do hope to see you again for the Choosing Ball.”
“It will be the event of a lifetime,” Nadyah agreed.
Then they were through the gates and walking the streets of the first-circle.
Nadyah would have to be very careful around Adelina that night until her wolf settled. The wolf lived in all of them. It could have gone very badly if Adelina had not let it out. Hayden could have turned on Adelina and hunted her, or someone else – even Raena. It was in their instincts and their dominance…now they had to deal with the consequences.
Everyone’s eyes would be on Adelina now, knowing what hid beneath that golden skin. Thank the goddess they’d be leaving soon. By the time they returned everyone would forget what they’d seen. It would give Adelina the time to decide if she wanted to remind them, or allow them all to remain ignorant once more.
That infinite silence between them stretched and Nadyah could no longer stand it. “Is everything all right?”
The white curls bounced as Adelina picked up her pace. For a long while she stayed quiet, and just when Nadyah didn’t think she’d respond Adelina said, “Showing that side of myself, it was a risk and thankfully I made the right call…”
Nadyah studied her, the purple of the waning Mala moon made Adelina’s skin glow. That flicker of pain she’d seen earlier, it swirled in her now-golden eyes once more.
“Keeping up the appearance is exhausting,” she went on. “Asher and Raena know that it’s there now, and they expect to see it from time to time. Asher understands that part of me better than I do and it makes me feel…”Adelina grew quiet as the rain started to sprinkle, beating the remaining heat into the ground.