Garreth studied his brother's expression. Any Lykae would do the same for his mate. But Lachlain had made that statement as if he spoke... from experience. What has happened to you out there, brother?
"Trust me, Garreth, it is no' so bad as this feeling - "
When a whimper sounded from Emma's room, Lachlain growled in answer, pounding at the bars. Then he deliberately raised his gaze to the ceiling. "I can dig through."
"Lachlain, I doona think that's wise. This house is centuries old and gets battered as you would no' believe."
"Doona care."
"You might care that all three stories are tongue-and-groove construction. One piece falls, it'll be like a domino effect. War, hurricanes, and constant lightning have made it unsound. I doona think Val Hall can take a Lykae biting through the first floor."
"Support it while I'm gone."
"Hold the floor? If I canna, you could be hurting both our mates. This place could come crashing down."
Lachlain slapped him on the shoulder. "Be sure that you doona drop it."
16
Princess freaking Lucia.
Her trip to the Lykae compound had been like a bucket of ice water tossed in her face. Because the denizens there had welcomed her - as Garreth's "mate." She'd heard the whispers, the truth out loud: "That's Princess Lucia, the Archer."
He lied! I am his mate. He'd deceived her to get what he wanted. Typical male.
Now as she hastened out the door with the tape, she called Regin. "I'm walking out right now with the video - it's all true. Get Annika to let Emma drink from Lachlain! Right now, Regin! Demestriu was the one who hurt Emma, and she did truly kill him."
"You're a little late. Take your time."
Lucia froze, dread seeming to stop her heart. "Emma...?"
"Oh, no, she's bingo! Just like you said, she drank from Lachlain and healed right up."
Lucia sagged with relief, sinking onto the front steps of the kennel. Emma's going to live! Then Lucia frowned. "Annika allowed this?"
"Hell no. The wolves escaped. And then Emma the Timid bitchslapped me when I went after Lachlain!" she added happily. "I mean really hard, and didn't telegraph the move - at all. Finally, all those years training her paid off."
"What are you talking about? Where's Garreth?"
"Holding up, like, the entire floor of Val Hall while we get repairs done. Lachlain tore and bit through the ceiling over the cage to get to Emma, and now our whole house is sagging, about to fall down. Just goes to show you, Lykae are outside pets," Regin said with a snort. "And Em loves Lachlain, and they're getting married, I shite you not. Annika is freaking. I myself am torn. I mean, if Emma's going to be their queen, her first decree could be that all Lykae are the Valkyrie's bitches. She's resistant to the idea, but I'll wear her down."
Emma was safe - healthy. And in love. "How are the others reacting?"
"They're kind of feeling that if Emma wanted the wolf bad enough to go tag Demestriu, then felicitations to them both. And Lachlain did just save her life. Also, no Valkyrie were injured in the making of their recent escape. Still, doesn't mean we want to hang out or anything."
Emma would wed Lachlain and be his queen. Now everything between the Valkyrie and Lykae would be different.
Didn't matter. Garreth was a liar - and she wanted nothing to do with him. Most of the time. Except when he was touching her.
"So what's the kennel like?" Regin asked.
Lucia turned toward the building with narrowed eyes. Before or after I get through with it?
"Do they have food bowls and chew toys all around?"
"The 'compound' looks like a Scottish hunting lodge." The whole vibe was so... normal. It'd rattled her all the more because she could see herself hanging out there. Yes, there were some claw marks on the walls, but hell, Val Hall had its own "love stripes."
"And?" Regin asked.
"What?"
"What else happened?" Regin said. "I can hear something in your voice."
"I'm definitely... his mate."
Regin made a wincing sound. "Dude. Sorry."
"I've known, but I've been in denial. He even denied it." Which proved that he was a cool customer, able to control himself instead of bellowing mine as he demanded her eternity. "But to hear the reality said out loud, and to see his clan treating me like one of their own, like their princess... it was just too much."
Before, as long as it hadn't been acknowledged, she could pretend it wasn't so.
Now, the truth sunk in, her suspicions were confirmed, his lie revealed.
"He won't leave you alone. Especially not until he's claimed you," Regin said.
"I know." Lykae simply didn't give up. They were the living embodiment of obsession. Just like Lachlain with Emma, Garreth would never rest until he'd possessed Lucia completely.
"And you can't have sex. So what're we going to do?"
Since I also can't seem to deny him... "I'm going to get out of town."
"Where're we headed?" Regin asked. When Lucia didn't answer, she said, "Like I'm letting you go out into the world by yourself to let life kick you in the ass. We're both getting our asses kicked or not at all! We're a team, Bonnie and Bonnie, together forever."
Lucia's lips quirked. No one could have a better friend than Regin. "We start the hunt for a dieumort." She stood and turned back inside the compound, striding for Garreth's quarters. "Pack a bag for me - I'll be back in an hour. For now, I'm going to act out, demonstrate that some Valkyrie aren't house-trained either."
"Ooh, break something for me!"
Inside his rooms, Lucia kicked an expensive-looking lamp, sending it crashing to the floor. "Any other requests?"
"Yeah, since matehood means you own fifty percent of all his swag, then bring me home any vinyl LPs you may come across, some weapons, and of course, anything shiny."
"On it."
"MacRieve'll follow us."
Yes, but Lucia would protect herself, do whatever she had to do. She had no choice. "Then let the games begin."
Lachlain MacRieve and his brother stood outside on the grounds of Val Hall, drinking a couple of rounds of longnecks before Garreth's imminent departure.
"You sure you canna stay?" Lachlain was loath to see his brother go. He'd been so panicked about Emma that he'd barely registered the time he'd spent jailed with Garreth.
"I need to follow Lousha."
Unfortunately, Lucia the Huntress had disappeared. Lachlain had heard she'd "gone on vacay" with her "partner in crime" Regin. The new lingo of this time still stumped him, but he'd gleaned enough to know that Garreth had been right about his mate: Lucia was indeed a runner.