then. Victor rattled on for another hour about druid customs during the fifth century, but I was hardly paying attention. The druids might have answers to the mystery of the Hidden King, but since they’d been wiped out, I wasn’t getting any information from them.
Victor could be right about the Black Claw using the Hidden King as propaganda. Or what if they had truly found him?
All I knew was I needed to get answers.
Stefan was halfway through his meal when I stopped by the dining hall for lunch. Alexei and Theo were with him. Theo was tucking into a salad— alicorns didn’t much like meat— while Stefan stuffed down a bloody steak. Alexei, who always ate like a bird, was being quite peckish with his sandwich.
We usually ate with the girls, but I didn’t see them around. I slid next to Alexei.
“Something wrong?” he asked of my perplexed expression.
“I was going to ask where the girls are,” I said. “Table looks empty without them.”
“Odette’s at practice,” Theo said glumly. I wanted to ask why he wasn’t there with her, as he was her partner for the ballet, but didn’t, because that sounded like a good way to get a horn up the ass.
“Kiara’s studying,” Alexei said with a sigh.
“Irena told me to fuck off, so I did,” Stefan said through a full mouth. Steak juice dribbled down his chin, and Theo wrinkled his nose.
“What about Emma?” I scanned the room, but there was no sign of my favorite redhead.
“Why is it our job to know where she is? She’s your mate,” Stefan argued.
“Yes, but...” I took a breath. “Look, I hardly know where Emma is because she’s been avoiding me lately. I don’t know why. She got over her cold, and hasn’t talked to me since. In the past week, it’s like she looks at me and gets scared. She runs off whenever I try to talk to her.”
Had our moment in her bedroom been too much? I was trying to take care of her, but maybe I’d gone too far.
“Well, yeah,” Alexei said offhandedly. “She would be avoiding you, after your mother threatened her.”
My blood ran cold as my heart stopped. In a deadly tone, I stated, “What?”
“Easy there,” Stefan warned. He ceased eating for a moment to watch me.
“Um... you didn’t hear about that?” Alexei asked. Theo blinked.
“What exactly is going on?” I hissed. My dark voice made me sound like a murderer.
Theo and Alexei glanced at each other, and Theo said, “The queen regent came into Emma’s Intro to Portals class last week. From what I’ve heard, she blames Emma for you two losing the Contest. As I understand it, she vowed to make Emma pay for it, until Lady Magdalina came in and threw her out.”
My temper boiled. The nerve of my mother! What was she thinking, to come to the university and threaten my mate? I knew she was upset about the Contest, but she had no right to do such a thing!
“Are you kidding? Why wasn’t I informed of this?” I thundered.
“Excuse me, but we’re not your servants, my lord,” Theo said sarcastically.
I sent him a glare and said, “Fine, but you are my friends. Someone should’ve told me.”
“You tend to get a little testy about your mate,” Stefan pointed out. He hadn’t gone back to eating.
“What shifter doesn’t?” I wondered aloud.
“Okay, but we knew you would erupt once you found out,” Alexei said. “Emma had a bad cold last week. I figured your energy should be on taking care of her, not fighting with your mother.”
“And the rest of us agreed,” Theo said. Stefan nodded once.
I was fuming, but they had a point. Alexei didn’t know about Emma’s condition, but he was a griffin. He had empathy magic— he could sense there was something more that Emma wasn’t telling.
Theo leaned forward. “Look, it’s a good thing we waited to tell you. If you had gone off on your mother, it would’ve made the rumors worse. The gossip around school has been juicy as all hell. It’s all about how the queen regent can’t stand her son’s mate.”
“And I didn’t hear about this how? It’s been a week!” I shouted. Several people looked my way, but fuck them.
“Maybe it was because everyone’s afraid of your wrath?” Alexei offered.
I paused. Thinking back, people had been getting awfully quiet whenever I walked into a room. I thought I just looked broody or something.
My knuckles cracked. Stefan glanced down. He knew that he was the only shifter