Unnatural - Alessandra Hazard Page 0,51

after another fell victim to Devlin’s brute strength and claws. People were screaming, security guards were yelling, trying to coordinate their actions, and the paparazzi were snapping pictures of the ordeal. It was chaos.

“Just kill it!” Taube yelled to the last security officer on his feet. He was red in the face, stinking of fear and hatred as he clutched the wound on his shoulder—Devlin must have grazed him, after all. “Use your gun!”

“He’s not it,” Haydn snapped. “No one is to kill him!”

The security officer looked from Taube to Haydn, his expression lost. That moment of distraction was enough for Devlin to throw him against the wall. The guy hit it with a sickening thud, and Haydn winced, hoping desperately that the injury wasn’t life-threatening.

Devlin turned to him, growling, and Haydn took a cautious step forward. Whatever was wrong with Devlin, he had to try to reach him. He was the closest thing to family Devlin had. Maybe Devlin wasn’t gone. Maybe part of him would recognize him.

“Devlin, it’s me,” he said in his calmest, softest voice.

Devlin stared at him, his nostrils flaring.

For a moment, Haydn dared to hope that it worked. That was why he was half a second late to react when Devlin lunged at him.

But he was shoved out of harm’s way, Royce’s familiar scent hitting his nostrils as Royce rolled them to the side. “Stay out of it,” Royce hissed, running his hands over Haydn’s body, checking for injuries. “Are you hurt?”

Haydn looked over his shoulder, fearing that Devlin would attack Royce in the back, but Devlin was too busy fending off the elite special forces that had just arrived. When he saw Aksel among them, Haydn breathed out. If anyone could handle a feral Xeus, it was other Xeus alphas. Granted, Aksel and his fellow Xeus officers had the disadvantage of not being fully shifted, but they were tough and had claws. Devlin might be stronger than them individually, but six partially-shifted Xeus alphas eventually managed to wrestle him into submission and put reinforced manacles on him.

Haydn sagged back against Royce, relief making his knees weak. Royce’s arms came up to wrap around him, and for one sweet, blissful moment, everything was right with the world—before an enraged voice made his blood go cold.

“The Pelugians must take responsibility for this!”

“Oh, for fuck’s sake,” Royce muttered, releasing Haydn and turning to Taube. He raised his voice. “Your Excellency, let us not be hasty. Clearly there’s something wrong with the Duke of Westcliff, and it wasn’t intentional—”

“Not intentional?” Taube growled, pointing at his ripped suit. “I don’t care! This—this beast nearly killed me!”

Devlin growled in his manacles, his glowing eyes fixed on Taube balefully.

“See?” Taube said, his voice becoming progressively louder as the people who had run out of the ballroom started returning. “I’ve allowed this thing into my home, tolerating it for the sake of the peace, and I was nearly murdered for it!”

“I will not tolerate you slandering my family and kingdom,” King Stefan cut in, pushing to the front of the crowd and glaring down at Taube. “If anything, you’re the one who has to take responsibility, Taube. I came here in good faith, thinking that I and my family would be safe here. Instead, my nephew has been poisoned in your house!”

“How dare you—”

“Enough.”

Taube and Stefan went silent as Lord Ksar’ngh’chaali stepped forward.

The crowd quieted a little. Haydn understood why. This off-worlder may not have a biological designation like they did, but there was little doubt that he would have been an alpha had he been an Eilan. It was in the way he carried himself: self-assured and haughty, like he expected everyone to do as he said.

“Your lordship—” Taube attempted but shut up under the foreigner’s flat look.

“I don’t have time for your petty squabbles,” Lord Ksar said, his strange silver eyes finally stopping on Devlin, who was still growling under the weight of three Xeus alphas pretty much sitting on him. “I understand this isn’t normal?”

“No,” Royce replied before Taube or Stefan could. “Although Xeus alphas are known for their aggressiveness, they should not be able to turn into this form out of their moon cycle.”

Lord Ksar stared at Devlin for a moment and said, “I can’t sense any rational thought in him. His mind is that of a wild animal.”

Right. Lord Ksar was a telepath.

An uneasy murmur rippled through the crowd.

The foreigner looked thoughtful. “Send for a doctor. Have them examine him and tell us what’s wrong.”

Taube scowled. “The