felt his heart break in half.
“My Aiden,” Ronan whispered. His name carried with it such a wealth of longing and old emotions that Aiden nearly caved and embraced his friend. Ronan flashed him a bright smile and released his hand. “I need to go.” He started to leave, his brisk pace carrying him toward the house, as he roughly wiped away the tears.
“Wait! When do you leave with the envoy?”
Ronan’s loud laughter echoed across the yard and he spun around. He jogged to Aiden’s side, his expression joyous. He caught himself on a tree and leaned toward Aiden, now only a couple of feet separating them. “Leave?” He laughed again. “Are you insane? I just found you. Nothing in this world could make me leave. Unless maybe you banished me from your kingdom.” Ronan’s smile turned wicked. “And even then, I think I’d sneak back in so I could convince you to forgive me.”
Aiden chuckled. “Go, you madman. You’re not doing us any favors if the rest of the envoy starts to suspect something.”
A heavy sigh left Ronan and he pushed away from the tree, straightening. “True. But we will see each other again. We will talk more. It’s happening, Aiden. Forgive me. I mean, Your Majesty.” He concluded with a deep, elegant bow and a broad sweep of his arm cutting through the air.
Ronan turned toward the house, disappearing into the shadows, and Aiden didn’t mind watching his old friend walk away from him. He believed Ronan’s vow. They would see each other again. They would talk. Aiden wanted to know everything that had happened to him.
And there was a little voice deep within his heart demanding to know if they had any chance at the future they’d been denied when they were human.
Chapter Four
Ronan woke to a noise.
Maybe.
Had he heard a noise?
He lay perfectly still in the hotel bed, his senses straining to figure out what exactly had disturbed him from his sleep. It wasn’t often that he slept in a hotel, and it could have been the maid service making the rounds on his floor. Or it could have been someone checking into a room near him.
No.
He wasn’t alone. Now that he was fully awake, he could sense someone else in the room with him. No, vampires were with him. Very slowly, he slid his right hand up along the soft sheets to his pillow, aiming to grab the knife hidden there.
“Don’t bother,” said a low, hard voice. A voice he knew.
Ronan’s eyes snapped open, but before they could focus on the speaker, both the bedside lamps were flicked on. He groaned and closed his eyes again, wincing against the bright light.
“I must admit, I was expecting something a little more impressive from the European Ministry,” drawled a second voice.
“Be fair. He’s just waking up.” A third voice? How many fucking people were in his room?
Blinking rapidly, Ronan sat up and forced himself to look around the room. Not three people. Six. Six fucking people were arranged around his bed, staring at him as if he were the intruder.
But these weren’t just any random people. These were Aiden’s sons and their mates. At least some of them. The quick glance revealed only three of the four sons, if he was remembering their faces correctly.
“What’s going on? Has something happened to Aiden?” Ronan demanded in a sleep-rough voice.
“That’s King Aiden to you, peasant,” the second voice snapped.
“Really, Rafe?” someone new asked.
Ronan looked at him. Yes, this was one of Aiden’s sons. Beltran, he thought. They hadn’t gotten to personally meet, but one of the guests had pointed him out because it was rumored that he had two werewolves for mates. That guess was helped along by the large man standing close to Beltran with his arm wrapped around his waist. The energy coming off him declared very clearly that he was not a vampire.
Beltran looked back at Ronan. His expression wasn’t nearly as foreboding as his companions. Just curious. “Aiden is fine. We were hoping to have a moment to talk with you in private. I’m Beltran Varik, and this is my mate Wyatt.” He jerked his chin to the other side of the room. “I understand that you’ve met my brother Winter and his mate, Fox.”
Ronan looked in the direction Beltran had motioned and immediately met the icy-cold gaze of Aiden’s son. “Yes, we’ve met.”
“And then my twin, Rafe, and his mate, Philippe,” Bel continued.
Ronan looked straight ahead to find Rafe leaning against the dresser, a golden-haired