Midnight Kisses (Shifter Island #1) - Leia Stone Page 0,13

as Rage, stormed onto the boat.

“Prince Courage! Your uncle has been very concerned. The island has been on lockdown all day. Where have you been?”

The guard’s words registered and then rattled my brain like an electric fence.

Prince Courage. Rage. Rage was … a prince…

“Oh, mystic mages.” I facepalmed. The four brothers of Midnight, they weren’t distant heirs of the alpha king. No one carried the title prince unless they were directly in line to the throne. They were the heirs. But uncle? That meant the king had no children, fascinating considering how valuable heirs were. Maybe he was sterile.

Rage’s brow furrowed, and he handed beefcake the summons he’d shown the high mage earlier. “We were following orders to fetch an alpha heir. Surely, my uncle knew that, considering he signed the summons.”

That’s when Captain Beefcake took one long glance at me, and his lip curled. “Who are you?”

I raised my eyebrows and pointed at the paper in his hand. “Nai, alpha heir to Crescent Clan.”

The dude frowned, his gaze bouncing from the summons to me. “Is this a joke?”

I looked at each of the brothers, but none of them were laughing. I wasn’t laughing. Beefcake dude wasn’t laughing. Not even the captain was laughing. “I’m pretty sure it’s not,” I said dryly.

Like 99.6% sure. What in the name of the high mages was going on?

A deep crease appeared between his eyebrows. I was 99.7% sure he didn’t think I was funny.

“We have a problem.” He shoved the paper back toward Rage. “The king didn’t sign this; it’s counterfeit. We’d better go talk to your uncle.”

My stomach dropped. Counterfeit? How did he know that? And why did I feel like I was to blame?

I glanced at the four brothers, my attention bouncing from one to the next. All four of them wore similar expressions, making my situation clear as Arkansas crystal. Hello there, trouble, we meet again.

With every step, that one word replayed in my mind.

Counterfeit.

If the king didn’t send for me … who did?

Chapter 3

“She wasn’t due to start until next year!” the alpha king’s dark, gravelly voice raged behind the closed door on my right. Something crashed against the wall, exploding with a rain of breaking glass, and I jumped, gripping the edges of the bench.

Alpha king is an alpha ass.

As we’d approached the alpha king’s chambers, Rage had pointed at a wooden bench in the foyer and told me to sit. At the time, I’d been pissed, but as soon as the top dog started yelling, I felt nothing but relief. At least, this way I could assess him without him staring me down or using his alpha mind-control on me. I dreaded the day I had to look that sadistic monster in the eyes, the man who’d ordered the attack on my clan, the man who’d banished us to the human world. My blood boiled just thinking about his vicious cruelty, but as alpha king, he held power over all of us. The king had been yelling ever since Justice closed the door, and now I leaned in to listen.

“How dare you leave the island…?” he seethed. “Do you have any idea how dangerous the mortal realm can be for our kind?”

Silence.

“Sir, we were just following orders—” Noble tried to defend their actions, but Alpha Ass was having none of it.

“If someone delivered an order to cut off your own head, would you do it? Cursed mage, boy—use your brain. Why would I send my only heirs to pick up Crescent trash?” He punctuated his declaration by throwing another heavy object against the door.

Yikes. Homeboy was legit psycho and a giant douchebag. Huh, maybe Rage’s winning personality was a genetic gift from this guy’s side of the family.

“But the summons—” Honor’s mild tone was drowned by the king’s temper.

“The summons is forged! Did any of you even look at the signature stamp? That is not my mark.” The king sounded absolutely infuriated. If he stroked out … I wondered who would take his place…

Somehow, I suspected Rage was first in line to inherit Midnight Pack and the alpha king position.

“Should we take her back?” Justice asked, his voice like smooth whiskey.

Silence. Was he contemplating it? I mean going back to my family sounded amazing, but now that I was here, I kind of wanted to explore. Besides, going through that two-hour drive, the portal, and the magic oath all over again sounded awful.

I leaned forward, waiting for him to reply.

“We can’t. The advanced mage already initiated her