In the short time he’d been gone, had the men gone completely lax to the point of disregarding the clan’s safety. This was unacceptable. Where was Silvo? He was to take over while he was gone.
Ferrus guided his mate into the main cavern that looked deserted.
“Where is everyone?” she asked.
“This morning, they were all in the food preparation area, some in the pool.”
“What pool?” she asked. “There’s only a place to wash clothes and hang them to dry.”
Well, that explained that, he thought. Still, something did not sit right with him. The females came in behind them and headed toward the tunnels that led toward the top.
“Valori,” Ferrus called out, “the males fed themselves yesterday.”
Her eyes grew wide. “Is the room demolished?”
“Sorry.” A sheepish grin lined his face.
His mate pulled away from him. “Ferrus, let me go with the women, and I’ll bring a tray of food for the king before we sit down. It’ll be my peace offering to him.”
His grin grew. “You seem to know what you are doing.”
“Are you kidding?” she replied. “This isn’t my first rodeo.” His mate filtered in with the women and was gone. He felt lonely already. He also wondered what a rodeo was.
He dragged his feet to the throne room. A dread inside him refused to go away. He trusted his mate, but this meant so much to her. What if something went wrong?
The guard outside the throne room bowed his head. “The king is expecting you, Your Highness.” He then opened one of the walls for him to enter. Behind him, the guard said, “He asked that you wait for him to return from his rooms.” The wall closed with an echoing thunk. He had not noticed that before. Was that an omen?
Chapter Twenty-Five
As Lilah walked with the women up the tunnel toward the kitchen, her stomach churned. Sure, she might have done this several times, but that didn’t make it any easier. Things could always go wrong. A hand touched her shoulder.
“Lilah,” one of the women said. She looked over her shoulder to see a face she recognized but didn’t know the lady’s name. “All the females want me to tell you that they very much appreciate all you are doing for us. Out of fear, none would risk the security of our home to voice our thoughts to the king or the prince.”
“While with the tree fae, we learned and saw many things that pleased us. We wish to live like they do in freedom and happiness. We are certain that you will find a way. We fully put our trust in the alpha female.”
Lilah fought back her tears. “I’ll do my best.” Now she was so nervous about failing that she wanted to throw up. This was the most important “case” she’d ever had. These ladies’ futures, and the future generations, depended on the outcome. She stepped to the side and put her back to the cold stone wall and let the others pass. She had to gather herself before going on.
As the women went by, they bowed their heads and mumbled something. Alpha female, she thought they were saying. The alpha female was the mate to the prince. She couldn’t be the real alpha leader. That meant she had to mate the prince. And Silvo was a complete ass.
Never would she be with that bastard. After dealing with the king, she and Ferrus might have to leave immediately before someone told Silvo about her. Valori had told the women not to tell anyone, but it would have to come out sometime now that they were all back.
She joined the back of the line to continue the trudge up the slope. When she turned down the aisle that passed the kitchen into the dining room, the king and the prince came out of the men’s tunnel. What were they doing here? Wait, of course, they were hungry.
Silvo growled at her, and she flashed him a smile just to piss him off. Which worked, if his balled-up hands and darker complexion meant anything.
When the old ruler reached the far side of the wide kitchen entrance, he put his hand on the wall and dragged it like he was closing a curtain on a rod. The wide opening narrowed to a single-person walk-through with him blocking it. And she hadn’t gotten inside yet.
Not wanting to be in the hall with only Silvo, she sidled up to the king in the doorway and tried to wedge herself in front of him