Page 50 of The Wolf's Appetite
I curled my hand around the back of his neck and kept his mouth to mine, not ready for it to end. The kiss became more frantic, and I knew where this was headed. A little morning sex sounded like something both of us definitely needed.
It was only when there was a sharp knock at the door that we broke apart. Lennox’s head lifted, his expression instantly shifting from tender to irritated.
“Come back later,” he called, his voice edged with warning.
I couldn’t help but bury my face in his chest to stifle my laugh.
Clearing his throat before sayinganything, a muffled voice came through the wood, “My Prince, it’s urgent. Scouts returned with information.”
I felt his body tense around me, and I looked up at him. Lennox glanced down, searching my face for a beat, then kissed my forehead before sliding out of bed. He pulled on a pair of sweats and stalked to the door, opening it just enough to speak with whomever stood outside.
I sat up, pulling the blanket around me, trying to catch snippets of what was being said, but they spoke so low it was hard to make anything out. I could pick up a few things. “Leandrean”, “dark magic”, and “not figured out yet.”
My blood turned cold in my veins. When Lennox shut the door and came back to me, his expression was grim.
He’d explained everything to me–the dark magic, the Leandreans, the fact the portal had ripped and now we, along with the human world, were at risk for anOtherworldand Katara faction war.
“The Guard sent out scouts to see if we could gather more information while the witches sifted through the ancient scrolls for answers.”
“And the Guard found something out?”
He scrubbed a hand over his face and exhaled. “I don’t know if it’s anything that’ll ultimately help us orbits and pieces from before that make no difference now.”
There was fear in me, yes, but also something else—resolve that we could and would get through this. Because if last night proved anything, it was that, together, we could face anything that was coming.
Lennox must have seen it in my eyes because his hand slid to the back of my neck, pulling me toward him again. “We’ll talk to the others later. For now…” His voice dropped, his thumb brushing my jaw. “I just want to hold my mate close.”
Just like that, the weight of what was coming shifted into the background, at least for the moment.
And we’d take one moment at a time.
32
LENNOX
I’d hated leaving Aisling, but I’d stayed with her as long as I could before meeting with my Da, brothers, and the rest of the vampires and Lycans to figure this shit out.
We all knew this wasn’t a closed case. We had solved nothing but the immediate threat of that Leandrean in the manor.
The War Room felt smaller than usual, and the air was charged with the tension that made my Lycan pace with restless, feral energy inside me. I’d been here for over an hour already, listening, watching, and trying to keep my temper and impatience to just go kill every fucking Katara member from spilling over.
Cian, Adryan, Sebastian, Kane, and Odhran were gathered around the long oak table that was litteredwith maps, hastily scribbled notes, and scraps of ancient scrolls written in dead languages and witches’ scribbles.
“What the hell happened out there?” Adryan demanded, his voice hard but low, as if speaking too loudly might invite the darkness back in.
He’d been there when shit hit the fan and knew the basics, but hell, we were all fucking confused and pissed.
“The Leandrean didn’t just come through the breach,” my Da said, leaning forward, elbows braced on the table. “They tested it first. Prodded at the seams before feeling confident to fucking slip through.”
“Like they knew exactly what they were looking for,” Cian added grimly under his breath.
My fists curled against my thighs. “Because they did. This wasn’t random. The witches said as much. They’ve been planning this for ages.”
“They were waiting for the right moment,” Tavish growled.
“They shouldn’t have been able to breach at all,” Odhran said. “Those wards were layered deep—bound, forged, and reinforced frequently.”
“The coven said what they said,” I murmured again because none of this mattered. What had happened… happened. We couldn’t go back. We couldn’t change anything. We had to figure out how to stop this. “So here we are.”
