Page 12 of A Hunt So Wicked
“Fucking finally.” Evander practically ran to the liquor, with Alden right on his heels.
“What are brothers for?” Alden asked, turning around with a full bottle of whiskey in his hand, complete with a grin that promised trouble.
This was going to be a long evening.
***
My hair was tied back and my suit pressed so crisply I’d need to be careful not to cut an unsuspecting victim with the sharp lines. I fucking hated suits. All of us wore all black with our family crests embroidered on the lapel. The deep forest green of ours matched my eyes, but it was the golden face of a bear mid-roar that I loved. I could practically feel the beast within me stir as I ran the tips of my fingers over the raised gold threads.
Tonight.
After twenty years of waiting, I would finally get to shed this form and let the repressed side of myself free. The material rubbed against my legs and arms uncomfortably as I strode through the hallways, making my way to the smoking room. Massive oil paintings of the four royal animals hung on the walls, their forms flickering as the oil lamps cast their shadows. The scent of roasted meat and herbs saturated the air as the kitchen staff worked hard to prepare the feast for the evening.
King Ero requested that all the royals participating in the hunt gather in the smoking room for a discussion and a toast. After that, we’d be expected to parade around like peacocks. I rounded the corner and collided with someone nearly as large as myself.
“Alasdair!” Mosi gasped, taking hold of my shoulders and grinning broadly. “It is great to see you, old friend.”
“It’s been too long, Mose. How was your journey here?”
Mosi Ekpen was the eldest son of Cairo and Desta, and it had been close to a year since we last saw one another. He stood around six feet tall, maybe an inch or two over, with deep umber skin. Being as tall as I was, I wasn’t a good judge of height.
“It was fine. Long and boring, but here we are. Taji and my father are already in the smoking room,” he said, gesturing with his arm down the hall. “Let’s walk and talk?”
“Goddess forbid we show up late,” I muttered but fell in step beside him.
“I can’t wait to get through this evening and get this ridiculous fucking suit off,” Mosi said as he fiddled with the buttons of his jacket.
I snorted. “I think the tiger crest on your jacket would object to being called ridiculous.”
Mose stopped walking and turned to me, his dark brown eyes flashing at the mention of his animal. The Ekpen crest was solid black with the face of an orange tiger, all of its sharp teeth on display. He stepped closer and lowered his voice. “It’s as though I can feel him within, just beneath the surface of my skin. Do you feel it, too?”
“Goddess, yes. Started about two days ago and the intensity has just increased by the hour. I’m not sure how we’re expected to get through this event without biting someone’s head off.”
“Ah, there you two are. Come on.” Mosi and I looked down the hall and spotted Taj, his younger brother. The two Ekpen sons looked so similar they could pass as twins if it weren’t for their different hairstyles. Where Mose liked to keep his hair cut short, Taj had a head full of locs that hung well past his shoulders. Right now, half of them were tied back, showing off his high cheekbones and sharp jawline that sported a short clipped beard.
Mosi entered the room first and I shared a quick hello with Taj as we followed him in.
“Alasdair, please close the doors behind you. I believe we’re all here now,” Ero called out to me from the fireplace at the front of the room.
I did as Ero asked and allowed myself time to scan the room as I made my way to my seat beside Alden and our father, King Aric. The room was wide enough that we were able to sit in a row, not making any one family sit behind another. Politics, all of it, down to the fucking seating arrangements.
“When did Faolan show up?” I asked my father. Whenever we discussed their royal family, we simply referred to the lot of them as Faolan. Mainly because there was never just one of them, and there were so many it would take forever to name them.
“Not long ago. They’re being remarkably well-behaved,” he replied quietly.
“Oh?” That was the shocking part of it. The Faolan clan were notorious for breaking things, inciting riots, getting drunk, and causing general mayhem. I leaned forward and looked down to where they were sitting, immediately locking eyes with Ciar. He was sitting on the floor, legs kicked out in front of himself, like he wasn’t the prince of his territory. The grin I got was nothing but teeth. His deep auburn hair was absolutely wild. Had he even bothered to run a comb through it?
His brother, Desmond, noticed something had caught Ciar’s attention, and was the next to make eye contact. He lifted a hand, formed a claw, and mouthed the word ‘rawr’ as he sliced his hand downward.
“For the love of all things royal!” King Ero’s voice boomed, silencing the room and drawing every pair of eyes in the room. “Someone get the Faolan men some brushes for their hair. We are animals in our souls, gentlemen. We don’t need to fucking look like them. You’re going out there to meet your future wives. This is not a game!”
I swear I heard some low growls coming from the side of the room Clan Faolan were on, but when combs and brushes were handed over, they didn’t hesitate to do what they were told. Their family always had the biggest numbers because they bred like, well, wolves. Ciar and Desmond had four younger brothers that would be ready for the next Recurrence. Not only that, they had seven sisters.
Women weren’t able to shift, but they could pass the gene to their children—which explained the rest of Clan Faolan that were in attendance. By my last calculations, there would be five other Faolan cousins along with the seven cousins split among the other families in the hunt with us tonight, bringing the number to twenty men.
Torin was standing beside his father at the front of the room, looking the part of a crown prince. Not a hair out of place as the dragon on his family crest demanded perfection at all times.
“Gentlemen,” Ero greeted the room. “Welcome to the Roaring Keep. It is a great honor to be standing amongst each of you this evening as we prepare for your first shifts. I have watched each of you grow from infants to the men you are today, and I’m confident you all will do great things when your time comes to lead your kingdoms.”
