Page 84 of All's Fair in Lion and War
“Look. At. Me.”
Slowly, his chin rose. His eyes flickered upward. Fear. Confusion. Hope. Everything was mixed into that anxious gaze.
Her voice lowered to a deadly calm. “I told Col his dragon wasn’t ever allowed toeatpeople. But my beast will make an exception to that rule if I ever feel that one of mine is threatened. Do I make myself perfectly clear?”
Every drop of blood in the man’s face evaporated, leaving him nearly as white as the snow on the ground. His heart tripped and stumbled and took a few hurried beats to catch up and find any kind of rhythm again.
His brothers on either side of him, looked at her for a split second before focusing their gaze back on the snow on the ground in front of them.
Col kept his grin on the inside.
Naomi wouldn’t eat them. It was an empty threat from her, but Col was proud of her for using that angle. They certainly didn’t know she wouldn’t do it. And that deadly dark edge to her voice. It made his dragon want to purr.
A threat to her babies. A threat to anyone in their Tribe. She wasn’t lying. She would be vicious and they were wise to believe that statement.
“We ask for a chance to prove our loyalty to you,Mahadhri.” The last male on the other end of the line spoke this time. “I know I speak truthfully for my brothers, when I say we would never hurt you or yours. Our parents were taken from us by Rivian and his warriors. We have known no other life but what he allowed.”
Naomi stood and backed up a couple of steps. “My mate argued for your lives. Insisted that you not be executed. He is kind to say that you would owe me a life debt for arguing with Novik’s clan on your behalf, but in truth, you already owe him one.”
“Just as Saul’s mate demanded a blood payment from Rivian and I graciously allowed her to take it, the woman they held and helped keep prisoner is owed the same right. It was her life that was stolen.” Novik made his statement and stepped out of the circle, allowing a small blonde female to step through.
She was so tiny. Much like Naomi. It was hard to believe she now carried with her a Reylean lion.
Col tipped his head to the woman and then met his mate’s shrewd and calculating gaze. She took the surprise in stride and motioned the woman to join her in front of the line of males.
“Was this something you requested? Do you wish these men to meet their end for their part in their crimes against you?”
She moved closer, not right next to Naomi, but closer to the other end of the line of males. “My name is Heather. And while I understand some of what’s happening here, I do not desire for anyone else to die. None of these men should die. I am grateful to be free. And to have others around me—with beasts as you call them—that can help me figure out how to exist with the newthingsI have to deal with now.”
“You publicly forgive them.” Naomi gestured toward the men.
“Rivian. Their leader. He was the one who took me from my home. He was the one who bit me and changed my life into something I don’t recognize. These men kept me with them, yes, but they were kind. They fed me when they were allowed. Even shared food of theirs when they weren’t supposed to.”
Naomi nodded. “You wish for their lives to be spared?”
Heather nodded. “Yes.”
The woman’s eyes flickered from Naomi, to him, to Novik, but always back to the fourth man in the line. But that male never looked up at her. Not even once.
Col narrowed his eyes and breathed in a little deeper, looking for anything out of the ordinary. This woman who’d been stolen was much more forgiving than he’d thought possible for a human so rudely introduced to Reyleans.
Then the scent hit him. Pheromones of attraction, possessiveness, and anger. One of the males was fighting desperately to maintain composure.
“Naomi.” He gestured for her to return to his side.
He saw a flicker of a question in her eyes, but she didn’t hesitate for a second to obey his unspoken request. She trusted him completely and there was no greater gift.
The other human didn’t move. Not an inch. In fact, Col noted that she moved even a step closer to the male she’d been focused on.
“Do not attempt to free him.” Col’s voice carried across the silence.
Everyone’s eyes were focused on those two now. Several of Novik’s warriors moved forward to collect her, but Novik waved them back.
“Are you asoul matchto the man you seek to protect?” Col walked closer to Heather, keeping a watch for any movement from any of the other four males. If these two were a match, it was likely they would sacrifice their lives to help their brother and his potential mate.
“Sir, I don’t know what that means.” Heather’s voice trembled, her confident posture crumbling under Col’s commanding presence.
He’d been trained to be a king and that power and confidence radiated from him like the air he breathed in and out.
