Page 19 of A Wolf's Treasure
“No need to go through any trouble on my account,” Prince Nada told him pleasantly. “It’s really not that cold. But, thank you.”
“Are ye going tae tell us?” Duncan asked to spare his alpha, who looked to be on the verge of having an apoplexy.
“Tell you what?” Prince Nada replied.
“Who th’ wolves were I saw last night,” he said.
“What wolves?”
“Och! The gods take me now!” Cedric exploded at the ceiling.
“Th’ wolves,” Duncan said at the same time. “Ye said ye ken who th’ wolves are I saw last night at the club.”
Prince Nada studied him closely. “I didn’t know you were one to frequent those types of places.”
“Aye. I like tae dance. Two Steppin’ is my favorite.”
“That’s where ye go on yer nights off? Dancin’?” Cedric’s mouth hung open.
But Duncan refused to feel any shame for something he enjoyed very much. Pushing his shoulders back, he gave them both a nod. “Aye. I go tae a place in Seattle and I like tae dance. It’s a wonderful way tae meet th’ ladies,” he said with a wink.
“Tis like I dinna even know ye,” Cedric muttered, still staring at Duncan as though he were seeing a ghost.
“Och, Cedric. I dinna ken why yer so surprised. I’m a good dancer!”
“Aye, I’m sure ye are. I just dinna ken ye ever took it up.” He settled back into his chair again, sprawling out comfortably. “Ye usually tell me things such as this.”
“I dinna tell ye—or anyone—because I was expecting just this type o’ reaction.”
“Wha’?” Cedric told him. “I told ye, I’m just surprised.”
The prince, who’d been watching this interaction with interest, held his hand up to halt what Duncan had been about to say. “I’m sorry to interrupt, but can we get back to the matter at hand? Namely, the rogue wolves running around your territory. I know who they are, if either of you are interested in hearing.”
Duncan exchanged a look with his alpha, beginning to feel his alpha’s frustration with this royal pain in the ass. The male was right daft. A screwball. Off his head. And for sure should not be in charge of an entire tribe of Faeries. He would get them all killed when the portal holding the soul suckers broke free and another war broke out.
Sobered by the thought, he remembered that was exactly why they put up with the daft prince. They would need to work together to send the soul suckers back to the dimension they belonged in. And, hopefully, figure out how to keep them there this time.
“Aye, I would like tae ken who these wolves are. If ye feel so inclined tae tell us,” Cedric told him.
How he kept such a level tone, Duncan didn’t know.
The prince leaned forward, looking at each of them in turn like he was about to impart the secrets of life and death. “The wolves who followed you last night, Duncan, were from Thomas’s pack back in the ‘old country’. The same pack Lucian and Brock used to belong to.”
Duncan felt his skin shift with unease on the back of his neck as Cedric speared him with those laser-sharp eyes of his. “They followed ye? Ye told me had no interest in ye.”
“I was aboot tae tell ye when th’ prince arrived,” he tried to explain.
“Tell me what?”
“Don’t you want to knowwhyThomas’s wolves are here?” the prince asked.
But Cedric held up his hand. “Aye. But first I need tae ken why one o’ my best wolves is tellin’ me lies.”
The weight of his disapproval descended on Duncan like one of those new weighted blankets times one hundred, and he found himself hunching over beneath his alpha’s will. “Ye dinna need tae put th’ pressure on, Cedric. I was aboot tae tell ye.”
“Aye, ye are. And yer gonna do it right now. How far did they follow ye?”
“Dinna worry. I led them away from our home, into the mountains, then doubled back when I was sure they would no’ follow.”
