Page 23 of A Wolf's Treasure
“No’ right now, no.” He kept one eye on the prince, who was now having a full-blown conversation in the corner of the room with no one Duncan could see. “I will. As soon as this one is on his way.”
“Aye. Yer damned right ye will,” Cedric confirmed.
Duncan kept his eyes downcast, but he refused to accept he’d done anything wrong. He’d for sure been about to tell him about the lass, and he wouldn’t be shamed into thinking he’d done wrong by his alpha because this one—he shot a glare at the prince—showed up blathering about things that no one was ready to tell him and stealing thoughts right from his head that he had no business to take.
Prince Nada suddenly stilled and turned to them. “This will not do. This will not do at all. Ryanne is supposed to be dead. And I can’t have her rising from the grave like this to upset all of my plans.”
Duncan’s heart jumped to his throat. “What is tha’ supposed tae mean?” he asked him.
“Hmm?” The prince looked up, frowning at him and Cedric as though he’d forgotten they were there, despite the fact he was looking right at them both. “Oh…nothing.”
Duncan turned to his alpha. “Cedric…”
“Wait a minute.” Cedric stepped in front of the prince as he made to leave. “Ye are no’ planning on bringing harm tae th’ lass, are ye? Yer own flesh and blood daughter? Have ye no heart?”
“Not all species of the supernatural are as sensitive to our emotions as yours, wolf.”
“Dinna give me tha’. It’s rubbish, and ye ken it. She is yer daughter. Yer own flesh and blood.”
“You’re right, Cedric. I care deeply about my daughter, but I care about the survival of my people more.” He looked back over his shoulder at Duncan. “I will find her, and she will trouble you no longer.” He started to walk around Cedric, stopped, snapped his fingers, and returned to the couch to retrieve his cane.
Duncan was having a hard time processing what he had just heard.
As he passed, the prince paused just long enough to tell him, “It was good of you to keep her safe. If Thomas’s wolves had gotten a hold of her, she would’ve suffered a horrendous death. At least this way, when I send her back where she belongs, it will be quick…and relatively painless. So, thank you for sparing my daughter that.” With a nod at Cedric, he walked away, disappearing before he even reached the door.
A storm of emotions rolled over Duncan, crashing through the shock and spurring him into action. He pointed at the space the prince had just stood. “He’s going tae kill her, Cedric! His own fookin’ daughter!” Stalking to the door, he stopped, spun back. “I can no’ let him do this.” He ripped at his hair. “Fook me! I dinna ken where she is, or how tae warn her.” Rage and fear tangled in his gut, intertwining like two mating snakes until he shook with the force of it.
“He’s no’ going tae hurt th’ lass, Duncan.”
“Aye, he is!”
“No, he is no’. Because we will find her first and we will warn her. Now, fill me in again on everything tha’ happened last night, and dinna leave anything out this time.”
Some of Cedric’s calm, focused disposition finally managed to spill over into Duncan and he forced himself to think. With measured words, he told Cedric everything. From the moment he first saw her until she hopped out of his Jeep last night. When he was finished, he looked to his alpha, at a loss. “I dinna ken where she went. and I should no’ even be telling ye this. I swore it tae her. Now she’s in danger, because o’ me!”
“No’ because o’ ye, because tha’ galoot can no’ stay out o’ our business. It’s like he has cameras watching us all th’ time, so he kens when we’re speaking o’ anything important tae him.” He shook his head. “No. He is no’ going tae hurt this lass just because he had plans tha’ did no’ include her.”
It hit Duncan like a truck. “Like him marrying Duana off tae ye.”
“Aye,” Cedric agreed. “Like tha’.” He took a deep breath. “Though I can no’, for the life o’ me, figure out why the daft prince wants such a mating.”
Duncan felt torn in every direction, not knowing what to do or where to go. “What should I do, Cedric?”
His alpha studied him long and hard. “Why am I gettin’ th’ feeling this lass means a lot more tae ye than yer telling me.” It wasn’t really a question.
“I barely know th’ lass, Cedric,” Duncan told him honestly. “I dinna ken wha’ I’m feeling.”
“But it is something.”
Words and thoughts and things he had no name for churned through his mind, none of it making any sense. Except one thing: “It does no’ matter, Cedric. I would no’ be any kind o’ mate for th’ lass.” He held his head high as he said it.
“Duncan, ye dinna ken tha’.”
“Except I do. And I’m no’ ashamed o’ it, Cedric. Wha’ happened tae me was no’ something any male should ever tae withstand. And ye ken I dinna blame any but th’ ones who did it tae me.”
“It was war. We all went through things. It does no’ mean yer no’ a male anymore.”
“Aye, yer right. But it does mean I would no’ make a decent mate for any lass. And especially no’ this lass in particular. I do no’ blame her. She was no’ there. But I dinna ken if I could ever be tha’ vulnerable around one of the Fae.” There was no shame in his words. Cedric knew everything there was to know about him. And he’d spoken the truth when he said he didn’t blame all of the Fae for what happened to him so many years ago.
