Page 4 of A Wolf's Treasure
“I was no’ cursing their lasses, I was speaking aboot th’ prince.”
“Aye, but still.”
Cedric glared at him a moment, but then the anger faded from his eyes. He sighed heavily. “Aye, I will.”
“What do ye need from me?” Duncan asked. Cedric would have a plan. He always had a plan. Because there was no way in hell he could ever see his alpha giving in to the prince’s crazy idea. Cedric would never marry one such as Duana. The lass was bonnie, for sure, but she wasan olc—a Dark Fae. They had fought side by side to remove her kind from this world. And although a few of them—like Duana and Marc’s Bronaugh—had been missed and were as sane as thela maithetribe the prince ruled over, it didn’t mean anything. She would turn, as would Bronaugh. It was inevitable, and Duncan wasn’t looking forward to the grief his brother would feel when she did.
Hands on his hips, Cedric just stared at him for a good long while. Finally, he took another deep breath, the last of the tension falling from his shoulders and the glow leaving his eyes. “Och. I dinna ken,” he said.
“How aboot a beer?” He, himself, sure as hell could use one.
“Aye. Thank ye, Duncan.”
He got two bottles from the fridge, popped off the caps, and brought one over to Cedric.
“What th’ fook am I supposed tae sit on now?” he asked Duncan as he took the bottle without taking his eyes from the pile of smashed wood and blue material of his favorite chair.
“Th’ couch is good and comfy,” Duncan told him.
“Aye, but it’s no’ my chair.”
“Then maybe ye should no’ have smashed it.”
Cedric grunted and took a drink. “Twas that or lose me shit completely. And it’s a wee bit early for the humans tae be seeing a black wolf running through their halls.”
“And that’s why I keep telling ye tae only rent out the spare apartments in our building tae fellow shifters.”
Those white-blue eyes shifted over to Duncan. “Ye may be right, Duncan. But I dinna ken if I could live around more o’ ye. I have enough on my hands just dealing with ye four.”
“At least it was ye who broke yer furniture this time, and no’ us.” Duncan grinned. He and the others had crashed through Cedric’s furniture more than once when being a little too enthusiastic about leaving.
Cedric grunted, and took a long swallow from the bottle in his hand.
“So, what are ye goin’ tae do?”
“Aboot?”
Duncan swung his arm out, nearly spilling his drink. “Aboot marryin’ the princess! And the daft prince who came up with th’ idea, tha’s what!”
Cedric shrugged one thick shoulder.
A shock of surprise shot through him. “That’s it? Dinna ye want tae get out of the prince’s crosshairs?”
“Aye. But…” he drifted off, not finishing the thought.
“But?” Duncan repeated. “But what? The lass isan olc, Cedric. She carries th’ dark magic within her. Ye canna seriously be thinking o’ courting her!”
“Bronaugh isan olc.”
“Bronaugh will turn, just like they all do.”
“Haud yer wheesht, Duncan! Dinna say such a thing. Marc would be fookin’ destroyed were anything tae happen tae th’ lass!”
“It’s going tae happen, Cedric. It’s just a matter o’ time.”
“I thought ye liked her.”
“I do! She’s bonnie and braw. But that does no’ change what’s going tae happen in th’ future. And then she will be like…” He paused. “Well, ye ken th’ ones I mean.”
