Page 3 of A Wolf's Treasure
“No.” Cedric pointed at the prince. “It will fix yer problems. No’ mine. It will only give me more!”
The prince rolled his eyes. “I do think you’re being overdramatic. Princess Duana is—how do you wolves say it—quite a ‘bonnie lass’. You could do much, much worse.”
Duncan looked from one to the other. “What in the god’s green earth are ye two talkin’ aboot?”
With a great, heavy sigh, Cedric ran his hands over his head, smoothing back his ponytail, which had, in fact, become quite askew. “Th’ daft prince has come up with th’ perfect way tae distract Duana from her obsession with ‘curing’ th’ soul suckers.” His chest heaved with another intake of air, which he blew out slowly before he said, “He wants me tae mate with th’ lass.”
The prince grinned at everyone in the room in turn. “It’s a brilliant idea. I’m so glad Cedric thought of it.”
“I dinna think o’ it, ye fool. Ye did!”
Duncan buckled beneath the force of the alpha’s temper, as did the rest of the wolves.
“You don’t have to shout,” the prince told him pleasantly. “I may be old, but I can hear you just fine.”
A low growl rumbled from Cedric’s chest, and he took a step toward the Faerie prince.
Acting fast, and as the only one in the room who’d been with his alpha long enough to get away with it, Cedric leapt between them just as Brock and Lucian jumped to their feet. Whether to run or to back up their alpha, he didn’t know, but one move would’ve been just as smart as the other.
He didn’t dare lay a hand on Cedric, as it very well might get bitten off. Quite literally. But he did manage to catch his white eyes with his own. “I dinna think chewing up th’ prince is a good idea, Cedric.”
He flashed his canines. “Yer wrong. Tis th’ best idea I’ve had in a long time.”
Duncan felt a heavy weight settle on his right shoulder, and he caught a whiff of something sweet and pleasant. Lavender? Tearing his eyes from his alpha’s, he turned his head slightly to find the prince’s chin resting on his shoulder. The smile was still on his face. The one that made him look like he was off his head.
“You do know I’m quite capable of taking care of myself,” he whispered in Duncan’s ear.
“Ye have no’ seen a wolf like my alpha when his temper is roused,” he responded.
The prince came around to stand beside him, never taking his eyes from Cedric. His head tilted to the side as he studied the alpha’s face and form. “That’s where you’re wrong, young pup. Quite, quite wrong.”
Duncan frowned, his hackles beginning to rise. He was not young. Nor was he a pup. And he was about to remind the prince of that fact when a flash of color in Prince Nada’s eyes distracted him. He blinked. Looked again. But the illusion was gone.
Cedric pushed him out of the way, snarled at the prince, then abruptly turned on his heel and stomped away. They all let out a collective breath as the weight of his anger lifted from their backs.
Duncan however, continued to stare at the prince as a sense of unease crawled over his skin. But there was no sign of rainbows in his eyes.
Perhaps he’d only imagined it. Or, perhaps it was a trick of the Fae. Either way, there was no need for his heart to be thumping the way it was.
Prince Nada gave him a wink, then retrieved his cane from where it rested against the side of the chair. In a rare moment of mental clarity, he said, “Think about my proposal, wolf. We need to get Duana under control, and who better to do that than you? And we both know why.”
Duncan exchanged a look of surprise with Marc just as Cedric whirled around with a growl.
But the prince was gone.
“Fookin’ Faeries!” Cedric shouted to the space where the prince had stood. Then he grabbed the chair he’d recently vacated and flung it across the room, where it smashed against the fireplace.
Brock and Lucian ran over and began to pull the larger pieces from the fire before they set the whole building ablaze.
Cedric saw what they were doing and roared, “Get out! Get out! All o’ ye!” He pointed at Duncan, white eyes glowing through the strands of hair that had been ripped from his ponytail. “Except ye, Duncan. Ye stay here with me.”
The others filed out, nearly tripping over each other in their haste to get out of the way of Cedric’s wrath.
Duncan watched them go, trying not to laugh. They should all know by now that Cedric was a fair and level-headed alpha. Well, maybe not Brock. He’d only just joined the pack a short time ago. But the rest of them should know; Cedric wouldn’t take out his anger on his pack. Not unless they’d caused it.
It was one of the reasons Duncan chose to stay with him.
“Ye owe them both an apology, for talkin’ like that aboot their mates,” he said.
