Page 51 of The Nightbound Soldier

“Where?”

“On the ground floor. I can show you.”

We descend a flight of stairs, and I follow her into one of the courtier quarters, presumably hers. Once inside, she walks straight to the window and peers downstairs. “There they are.”

Bare-chested lycans dressed in baggy leather construction pants skate over a frozen patch of water. They’re carrying sticks and chasing a round black object I can barely make out.

“Nice view,” I say, and the female blushes at my open appreciation of the lycan male form. They’re built strong, and every muscle on their bodies begs to be touched. My fingertips tingle.

“See the lycans with green towels tucked into their pants and hanging over their hips?” she says, pointing. “Those are the newcomers. The other ones are the construction crew working on the Winter Beauty over there.”

I narrow my eyes, trying to see better. Even with our keen eyesight, this is a bird’s-eye view, and that makes it harder to see.

“And the green-towel guys got here last night?” I ask.

“Yes, milady. They docked and brought the trunks.”

They brought the trunks! I clap my hands. “Woohoo. We’re saved! Where are the trunks?”

“The vampires took them.”

I blink. “Pardon?”

“It was quite an affair. The lycans unloaded the trunks on the sleds and delivered them here. The vampire brothers received them, and everything seemed to be going well until the…” She starts flushing profusely, and I look around for a hand fan. There’s one on the reading chair by the window. I fetch it for the lady before she faints.

She accepts the fan and flares it out. “My fates, some of these lycans will send the court into heat before time.”

“Yes, dear, they’ve blessed us with their presence.”

“Mmhm.”

“Carry on,” I prompt.

“When the young lycan alpha…” She fans herself faster.

“Duane,” I tell her. “His name is Duane.”

“When Duane requested your presence for the handover of the trunks, this tall, scary notturno appeared out of nowhere. He wasn’t there and then he was, and the brothers moved back as if he’s their boss.”

My heart starts beating faster. “Do you know who the scary notturno is?”

“No, milady. Never seen him before, but he had an accent and a rasp in his voice.”

Nottuza. “And what did he say?

“Not much of anything, actually. He stood there like a giant scary wall, and I think the lycans got the message, which is why Duane told him to get out of the way. The lycan used profane language.”

“I suppose that didn’t go over well.”

“He and Duane exchanged words.”

“What kind of words did they use? Dick-measuring kind?” Lycan alphas, especially young ones, love a challenge and gauging their power against a male they perceive as another alpha male.

“Something like that, yes. Duane demanded the scary one show him to your quarters, and the vampire told him no.”

“Just no?”

She nods. “The notturno didn’t have much to say besides telling Duane that seeing you and delivering the trunks to you in person is not going to happen. He did thank him for the delivery, said he will have the trunks inspected, and that the lycans should depart.”

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