Page 6 of Renegade Kings

I would have done anything to protect her from returning to this place. To not have to face the things that haunted, not only her dreams, but every waking moment. The tragedy that had put the shadows in her eyes and the cracks in her heart, that made her close off from the people around her rather than reaching for them when she needed it the most.

“Nymeria has little control over Arik’s actions. I think he’s proved that to us already.” The haunted echo in her voice proved that she was slipping back into the horrors of her past.

I didn’t want to point out the obvious to either of them—maybe Nymeria didn’t give a shit about what any of us did. Or maybe it just liked to see what chaos it could bring. Either way, up to this point, none of us seemed to be standing on the side that had any chance of winning.

Fizzle’s words from when we first met echoed through my head. Perhaps Nymeria, and Damon along with it, was lost. Was it time to accept defeat and go home?

Dean reached out for Alyssa and pulled her back against his chest. He seemed to find his strength just from her touch alone as he stood firmly on his own two feet, wrapping his arms around her. I watched in fascination as his head dipped and he trailed his nose up the length of Alyssa’s neck before he whispered in her ear.

“Where is the woman who faced down an alpha and threw him out of her house? The woman who did the impossible and brought us here against all odds, despite her own personal feelings on returning. Where is the woman who was willing to risk it all to save a single woman and her children? Don’t let your doubts cloud your mind now. Lean in to the pain, the horror, the injustice of it all and let it reignite that fire inside you. Together, we’ll burn this world down and reshape it however you want it to be. Fuck Arik. He doesn’t know who he’s messing with, and I look forward to the day we watch the life drain from his eyes.”

Dean growled, his teeth grazing the skin of Alyssa’s neck before he pulled back. I saw the effort it took for him to do so, and I knew it was the new side of him that was pushing for control now.

He’d always been so in control of himself, even when we were kids, but seeing Dean on the edge right now was so relatable. I could feel the animal inside of me perk up in interest. He wanted to mate with this female. She was his, and nothing would persuade him otherwise. He didn’t even care about the other males he’d share her attention with. It wasn’t that they didn’t register on his radar. He accepted them because it was how it was supposed to be. It almost felt like he knew something I didn’t but the bond between us wasn’t whole enough for me to communicate with him, if that was even possible. It was kind of comical that we’d all agreed to this change and knew nothing about what it meant to be a shifter. We’d been desperate, and we’d have accepted anything—not that I regretted it now. Like I said, this was the most whole I’d ever felt, almost like I’d waited my entire life to be united with the lion that now stalked my mind.

Chapter 3

Alyssa

Dean was right. We had a long way to go if we were going to make any difference in Nymeria, and what other choice did we have? Allow Arik to take control? Let the people continue to suffer? Even if we were ready to give up on Damon, I couldn’t give up on everyone else. They’d suffered for decades while I’d licked my wounds in the quiet solitude of the human realm.

No more.

But we couldn’t save a world in a day and we certainly couldn’t do it until we were strong enough to actually fight back. That meant healing and getting the guys through their first shifts. Not to mention Maddox’s strange new magic. Could it be possible that they all had access to something? It should have been impossible. Shifters didn’t have magic, so what was it that made them different, and could it be done again?

Unfortunately for us, Arik had seen the same thing we had. We couldn’t afford for him to use this to his advantage.

The only option we had was to train and train hard. We had to hit back, and we had to do it before he had time to regroup and use that knowledge against us.

Before we could even think about that, though, we needed to decide what we were going to do now. The Spring Court wasn’t a place I’d ever wanted to return to. Fuck, I’d rather be facing down whatever lived in the centre of the Wildling Forest than walking back into that palace.

The dread built inside me, because I knew there was really only one choice for us right now. The only sensible choice, at least. Dean was hurting, and I’d come so close to losing him. We needed a safe place for him to heal, even if he was trying to pretend like it was no big deal.

“We don’t have to stay here,” Ryder said quietly, drawing my attention to him. “Maybe we could head back to that tavern? Hide out somewhere while we get our bearings and come up with a plan for what happens next?”

I knew he was only trying to protect me, and I appreciated it. But after having listened to Dean whisper those words to me and feeling the fierce determination that practically radiated from his wolf, it felt far too much like running away again.

And I was so fucking tired of running all the time.

Dean sagged harder against my back, even as his arms gripped me tighter. I glanced over my shoulder, and the grey sheen of his skin was proof enough of how much he needed to rest. He might not be entirely human anymore, but that didn’t mean he could just walk off a stab wound. He needed rest, even if I did doubt we’d be able to convince him of that.

“We should move further into the court…”

“I can keep moving,” Dean cut in. Even his voice was lacking the strength it usually had.

I’d like to blame it on the alpha awakening inside of him, but I had a feeling he’d always been this stubborn.

“No. We can find shelter here. It makes little sense to move somewhere we know has The Endless nearby. Ryder’s right, we need to regroup and this could be a safe place to do it.”

Stupidly, I thought that would be the end of it, but the guys just clustered closer around me, confusing me about what was actually happening. I felt Tank’s fingers brush against mine as he slowly linked our hands together and pulled me against his damp shirt.

“We’re not questioning your logic. We’re worried about what going back to that place means for you. You don’t have to be here if you don’t want to be. There’s nothing we wouldn’t go through to make life easier for you.”

A soft growl from one of the others whispered through the air in agreement, and I sighed. It was strange having so many people concerned for me. Strange… but maybe something I could get used to.

There was a burden to shouldering your own shit all the time. It might be internal, it might come from your own anxieties, but it was still exhausting.

I looked up into Tank’s eyes, about to tell him it would all be all right when Fizzle cut in.