“Did anyone else get bitten?” Halloran asked the gathered fae at Ena and Brett’s castle: the dragon fae queen, Ena, Brett, Jacob, and Mark.
They had locked a sleeping Bryan, still in his wolf form, in one of the cells in the dungeon where Ena and Brett stored their treasure. But it was the only place where he’d be secure at the castle.
Brett was sitting on a couch in the common area of his and Ena’s castle, his arm around Ena. She still looked pale, and he wondered if that had all to do with the baby she was carrying. He was certain now that she was. He'd never seen her faint before, and he was sure she wasn't happy that anyone else saw her so indisposed either.
“No, as soon as he jumped from the bed, we were talking to him, trying to reason with him to reach him. We didn’t know if he understood who we were even,” Brett said. “Did you find the brown wolf?”
“She tore into one of the wolves who guards Alton’s treasure,” Ena said. “A woodland fae took care of Myla and used some kind of spell on the brown wolf to stop her from attacking her. The wolf ran off. Simon’s brothers and Alton are searching for her. But he said Bryan needs to live with them, to learn how to be one of them. Otherwise, he could be a wild wolf, killing people indiscriminately all over the place.”
“Like the brown wolf, if it’s Hannah,” Brett said.
“If she had been left in the human world, she could have created real havoc,” the queen said. “It makes me wonder if we shouldn’t start capturing the fae seers and let them live here until they change, if they change. If not, they’re stuck in our world as humans. Or, we can return them to their world, if the years pass and they don't become one of us.”
“I’m not taking in any more humans,” Ena said.
“She can’t,” Ryker said. Ena’s butler sometimes served as her advisor, and he always had Ena’s best interest at heart. “Not when she’s got a little one on the way.”
Ena scowled at him.
“It’s true, isn’t it?” Ryker shook his head. “She can’t take in any more humans. Not when they can cause all this trouble.”
The queen smiled at Ena. “I’m so happy for you, dear. Our first little baby dragon shifter in years.”
“I haven’t had it confirmed, yet. Ryker is speaking out of turn.”
“I’ll send my physician to see you at once. If Ena doesn’t have any objection, I think it best if we do what Simon suggests. Turn Bryan over to the wolf pack of Wolf Mountain.”
Mark looked devastated.
“He’ll return here, Mark,” Ena said. “He’s family, even if he’s a wolf shifter fae now. And you need help with the gardens.”
“About that,” the queen said.
Everyone looked at her, waiting to see what she had to say.
She shrugged and smiled. “I had a deal with Brett that he’d have Bryan work for me on my gardens, once I paid for his medical expenses to save his life. But if that’s not possible, I’ll have Mark do the work instead. Not all the work. He can plan the gardens, and my people will create them.”
Mark agreed to it, not that he had any other choice.
“And for that, I’ll convey the title of Royal Master Gardener on you.”
Mark smiled.
“Let me know what happens to the brown wolf.” Then the queen headed for the castle door and Ryker hurried to open it for her, with all the aplomb of a royal butler, since Brett and Ena were now royals too.
“How long will the sleeping spell work on Bryan?” Ena asked Brett.
“A few hours, more or less, depending on his ability to fight it,” Brett said.
“Do you really think it’s a good idea to leave him with a pack of wolves?” Mark asked. “What if he fights them, and they feel they have no alternative but to kill him?”
“We pray that it doesn’t happen,” Ena said. “But we can’t have a wild wolf at the castle, putting everyone here at risk. And we can't keep him locked up forever.”
“My apologies for mentioning your condition in front of the queen,” Ryker said, returning to the common area.
Ena frowned at him.
Ryker shrugged, not looking in the least apologetic. “Now the queen is sending her—”
There was a knock at the door.
“Physician to learn the truth. Which means Cook will need to prepare special foods for you and the baby.”
Ena scowled at him, not wanting her household to be in an uproar over the baby, or babies, if Letta was right. “She does not.”
Ryker hurried to get the door, opened it, and said, “Do come in. The princess awaits you in the common room.”
“My bedchamber,” Ena corrected him, and Brett took her to their chamber, though she gave him a look like he’d better not even think of coddling her over this. She was a fierce dragon fae shifter, after all.
Brett thought Ena might dismiss him from their chamber when the queen's physician examined her, but she didn’t. He about fainted when he learned they were going to have twins in the spring, not just a baby.
Ena smiled at Brett, and then frowned. “That doesn’t mean I'm giving up working on missions until the babies arrive. Oh, and, though I don’t know her qualifications, the woodland fae who saved Myla’s life, at least I hope she did, said she could be my midwife.”
The queen’s physician shook his head. “We haven’t had dragon shifter babies in so long, I would be honored and remiss if I didn’t deliver them.”
“All right. But Letta will watch over me in the meantime.”
Seeming pleased that he would get to deliver her babies, the physician bowed his head, smiling.
Brett didn’t think Ena meant it. She didn’t need anyone watching over her. He suspected, for whatever reason, she was on a new mission to save the woodland fae. Another misfit to join their ranks?
“You are sure she is safe to have around?” Brett asked. Now that they were going to have two new members of the family, Brett wanted to ensure they were well-protected.
“No, but everyone can keep an eye on her.”
The physician gave Ena a list of things she should and shouldn’t do during the various stages of pregnancy, then he bowed to them, and left.
Brett wanted to see the list, but Ena quickly perused it and stuck it down her bodice. He smiled at her. He would learn what the queen’s physician said she could do or not do, with or without her cooperation.
They heard shouts of glee and Brett smiled. “Sounds like your staff—”
“Our staff.”
“Our staff likes the news.”
She sighed. “I don’t want anyone making a big fuss about this.”
Then someone knocked on the door and Brett knew it was Ryker from his firm knock. “Yes, Ryker.”
“Halloran is here to see Ena.”
She groaned. “I hope this is not about the babies. I want some normalcy around here for the next few months.”
Brett helped Ena from the bed, and they went to the door.
Halloran was looking like one proud uncle, grinning from ear to ear. “You beat Alton out!”
“Oh, for heaven's sake. This is not a contest.” Ena brushed past him.
Halloran slapped Brett on the back. “For being only human, as far as we all knew, you sure have made an impact on our kind.”
“I thought maybe you and the falcon fae were becoming an item.”
“Nah. I was just teasing her about her locket. She needed to be with her own kind.” Then Halloran looked serious. “Queen Viviana said that Bryan must be handed over to the wolf pack at Wolf Mountain. I want to go with you when you do it. I assume, because you have magical skills and you’re his friend, you’ll want to do it.”
“Yes. I welcome your company. I don’t want Ena to go though.”
Ena was already below stairs, so she didn’t hear what he’d said, but Brett was serious. He didn’t want her getting into the middle of this wolf mess in case Bryan woke and went crazy again.
“I agree. Let’s do this.”
Brett hoped it wasn’t a mistake to take Bryan to the Wolf Mountain territory. But he hoped they would be able to help him cope with all the changes he was going through. Brett knew Mark would miss Bryan. All of them would.
When they reached the common area, all of Ena’s staff was surrounding her, tears in their eyes, except for Jacob and Ryker. But the ladies were all thrilled. Of course, so were the men. They'd be the babies' protectors, no matter the cost.
Mark wasn’t there with the others and Brett suspected he was in the dungeon, checking on Bryan.
“We’re taking Bryan to Wolf Mountain,” Brett said.
“I’m going with you,” Ena said.
Halloran objected first. “He’s dangerous, Ena. You have the babies to think of.”
“I want to check on Letta. She’s supposed to be a midwife, if she was being honest with me. I want her turned over to me.”
“The queen’s physician is delivering the babies,” Halloran said.
“He agreed that Letta could be there also. Mark is down in the dungeon seeing Bryan. Let’s go.”
Brett knew from the way Ena was looking so stubborn, he didn’t stand a chance of talking her out of going. Truth be told, that was part of the reason he loved her. She was protective of those who needed protection, despite her dragon persona of been tough to the scales.
When they reached the dungeon, Mark was reaching through the bars, petting Bryan, talking to him, consoling him.
“No!” Brett said, and instantly, Bryan snapped and snarled, and Mark jerked his hand through the bars, but too late.
“Did he break the skin?” Ena asked, angered. “You were supposed to work on the gardens, and you even became the queen’s Royal Master Gardener. Now this!”
Halloran folded his arms and shook his head.
Brett examined Mark’s bite wound. “Yeah, he broke the skin. I don’t know if it means you’ll shift for sure, but we’ll leave both of you with the wolves for a time. What were you thinking?” Though Brett knew Mark was only concerned about his friend and was offering him comfort.
“That he was scared in there. Wouldn’t you be?” Mark said, though he was furious sounding, he also sounded worried.
“Yeah. But at least when I turned into a dragon, I knew I could protect Ena,” Brett said.
She snorted. “Look what that got you.”
“Two bolts in the side. I know, but I did protect you.” Brett cast a spell to put Bryan back to sleep. “Okay, who’s taking whom this time?”
“I’ll take Mark,” Halloran said. “I’m not sure I trust your sleeping spell all that well.”
“Yeah, but what if Mark turns on you?” Ena said, sounding worried about her brother’s safety.
“He can’t hurt a dragon.”
Simon wasn’t sure what to do about Letta, though he didn’t want her ill-treated after she had saved his sister's life. The easiest thing to do would be to let her go to live with Ena and her staff. She didn’t belong among the wolves.
But when Brett arrived with a sleeping gray wolf, Halloran had brought another human with him. Halloran was Dragon at Arms, so Simon wondered why he was even here. And Ena had come too. Simon was afraid that she was going to insist that Letta go back with her.
The wolf council wanted Letta here for now. They wanted to know more about what kind of fae she was and about the place she was from. They always had to be careful about mystery fae and their true intentions. She could be a scout for her kind, for all they knew, looking for a new place for her kind to settle.
Letta was in Myla’s cottage, seeing to her. She seemed genuinely worried about her, maybe about her own fate too.
“What are you doing here?” Simon asked Halloran, his gaze taking in the human. And then he saw his bloody hand. “No.”
“Yeah,” Halloran said. “I hope you can manage two of them.”
Simon shook his head. “Yeah, but we need to take that other wolf down.”
Then Ena said, “Where’s Letta?”
“In the hut with Myla.”
“I need to see her.”
“She’s in that hut.”
Ena stalked off that way, and Bryan stirred in Brett’s arms. “Have you got a secure place for them? Can they be together, or would it be less dangerous if they each have their own cage?”
“Separate. We don’t know how they’ll react toward each other, any more than we’ll know how they’ll react to the rest of us. Cages are over there, and I suggest you put them each in one. Now.”