Alara’s eyes widened as every drop of blood drained from her face. “Severely wounded? Where is she? You have to take me to her!”

“Alara,” Gerard began, but she jerked out of his grasp.

“No,” she said, lifting her chin. “I want to see her—now.”

Gerard searched her eyes. Nik watched the captain carefully. The captain genuinely cared about Alara—that much was clear. And from the way she looked at him, she obviously cared about him too.

His heart sank.

Gerard at last sighed. “Very well. Come with me.”

Alara stepped forward, not even glancing behind her as she walked away. That stung, but Nik told himself he was being selfish. It was her mother, for crying out loud. If he were in her shoes, he wouldn’t have been able to think about anything else either. Not that he had much to relate to. His parents hadn’t exactly been model citizens.

Either way, he couldn’t let her out of his sight, not after hearing the shooters had been after the high family. He started to follow when Gage grabbed his arm. “Wait.”

Nik turned on his brother, the growl in his throat dying when he saw the question—and the hurt—in his brother’s eyes.

He sighed, the fight leaving him. “I can explain.”

“You’ve had the Fever and you didn’t tell me.” It was almost an accusation. “How long?”

Nik ran a hand along his neck, which had suddenly grown stiff. “About three weeks.”

Gage swore. Danica stepped away a few steps, turning her back. Nik knew she could still hear them, with her wolf hearing, but he appreciated the considerate gesture.

“And you didn’t think telling me it was your Blood Moon month was important?” Gage said, his words sharp with fury. And hurt.

An answer formed on Nik’s tongue, but he paused. I didn’t want to tell you because I didn’t want you to push me into something I didn’t want. I didn’t want to pretend like this is what I want because it’s what you want. Neither of them sounded right. Hurting Gage was the last thing he wanted. He’d been through so much already. So he went with the only one that sounded honest and not hurtful. “I didn’t want you to worry about me.”

All the anger drained out of Gage, and he sighed. “I’d worry about you anyway. You’re my brother.” His voice softened. “I noticed something was off, but you always keep everything in, so I thought at first it was my imagination. You don’t show your emotions very easily.”

“Not like you?” Nik said with a small chuckle.

Gage smiled back. “It’s what makes you so good at politics, whether you want to admit it or not.”

A sour expression crossed Nik’s face. Gage had tried to get him to run for Alpha, but Nik would have no part of that. He might have an excellent poker face, but he still had a temper. Some king would step out of line and get thrown into a wall, and before he knew it, his pack would be in all-out war. It was too big a risk. Gage’s personality was much more suited to this job.

Gage stepped closer, studying him with concern. “When did you start hiding things from me again? I thought we were past this.”

Nik shrugged, giving his brother that carefree smile. “Old habits die hard, I guess.”

Gage shook his head in frustration. “That’s just it. You pretend like everything is okay inside when it’s not. Just open up to me.”

Open up. Nik’s pulse quickened with fear. The last time he’d opened up to someone—truly let them see who he was—she’d left him and it nearly destroyed him. He was already raw from trying to win his parents’ affections, something that had proved futile when they’d left him too. All his life people had walked out on him. He couldn’t take any chances at letting them get too close; otherwise, they’d hurt him when they left.

Gage’s voice was gentle, so full of understanding. “I don’t need you to treat me like your baby brother anymore. I can help you. Let me look out for you for a change.”

Nik looked at his brother, at the kindness and love in his eyes. His throat tightened with emotion. Mutely, he nodded and Gage embraced him, clapping a hand on his back.

Nik smiled softly at him. “Thanks,” he said shakily.

Behind Gage, Danica smiled.

“Are you Nikolas Johnson?”

They both turned to look at the pair of guards who’d sneaked up on them.

Nik raised a brow. “Who wants to know?”

“His Majesty, High King Victor, would like an audience with you.”

Shit.

“What’s this about?” Gage said with authority, becoming the Alpha of the Moonstruck Pack once more as he stepped forward.

“I think you know very well what this is about,” one of them said with a sneer toward Nik.

Nik could take a few guesses. And he bet all of them had to do with Alara. “Right, then. Lead the way.”

Gage and Danica followed Nik and the guards up the stairs to the second story and down the hall. Gilt lined the walls, and frescoes stretched across the ceiling in swirling patterns of the heavens. Nik would have taken more time to admire the artwork if his heart wasn’t beating faster with every step they took as they neared the king’s office.

More guards waited outside the room. They opened the doors and announced Nik. Nik glanced at Gage, who gave him an encouraging nod, as if to say, “I’ve got your back.” He started to follow Nik in when the guards crisscrossed their swords. “Only Nikolas may enter. The king has not called for you.”

Gage growled and opened his mouth to protest when Nik cut him off.

“It’s okay,” he said quickly. “I’ll be fine.” I don’t want to cause any more trouble than I’m already in, he added telepathically.

Gage gave him a look that said he still wasn’t okay with this, but he stood down. Let me know if you need me, and I’m there.

Nik smiled. Thanks.

The first thing Nik did when he walked in was glance around—first, for exits, and secondly, for—

“She’s not here,” said the king. He sat behind his desk, head leaned forward and pinching the bridge of his nose.

Nik raised a brow and bowed. “Your Highness.”

The king chuckled, low and bitter. “I never thought I’d live the day to see my queen dying and the heir to my throne mark a peasant.”

Nik nearly snorted. Kings loved to throw around those words. He thought they did so because it assured them of their own self-importance.

The king stood, drawing himself up to his full height. Nik felt the force of the hatred in his eyes. “I’m not all right with this,” he said. “As this has to be some mistake, I will hire the best witches and warlocks available and have them remove the link between you two so my daughter may mate with someone within her own class.”

Nik blinked, then crossed his arms. “The Mark can’t be undone.”

“There are always loopholes in spells,” the king said dismissively, sitting down. “I’ll find a way. This union cannot happen.”

Nik’s heart skipped a beat. At first, he was terrified at growing closer to her, but he found he was more afraid of losing her.

The king went on before Nik could think to speak. “For their protection, my daughters are being moved to our other strongholds. After that, you will never see her again.”

Now Nik’s anger boiled over. “She’s coming with me,” he said with quiet fury.

The king scoffed. “Don’t be ridiculous. I know you only fancy yourself a knight of hers after marking her—”

“Oh, I don’t just fancy myself her knight—I am her mate.” His voice grew with strength. “She is my Marked. You cannot fight that.”

“I can and I will,” the king said, voice hard as stone. “Look, if it’s a title or money you seek—”

“I don’t want your damn money,” Nik snapped. “And I sure as hell never asked to be some fancy-pants royal.”

“Then why do you want her? You can’t say you possibly care for her.”

Nik wasn’t sure if the derision in the king’s voice was aimed at him or Alara. The latter nearly sent him into a rage. He hadn’t known Alara long, but the Fever amplified his feelings, making them irrational. And they made him want to protect her all the more. He remembered seeing her face when he teased her about her name, the resentment in her eyes. Anger like that was hard to hide, the kind that could only be built up after years and years of conditioning. She was as much a prisoner here as she was a princess. He had to save her. “What if I do?”

“It’s of no consequence to me. You will not mate with my daughter!” the king said, rising and slamming a fist down on the desk.

Nik never backed down from his icy gaze. “Fight it all you want. But either way, she’s my mate and she’s coming with me.”

Without another word, he turned his back and stormed out on the High King.

Gage fell into step beside him once he started walking down the hall. Did you just…?

Yes. That was me, walking out on the High King.

Damn. This is doing nothing to improve relations between us and them.

I don’t care. He’s threatening to take Alara away from me.

What are you going to do?

Nik’s eyes narrowed. It was “game on” time. Find Jason. I have a plan.