The Alpha who was Meant to Kill Me

Chapter 4.2

I waited a breath. I chose my moment. I kicked free of the stirrups as it came down between bucks and rolled clear.

I hit the dirt harder than I wanted to. A sharp stone bit into my side through the leather. I rolled, came up on one knee, and pressed my hand to my ribs.

My horse tore off into the trees. One of our soldiers kicked after it.

Alec was on me in two strides.

"Wren—"

I twisted away from him before he could touch me. Not because it hurt. Because his eyes were the eyes of a man about to give me away. I looked past him to Leo, who had already recovered his horse and was walking it back, and saw the same problem on his face.

"I'm fine," I said through clenched teeth, pitching my voice low.

"Wow." Darien ambled over, hands on his hips, grinning. "I've never seen a soldier move so quick. Afraid your delicate bones can't handle a spill, young man?" He crouched in front of me, just enough that I could see the green of his eyes up close. Up close they were worse. Up close they saw things. "Is this your first time on a pony, boy?"

Charming. I forced out a rough imitation of a male chuckle. It cost me. Pain spiked down my side. I looked down and saw a few bright drops of blood on my palm.

Alec grabbed my shoulder and bent to look.

"I'm fine." I did my best boy's voice. I stepped out of his hand.

"You married to this one, Alec?" Darien said, and I felt his green eyes flicking between us with a new weight I did not like. "It's just a scratch. Right, young man?"

"Right." I bit the word in half.

"No need to baby him. Treat him like a man, not some fragile princess." Darien laughed. Alec did not. Leo did not. "Well. You two are no fun today. Apologies, young one. You new? What's your name?"

Crap.

We had not picked a name. I had not even thought about it. My eyes scanned the road for anything, and landed on a small brown bird hopping across the dust at the edge of the clearing. A wren.

"Wren." I gave him the deepest voice I could manage.

Alec's mouth twitched. I caught the smirk before he killed it.

I had just given myself the nickname he had been calling me since I was five. I was never going to escape it now. Coming from him it had gone from annoying to something close to precious. Coming from the Alpha king of Specter, it felt like being touched without permission.

"Come on, then." Darien thumped me on the back hard enough to jolt my ribs. "Let's move out. Wren. You've got dirt all over your face. Not a pleasant sight." He chuckled and walked off toward his horse.

Alec was still watching me. "Are you sure you're okay?"

"Trying not to make a fuss," I hissed.

"Wren." He tested the name in his mouth and I saw him decide to use it. "You should stay back. You're hurt."

"My lord." I choked on the last word. "It's a scratch. I will not sit in safety while the Alpha king of Adonis rides into a trap. I'm ready. I want to be of use." I smirked under the helmet. Choke on that one, Alec.

"Enough, Alec." Darien was up on his horse now and leaning down toward us with his mouth crooked in amusement. "The lad's fine. Unless there's some other reason you don't want him riding with us."

Alec's jaw worked. "Stay near Leo."

"I think you've been playing with your princess too long." Darien swung his horse around. "You're getting soft. Any more tea time and you'll be picking out a pianoforte. We've located the bandits. South village. They've set up a shadow village to cover themselves. We ride straight through."

Playing dress-up. Tea time. Pianoforte. My teeth were going to grind into dust.

"Leo." Alec's voice was low and clipped.

Leo gave him a single nod. Order received.

"Let's go."

The village came up fast. It looked normal. Too normal. Villagers talking, carts, laughter, children running between stalls. I had seen a real Specter village by now. Specter villages did not look like this one. A real Specter village did not meet incoming royalty with a smile.

We dismounted. Leo was on me in a breath, not saying a word, just there. I drifted over to a food stall, bought two skewers, and pressed one into his hand.

"Leo. I know you want one of these." I kept my voice dropped low. "It would be rude not to eat."

"Typical boy." Darien's voice carried behind me, pitched for Alec, who was not laughing. "Thinks about his stomach first."

"No one's noticing us," Darien murmured, barely above a breath. "Rehearsed. Definitely rehearsed."

I worked the meat off the skewer and scanned the square over the rim of my helmet. The children who had been playing in the dirt had vanished. The woman who had been hanging linen was gone. A few doors had closed very softly. Leo felt it the same moment I did. His grip on the skewer tightened.

The sheath at my back flared hot.

Not warm. Hot.

I snapped my head toward Alec, who had wandered a dozen paces up the lane between two low cottages.

"Leo."

"I see them."

A footstep scraped on a roof beam above the cottages.

A door behind Darien opened, and the man who walked out was not a villager. I saw the sword before I saw the face. I saw the angle. The tip was coming for Darien's spine.

My sealed wolf screamed.

I moved without a thought. I was across the dirt with my own blade drawn before Darien's shoulders had time to tense, and steel met steel an inch from the back of his neck.

The clang of it rang off every closed shutter in the square.

Darien whipped around, his green eyes blazing gold at the edges, and found me standing between him and the blade meant to go through him.

Above us, men were already dropping from the rooftops.