King Cave (Forever Evermore, #2)(110)
“Remarkable,” Pearl murmured, sounding awed again and reaching out her own hand to Clyde and Bonnie. Gradually, she lowered it, petting them in soft strokes. Waking slightly, they both sniffed, their noses moving against each other’s before they fell back asleep. “It’s just remarkable.”
“Yes, it is,” Ezra said softly, moving between Antonio and myself to rest a hip against the table, only inches from me. He rested his coffee on the table and bent over me with a hand extended toward Buttercup. She sniffed it, and when she didn’t bite him, Ezra’s hand joined mine in petting her, repeatedly and deliberately brushing against mine. Buttercup ate up the attention as Ezra’s fingers grazed under my wrist, making my pulse jump.
Our hands moved away from each other’s as Buttercup hopped onto the table and sniffed at Bonnie and Clyde, circling them to lie at their heads, curling around them. I watched with amusement as Bonnie swatted Buttercup’s wayward paw off Clyde’s shoulder, almost lazily, before putting her paw back on Clyde’s head, not seeming to mind Buttercup lying against her. Clyde made a grunting noise, but readjusted so Buttercup wasn’t touching him anywhere else.
Pearl blinked, then snickered quietly. “Oh, that’s precious.”
Ezra grunted, his own body angled possessively next to mine.
“He’s all cleaned up,” Jack stated, all business, as he hurried into the room.
West was clean, his fur around his ear matted with water. Anyone with half a brain would know Jack could have done that from his chair using his magic, but the Kings and Elders weren’t paying much attention as they continued their conversation. Jack set West on the table, who gazed up at him with pleading eyes. Jack considered the sleeping cubs, then nodded with approval. “As long as you behave.”
West’s nose crinkled, but he bounded over to the cubs and, not going anywhere near Bonnie, he curled up around Buttercup, resting his head on her flank and tossing a few paws over her and Clyde. They both grunted, but didn’t move. In fact, Buttercup lifted her face and licked West’s bum ear a few times before lowering her head. Then they were all adorably asleep.
“I wonder,” Antonio whispered quietly, reaching out a hand.
Cahal’s attention went to him. “What are you doing?”
“Testing a theory,” Antonio answered calmly.
I watched in horrified fascination as Antonio’s fingers inched closer to Bonnie.
Cahal reached across the table and grabbed his wrist, eyes flashing. “It won’t work, and you know it.” He shoved Antonio’s wrist back at him. “Let them rest.”
I blinked because Antonio rarely ever did anything without caution. “Maybe he’s right.” I paused. “Bonnie might not attack him.”
Cahal turned heated eyes on me. “Not forgetting Jacobs, she also scratched King Kincaid.”
That stopped me, even as Ezra re-positioned himself to cut off my view of his dad. I sat mute for a moment, then peeked around his hip to Cahal. “You’re right.” She probably would attack Antonio if she had attacked King Kincaid.
Cahal nodded once and gestured at the slumbering cubs, turning his glare on Antonio. “Just let them sleep while they can.”
Antonio watched him with a cocky expression, giving him a blatant ‘f*ck you’ glance, before turning his attention away. Though, he didn’t reach out again to pet Bonnie, apparently thinking better of the idea.
Seriously, I had no clue how those four had managed to be Rulers together, every single one of them constantly bickering with each other. I perused all four of my besties and thanked God that I had the relationship I did with them. Pearl smiled at me as she petted the cubs, Jack also smirking as he petted them, and Ezra began doing the same. I place my hand next to theirs and joined in loving our affectionate cubs.
“Could you repeat that, please?” Jack asked for clarification.
Ezra stopped secretly massaging my feet under the table, where I had placed them on his lap, sitting across from me again. “You want us to do what?”
“Are you crazy?” I asked in disbelief.
“It is pure chaos out there for any Mys,” Pearl expounded.
The Kings stared at us with stoic faces, none of them cracking.
King Venclaire continued his pacing, but stated — again — calmly, “You will each be traveling separately, with only one Elder of your choosing, to the new Prodigies. They need to be brought here for their safety.”
We stared, the four of us not believing what we were hearing.
“It’s the way it has always been done,” Elder Jacobs clarified. “Be happy you’ll have an Elder for company. They’re only allowed during unfriendly times.”
“The way things have always been done is archaic,” I said heatedly, not wanting any of us out there, much less with only one Elder per ‘retriever’ against all the hostile Coms.
King Kincaid’s expression cracked so he could glower. “You know not what you speak of. You are still too young and inexperienced to have an opinion on that.” He growled at me. “So keep your f*cking mouth shut before you embarrass yourself.”
My wolf snarled at him, tired of his demands. Yes, the majority of the time he acted as more of a father figure, but there were plenty of other times he acted the righteous King. “Kiss my ass.” My mouth snapped shut.