Marius was sick to death of the elven realm and this was only his second visit. But between the lustful glances aimed Cathair’s way from the errand boy sent to request Tansin’s presence at the High Elder’s home; to the worried look the High Elder was trying to hide; it was enough to make him want to shift and bite someone.
His mood didn’t improve when ten minutes later Tansin came running in, shirtless. After a hurried bow to Frank and Rochelle, he flung himself at Cathair. “I am so glad you’re all right. When those wretched wolves wouldn’t let you go, and you were so pale and lifeless, I felt for sure you’d be kept captive for years.”
“What in heaven’s name are you talking about?” At least Cathair didn’t let the man touch him for long, but Marius’s claws were digging holes in his palm. “I was with my mate’s pack. How can you accuse them of keeping me captive?”
“They wouldn’t let you come home.” Tansin seemed nonplussed by Cathair’s cold tone. “I told them we’d escort you back here so you could heal, but that one,” he pointed at Marius, “insisted on trying to force me to bring him to our sacred realm and then the son of Poseidon threatened me. I had to make a tactical retreat, but I’ve spent the morning briefing your men. We planned to storm the pack if necessary to get you back.”
“Marius has every right to come here.” Having never seen Frank as anything but Cathair’s father, Marius was impressed with the haughty tone he was using now. “You don’t deny it then? You’ve been on earth, without my permission?”
“Well, yes, of course, not your permission specifically and if I’ve done wrong, I fully expect to be punished for it.” Tansin gave a sweeping bow. “But time was of the essence. Cathair was in great danger. There was no time to consult you and I knew, once you realized the life of your son was at stake, all would be forgiven.”
“How did you know Cathair was in danger?” Marius kept his voice deliberately calm.
Tansin ignored him. “You are here now, Cat, so honestly, you must come and put your men’s minds at ease. They have been desperately worried about you when I explained the situation in Cloverleah.”
“Battle Sergeant Tansin, Prince Marius asked you a question.” Frank’s steely voice could not be ignored.
“Prince Marius?” Tansin’s face flushed bright red. “This mongrel hasn’t been brought before the council. He doesn’t wear Cathair’s mark. I won’t respect anyone who puts his own selfish and dare I say nefarious needs before those of my best friend.”
Mark? What mark and what the hell does nefarious mean? Marius’s wolf fumed at the idea his mating was incomplete and he hated being reminded of his rudimentary education. But Marius could hear Adair’s warnings in his head. Don’t let the man distract you. “I’ll ignore your insults for now,” he said instead. “After all, we both know who the better fighter is between us.” He suppressed a smile at Tansin’s sneer. “But perhaps you could explain, as your High Elder demanded, how you knew Cathair was in danger in Cloverleah?”
“My father, as a council member, ordered me to watch over Cathair while he was on his mission.” Tansin’s smile was triumphant and Marius’s insides seethed as he smelled no deceit. “This talk of dark elves showing up again has got all the council members worried, as they should be. With Cathair as the heir to the throne and our esteemed Battle Lord, it’s only right he should have elves he can call on at any time to watch his back, even if he is slumming in a pack.”
More diversion. Don’t fall for his petty insults. “And yet, you didn’t show your face until after the intruders were dead and Cathair was incapacitated. So much for watching his back.” Score one for me, Marius thought as Tansin’s smile slipped. However, Frank chose that moment to intervene.
“I will be speaking to your father, Tansin, and the other council members. For now, you are banned from leaving our realm for any reason until further notice. You are dismissed.”
“But High Elder, the men; they need to see Cathair is safe and well.”
“I will address the soldiers and let them know what I think of their insubordination when they meet for lunch.” Frank was firm, but Marius didn’t take any joy at watching Tansin leave the room in a barely concealed huff. They hadn’t got any of the answers they were looking for and his frustration burst out before he had a chance to censor it.
“You let the prime suspect in the latest crimes against Cloverleah just walk out the door with nothing more than a slap on the wrist,” he said angrily. “He didn’t gain permission to leave the realm before. What makes you think he’ll ask next time?”
“Did you scent any deceit on him while he was here?” Cathair asked.
“No, but then you didn’t ask him the right questions and I never got a chance to open my mouth before your father intervened and sent him away. So much for an investigation.”
“Marius, I understand you’re concerned about your pack, but we have protocols in place on this realm for a reason.” Marius wanted to slap the calm off Frank’s face but even he knew better than to go that far.
“Understood, your Majesty.” Marius swept into a bow with a grace Tansin would never be able to emulate. “However, Cathair promised my alpha this morning that he would not return until he could guarantee the pack’s safety from your kind. An elf was responsible for the attack on our pack and I’m not leaving until I’ve torn the throat out of the man who did it. I do hope your sainted elves won’t have a problem with a wolf sticking his nose into their business. Are you coming, my mate?”
“I…er…I need to speak to Father for a few minutes. Can you find your way to my rooms?”
“I’ve got more important things to do. You guys couldn’t investigate your way out of a bucket.” Marius pulled his shirt over his head and threw it at Cathair; the shirt Teilo lent him because he didn’t have clothes fancy enough to visit elf royalty. That was a waste of time. Kicking off his boots, he winked at Rochelle. “Excuse me, my lady,” he said as he undid his pants and let them fall. “Nudity is a fact of shifter life.” Without a word to Cathair, he shifted into his wolf form and promptly sneezed. There were too many damn flowers in the room. Ignoring Rochelle’s shocked gasp, he sniffed the floor, picking up Tansin’s scent easily. Now all he had to do was find the sleazy bugger and find out what he was up to.
/~/~/~/~/
Cathair’s mouth dropped open as he watched his mate’s rugged wolf form lope out of his mother’s sitting room. Every instinct yelled at him to follow. Marius didn’t wear his mark yet; something damn Tansin should have kept his mouth shut about. He was sure he was going to hear about that later and how the hell was he going to explain the petty idea he had of using the lack of marking to insist he plow that handsome ass to a man who could scent when he was lying. Shit. I’ve already lied by omission. I’ll be lucky if he ever forgives me.
“I’m not sure I’m comfortable with your mate running around in his wolf form,” Frank said, patting his wife’s hand. “Why didn’t you stop him?”
“Because Marius was right.” Cathair looked at the shirt he was holding and then back up at his father. “You didn’t ask the right questions and you and I allowed Tansin to undermine what should have been a simple investigation. If I’d had the chance to ask him if he’d set the portal in Cloverleah, then all of this would be over by now because Marius would know if he was lying.” And instead of standing here like a dork, worried about my mate, I’d be marking him the way I should have done the night he claimed me. So what, if he didn’t let me top – it’s not as though it would make a difference.
“You heard what Tansin said,” Frank was back to being conciliatory and Cathair did not like it even though he knew it was a crucial part of his father’s job. “His father ordered him to keep an eye on you. Tansin didn’t engage in the pack fight, which is in keeping with our non-interference laws. He retreated as soon as the pack became hostile towards him. I can’t see any way he could have set up the attack in the way you described. When would he have had the time to find rogue wolves and vampires who could be bribed or coerced into attacking a pack for no reason?”
From a logical perspective, Cathair knew his father was right, but the way Tansin hugged him; as though they were lovers rather than friends, didn’t sit right with him. Neither was the fact he was snooping in his quarters; or the pack attack occurring within hours of Marius claiming him and then Tansin turning up after he’d been hurt. Something wasn’t right and Cathair was determined to get to the bottom of it. But for now, his father could clear up one little issue.
“Why did Tansin’s father order him to follow me? Has that happened before? Doesn’t the Council believe I’m capable of defending myself?”
“Of course, they think you can look after yourself. Lord knows, you’ve proven that time and time again. But Tansin was right. The council is worried about the rise of the dark elves again. We have good men, still lying as though dead in our sanitarium and they’ve been there for almost a hundred years. The council doesn’t want to face the dark elves again.”
“But they’re not going to face them, are they Father, because the focus of the dark elves this time is on a pack. My mate’s home. Marius was right. For all his talk, Tansin did nothing to help me. He insulted the pack and my mate and left without giving any instructions on how I could be healed. If he was seriously watching my back and caring about me, don’t you think he’d have told them how simple it is to heal us after something like that when we have a mate?”
“Well, I admit….”
“Or, is it more likely that what he said about talking the soldiers here into attacking more on the mark. I can’t die. He didn’t have to worry about that. But if he took my men down to Cloverleah when they were under the impression they were saving me; can you imagine what would happen to that pack and Marius when they resisted? The Cloverleah pack was formed by the Fates for an important reason. You were told that by the seers.”
“Wiping out any pack like that could cause a paranormal incident,” Rochelle said quietly.
“My mate would die defending me while I lay helpless!” Cathair tugged on his hair. “Gods, Father, why can’t you understand? Think about what would happen if the Cloverleah pack was wiped out. Not in the grand scheme of things, but locally, to us.”
“Well, nothing as such. Your friends would bring you home. Life would go on.”
“I would come home, either in stasis or inconsolable with grief at the loss of my mate. A mate I stupidly haven’t marked yet, so his immortality is not yet insured. I would lose my place as the Battle Lord because I wouldn’t care about anything except trying to find a way to end my life. I’d be unfit as your heir and everyone would know about it. What would that do to your position?”
“I would lose it. As High Elder it’s imperative I have an heir.” Frank’s eyes widened as he started thinking of the consequences and Cathair tried to swallow the bitterness he felt. Finally, his father was starting to see how important Marius and the Cloverleah pack was, but it took concern over his own position to force the issue.
“Who would be next in line to take over?”
“It could be any one of the four others, but I assume Tansin’s father would be considered the most likely candidate.” Cathair could see the instant understanding flashed across his father’s face. “Do you think that’s why…?”
“I don’t know,” Cathair didn’t have time for idle speculation and he had more immediate things to worry about. “What I do know is Marius has been suspicious of Tansin since the moment he scented him and he was right to trust his instincts. Tansin tried to kill him initially. Not that he could. Marius is a far better fighter than any of our soldiers. But that doesn’t disguise the fact Tansin’s been sticking his nose in where it doesn’t belong and I for one want to know why.” Cathair nodded at his mother and headed for the door.
“Where are you going? We need to talk more about this. The whole stability of our realm could be at risk here. I never dreamed any of this business could be related to our family and position.”
“And it’s only now you know that you suddenly think this is important.” Cathair gave up hiding the bitterness he was feeling. “I’m going to find my mate. You have things to do as well. Call a meeting of all soldiers and let them know in no uncertain terms they are to stay away from Cloverleah. If I catch one whiff of elven magic, a portal or anything else that stinks of elf within ten miles of my mate’s home, I’ll put the bastards in stasis myself, whoever they are. Do I make myself clear?” Frank seemed shocked by his vehemence but Cathair had one more thing to say.
“Oh, and I know your point about gathering rogue wolves and young vampires is something that does take time, which worries me for reasons you probably haven’t thought of yet. But if you’re worried about your position as High Elder, you might want to give some thought as to how the hell an elf, any elf, was able to get their hands on a power ball full of evil intent. Because the ball that hit me came through an elf portal and as far as I know, none of our elves have the ability to handle anything like that.”
Ignoring his father’s white face and his mother’s worried frown, Cathair threw back his shoulders and stalked out of the room. The sensible thing for him to do would be to use his magic to find Marius and protect his back. But as Marius would be shadowing Tansin, because that’s exactly what he’d do in the same circumstances, Cathair didn’t want to give his mate away if he was hidden. Instead he headed out to find Tansin. The man was predictable and wouldn’t be far away. And given Marius’s suspicions, it was likely the wolf wouldn’t be too far from his now ex-friend.