Little Red's Riding

Keep Your Head

Soren was in front of Silas in a moment, his massive frame blocking the Alpha from the rest of the room as Oliver quickly joined him.

"Keep your head, Silas." Oliver's voice was in his mind, pulling him immediately back to the task at hand. "And you can bet that that's her brother whose arm she's on. Look at the uniform. Who else could it be?"

The reassurance, along with the reminder, helped clear the red haze that had clouded Silas' vision, but it did little to calm the raging beast in his chest that was ready to tear free and rush straight towards their mate. His wolf was making it clear that he had waited far too long already for their mate to come home and time was just about up. Silas clenched his jaw, his hands in fists at his sides.

Forcing himself to turn away he saw that Garin was kneeling beside Skye, along with both of the women from their group, a genuinely concerned look on his face, while she looked as if she had nearly fainted. A wave of annoyance washed through him. He didn't have time for dramatics. Hell, he hadn't wanted to bring any of the three women with them, even if it would make their party more convincing to get through the door of the ball.

Surely there had to be groups of men, unaccompanied by women going out by themselves? Not, Garin had insisted, to the ball that they were going to. The King wouldn't have allowed it. He liked to keep the numbers skewed in his favor. A group of ladies, yes. Men? No.

"What's going on with her?" Silas took a deep breath and asked the question through his mind link to Soren and Oliver while his eyes were on the raised area where the little group that Dahlia was part of had stopped. He could see her quite well. The area had been designed so the entire room would have a dazzling view of the King and anyone who was with him. It had been well planned out.

"I'm not sure." Oliver replied first. "But from the pieces I've overheard she seems to be saying that those two girls that look very much like her up there with our Luna, are her sisters."

Soren's eyes went wide as he looked up at Tansy and then back and Skye. Both Silas and Oliver turned their heads in his direction as a low rumble rose in his chest before he managed to get his wolf under control.

By the time their eyes returned to the stage Dahlia was on the King's arm descending to the ballroom floor. Silas drew in a sharp breath as the crowd drew back, making a wide space.

"Hold it together, man. You'll have her back soon enough. And you'll rip his head from his shoulders before the night is over." This time it was Soren's reassurances that he heard echoing through his mind, along with a firm hand on his shoulder with an almost a bruising grip. A distant part of his brain was thankful that his mate's brother was there.

Soren was every bit as big and strong as he was. He should have been an Alpha, a part of Silas' brain acknowledged as he gritted his teeth together.

His future brother in law really was born to lead a pack. It was odd that they'd been born in the same place, in the same pack. It didn't normally happen that way. The Moon Goddess usually only blessed a pack with one Alpha in a generation, because when she was generous in this way, problems were bound to arise.

He might have thought more on the matter, if his mind hadn't been focused so intensely on his mate as the King began to twirl her about the floor, holding her body far too closely for Silas' taste.

He felt Mrs. Lemp's hand on his arm.

"Look at me Silas." She said the words out loud as she stepped past Soren and managed to capture his attention. "Don't watch. If you do you're going to lose it. And that's what he's playing at right now. This is his trap and he's winding it up, so that you explode. This is what he wants. You need to be strong and keep yourself and your wolf from playing straight into the bastard's hand. You are far too smart for this. If we make our move too soon, before all of the pieces fall into place, everything falls apart."