by Noah Harris
“And that’s one reason you keep your patrols so tight around the northern borders,” Jaeger said, remembering his time assisting them.
“It’s less common now, but every now and then, we do find a child or babe who has been left. Were it only a few, I would say the people of the north were trying to kill these unwanted children. Yet, over the years, there have been enough that I think they have come to realize we will find these abandoned children and bring them into the fold. These parents cannot stand to keep their children, but they cannot abide killing them outright either,” Verity said, his face giving nothing away about what he was thinking or feeling.
“Seems like the easy way out,” Jaeger grunted.
“Perhaps, but I would prefer they left their children for us to find, then to keep them from us all together. These children never have to grow up alone or ostracized. We care nothing about where they come from, they are raised here, as a member of our large family,” Verity explained.
Jaeger grunted, looking away. “That must be nice.”
“Has the royal family not treated you well?” Verity asked.
Jaeger shook his head. “The family itself has been wonderful. The King has always treated me like one of his own, and Philip and I…well, I’m sure you’ve seen how that’s worked for us so far. But the rest of the south has been more than a little wary of me, both the nobles and the common folk.”
“Because of your blood,” Verity said, tugging at a strand of his dark hair.
“I’ve had Philip, and before Orrin started his trickery, I had the King as well. It’s more than enough for me. Everyone else can judge me as they see fit, I’ve learned to listen only to those who matter the most in my life,” Jaeger said.
Verity gave a small smile. “Wise words, though not always the easiest to follow. And now you move from his shadow, and prepare to stand at his side. Are you ready for that?”
Jaeger blinked. “Why wouldn’t I be?”
“You have lived your life always slightly behind him. Not quite in his shadow completely, but eclipsed enough all the same. Now you both prepare to move forward, standing side by side. Your life will no longer be the same, and you will be expected to do things…you’ve not had to do before. You will be seen as his partner, his companion, the person who rules beside him. Yet, you will not be the one with the crown, you will not be the one who inherits by right of blood. Any who see you will always look to him first, not just because he is king by decree of blood, but because he is alpha and even humans will bow to him before you,” Verity said.
Jaeger blinked, not having given it as much thought as that. He was prepared to see Philip through everything, but Verity made a point, everything was shaping up to change. Not just the kingdom , but their own lives as well. Whatever the results of the upcoming battle, their lives, in every aspect, were going to be completely different.
“I love him,” Jaeger said.
Verity snorted softly. “Love is never enough.”
“I’ve dedicated my life to him, to helping him, protecting him. That’s not going to change just because the expectations of that help are going to be different than they were before. Philip is a good man, but he needs help. Someone needs to be around to make sure he doesn’t go charging off a cliff somewhere,” Jaeger said with a chuckle.
Verity shook his head. “That, is one of the most unsung tasks of omegas who must care for their alphas. No one ever thinks about what we do for them, when no one’s looking. At least you have practice.”
“Years of it,” Jaeger assured him.
Verity looked around. “I was sent to fetch the both of you after it had been deemed long enough for you to have rested. Where is the Prince?”
Alarms rang through Jaeger’s mind. “What do you mean? He didn’t head back earlier?”
Verity arched his brow. “It seems you still have a few things to practice when it comes to the young prince. No, he hasn’t returned, none of us have seen him since last night.”
His first thought was that someone had come into the tent during the night and taken Philip. It was immediately dismissed from his mind, as there would have been no way someone would have been able to take him without Jaeger having woken up. There had been no signs of a struggle, and barring anyone jumping Philip while he was on a middle of the night trip to a nearby bush, he doubted someone had shown up to take Philip.
“Do I need to mount a search party for our kidnapped prince?” Verity asked, sounding calm.
“They wanted to kill him, not kidnap him. No, I don’t think we have a kidnapper on our hands here,” Jaeger growled.
His joke about Philip charging off of a cliff without Jaeger to steer him seemed less funny. Jaeger had to give his mate credit, he hadn’t seen Philip’s plan before it was too late. Not only had he hidden his true plans, but he’d managed to slip away at some point during the night or morning, and hadn’t woken Jaeger in the process.
“Keep the search party, we’ll be back soon,” Jaeger told Verity, already moving toward the woods.
Despite how impressive his sneaky departure from the pack had been, Philip wasn’t skilled enough to know when he was being hunted. Jaeger had transformed to catch Philip’s scent, confirming not only that he was alone, but he was traveling toward the southern kingdom on horseback. The scent was bunched up as he tracked it a short distance to know they weren’t hurrying, Philip apparently not wanting to draw unnecessary attention to himself.
Jaeger followed the trail until he was close enough to hear Philip with his sharper wolfen hearing. Hurrying to shift back, he swung the bag on his back to pull out his clothes and resume the hunt. It was slower on foot, but after a few minutes, Jaeger could hear the sounds of the horse’s hooves along the hardpacked ground of the thin trail the pack used on occasion.
Philip never heard him coming, not until Jaeger was right on top of him. Jaeger leapt from the bushes, clearing the back of the horse’s back and slamming into Philip. Philip only had one wide eyed moment to yelp in total surprise before Jaeger’s attack dragged him from the saddle and down to the ground. They hit the packed earth, both men grunting as Jaeger hurried to sit on top of Philip and glare down at him.
Philip, stunned from the suddenness of the attack and from hitting the ground, stared up at Jaeger in shock. “Jaeger?”
“Who the hell else would chase your ass through the woods after you ran off to go be the gallant, stupid warrior prince?” Jaeger demanded.
“I’m not being stupid! Now get off of me,” Philip growled, having gotten his wind back and struggling against Jaeger’s hold.
Jaeger held tighter. “Like hell I’m letting go. What, so you can go running off into the woods to try to take on Orrin and who the hell knows who else to be the big hero? I don’t think so.”
Philip yanked at his arm, trying to free it from Jaeger’s leg’s hold. “I’m trying to do what I should have done a long time ago! I’m not going to sit around here and wait for someone to tell me what to do.”
Managing to free his arm, Philip gave Jaeger a hard shove. The Prince was larger than Jaeger, and stronger as well, and the shove was hard enough to send Jaeger sprawling. Jaeger had been expecting it though, and twisted his limbs around as Philip appeared on top of him. Philip was unable to pin his arms to his side, and wrestled with Jaeger to get a better hold.
“No, you just want to run off and be the hero. When I told you to start thinking for yourself, I didn’t mean for you to go off and be an idiot. You think you can just take off without telling me, without even asking if I wanted to go?” Jaeger snarled.
Philip snatched at Jaeger’s wrists, catching one but the other slipped from his grip. “Would you just listen to what I tell you for once in our goddamn lives?”
Jaeger pulled one leg free, wrapping it around Philip’s waist and twisting them onto their sides with a grunt. “I’m not going to listen to your excuses.”
“Stubborn as ever,” Philip accused.
“You’ve got ze
ro room to point fingers at anyone for that,” Jaeger shot back.
If he’d been thinking clearly, Jaeger would have recognized the pattern of their tussle. The two had grown up learning to fight side by side, being taught the basics by the master of arms in the castle. It was before they’d been chosen to take different paths when it came to combat styles, and they’d practiced frequently with one another. It had opened up an entirely new way for them to settle any disputes they’d had when younger, and sometimes one would simply attack the other and the scuffle would continue until there was a clear winner.
It had been several years since their last informal duel. As they fought and wrestled with one another, Philip trying to pin Jaeger and make him listen, and Jaeger unwilling to be held down without speaking his mind, their wills were tested as much as their skills. Neither man could keep the other one pinned for long, and their arguments came in grunts and strained growls as they tried to get the better of one another.
After several minutes of wrestling and fighting, they were left panting heavily. The tussle ended with Philip sprawled on top of Jaeger, no longer trying to hold onto him as he held himself upright. Jaeger’s legs were pinned beneath Philip’s weight, he laid back on his elbows as his chest heaved.
“Why won’t you just listen to me?” Philip asked between breaths.
Jaeger eyed him balefully. “There’s nothing you can say that can make any of this better Philip. You charged off to go fight an entire castle’s worth of armed men because you think sitting around and waiting for your allies is an unworthy idea. Worse, you left me behind, you didn’t even have the decency to say goodbye.”
“I thought, it would be easier this way,” Philip said.
“Easier? You mean you knew I wouldn’t let you go, or at least go alone. After everything you said last night, you go and leave me behind like none of it meant a thing,” Jaeger told him, finding the strength to sound angry again.
Philip looked up, eyes wide. “What? Of course it meant something! It meant everything!”
Jaeger motioned toward the packed horse. “Really? Because this looks like the complete opposite.”
Philip’s shoulders sagged. “I didn’t want to…put you in the thick of things. I know you can take care of yourself, so don’t even start with that. This isn’t about whether or not you can fight.”
“Then what? What reason could you possibly have for leaving me behind like I’m nothing?” Jaeger demanded.
When Philip looked up, Jaeger was surprised to see pain and fear in his eyes. “I don’t want to lose you Jaeger. After everything that’s happened recently, I realize just how much I’d lose if something happened to you. I’m not strong enough to handle that, not now, maybe never.”
Jaeger sagged back, feeling the anger drain from him. “What are you talking about? You’re not going to lose me.”
“We could lose everything, you, me, the Princess. Everything we’ve ever had is in danger right now,” Philip said quietly.
Jaeger sighed, leaning forward so he could hang over Philip. “You listen to me, okay? I’ve been trying to get you to stand on your own, not alone. You can’t just…fight an army without an army, and you can’t go charging off into battle without me. You’re not the only one who has something to fight for, and you’re not the only one who has something to lose. If you’d managed to get away and got yourself killed, then what? The kingdom wouldn’t have a prince, Orrin would have gotten what he wanted, and I would have lost the love of my life.”
Philip gazed up at Jaeger, worrying his bottom lip. “I just…couldn’t stomach the idea of losing you. There’s so many chances for me to lose you with the upcoming fight, and I thought maybe…maybe I could get to Orrin, trick him into being alone with me or something and cut the bastard’s head off.”
Jaeger snorted, grabbing Philip’s chin and holding his face upright. “You and I, we’re going to kill Orrin, I can promise you that. But we’re going to do it after we beat him in a proper battle, with our friends at our side. We’re going to save the kingdom from him and the regents, and we’re going to make sure it doesn’t fall into ruin.”
Philip chuckled. “You’re not going to let me out of your sight after this, are you?”
Jaeger bent forward, kissing Philip. “Not even for a minute.”
“And if I have to use a tree?” Philip asked.
“I’ll hold it for you,” Jaeger said, looking down at Philip’s pants.
Philip smiled. “I love you.”
“And I you, you big idiot. Don’t ever do this again, okay? You said I was going to be by your side, and I’m holding you to that,” Jaeger told him.
Philip sighed. “As happy as it should make me, all I can think about is how much hell I’m going to get for having done this.”
Jaeger picked himself up off the ground, grabbing the reins on Philip’s horse and bringing it back around. The horse, being used to all manner of chaos and noise, hadn’t bothered to do more than step away from them. It had found a plant to its liking, and initially resisted Jaeger’s attempts to pull it away.
Philip picked himself up off the ground, following after Jaeger, a thoughtful expression on his face. They said nothing as they made their way back. Philip’s face remained pensive through most of the walk back, and Jaeger allowed the Prince his time to think. He knew his mate had done what he’d done out of a misplaced sense of honor, and a desire to protect Jaeger. It didn’t erase the fact that he’d tried to leave Jaeger behind, but at least Philip’s heart had been in the right place.
The sounds of the pack’s camp met their ears after they’d walked a bit further. Philip perked up as he noticed the sound was louder than usual, and accompanied by the sound of metal plate. As they drew nearer, Jaeger could hear the Princess calling to someone, one of her handmaidens from the sound of it.
Philip grinned at him. “I guess we managed to entertain ourselves long enough for her to get back.”
Jaeger looked askance at him. “Is that what we’re calling you taking off like an idiot?”
Philip smirked. “Well, it wasn’t just today we were waiting for her you know. We knew she could be back yesterday too, and we found a different way to entertain ourselves.”
Jaeger pointed a finger at him. “Just because the sex was mind blowing and amazing, it doesn’t get you off the hook for this. Don’t try to distract me.”
“Just reminding you of what I’m looking forward to the next time we’re alone,” Philip said cheerfully.
Jaeger rolled his eyes. “I see you’ve gotten over your deep thoughts.”
“You know me, I’m occasionally prone to bouts of deep thinking, and then I recover,” Philip said.
Jaeger was still shaking his head when they stepped into the clearing. Sure enough, a large group of armored men and women stood alert nearby. From the sounds of the forest beyond them, there was even more of the army tucked away where they couldn’t immediately be seen. Minerva spotted them, calling a greeting, and grinning wide.
Jaeger watched as the soldiers turned, all of them dropping to one knee. With a series of clanks, they drew their armored fists over their chests, and bowed their heads.
“Well, they’re one for formality, aren’t they? Welcoming their runaway prince so nicely,” Jaeger said dryly.
Philip’s eyes were wide, and he looked between the group of soldiers and Jaeger. “Um, Jaeger?”
Jaeger frowned at him. “What?”
“Remember when the first ambassadors came to the south, to really talk about an end to the war? And the bow they gave my father and I?” Philip asked slowly.
Southern formality was less strict than that of the north, and didn’t demand as much from its people. The most formal bow a soldier could give to their liege lord was the bowing of one’s head, one arm bent behind and the other on their stomach as they bent slightly at the waist. The bow the soldiers were doing, was the most formal of ones done by the northerners, and for the northerners.
“T
hat’s…not right,” Jaeger muttered.
Philip swallowed hard. “Jaeger, they’re not bowing to me.”
Chapter Eleven
Philip
Minerva swept up from behind the group. “Alright you lot, get up and go help the people of Arden do whatever it is they need to do. I have need to speak to these two in private for a bit, there’s quite a lot to catch up on. Pack Leader Makepeace, would you be willing to allow us the use of your tent?”
Makepeace looking unfazed, nodded. “By all means Princess, I’m sure we would all like a few questions answered.”
Philip reached out, tugging at Jaeger’s arm. “Jaeger?”
Jaeger’s eyes were wide and dark. “What’s going on?”
Philip had an idea, but he thought it would be better if it came from the Princess instead of him. The idea was too much to hope for, especially considering what it would mean for their future together. He thought it best that he get Jaeger inside the tent and sit him down, since the man looked ready to collapse where he stood.
Minerva swept over, dressed simply for travel, and took hold of Jaeger’s hand. “Come with me you two, we have much to discuss.”
Jaeger followed after her, a blank expression on his face as he stumbled. Philip wondered if Jaeger was thinking the same thing as him, or if the man was too dumbstruck to do little more than numbly follow whoever took charge. Jaeger kept glancing at the soldiers as they broke away to help with whatever task they were assigned, milling about and talking to one another as they worked.
They entered the tent together, separating to each side as Makepeace entered behind them. The pack leader walked around to his cushioned seat positioned at the head of the semi-circle they made and sat down. Minerva sat to one side of him, her handmaidens waiting patiently behind her. Philip was forced to tug at Jaeger’s hand, making him sit down next to him, across from Minerva.
“I want to apologize for the soldiers, they lack any sort of subtlety or understanding of what’s at stake here,” Minerva began, smoothing out a crease in her skirt.