When I stepped out of my room, all four of them froze and stared at me with an intensity that was slightly frightening. Their gazes roamed along my body and four sets of eyes bore into mine. My eyes were doing their own roaming. All four wore black suits with white shirts and I desperately wanted to tear the suits off of them with my teeth.
“So?” I asked, since none of them had said anything.
Rhys was suddenly in front of me. “You would put Aphrodite to shame,” he whispered and kissed my cheek.
“You look beautiful,” Nico said with a smile.
“I knew that would look amazing on you,” Fox said with a wide smile. “It will look better on the floor tonight.”
“Alright, stop rubbing it in just because today is your day with her,” Deryn growled at him.
I couldn’t help laughing at that, but dabbed at my eyes to keep them dry, so my makeup wouldn’t get ruined.
“Let’s go,” Rhys ordered everyone.
Standing in the elevator, all four of them found a place to touch me, their hands rubbing me and driving my hormones insane.
“Unless you want a five-way in the car, you should stop touching me,” I threatened them.
Instead, their eyes brightened at the prospect.
“No,” I said despite the warmth I felt in my core at the thought. I had meant it to be a threat and a joke.
Their hands moved away and I immediately missed their touches.
Martin whistled from his spot against the SUV when he saw me. He walked to me and bowed. “You’ve never looked more perfect.”
“Hey, no flirting with her,” Nico ordered him.
“Not flirting,” he replied and kissed my cheek. “She knows what my flirting is like.”
I blushed, and Deryn got into the front seat, so that I couldn’t sit next to Martin. Martin chuckled and got into the driver’s seat. I climbed into the back seat next to Fox. He immediately put his arm around me and began caressing my shoulder with his fingertips.
“You know what her outfit is missing?” Rhys asked.
“What?” I asked him.
He leaned back, draping himself across me and touching my neck. When he sat down, a gorgeous diamond necklace lay around my neck. It was shaped like flowers and vines and had to be worth our apartment building.
“This is too-”
“She needs earrings too,” Nico said and put a pair of diamond earrings in my ears before I could object.
Deryn smirked at me and said, “My gift is on your wrist.”
What? I looked down to find a diamond bracelet on my wrist. When the hell had he put that on me?
“I’m worth more than half the city right now,” I whispered.
“You’re worth more than anything on this world combined,” Fox whispered and kissed me.
“We give her presents and he gets the kiss,” Nico scoffed.
I leaned forward and kissed him and then Rhys. Deryn was looking at me expectantly, so I blew him a kiss with a wink.
He pretended to catch it and tuck it into his suit pocket.
My smile was instantaneous.
“I love you four,” I told them. “More than anything else.”
“Alpha said he expects a dance with you tonight,” Martin informed me with a glance in the rearview mirror.
“I’ll happily dance with Alpha,” I replied honestly.
“You have to dance with us too,” Deryn reminded me.
I rolled my eyes. “Oh no, how will I ever cope with having to dance with you four.”
That earned laughs from all of them.
To my surprise, we drove to the estate where the Elders met with us.
“Here?”
“Yes, there’s an area behind the house which was designed for events like this. It has enough room for all of our people, as well as a dance floor,” Nico explained.
“A bar?” I asked hopefully. I did not doubt for a minute that I would need some alcohol to get my nerves calmed.
“Yes,” Rhys said with a smirk.
We climbed out of the SUV and walked together around the side towards the bright lights, music and loud voices. Rounding the corner, I was surprised to see close to a thousand people stretched out over a huge concreted area. White lanterns with a strange blue light lined the area, providing mood lighting. The silvery full moon shined overhead, brightening the area better than anything electric could have.
A DJ was set up off to the side with several people surrounding his table.
As promised, there was also a bar, but not just one - four.
“Booze,” I drooled and headed towards one.
Fox stayed by my side and chuckled at me. “Alright, we’ll go get you a drink, but once the music starts, you and I are dancing first.”
“Very well, Guard,” I teased him.
His body tensed and his face dropped all emotion.
“I, uh, I thought I could call you that, since you are…I’m sorry.”
He relaxed and whispered, “I’ve just…you’ve never called us it before. It was a shock to hear. That’s all.”
“I won’t call you it again,” I promised, feeling like an idiot.
He grabbed my hand, stopping me from walking. “No, please. Call me that as much as you want. I loved hearing it.”
“Oh,” I exhaled. “I thought you were mad at me.”
He released my hand and bent close to whisper, “If we were alone, I would show you how much I enjoyed you saying that.”
When I glanced down, I could already see what he meant as his erection strained against his pants. My cheeks warmed, and I quickly turned away and hurried towards the bar.
I ordered my drink and then was grabbed around my legs from both sides at once.
“Auntie Jolie!” the twins yelled against my legs.
I dropped down and smiled at the girls. They were wearing matching purple dresses.
“You both look like princesses,” I told them and kissed each of their cheeks.
Tamara picked up my wrist, which had their wolf tail hair bracelet on it. “You’re wearing our bracelet!”
Both girls smiled wide and I could practically see their tails wagging.
“Yes,” I said with a nod. “It is a gift that I will always treasure.”
I stood and Sharla whistled. “Martin was right, you look phenomenal tonight.”
“You’re looking mighty sexy yourself, Sharla.” And she was. She had on a tight green off-the-shoulder dress that left little to the imagination.
She hugged me and kissed my cheek.
“Son,” the King of the Elves greeted Fox.
Fox bowed. “Father.”
“Are you going to formally introduce me?” he asked him while looking at me.
“Jolie, please meet my father, King Katar of the Elves. Father, please meet Jolie,” he said.
King Katar picked up my hand and kissed the back of it. “It is a pleasure to formally meet you, Jolie. You are stunning.”
I curtsied and bowed my head. “It is an honor to meet you, Your Majesty.”
“You should come visit our clan,” he offered.
“I would love to,” I said and smiled at him.
“We will, soon,” Fox agreed.
“You need not wait until her decision has been made,” King Katar said. “She may visit as your friend, under my invitation.”
Fox’s eyes widened, and he nodded.
“Thank you, for the wonderful invitation. I will be sure to take you up on it soon.”
He bowed to me and said, “Enjoy your evening.”
“Where is she?” I heard Dan ask loudly.
“Father, please calm down. She is here and safe,” Deryn grumbled.
I gulped my drink down quickly and pushed through a few people to get to Dan, whose head I could see above everyone else’s. “I’m here, King of the Wolves,” I called to him.
He spun around and his eyes sparkled with joy. “Jolie,” he said and hugged me.
Many people began murmuri
ng at the display of affection between us, and I wondered if it really was so strange for him to act this way to me.
“You and I need to have a serious talk,” he told me sternly. “The next time you see an ogre attacking wolf pups, yell for me or the prince, do you understand?”
I put my hands on my hips and glared at him. “I’ll tell you the same thing I told the prince. I could not leave my nieces in danger.”
“You could have been killed,” he reminded me.
“But I wasn’t,” I reminded him.
“You may not be so lucky next time,” he argued.
“I appreciate your concern, but I would rather face down an ogre than see him harm a hair on their heads,” I said sternly.
“She’s mighty brash when speaking to a king,” the mage king said as he came up to us.
I curtsied to him and said, “I would not presume to speak to you or any of the others in such a manner. King Daniel and I have a more personal relationship, which allows for the formality.”
“Did she really put herself between an ogre and wolves?” he asked Dan.
“She stood between two wolf pups and an ogre and roared back at the ogre,” he said proudly.
“And it scared it away?” mage king asked skeptically.
“No, she was protected by the prince,” Dan lied. “She could have died, had her protection not come fast enough.
“True. Are you known for rushing headlong into danger? Is that why my son is constantly in harm’s way?” he asked.
“That’s a highly inconsiderate thing to say to the woman who ended our war,” Nico told his father angrily.
“He’s not wrong,” I said and met the eyes of the mage king. “He is in harm’s way a lot because of me. However, it is not because I rush into danger. I try to avoid danger if at all possible. If you think it’s wrong for me to protect children, then…” I trailed off and shrugged.
My mouth was getting the better of me. Perhaps spending so much time with the princes and getting desensitized to them wasn’t such a good thing.
The mage king threw back his head and boomed with laughter. He patted Nico on the back and said, “I can see why you like her, son. She reminds me of your mother.”
“She does,” Nico agreed.
The mage king held out his hand and I set mine in it, expecting him to shake it, but he pulled it up to kiss my knuckles. “It is an honor to meet you, Jolie. I look forward to you visiting my clan soon.”
I bowed my head. “Thank you, for the invitation.”
He released me and laughed again as he walked away, shaking his head.
“Well, two more kings seem to like you,” Fox commented from behind me.
“Two?” Nico asked.
“My father seems enamored with her too,” Fox said softly.
“Maybe, I’m just a likeable person,” I commented grumpily.
“Jolie,” wolf Elder called.
I spun and immediately dropped into a bow, which was difficult in the dress and the reason I had been curtsying instead.
Fox wrapped an arm around my waist to keep me from falling.
“Sorry,” I mumbled and straightened myself and my dress.
“Please, come with me,” wolf Elder requested with a smirk and amusement gleaming in his eyes.
“May I bring Fox?” I asked softly.
He nodded once in agreement and the three of us moved through the crowd with everyone staring at us. Was it the dress? Was it because of Fox or the Elder? Or was it because I was human? There didn’t appear to be many humans, but it was hard to tell between shifters and humans when they were not using their powers. Their stares made my heart pound and my palms sweat. They were all judging me, I knew they were.
Rhys winked at me as we walked by and reached through to bond to brush mine. I smiled as we continued on, the nerves leaving me.
My guards were here for me and that was all that mattered. They would protect me. They didn’t care what others said about me.
The crowd finally thinned, and I could see the other two Elders waiting at the front. This time, I curtsied instead of bowing and wolf Elder’s lip twitched as he fought a smile.
“Welcome, Jolie,” dragon Elder said in greeting.
“Thank you for inviting me,” I said. Despite the guys not saying anything, I was sure they had been the ones to invite me.
The crowd had grown quiet and the music had stopped to allow for the Elders to talk.
“Tonight, we sign the long-awaited Peace Treaty between the Four Clans!” wolf Elder announced proudly.
Everyone cheered and then quieted quickly again to hear more of what they had to say.
“Before we sign the treaty, we have to recognize the one who ended the war,” dragon Elder announced.
“Jolie, please come up here,” elf Elder requested.
Fox squeezed my hand before I walked up to them and curtsied again.
“Jolie, a human with no powers, stumbled into our world and has not hesitated since entering. She returned the stolen artifact, once she learned the item she had been gifted was ours. Then, she protected two wolf pups from an ogre during the day of attacks,” dragon Elder informed everyone.
People murmured behind me in shock to each other.
“We owe you much, but are unable to fully repay our debt,” wolf Elder told me.
“We have been told that you are already accepted by the Wolf Clan,” dragon Elder said.
“She is,” Dan replied loudly behind me.
“It has been hundreds of years since a human such as yourself has been born. To repay part of our debt, we offer you this-” elf Elder paused and a teenage boy ran forward with a black wooden box. elf Elder took it and held it out to me.
I took it and wondered if I was supposed to open it now, or just thank them for it and open it later.
“Open it,” Fox whispered behind me.
The Elders were smirking at me, amusement lighting all of their eyes now.
I opened it and pulled out a necklace with four bright diamonds in a line down the center. They were at least 2 carats each, and glowed with a strange ethereal light.
“It’s too much,” I whispered and looked up at them with tears in my eyes.
“Each diamond contains power from each of the kings and the princes,” dragon Elder explained to me.
Holy shit! They’d just given me an extreme boost of power, should I need it. If I didn’t do something, I would start crying and my makeup would be ruined for the rest of the night.
Rhys took the necklace he had purchased for me off and put the new necklace on for me, brushing his hand across my shoulders after he had finished, sending chills down my spine in a delightful shiver.
“From this night forward, you are welcome at any of the four clans and are named Princess of the Four Clans,” wolf Elder announced.
That set everyone off. I thought my legs might give out and was saved by Rhys putting his arm out for me to hold. He took the box from me and held out a beautiful silver crown with branches and cherry blossoms that had pink diamonds in the center of each blossom. Before I could protest, he set it on my head and kissed my cheek.
“Our new princess!” the Elders announced together.
Rhys turned me around and everyone bowed to me, except the princes and kings, who did dip their heads in acknowledgement.
What the fuck had just happened? How? Why? Oh my god.
“Now, to business!” dragon Elder said.
The kings went to the Elders and a wooden table was brought out with a large piece of paper, a quill, and inkwell. The kings each signed the treaty as did the Elders.
Dan held out the quill towards me and motioned at the paper. “We need our savior’s signature as well,” he told me.
Tonight just kept adding surprises on top of surprises.
I signed my name and everyone cheered.
“Peace has been achieved!” Dan announced and clapped King Katar and the mage king’s shoulders.
Everyon
e cheered and music was turned on again.
“May I have this dance?” Dan asked.
“I couldn’t refuse my Alpha,” I said with a wide smile and set my hand in his.
“Even my old man is trying to steal her,” Deryn whispered jokingly.
“If I were twenty years younger, it wouldn’t be a fight,” Dan teased.
My face was certainly the color of a tomato at that comment.
Dan swept me out onto the dance floor and surprised me with an elegant waltz.
“You dance very well,” I commented.
“All men should learn to waltz,” he said adamantly. “It impresses the ladies.” He winked at me and I laughed, then twirled under his raised arm.
“You’re hogging her,” King Katar teased him and twirled me away from Dan.
Dan bowed to me and walked off into the crowd.
“King Katar,” I whispered in shock. “You honor me with a dance.”
He smirked as he danced gracefully with me. “You don’t have to be so formal with me. I’m not as pretentious as some are. You may call me, Katar.”
“Katar, I have to admit, your son is growing mighty jealous of our dance,” I whispered to him.
As we spun, he saw Fox waiting on the edge of the crowd, and he chuckled.
“He was never good with sharing his toys,” he teased. Then he added, “Except with his best friends. That seems to be the case here, as well.”
“Katar, I-”
“Don’t get upset,” he whispered soothingly. “Our kinds are known to have multiple partners.”
“What?”
He nodded and pulled me closer so that he didn’t have to talk very loud for me to hear him. “Female offspring are rare and so, there are often multiple men for every woman. We also don’t normally mate with humans, but you will be an exception.”
“You’re okay with me possibly mating with Fox?” I asked in a whisper since people were watching us.
“I want my son to mate with someone he loves, and I believe he loves you,” he whispered back.
“I love him,” I whispered back and glanced at Fox. “Very much.”
“As you should…as their queen,” he replied and kissed me cheek before letting the Mage King take me into a dance.
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