Aysel
“You said your name was Caleb?”
His chin lifted in arrogance.
“Caleb Ashford,” he corrected, drawing out each syllable as though the name alone should command reverence.
I tapped a finger rhythmically against the table and smiled slowly.
Several of the men behind him shifted uneasily.
They had expected me to be scared of them.
“What?” Caleb demanded, though the confidence in his time wavered.
I rose from my chair.
“You seem to know exactly who I am,” I said.
“You walked in here calling me by name.”
I gestured toward myself with an open palm, “Aysel Stormborn.”
Then I pointed at him, “And you’re Caleb Connor Ashford.”
The remaining patrons exchanged curious looks, their heads turning from me to him and back again.
I tilted my head, letting the gesture convey both curiosity and dismissal.
“But is your name supposed to mean something to me?”
Skylar exploded into a burst of laughter.
She slapped a hand over her mouth, but it was already too late.
“Oh my gods,” she wheezed.
“Did you see his face?”
I bit the inside of my cheek as humiliation flashed openly across Caleb’s features.
“Keep laughing,” he snapped.
“Maybe you’ll still be laughing when Magnus finally dies.”
The words seemed to freeze everything inside me.
Magnus was going to die?
Was that why I felt that intense pain earlier?
Even Skylar stopped laughing at the statement, probably because of my expression.
Caleb smirked at my expression, “Guess you are truly his whore, aren’t you.”
“Shut the fuck up, Joshua.” Skylar snarled.
“It’s Caleb.” Caleb snapped.
I drowned out their voices.
What if…
My stomach twisted.
What if he was actually hurt?
The possibility hit me hard enough to steal my breath.
“Breathe, Aysel.
Magnus is rumoured to be the strongest wolf alive.
He can’t die that easily and this bastard may be bluffing.
Actually, I think he’s bluffing.”
I inhaled slowly, “Yeah.
Yeah.
Caleb looked furious and humiliated.
He was just saying something he thinks would hurt me.”
My expression smoothed immediately.
Caleb, who mistook my silence for distress, grin.
Idiot.
There were a dozen ways I could destroy him right now.
I could tell him that I was the werewolf king just to watch his smug expression crumble into fear.
But instead, I gave him a dismissive look.
I wasn’t going to entertain him any further.
“Skylar, let’s get out of here.”
Caleb’s grin vanished.
” You think you’re better than me?” he demanded.
I didn’t answer, neither did Skylar.
“You think you’re too good to even look at me?”
Then suddenly he lunged at me,
I moved on instinct, my hand closing around the nearest object, a heavy antique ceramic vase that had been sitting on a decorative shelf near our table.
I hurled it at him with all my strength.
The vase shattered against his chest, sending him stumbling backward.
Caleb gasped, momentarily stunned at the force of the throw.
His men surged forward but Skylar was already moving.
Before I could even react, she had thrown herself into the fray.
Her fist connected with the jaw of the nearest man, sending him staggering sideways into a table.
She followed up with a brutal kick to his knee that folded his legs beneath him.
I stared at her, momentarily speechless.
“Sky…?”
She grinned at me, panting slightly as she ducked a wild swing from another man.
“I’ve been practicing.”
“Practicing?” I dodged a grab from a third attacker.
“When?”
“After that mess with the rogues.” She drove her elbow into someone’s midsection.
“I realized I couldn’t keep letting you do all the heavy lifting.
So I started training.”
I caught a glimpse of the pride shining in her eyes as she pivoted and swept another man’s legs out from under him.
“Didn’t want to tell you,” she added, breathing hard.
“Wanted to surprise you.”
“You certainly did that.”
I grabbed the arm of a man who had tried to grab me, twisting it behind his back until I heard his joint crack.
With a quick shove, I sent him crashing into his companion, the two of them going down in a tangle of limbs.
More men pressed forward, their formation tightening around us.
They had numbers on their side, a dozen against two and the restaurant’s cramped layout limited our movement.
But they didn’t have my strength nor my fury at their audacity to attack us.
I met the next attacker head-on, my fist connecting with his sternum with a sickening crack.
He crumpled instantly, gasping for air.
Another tried to grab me from behind, but I was already turning, my elbow catching him square in the face.
Skylar was holding her own too.
She moved with a fluid confidence that was completely new, she had always been a good fighter but this was totally new.
She blocked a punch, countered with a vicious uppercut that snapped the man’s head back, and then used his stumbling body as a shield against a second attacker.
Caleb was struggling to his feet, still recovering from my blow with the vase.
He reached for a knife from one of the tables.
“Enough!” he shouted, “I said enough!”
His men hesitated, looking to him for direction.
I took advantage of the pause, my chest heaving as I surveyed the scene.
Bodies were scattered across the floor, groaning and clutching various injuries.
Only a few of Caleb’s men were still standing.
The restaurant was a disaster.
Tables overturned, glass shattered, wine and food smeared across the floor.
The patrons had long since fled, and I could hear the distant wail of sirens approaching.
Caleb’s face was pale beneath the flush of exertion, his expensive jacket ruined, a streak of blood running down his chin from a cut on his lip.
Some men appeared from corners and I frowned a little who were they?
They moved towards the remaining members of Caleb’s group and bind their hands behind their backs.
I recognized them as Magnus’s men because of the wolf insignia on their jackets
Have they been here all this while?
Or had Magnus sent them to protect me.
I almost laughed at the absurdity of it all.
One of the men stepped forward, inclining his head respectfully.
“Ms.
Stormborn.
What would you like us to do with them?”
I glanced at Caleb, bound together with his men.
“Strip him,” I said calmly.
Caleb’s eyes went wide with horror.
“What?”
“You heard me.” I waved a hand dismissively.
“Take off all his clothes and dump him at the border of Shadowbane territory.
Let everyone see exactly what happens to people who threaten me.”
“You can’t do that!
I’m an Ashford!
I’m…”
“You’re nothing.” I crouched down beside him.
“You’re a coward and a fool.
And when you’re standing naked at the border, surrounded by all those people who already look down on you, you’ll remember exactly who did this to you.”
“I’ll kill you,” he spat.
“I’ll hunt you down and…”
“Take him away,” I ordered.
“And make sure it’s humiliating.”
The men moved quickly, hauling Caleb to his feet.
He struggled, shouting curses and threats, but it was all for show.
His eyes had gone glassy with shock, the reality of the situation finally sinking in.
As they dragged him toward the door, he twisted desperately to look back at me.
“You think Magnus is going to protect you?
He’s weak!
He’s always been weak, and when my father…”
I didn’t bother dignifying it with a response.
One of Magnus’s men delivered a swift blow to the back of Caleb’s head, and the idiot went limp, his body sagging between his captors.
They hauled him out the door, his men following closely, all of them still bound.
“Ms.
Stormborn.” The man in charge of Magnus’s men, bowed his head.
“Please forgive us for not intervening sooner.”
I blinked at him, taken aback.
“You…
there’s nothing to forgive.”
“We were instructed to protect you.” The man’s voice was earnest.
“But you clearly had the situation under control.
We didn’t want to interfere without your command.”
“Okay.” I hesitated, unsure how to handle this level of deference.
“You’re forgiven.
You can stand up.”
He rose, but he kept his head bowed in respect.
“In the future, we will be more visible.
Alpha Magnus would be…
unhappy with our lack of action.”
At the mention of his name, my chest tightened again.
“Speaking of Magnus…”
The man met my eyes, and I saw worry flicker in his expression.
“He was injured,” the man admitted.
“Protecting me.
It was…
a bad wound.”
The air left my lungs in a rush.
“How bad?”
“Not life-threatening,” he assured me quickly.
“But severe enough that he’s been unconscious for several hours.
He’s recovering.
Our healers are optimistic.”
“Thank the gods.”
“We will be at your service, Ms.
Stormborn.” The man bowed again.
“Whatever you need.
Day or night.”
Skylar bumped her shoulder into mind.
“Sent by the naked chef?” She mouthed.
My cheeks flamed in embarrassment.
But even as I did, I felt a smile tug at the corner of my lips.
What exactly was Magnus playing at?