The Leopard King (35 page)
People banged on tables, clapped and hooted. Most of them were more than a little booze-merry, so that added to her comfort. Who knew what anyone would even remember about tonight?
Except me. I’ll never forget a second of this. Not ever.
“First off…” He turned to her dad and dropped to one knee despite the wet pavement. “Better late than never, I guess. May I have your lovely daughter? Please, sir. I promise to love, cherish, and protect her for the rest of my days.”
Pru might actually evaporate in a steam cloud if her father said anything but, “Yes.”
And then she registered that terse assent had come from the old lynx, not her imagination. The crowd whooped in response, and Joss raced over to the band, where she took the mic and unleashed the most exquisite love song.
Without you, dear—without you here…
even the rowdiest of partiers settled, gazing at Joss like she was a goddess incarnate.
When the last note died away, applause rang out like thunder. Joss took a bow, and then she hurried back to Pru’s side. She hugged her cousin tight and wanted to whisper to her as she had to Jase,
Thank you for surviving. Thank you for bringing such light to my world.
Over Joss’s shoulder, Pru’s teary gaze met Dom’s.
Am I doing it right?
he mouthed.
Pru could tell that he was ready to pull the plug right then if she shook her head, if she was tense or unhappy. Swiping at a tear, she said, “Perfect,” loud enough for everyone to hear, but they didn’t understand. They didn’t have to.
Joss took it as a compliment on her performance. “I’m so glad. You deserve all of this and more.”
“Then… it’s time for our vows and the exchange of rings,” Dom cut in.
He didn’t exactly take her away from Joss, but he slid into their embrace and stayed until her cousin let go, wiping at her eyes. The first hints of panic kicked in, but with his arm around her, the terror-wings didn’t take flight.
He said I don’t have to speak. I trust him.
“Tonight I spent an hour sifting through the rubble. And you know what I found?” Dom unfurled his fingers, revealing a very old ring. Though it was scratched, Pru could tell someone had once worn it with great devotion.
It seems like I’ve seen it before…
“That belonged to your mother,” someone called back.
Dom smiled. “I know. So it couldn’t be more fitting that I put it on Pru’s finger now. I clawed this out of the wreckage because I knew there had to be something worth saving. And that’s how this incredible woman feels about me. I can only promise in front of these witnesses to treat her like the treasure she is. Henceforth we are one heart, one body, one life.”
“Devil take you,” Raff snarled from the back of the crowd. “Keep on like this and you’ll have us weeping.”
I am already.
She understood what this meant and why he was giving it to her. This was more than just a ring; it was also a promise that belonged to her alone.
Me, not Dalena. Not anymore. Be at peace, my dear friend. I’ll love him well.
Dom’s hands were steady when he eased his mother’s ring onto the fourth finger of her left hand. Pru had no gift for public speaking, and no ring for him either. But receiving his adoration in silence could never be enough. If she had nothing else, she’d give him words.
Mustering all her courage, Pru spoke loud enough for everyone to hear. “If I’m a treasure, then you’re the dragon who guards me. I trust that you will keep me safe, along with our friends and allies. There is no part of me that isn’t yours completely. I love you with all of me. We are one heart, one body, one life. I only regret that I have no ring to offer in turn.”
“But you do,” her father corrected.
Then he pulled the wedding band from his finger, also scratched and worn, to proffer the greatest symbol of love she’d ever known.
Pru burst into tears.
For a few
seconds, Dom hesitated, torn between comforting his mate and accepting this generous offer. When the other man nodded, he took the ring, the metal still warm from its tenure on his father-in-law’s finger. The pride had a legend—it was said that if you used old rings passed down through each family line, it heralded a long and prosperous union.
I hope that’s true.
Dom set her dad’s blessing in Pru’s hand, and she shook so hard she almost dropped the ring, but in the end, she got it on him. He pulled her close and jerked his chin at the musicians. Moments later, a cheerful song enticed the spectators to sing along, drink more, or dance. He held her until she calmed down, but he didn’t think he’d gone terribly wrong this time.
“Should I be apologizing?” he asked.
“No. It’s wonderful. Everything was better than I could’ve imagined, if I was prone to envisioning such things.”
“You weren’t?”
Hating himself a little for brightening over that, Dom still wondered why she never pictured the future with Slay. But he didn’t—couldn’t—ask.
I wish you were here, you arse. It’s not right without you.
He also hated that he hadn’t asked about the situation with Talfayen, about Slay’s secrets, because now it felt like he might never get an answer, and that uncertainty fell like a stain on his second’s memory.
No, not that. He’s not dead. Just… gone. So… not memory. Reputation.
“Hardly. It would’ve meant that somebody wanted me forever, and I could never picture it. Until you said I had to take you on.” Her bright eyes sparkled up at him in the moonlight, adorable, irresistible, all teasing sweetness.
I love this woman, head to toe.
“Kiss!” Raff shouted, interrupting the moment.
Soon other wolves took up the chant, and Dom didn’t like to disappoint his audience. He swept Pru close, dipped her so it crushed her bouquet in a cloud of sweetness, and pillaged her mouth until her father actually had to haul him upright. But her smiling face made up for everything; her cheeks were pink with pleasure, and she pretended to pummel him with her flowers, showering them with petals.
“Don’t destroy it!” Joss shouted.
At her behest, a score of single pride mates gathered in front of Pru, who couldn’t seem to believe they expected her to toss it. In the distance, the dawn sky was lightening, pink and gold unfurling like a promise on the horizon. Dom nudged his mate and grinned; she argued with her eyes, but there was no stopping this tradition.
As Pru turned, the cranky-faced doctor strode into the plaza. “How long are you planning to keep up this racket? I have patients who haven’t slept all night. And has anyone seen Prince Alastor? I need to—”
The bouquet smacked her square in the face, and she caught it with the excellent reflexes that marked her as one of Ash Valley’s finest. Other singles groaned in disappointment as the Golgoth prince rose, slightly unsteady on his feet. “You have need of me?”
Sighing, Sheyla dropped the floral projectile like it might explode. “Come on. If you have the time to drink, you’re free for an examination.”
After a brief pause, the prince sighed and followed her when she stalked off.
“Not much for weddings, huh?” Joss said.
Surprisingly, the great bear, Callum, quietly requested another song. In a flash, Joss agreed, smoothing over the potential for awkwardness. Dom didn’t want to let go of Pru, so he danced with her instead, and others coupled up around them, despite the faint chill. The sun would be up soon, burning off the mist and revealing the extent of the casualties on the field.
He didn’t want to contemplate any of that.
Eventually, full daylight broke, and the musicians put away their instruments. Nobody seemed to know how an occasion like this should end, so Pru nudged him. “You should say something. Let them know they’re dismissed.”
Nodding, he vaulted onto a bench. Once, this sort of thing had been second nature to him, but that was before he was broken and spent years in silence. Now he scratched deep for the words like they were fruit he had grown specially for this purpose, and speaking them left empty furrows in his mind.
“I don’t know what the future holds. If you have nowhere else to go, our walls will shelter you. We stand on the cusp of a great war, and while we’ve won a crucial victory, the battle isn’t over. It won’t be until peace is restored, until we’ve avenged those we lost and brought everyone home, either in our arms or their ashes returned to our earth. I will fight beside all of you, until that day dawns.”
Unsurprisingly, Pru was the first to clap, but her enthusiasm drove approval from others, until his ears rang with it. With everything so fucking uncertain, he wished he could say more, make specific guarantees, but that would be irresponsible. Part of him felt guilty that he could be this happy with the hold still so disordered, but if he’d learned anything from Pru, it was the importance of moving forward. Respecting the past mattered, but he couldn’t let it shackle him, and failure didn’t have to be a cycle.
As the gathering dispersed, Callum strode up to him with his customary brusqueness. “We’re marching north. I have matters to tend at Burnt Amber and a defense to mount. I suspect our departure will help you, as Tycho will find his concentration of high-value targets reduced.”
“You don’t call him ‘king’,” Dom noted with wry amusement.
The war priest curled his lip, barely perceptible amid the beard. “He’s a self-styled lord, ruler of nothing but my foot up his ass.”
“Colorful.” Pru’s dimpled, adorable smile actually made the great bear take a second look at her, and Dom checked the urge to set her behind him.
Need to get used to that. Somehow.
But the feeling came without an edge since she’d angrily admitted to loving him; the mere thought put a grin on his face.
Likely made skittish from the long silence, Callum took a step back. “Excuse me, then.”
“Safe journey,” Pru called after him.
Dom swore the man’s shoulders actually hunched, and he dodged away from Joss, who was trying to say good-bye. Somehow the pretty cousins had the leader of the Order of Saint Casimir in full retreat. Amused, he turned to greet Raff, whose bloodshot eyes spoke of an incredibly long night, not confined to a single rise and set of the sun, either.
“How long since you slept?” he asked the wolf lord.
“This is where you expect me to say some rubbish, like
I’ll sleep when I’m dead.
”
“Basically.”
“Sorry to disappoint. Just FYI, these were the bloodiest peace talks I’ve ever been a part of. Pax Protocols, my ass.”
“Thank you for staying,” Pru said softly.
Raff gave her a long look, then he bent over her hand, kissing it with enough enthusiasm that Dom ground his teeth.
Fucking wolf.
“Despite everything, I don’t regret it, little matron.”
“I gather you’re leaving as well?” If Callum was right, splitting up might confound Tycho enough to make it worth the risk.
“It’s past time. Pine Ridge has its own problems.”
Unexpectedly, the security chief came up behind Raff, close enough that Dom half-expected her to lock him down in a chokehold. But she lingered there, waiting. He made eye contact and cocked his head.
“What’s up?”
“I’m heading to Pine Ridge with the wolves. Last night, I… well, I’d rather not speculate until I know more. But I promise this mission is vital to the pride… and it’s about Slay.” By her somber expression, Dom understood that Mags wasn’t making this request lightly.
“Understood. Stay in contact.”
“Try not to wreck up the place while I’m gone. I’ll update you as soon as I know more.” With an elegant bow, she spun on her heel and followed the wolf lord.
When Dom glanced at Pru, she seemed too stunned to speak. Finally, she got out, “Everything is changing.”
“And it’s too fast,” he finished.
She nodded, shivering in her absurdly thin dress.
I have to take better care of her.
Belatedly he shrugged out of his jacket and wrapped her in it.
Just like I did on the mountain. One day soon, we’ll plant a tree together, and I’ll never forget how fucking lucky I am.
That she loves me. That she chose me.
Aloud, he added, “Guess what will never change.”
“What?”
“You and me.”
The sun rose higher, yellow ripening to orange. Whatever happened next, they’d face it together. With Pru at his side, he might as well be bulletproof. When she snuggled deeper into his arms, Dom touched the ring she’d fixed on his finger and knew one true thing—she was his whole world—and always would be.
I’m so thrilled that you read
The Leopard King
and hope you’re eager for more in the Ars Numina world.
The Leopard King
is the first book in a projected six book series, as follows:
The Leopard King
The Demon Prince
The Wolf Lord
The Shadow Warrior
The War Priest
The Jaguar Knight
In this first book, you’ve met all six heroes and many of the heroines. Would you like to know when the next book will be available and/or keep up with exciting news? Visit my website at
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