Page 13 of The Demigod Complex
She gave him a serene smile. “Call me Leia, please. Everyone else does. And not at all. I’m a nymph, which means I have a natural resistance to demigods.”
If onlyshecould remember that fact. Especially through the ceremony.
“Oh really?” Marrok’s drawl cut through Castor’s warning grunt.
She tipped her head up. “Of course. In fact, it’s why I was hired to be his assistant. Dark, movie-star good looks, brooding personality, and adorable though rarely sighted dimples do nothing for me whatsoever.” She gave Castor’s arm a patronizing pat even as she lied through her teeth.
His eyebrows winged high. “You think my dimples are adorable?”
She rolled her eyes. “Youwouldonly pay attention to that part.” She turned back to the other couple, who’d watched the exchange with wide-eyed interest. “Shall we?”
At least that got them moving. Marrok led them outside and around to the valet parking. “It was a good idea to bring a shield to the ceremony.”
“The unclaimed women will be naturally drawn to his power during the ceremony,” Tala murmured. “He’ll have to beat them off with a two-by-four even with you there.”
“So now I’m a giant bat?” She shook her head at Castor who just shrugged. “I think I need a raise.”
They got into a sleek gray Jaguar sedan with Marrok behind the wheel. The wolves’ scents, which had been subtler in the open air, swirled around them, reminding Leia of warm days in fresh plowed fields of fertile black earth, like the land close to her spring in Greece. She inhaled appreciatively, giving a small hum of contentment, muscles letting go of tension despite herself. “You smell like home.”
Beside her Castor gave a small jerk. No wonder, as Leia never talked about her life before.
Tala turned from her seat in the front. “Most people say we smell like dirt. Or wet dog.”
Leia shook her head. “I like it.”
“You said you’re a nymph?” the other woman asked, only mildly curious.
“I was.” Five hundred years of facing that harsh reality gave her the strength to keep the tremor out of her voice. “My spring was buried under lava and destroyed.”Thanks to a werewolf.Tala and Marrok’s ancestors.
She kept that last part to herself.
“I see. I’m sorry,” Tala murmured.
An off tone to Tala’s voice caught Leia’s attention and she cocked her head as Tala and Marrok exchanged an odd glance. “Have you met a nymph before?”
“No. But your gifts having me thinking.” Tala turned in her seat, eyeing Leia as though sizing her up. “I wonder if you might be able to help us.”
Leia was hard-pressed to think of what a nymph could do for a wolf. “I’d be happy to, if I can. What do you need?”
Tala and Marrok exchanged another glance. “In order to explain that, let me fill you in on the reasons behind our mating first,” Tala said.
“Okay.”
“Marrok and I are the alphas of our packs.”
“Castor told me. I know female alphas are rare. I’ve never heard of two alphas mating. Is it common?”
“Our union is…highly unusual,” Marrok said.
Tala’s lips thinned in a grim line. “Our packs have been ripping out each other’s jugulars for centuries. Marrok and I see this mating as an opportunity to end that fighting.”
Leia could appreciate the goal, but these two had a tough road ahead. “Who will be alpha of the combined pack? If you don’t mind my asking.”
“We will lead together,” Marrok said.
Tala’s lips tightened though. “As you can guess, there are factions within both packs against our mating.”
Made sense. A feud lasting that long didn’t die a quick death. “I fail to see how a nymph could help.”
