Page 8 of His Stolen Queen
"Sir," Von cautiously started. "Perhaps you should take more thought into Hammon's suggestion."
I fixed him with a furious glare, but he carried on, used to my volatile moods.
"That she is human."
"Impossible!" I slashed my hand in the air. "How can I—aKing—have a human as a bond-mate?" I spat out in disgust. "It is an insult."
Von, ever the diplomat, spread his hands in a calming gesture. "It is the only explanation for why we cannot locate her, why she cannot locate you. Why your visions of her are not clear. And now this man—"
"He could just be a friend." I turned my back on my bond-servant, not wanting him to see the ashen look on my face.
I could feel the deep level of closeness between them. He wasn't a brother. He wasn't just a friend. He was more. If she was my bonded mate, she would not be able to feel a connection with another man. Unless…I swallowed thickly, breathing in deeply.
Unless she was a human.
"Forgive me, my King," Von interrupted, his voice had taken on an urgent tone.
I whirled to face him. "What is it?"
"Colbert linked. Vladimir has been spotted in our Territory."
Chapter 4
Alice
"What time is your flight?"
David watched me with folded arms as I searched my carry-on bag, double-checking that I had my passport and travel documents. His demeanor betrayed his emotions, and when I caught his eye, he gave me a sad smile, his brown eyes missing that little crinkle in the corner that I adored.
"Why do you look so glum?" I asked. "I'll be back before you know it."
"Until the next time," he muttered.
I placed my hands on my hips and cocked a brow at him. "What's that supposed to mean?"
He sighed, running his hand through his short hair. "Al, you've spent most of our lives running away."
I frowned in confusion. "What do you mean?"
He slashed a hand through the air as he stepped toward me. "You've bounced around from city to city. Job to job. You have enough experience now to open your own interior designbusiness, but you refuse to put roots anywhere." His eyes were desperate as he held a hand out to me.
"When you decided to stay in Kansas, I was going to move to be close to you. But then a year later, you moved to Wyoming, then to Colorado, and then to Florida. And then Whistler! You moved to a new country."
"It was only for four months." I had landed a position joining the team of a prestigious designer who had a contract to redesign rooms at a five-star hotel at the Whistler Blackcomb ski resort.
"And now you're leaving for a three-month vacation around Europe." His shoulders slump. "It just feels like you're running away again."
I sighed, smiling softly at him, reaching out to take his hand and squeeze it. I didn't want to admit that there was some truth in his words.
Okay, a lot of truth.
"I don't know how to explain it to you. I just…haven't found home."
His eyes blazed with a familiar emotion as he took a step closer. "Maybe you're so busy looking for home that you haven't realized it's standing right in front of you."
A sense of foreboding washed over me as the look on his face changed to determination. "Wha—?"
He snatched up my other hand, gripping them tightly in his.
