Page 81 of Kingdom of Aramis

“Have faith in the goddess. She won’t give you more than you can handle.”

I scoff, the laughter that bubbles up after it bordering on hysterical.

“Seriously? She gave me eight mates. What am I supposed to do with eight mates?” I hear the desperation in my voice, but Gracelin just smirks at me and winks.

“Have a good time. A very good time.”

Chapter

Eight

Liam

Istare up at my bond mate as my bear thrashes inside my chest. He wants out so he can search for his mate. It took all of my stubborn strength to get him to run here when I shifted as opposed to running after the damn queen who smells like cupcakes and frosting, making my mouth water. He has a burning need for her. When Gianna put her hand on me at the breakfast table, he nearly pushed his way through and ripped her face off for touching him. He has done a complete one-eighty. He tolerated her before because she was pretty and let us fuck her, but now he just wants to eat her internal organs. I have no idea why. Every time I question him, all he can grunt is, “Mate.” I’m worried that it’s taken too long for the goddess to mark our mate and he’s going insane.

“I need help,” I repeat as Brodie just gapes at me. “My bear is getting too hard for me to control. He keeps insisting the queen is our mate, but she can’t be. I don’t know how long I’m going to be able to control him. I’m worried the next time I get close to her, he will force a mating bite on her.”

He frowns, pursing his lips. “Shit, man. That’s a death sentence, you know that.”

I allow my head to hang so I can’t see the look of disappointment in his eyes. “I know.”

“Snap out of this. What the fuck is wrong with you? You’re one of the strongest shifters I know. Get your shit together and don’t let your animal rule you. Staying in bear form isn’t going to make it any better. You’ll become shift frozen.” He shoves me with his foot, and I sprawl on the ground, the rough surface stinging my naked body.

My own anger flares, and I scramble to my feet and glare at him, fisting my hands like I’m going to slug him.

“Don’t you fucking think I know that?” I shout at him, and his eyes glow with triumph.

“There he is, the Liam I know and love. None of this feeling sorry for himself crap.” He sounds smug. I drop my fists and assess myself, and he’s right. I do feel better. He got me out of my funk.

“Fuck, I don’t know what’s wrong with me.” I run a hand through my hair before dusting the dirt off my naked body. Nudity isn’t a big deal for shifters. Not everyone has clothes that are spelled to shift with them, so we learn to deal with it from a young age.

“I know how you feel. My wolf has been insisting the same thing. I wonder if we all feel naturally drawn to her because of her royal power,” he suggests as we start to walk back to the entrance of the cave.

“I don’t feel this way about Gryff’s parents,” I point out.

“No, but they still have that magnetic aura. I just don’t want to hump their legs like I do the new queen.” I chuckle at his admission and the thought of Brodie doing that to one of the queens. They would grab him by the ear and throw him into the palace pool.

“Come on, Bryson needs us. That will keep your mind off the pretty queen for at least a few hours.” He grimaces. “Well, it might not because we’re discussing her security, and we are helping her with shifting this afternoon. Are you going to be okay with that? Or do you want me to give your excuses? I’m sure I can come up with some plausible reason for you to disobey orders. It won’t be the first time.”

My bear roars inside me at the idea that we’ll miss out on helping her shift. I argue with him internally, and he settles at the threat of me not going to the practice. He decides to behave, and I breathe out a huge sigh of relief. “No, I’ll be fine. It seems we have come to an agreement,” I assure my bond mate. He stops at the edge of the falls and studies me carefully before nodding.

“Okay, but be careful. If you start to lose control, promise me you will leave. I don’t want to lose you because your bear made a stupid mistake.”

“I promise. Hell, I don’t even like the girl,” I lie, and I can tell by the look he gives me that he doesn’t believe me.

“Sure, buddy. Keep telling yourself that and someone might believe you.” He pats me on the shoulder. “I think Bryson is going to have to send us away once her mates show up. I’m not sure I could stop my wolf from tearing into any of them if I saw her with them,” he says quietly, like it’s not something he really wants to admit to, but I appreciate him sharing with me. It makes me feel less alone.

“At least Gem, Gryff, and Hunter aren’t going to be a problem,” I mutter. “They are always the perfect little soldiers anyway.”

I hear him scoff, and when I look at him, he’s rolling his eyes. “If you believe they are unaffected by the new queen, you aren’t looking closely enough. Didn’t you see how devastated Gryffwas when she walked away from him last night? They also have history. He even has an endearment for her—cookie.”

I can’t stop my lips from turning up in a small smirk. “It suits her.” I frown. I don’t want to think about the queen. The damn woman is giving me more problems than any woman ever has. “Enough about her. She’s off-limits, and everyone should keep their distance. Bryson assigning our team to protect and help her with her shift is irresponsible. He should put someone else on it.”

“Don’t blame the man for your inability to control your animal. We are the top team for the job. The only other suitable team is Adam’s, and they are all mated. I’m not sure their mates would be happy with them spending so much time with the queen.”

“The fact that they are mated makes it better. None of them are going to be distracted or tempted by her.”

“Yeah, but then we don’t get to spend time with the pretty shifter, and I want to see what she can do with her animals. My wolf is dying for hers to come out and play.” He grins and shifts, putting a stop to the conversation before throwing himself into the pool of water and paddling under the falls.