Page 149 of Griffin Food

“The Hydornian High King has been influenced, for want of a better word. What was once a rumor is now a fact. He openly embraces Queen Elisa as his lover, raising the standing of both her and her alpha mate.”

Violet draws in a sharp breath. Color drains from her face. “Elijah is no alpha.”

The vehemence in her tone might surprise another. It does not surprise me. Elijah and his nefarious appetites were well known by all.

“His name has been mentioned to me before,” Atlas says, instantly attuned to Violet. “But I have never seen that look on your face.” His gaze slides briefly to me. “Or on Rafe’s. What is he to you?”

Violet lifts her chin and squares her shoulders. Her lower lip trembles. Her voice does not. “He is no alpha,” she repeats, as if pronouncing a curse. “Just a weak man who happens to possess that trait. He is a monster. One who drove both my omega sisters from our home. He tried to rape Rebecca.” Her voice breaks now. “Would have done the same to Rosalind, had she not fled first.”

I slide my fingers to the back of her neck, a quiet touch—not to undermine her, but because I know how hard this is.

“Worse,” Violet continues, “Elisa blamed my sisters. Said they tempted him—as if… Rebecca vanished for a year. We later learned Elisa had her thrown into a nearby portal. Alone. She was eventually found by a centaur patrol and taken to Dire’s End.”

Atlas does not so much as blink.

Violet rolls her eyes faintly, taking the harsh edge from the moment. “My younger sister is indomitable,” she says. “Rebecca ended up bound to the fiercest centaur in the horde. She now has a young centaur babe and another on the way… He is a reformed man—centaur. But that is another story.”

“Then there is Clarissa, my sweet beta sister. Her husband wasted no time extracting her from our home.”

Her voice softens. “I was the last one. My omega nature revealed late. I hid what I was because Elisa despised our kind. But I knew I had to leave.” She reaches for my hand. “I left with Rafe and Lark because I could not stay another day. Because if Elijah had discovered what I was, he would have preyed upon me the same way he did my younger sisters. Elisa would have done so much worse.”

“I remember when we were girls,” she adds quietly. “Before this bitterness took hold of her. She blamed us for everything—for Elijah’s roving appetites, for her lack of children.”

She shakes her head slowly. “My sisters are safe. I’m grateful for that. But my presence here…” Her voice hardens. “She will make this personal.”

“She can fucking try,” Atlas growls, with an unusual flash of temper I fully support.

“My being here raises the stakes,” Violet states simply.

“Oh no,” Atlas replies firmly. “You will not carry this alone. She was always coming for us. Alliances with the dark fae are not forged overnight. This may have been years in the making. But you are right. Your history tells us much about our enemy.”

A faint glisten gathers in Violet’s eyes. Maybe an impossible-to-bury old hope that somewhere beneath all this hatred, the sister she once loved might still exist.

“She will not stop,” Violet says. “Not until she is made to.”

They are the words of a queen.

The strength was always there—even the day when I witnessed her racing Raven recklessly through the woods.

And just when I think my love for this woman cannot grow any greater, so easily, it does.

Atlas finally tears his gaze from Violet and nods to the commander.

“Tell her the rest.”

Dirk clears his throat. “There is something more you should know, my Queen… Your sister is with child. Far enough along to be showing. The High King’s bastard. He has already set aside his former Queen. She has fled the country and has taken refuge in the Imperium lands.”

Chapter Forty-Nine

Violet

Ifeel like I am drowning, deep underwater, and that I may never breathe again. My sister was monstrous before, and now that she’s with child and has the High King’s favor, I can only imagine how much worse she will be.

The attack bell begins to toll.

Again.

“Where do you need me?” Rafe says, all soldier, his attention on Atlas, even though his hand still holds mine.