Rebecca Zanetti - Claimed

“What happened to your face?” She’d really hurt anyone who dared hurt her Zane. Somehow.

He shrugged. “Training. I dodged when I should’ve ducked.” His grin showed his dimples.

Boys. How dumb. “I’ve been thinking of calling Talen Daddy . What do you think?”

“I think he’s your dad and you should call him that.” Zane shifted his focus to the sparkling waves. “I’m sure he’d be proud if you did.”

Warmth flushed through her. “Yeah, okay.” She scrunched her toes in the gritty sand, wondering if that’s how it really felt. “Have you seen Kalin again?”

“No. Not yet.” Zane’s jaw hardened. “But I will.”

Janie nodded. They both would. “We got attacked by Kurjans and werewolves.” She’d seen part of the fight as her helicopter lifted into the sky. “But I didn’t see them coming. Why didn’t I see them coming?”

Zane shrugged again. “You’re not supposed to see everything, Janie Belle. You know that.”

“What else don’t I see?” And why did her friend seem kinda sad?

He sat on the warm sand and tugged her down next to him. “I don’t know. Things are changing but everything will be all right in the end.”

“You can see the end?”

“No. But I’ll make sure it ends up okay. Trust me.”

She did. He was her best friend. “We’ll always be friends, right Zane?” She grabbed his hand to hold on tight.

“Absolutely.” His big hand surrounded hers with warmth. “Even when we’re really old.”

“Like thirty?”

He smiled. “Even after that. Even if we don’t talk for a while.”

She clutched his hand harder. “Why wouldn’t we talk for a while?”

He shifted his green gaze to her. “War has been declared and I need to train for my calling, Janie Belle. I may not be able to visit as often.”

Wow he had pretty eyes. She sniffed. “But you’ll try?”

“I promise.”

Good. Zane would never break a promise to her. She’d seen him as a grown-up fighting. As a grown-up, as a soldier, a darkness surrounded her friend that she needed to fix.

That was her calling.

Conn crossed his arms, leaning against the smooth rock wall of the communications room, Jordan at his side. While the king liked being underground, Conn hated it. He figured the enemy wouldn’t come so far under the earth’s surface, and he was more of a face-to-face kind of guy. The need to hit something made his fists clench against his ribs.

Before them, Jase stood in front of three cameras with a dark tarp behind him as camouflage, shielding the rocks. Their headquarters in the Colorado mountains needed to remain a secret—needed to be a haven.

Jase cleared his throat, continuing with his first press conference, for lack of a better term. “So the Realm dealt with the threat. The royal family is under lockdown for the time being.”

Off camera, Chalton manned a console that looked like it belonged at NASA Space Center. He punched in a button and a face swam into focus on yet another screen. Vivienne Northcutt, head of council of the Coven Nine.

Deep black eyes set in a lined face still lovely sparked. “Where is the king?”

“The king is attending to business.” Dage and Talen had locked themselves in a war room to plot strategy for the day. A wry grin lifted Jase’s upper lip. “You’re stuck with me from now on.”

Conn fought his own grin. Jase had dressed in combat gear for his debut—nothing fancy, nothing formal. A silent message that they were at war. Nicely done.

The witch cleared her throat. “Rumors abound about the king ... well, losing his mind.”

Jase chuckled, all charm. “Vivienne. You know better than to listen to rumors.” He moved closer to his camera. “The Kurjans attacked. The king is a soldier first and foremost, the ultimate soldier.” The smile fled Jase’s face, and his eyes glowed with determination. “He took care of the threat—as is his job.”

Jordan ducked his head. “Your boy knows what he’s doing. He just let every leader listening know to get on board or face the king’s wrath.”

Conn gave a short nod.

A male face came into view on camera. Deland, head of a shifting clan in Russia. “What about this virus we’ve been hearing about? Does the infection really turn shifters into werewolves?”

Jase shook his head. “Not at this point, though I’m sure the Kurjans are working on their scientific research as much as we are. I can assure you, our best people are on this.”

“I see. And what about the rumors regarding humans researching vampire DNA? Human scientists being allowed to know about any of our species?” Deland asked.

“Absolutely not true.” Jase took another step closer to the camera. “The king has not allowed one single human to know about us or to have access to our DNA. Those rumors are unfounded and simply untrue.”

Conn inhaled through his nose, his mind calculating the issue. Someone was certainly spreading rumors, attempting to take down the king. He needed to discover who it was and take care of them. Permanently.

Conn’s cell phone buzzed at his waist, and upon seeing the number he excused himself and dodged into the hallway. Ducking into a smaller office, he connected the phone to a computer, punching in buttons. He smiled. “Hi.”

Moira lifted an eyebrow, her pretty face filling the screen. “What the hell is going on, Connlan?”

“What?” Dark circles marred her creamy complexion and pinched the skin around her emerald eyes. Irritation swept him. She shouldn’t be stressed.

Her jaw clenched. “Is the king’s mate all right? We were on a call, she said something about tulips and then ... nothing.” Moira tossed an errant curl out of her eyes. “I’m hearing reports of the king going crazy, and now Jase is giving some asinine press conference to leaders of the Realm.”

“Take a deep breath, Moira.” The need to protect her had Conn dropping into a chair to keep from storming to Ireland. “Emma and Cara are both fine. Their building exploded but they reached safety first.” He waited until relief filled Moira’s eyes and she sat, leaning her face on her hands before continuing. “The king still has his mind. We were attacked and he kicked some ass. That’s it.” That wasn’t it. Not even close.

Moira wasn’t stupid. “The king thought his mate was dead?”

“Yes.”

She leaned forward, fine lines wrinkling her normally smooth forehead. “Bugger. Is he all right now?”

Warmth flushed through Conn. His mate had a pure heart. “He will be.” Probably. That type of anger took awhile to dissipate. “Dage will channel everything he’s going through into beating the Kurjans.”

Moira nodded, a small sigh escaping her. “Did the spell work? Is Cara okay? I mean, is the babe all right?”

“We think so. The contractions stopped and Cara said she feels better, though Emma is running more tests right now.” He cleared his throat. “I’m sure they would’ve called, but we’re under lockdown. Only a couple of us can send or receive calls.”

“Good. I’m glad the babe is okay.” Moira glanced down. “Tell Emma the spell needs more of a tweaking before she uses it again—especially with the infected shifters.” She sighed. “I’m just not sure the spell is ready, you know? I’m not sure how it even worked on Cara.”

Conn nodded. “Yes. Kane said the liquid antidote needs a couple more tests before Maggie can take it, although the woman is chomping at the bit.”

“I would be, too.” Moira’s slender shoulders pressed inward.

“What kind of trouble are you in for sharing a spell like that, Moira?” He had plenty of enemies at the moment but would take on the Coven Nine if necessary. Damn witches thought everything had to be a secret.