The Alpha Kings And Their Stripper Mate

Chapter 164: Chapter 163: watch over her while she’s vulnerable

The brothers moved as one unit the moment the ward chimed the second time.

Damian was out of the bed first, already pulling on his pants with efficient movements, he was already thinking about how to secure the perimeter and handle the diplomatic arrival without revealing Eve’s vulnerable state.

Damon was right behind him, dressing with equal speed, his energy crackling with barely contained aggression. Rex was close to the surface...protective instincts triggered by the power surge, by Eve’s unconscious state, by the arrival of unknown Court representatives at the worst possible moment.

Cain....still holding Eve....looked down at her peaceful face and felt the wolf’s instinct war with necessity. Every part of him wanted to stay exactly where he was, guarding his newly claimed mate while she was vulnerable. But he was also an alpha, and the estate’s security required his presence.

He laid Eve carefully in the center of the bed, arranging pillows around her, covering her with blankets. The mark over her heart pulsed with steady golden light beneath the fabric....visible even through the sheets, a beacon of what had just been completed.

"She’ll be safe here," Silas’s voice came through....not quite fully returned, but present enough to add his certainty to Cain’s protective instincts. "The wards are strongest around this room. No one gets through them without us knowing."

Cain-becoming-Silas pressed one final kiss to her forehead and forced himself to stand.

By the time all three brothers reached the bedroom door, Damian shifted mid-stride as they entered the hallway.

One moment he was a man moving with purposeful speed. The next, a massive dark wolf with steel-gray eyes was hitting the ground on four paws, his transformation so smooth it looked like liquid rather than bone and flesh rearranging itself.

He moved faster on four legs, taking the lead as they descended the main staircase.

They met Raphael on the ground floor.

He was already dressed....somehow....despite having been asleep when the surge hit. His silver eyes were alert and assessing, and the quality of his energy suggested he’d felt the power wave with uncomfortable clarity.

His gaze moved over the three brothers...noting Damian’s wolf form, noting Silas’s golden eyes that hadn’t quite resolved back to brown, noting Damon’s barely restrained Rex energy...and his expression shifted into something complex.

Understanding. Satisfaction. Concern.

"The Court representative?" he asked, falling into step beside them as they moved toward the main entrance.

"At the eastern border," Damon confirmed, his voice tight. "Requesting formal entry."

"How long ago?"

"Two minutes," Silas said. "Maybe three."

"Not long enough to be insulting," Raphael assessed. "But you need to move now. Making a Court envoy wait more than five minutes at your border is a statement of disrespect you can’t afford to make with the Traditional faction."

They exited through the main entrance into the pre-dawn darkness. The grounds were already populated with pack members...warriors who had responded to the power surge, to the ward alert, to the general sense of something significant happening that had pulled them from their various positions.

The pack warriors were already arranging themselves into a perimeter formation that was protective without being overtly aggressive.

The brothers moved through them toward the eastern border, Raphael keeping pace, a dozen warriors falling in behind them as escort.

Halfway there, Raphael stopped.

The brothers continued a few steps before realizing he was no longer with them. Damon turned back, his expression questioning.

"I’ll stay hidden," Raphael said, stepping into the shadow of a large oak tree with the ease of someone who had spent decades making himself invisible when necessary. "Court representatives know who I am....know that if I’m here, Eve has significant support. Better they don’t see me immediately. Let them make their own assumptions about her resources."

Damian’s wolf form growled low....the sound of a question.

Raphael understood it anyway. "Go. Handle the diplomatic arrival. I’ll position here where I can observe but not be observed."

The brothers moved on.

Raphael watched them go for a moment, then his attention shifted back toward the main house. Toward the bedroom where Eve lay unconscious and vulnerable and absolutely, perfectly claimed.

"Damon," he called quietly. freewebnovel.cσ๓

Damon stopped and turned back, his expression impatient.

"Eve," Raphael said. "You said she’s sleeping."

"She is," Damon confirmed shortly. frёeωebɳovel.com

Raphael looked at him for a long moment, and a small smile appeared at the corner of his mouth....the expression of someone who knew considerably more than was being said and found the careful euphemism amusing.

"With the energy surge that went through the estate a few minutes ago," Raphael said mildly, "I doubt she is ’sleeping’ the way you’re making it sound. Or else she would be here now, handling the Court arrival herself."

Damian’s wolf form turned to look at Raphael fully, and the growl that came from him was a clear warning: Do not push this line of inquiry.

Raphael raised his hands slightly in a gesture of peace. "I’m not asking for details I don’t need. I’m simply...." He paused, choosing words carefully. ".....acknowledging that something significant happened. Something that rendered your mate unconscious at the exact moment Court representatives decided to arrive."

Silas spoke for the first time since they’d left the house, his voice still carrying that rough edge that meant Cain was close to the surface. "She completed the bond. All three wolves. She’s integrating it."

Raphael’s expression shifted....the amusement giving way to something more serious, more concerned. "All three? Tonight?"

"Cain claimed her," Silas confirmed.

"And she’s....."

"Fine," Silas said, with the absolute certainty of someone who could feel his mate through a bond that was now fully, permanently sealed. "Overwhelmed but fine. She’ll wake when she’s ready."

Raphael processed this, his ancient mind clearly working through implications. "How long?"

"Unknown," Damon said. "Could be an hour. Could be longer."

"Then you need to handle the Court representative without her," Raphael said. "Which means...." He stopped. Reconsidered. Made a decision.

"I should go back inside," he said firmly. "Stay with Eve. Keep watch over her while she’s vulnerable."