Chapter 53

After quickly cleaning up in the pool of water at the edge of his room, Damion leads me out of the door, locking up behind us with the heavy looking key he'd used before. As he leads me down the winding hallways and outside into the dusky streets, I notice a lot more details about the elfin city than I had the first time we hurried through here.

I take in the sights around us as, hand in hand with Damion as takes the lead, guiding me down the winding roads. We pass a few elves as we walk and they seem to recognize Damion-or at least know who he is-because they tilt their heads respectfully at him as we pass.

It doesn't take us long to find the dining hall. It reminds me a little of the dining hall in the shifter's castle. There aren't many people there, but a happy smile breaks across my face at the sight of two familiar figures crouching over plates of food at the table at the far side of the room.

I tug Damion's hand, taking the lead in dragging him over to where our guards sit picking at plates of food.

"You're back!" Arden exclaims loudly the second she sees us. She pushes up to standing and marches the distance between and drags me into a hug, making me laugh.

Xavier stands up, looking like he's about to do the same, but quickly changes his mind at the sight of Damion's scowling, warning glare that he levels his way.

"What-" I glance between the two of them, surprised by the sudden show of tension, but cut myself off at the sound of Arden's quiet laughter.

"Don't worry about them," She chuckles a whisper into my ear, leading me to a seat at the table, "It's par for the course for shifters. His Majesty is just staking his claim on you, letting all the males in the room know that any move toward you is a direct act against him now."

The dark possession I see flashing in Damion's eyes shouldn't turn me as much as it does, but it sends a tingling warmth shooting through me.

Arden pulls out a chair for me and Damion follows close behind me as I step over to the waiting seat, the warm weight of his hand still pressed into my lower back. When I'm settled, he leans down to murmur in my ear, "Wait here and I'll bring you a plate. I'll be quick." He dips closer, pressing a quick warm kiss to my temple and with a gentle parting squeeze to my hip he leaves, striding his way across the room with long powerful footsteps.

Xavier lets out a heavy breath and Arden laughs low under her breath at Xavier's expense as Damion disappears from sight.

"I've never been more glad in my life to have not been born a male," Arden laughs as she settles back into her chair, picking a fork around a bowl of chopped fruit.

At my questioning gaze she chuckles again, "Any male that comes within a ten foot radius of you better prepare to see their life flash before his eyes."

"She's not wrong," Xavier admits, wiping away the beads of sweat now glistening there, his face unnaturally pale, "that was fucking intense."

"What are you two talking about?" I ask, glancing between the pair of shifters seated across the table from me, "What was that all about just now?"

"The Commander has it bad for you, that's all," Arden says with a grin, chewing on another bite of food, "Shifters have a sixth sense of sorts. Our shifter forms can sense some warning commands from other shifters. And let's just say that His Majesty was just sending out some pretty threatening warnings out just now."

"The *dare to look at her wrong and you'll pray for death* sort of warnings," Xavier clarifies in a grumble around a mouthful of food,"We should probably send out a warning for the other shifters to expect it before we return so there's no surprises."

I don't get a chance to ask anything else because Damion is already prowling his way back across the dining area, two plates of food in his hands. I'm struck again by the gracefully lethality in which his body moves. I can't stop the way my stomach clenches at the reminder of what that gorgeously muscled body had done to my own not too long ago.

He places an overflowing plate of food down in front of me and I gape at the sheer amount he had managed to pile onto it.

"Thank you," I smile brightly up at him and his eyes flash that beautiful shade of yellow that tells me he's pleased as he settles into the seat next to me, a somewhat less full plate in front of him.

He gives my thigh a gentle squeeze under the table that has a spear of warmth simmering through me. He waits to make sure I've taken a bite and that I've started chewing before he relaxes enough to bother with his own food. Like he can't settle until he's seen that I'm taken care of.

I scarf down an ungodly amount of food, and am uncomfortably stuffed before I've even managed to make a dent in the mountain on my plate.

Just as we're finishing up, our table is approached by a tall elven man with shimmering golden hair that reaches his shoulders. He clears his throat primly, as he stops a good distance away from our group, tilting his head respectfully toward Damion.

"Excuse me, King Lothbrook, I apologize for interrupting your meal, but there's a messenger camped out at the gates for you. He tells us that he's one of your men. He's asked me to give you this and to let you know that he's waiting at the gates for a response."

Damion takes the scroll of parchment that the elven male offers to him, with a low thanks. He unrolls the parchment in his hands and a tension slowly overtakes his shoulders as his eyes skim over the words. The rest of our group anxiously wait to hear what it says. What one of the shifters would have travelled all this way to inform him.

With efficient motions and a calculating look in his dark eyes, he rolls the scroll back up. His jaw is tight as he explains in a low voice, "There was an attack on our southern borders."

I suck in a quiet breath as Xavier and Arden go impossibly still.

"An attack from who?" Xavier asks, leaning forward across the table.

"A group of Unseelie," Damion answers, his eyes flickering down toward me before refocusing back on Xavier, "And from this report, it doesn't seem like it's going to be the last attack we'll receive from them either."