The Forgotten Prince (Shifter Rebellion, 3) (9 page)

Aleth shook his head. “I offered them
no deal. And even if you refused me protection, I doubt I’d refuse
you in bed.”

“
Why is that?”

“
The three of you just
feel right,” Aleth said breathlessly. “I can’t explain it. I feel
like I belong to you.”

Amaden grasped Aleth’s face and turned
it up to face him. “Don’t play with me. Which one of them told you
that you were our mate?”

Aleth’s eyes grew wide with shock.
“Your … mate?”

Aleth pulled away from Amaden, turning
his back and facing the small window.

Amaden stalked up and spun the little
prince around. Aleth looked truly stunned by the news.

“
Maybe we should mate you.
Claim you right here on this ship and tie you to us forever. That
would put a wrinkle in your plans.”

“
Plans?” Aleth asked
offhandedly.

“
You’ve played each one of
us since the moment we entered your rooms. You played the seducer,
flirting with me on the bed. Then you played bashful virgin for my
brothers. I think there’s a devious little plan churning in your
head right now. How long before you wipe one of our memories away
and try to steal the ship? Will you turn us against one another?
Have brother kill brother to get your way?”

Aleth looked up, frowning deeply. “No,
I would never kill to get away.”

“
But the rest. You were
planning to wipe one of our minds away and steal the ship, weren’t
you?”

“
Yes,” Aleth said firmly.
“The thought had crossed my mind. And in my place, you’d have done
the same. I even tried with Ryllan, but my power didn’t work on him
for some reason, and I knew I’d need another way to protect myself.
But I wouldn’t kill anyone to get what I wanted.”

Aleth dropped on the edge of the bed
and looked at the wall across from him, unfocused. “But then I
realized you three could protect me from the threat of my brother.
I didn’t know just how right I was.”

“
Your brother is no threat
to you. He is sweet and kind. Your father didn’t rub off on him.
Your mother did. As soon as he found out about your existence, he
sent us out to protect you.”

Aleth looked up, confusion filling his
face. “Every person I met in that castle was foul. I can’t imagine
someone living there and coming out unscathed.”

“
Agarri wasn’t meant for
that place. He didn’t come out unscathed. He was fearful and shy
when he first came to our base. Now, he’s coming out of his shell,
little by little, thanks to his triad of lovers. Drayden and his
brothers have helped give him the strength he needed.”

“
Three lovers? So my
brother was the fated mate of Kannomite warriors?”

“
As it seems you are as
well,” Amaden said.

“
How do you know we’re
destined for one another?”

“
The Oracle told us,”
Amaden answered.

“
My father murdered all
the fortune tellers,” Aleth said.

“
Not all. He missed one.
And he came to us, with news of your existence. He also foretold we
had to come for you. To save you.”

“
And you believe
him?”

“
I don’t know what to
believe,” Amaden said honestly.

“
So where do we go from
here? Suddenly, I go from being a leper no one seems to notice to a
fated mate of three strong warriors. I feel a bit
overwhelmed.”

“
Overwhelmed? That’s all
you feel when you hear the news?”

Aleth looked up at Amaden. “What else
should I feel? Or am I doing something wrong in feeling
shocked?”

Amaden clenched his jaw. He wasn’t
sure what he’d expected, but it had been more than what Aleth had
given him. He spun on his heel and stalked toward the
door.

“
It makes me feel scared,
too.”

Amaden paused at the door, not turning
to face Aleth. “Scared?”

“
I’ve always been pushed
away and called a freak. You’ve just told me that my forever lovers
are here and I feel like you’re pushing me away, too.”

Amaden turned to look at Prince Aleth.
He looked so lost and lonely, standing there at the end of the
bed.

“
We’ve been told all our
lives there was no one for males like us. A warrior tends to harden
his heart when he thinks there is no chance.”

“
And when he doesn’t trust
the person who’s supposedly his, it doesn’t make it any easier,”
Aleth said.

“
Who is distrustful of
whom?” Amaden asked with a chuckle.

Aleth smiled wanly. “I’d say we’re
both at fault there. But you never answered my
question.”

“
What’s that?”

“
Where do we go from
here?”

Amaden shook his head. “I don’t know.
For now, we stick to our plan. We take you to your brother, then go
on to our next mission.”

“
And what’s next for
me?”

“
That I don’t know,”
Amaden said.

“
You three don’t plan to
claim me, do you?” Prince Aleth asked suddenly. “No, don’t answer
that. I can see all I need in your eyes. I have been alone my
entire life. I never expected anything less of my
future.”

Amaden stared. “We don’t know what the
future holds.”

Aleth lifted his palm. “Please, don’t.
I’d rather assume the worst. Hope gets us nowhere.”

Amaden stepped closer. The thought of
Aleth losing hope didn’t sit well with Amaden. He grasped the
prince in his arms and sought his mouth, not giving one care to the
deadly power the prince possessed. Amaden feasted hungrily on the
prince’s mouth, tasting him and urging Aleth to open to him. Once
he did, Amaden swept his tongue inside, sampling more of the male’s
flavor.

He felt dizzied and drunk. Leaning
back, he stared down at the prince, who appeared just as thrown by
the kiss.

“
I can’t put all my hopes
on the claims of the Oracle,” Amaden said. “Not after just meeting
you. And not with the power you have in those hands.”

Aleth put his hands out to Amaden.
“I’ve been alone too long. Bind me if you must. If I have to have
my hands tied behind my back for the rest of my days, kneeling at
your feet in submission, I’ll do it. Anything to not be alone
anymore.”

Amaden knew the loneliness Aleth felt
all too well. Even though he shouldn’t have done it, he couldn’t
fathom the thought of the prince being alone that night. He crawled
into the bed and drew Aleth into it beside him. Knowing the prince
was more than likely sore, there would be no sex between them, not
that night, anyway. They had nearly two weeks before the return to
the base.

For once in his life, Amaden was going
to let his guard down and give the prince a chance. Hopefully he
wasn’t making the biggest mistake of his life.

Chapter Eleven

Aleth awoke in darkness, his senses
spiraling. Low light filtered into his vision, and he saw stars
outside the small window of the room. He wasn’t sure where he was …
and there was someone in bed beside him. Someone large.

Amaden.

Aleth’s raging heart calmed and he
sank back into the warmness of Amaden’s embrace. He listened to
Amaden’s steady breathing and allowed it to lull him back into a
half-sleep, where the outside world didn’t exist and there was a
future for him and the three warriors.

He lifted his good hand, staring at it
as he pondered the possibilities. If he used his power to sway
them, to make them keep him, then they’d have the chance the three
seemed ready to forfeit. But his power hadn’t worked on Ryllan for
some reason, so there was the chance he couldn’t sway them all. And
if he couldn’t have them all, he’d have none.

The light of his power illuminated his
hand as he stared at it. Thus far, it had been more of a curse than
a gift. It had brought him pain and torment. He almost wished he’d
never acquired it.

“
What do you plan to do
with that?” Amaden asked, his eyes still closed.

“
If I wanted to use it on
you, I already would have,” Aleth answered.

Amaden slowly opened his eyes, his
lavender gaze pinning Aleth. “Where did you gain such
power?”

“
I don’t know. About five
years ago, I was being chased by a market vendor after I’d stolen
some apples. I’d been starving and hadn’t had a meal in days. He
gave chase and when he’d cornered me, I just did it without
thinking. I’d completely wiped his memory clear without knowing
what I’d done to him.”

“
Can you control
it?”

Aleth lowered his hand, the light
fading. “At first, no. I damaged a lot of beings in the beginning.
There was no coming back from it. But over time, I learned to be
more careful. I can extract a single thought or give a gentle
persuasion, if I want. Or I can make someone not remember anything,
not even their own name.”

Amaden was quiet. “That’s a lot of
power for one person.”

“
It is,” Aleth whispered.
“Too much power.”

Amaden frowned. “You could’ve tempted
me to do your bidding last night. You had ample time, but you never
made the attempt.”

“
I won’t lie. I thought
about it. I could have you all eating out of the palm of my hand if
I chose to. But I don’t want to force someone to care for me.
Either they do or they don’t. If I forced you, then it wouldn’t be
real.”

Amaden drew Aleth closer. “It sounds
like you have experience there.”

Aleth nodded. “A guard. In the early
days, when I was honing my skills, I put the suggestion in his head
that he was my friend. He did everything I asked of him, without so
much as a complaint. After a while, I grew bored of him always
agreeing with me and his willingness to do as I asked. Then I asked
him to help me escape. When we were caught, my father eviscerated
him as I watched. His life was taken because of me, and I learned a
very valuable lesson.”

“
His life was taken
because your father is a monster, not through your fault,” Amaden
answered.

Aleth nuzzled into Amaden’s arms,
loving the warmth he felt there. “If I had left him alone, there
wouldn’t have been a reason for my father to kill him. His death
hangs on my shoulders alone.”

Amaden sought Aleth’s lips, kissing
him gently. “You can’t hold on to that.”

“
I did bad things, Amaden.
In the beginning, I wanted them to hurt after what they’d done to
me. They’d been unwilling to help a child, a homeless, helpless
child, so I’d wanted them to pay.”

“
When I was a child, my
father had wanted to ship me off to a whorehouse to work as a
servant instead of train me to be a warrior. He was ashamed of me,
and it stung. Still does. Luckily my mother refused him and made
him train me. She was an incredible female. She found stray
children, those like us, and brought them home with us. She gave
them a home and food in their stomachs. She made my father train us
all. He pushed me mercilessly, shaming me before the others. There
wasn’t a day that went by when he didn’t go out of his way to
humiliate me. As soon as I could, I left Xhythria and pirated
through the open skies, as far from home as I could venture. The
invasion came and he lost his life fighting off a Xakarrian horde.
I didn’t mourn him. I actually felt … relief. I’d never have to
endure his scowls or his condescension. He’d hated me from the
minute I was born, and I bore hate in my heart for him. But as time
passed, I realized he’d made me the hard warrior I am today. In his
attempt to mock me, he’d made me tougher than other warriors. And
it was then I was able to let go of the pain.”

“
I’m sorry you endured
that,” Aleth said softly. “Do you think I’m merciless for wanting
to see them hurt?”

“
I would think you
merciless if you’d not changed. I can understand wanting
retribution for the things they’d done to you. But now is your time
to make things right. You must make up for the things you’ve done
wrong by balancing the cosmic scales.”

“
You want me to help
Agarri?”

“
Your help could save
millions on our world. Instead of worrying so much about it, why
don’t you let it go for now. Wait until you’ve met your brother and
then you can gauge what kind of a male he is and if you want to
help him.”

Aleth let out a shuddered
breath. “I like your idea. I never expected such wisdom …”
from a brute.
Aleth
cringed as he realized where his train of thought had been leading
him.

“
You of anyone should know
not to judge a book by its cover. My father might have trained me
to be hardened on the outside, but my mother trained me to be
educated and thoughtful on the inside.”

“
You’re right. I should’ve
known better,” Aleth said. He leaned up to kiss Amaden on the lips,
apparently startling the male.

Amaden gripped his shoulder, drawing
him closer as the kiss developed into more. Fire swirled low in
Aleth’s belly as Amaden’s hand began to travel Aleth’s body,
touching him all over. Aleth pressed closer to Amaden’s wandering
fingers, wanting to give the warrior access anywhere he
wanted.