Max Delacourt is many things–a Between, a red wolf, a former soldier, an expert in security, and a prince. His father was the royal bastard who revealed their race to humanity and put them all in danger. His older brother Elan has been scrambling to preserve the simple human rights of their people ever since. As soon as his brother assumed the throne, Max knew what he had to do–he resigned his commission in the Marines and became the head of the King’s Guard. Elan might be working to protect the Between, but someone has to protect the king from those humans who’d like nothing more than to see their race thrown into chaos with no leader. No one would ensure Elan’s safety like Max would, so he left the military without a backward glance.
There’s nothing about his brother that Max envies, except the love of Kira Seaton. Like Max, Kira left her position with the Los Angeles Police Department to join the King’s Guard as second in command. She’s known both brothers since they were children on the Between island kingdom of San Amaro. Then, she’d been a servant’s daughter with a burning desire to prove herself. She’d been determined to keep up with both the older boys no matter what.
Years with the LAPD gave her a place where her natural curiosity and tenacity as a fox-shifter was valued, but it was never where she belonged. Elan becoming king meant he’d need help from those loyal to him, and it seemed as good a time as any to return home–this time in a position of influence that meant she had nothing left to prove to anyone.
Despite what Max thinks, she’s most definitely not in love with Elan Delacourt. No, she has the grave misfortune of loving the younger Delacourt brother. Half the time, she’s not certain if she wants to punch Max or kiss him.
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It was time to put up or shut up.
A spurt of adrenaline flooded Kira’s veins, and she felt a feral smile pull at her lips. Her fangs pricked at her flesh, and she ran her tongue down one long canine to the wicked point.
The fox-shifter within her easily caught the scent of the man she wanted. He was a Between, like her. A shape-shifter. Max Delacourt. The rich male scent of human male edged with the animalistic scent of a red wolf. It was a smell she knew as well as her own, one she’d craved for far too long. And she would have him. Soon. Whether he knew it or not.
She was through waiting. Tonight she would have him.
A low moan sounded through the door she stood guard beside, and she smoothed her expression into a professional mask. If anyone knew how to wear a professional mask, it was her–she’d learned from her butler father. No one could poker face like a butler born and bred in England.
Kira’s replacement turned a corner in the hallway to walk toward the royal suite. The Between king and his fiancée had been closeted inside for the seven hours since Rhiannon had returned to the palace. Kira had to work to smother a smile. King Elan hadn’t been able to hide his impatience to have Rhiannon back on the island nation of San Amaro. He’d barely managed to slam the door in his Guards’ faces before the carnal sounds of mating had begun filtering into the hall.
In many ways, it was a relief to have Rhiannon here instead of running her health club in Oregon. The stubborn woman had insisted that she didn’t need to be followed around by security guards if she wasn’t royalty yet, so Kira had had to arrange for more covert means to assure the future queen’s safety. As second in command of the King’s Guard, Kira had been pulling double duty for months taking care of her normal job assignment, plus handling her unspoken position as the head of the future Queen’s Guard.
With all the details of her business tied up and the wedding the next day, Rhiannon was on San Amaro to stay. Finally. The only person happier about that than Elan was Kira. No more juggling jobs for her. No more pretending. She was openly in charge of Rhiannon’s security detail, which would officially become the Queen’s Guard after the wedding ceremony.
“Everything okay?” Her replacement for the next guard rotation stopped in front of her, his face serious.
They both froze when a pleasured female scream echoed out of the king’s room. Using every one of the skills she’d learned at her father’s knee, Kira cleared her throat. “Yes. Everything’s going just fine.”
“So it seems,” the man quipped, a faint grin on his face.
Kira clapped him on the shoulder as she headed down the hallway. “Enjoy your evening. Or something.”
He snorted, and she glanced back to see him settling into place beside the door. Good.
Pushing open a side door, she stepped out into the cool night. The sea breeze off the Pacific carried the hints of salt and open water, mixing with the deeper scents of garden blooms and the people on the island. Even as the familiar environment encouraged her to relax, she did an automatic sweep of the area to make sure that the palace was as secure as it should be. They’d had several serious threat against the king’s life recently–one in particular that had the entire Guard on alert–and it paid to be cautious. More than that, old habits died hard, and she’d been a cop for the LAPD before she’d joined Elan’s Guard when he’d become king.
It had been a crazy time for the Between. The former king had outted their kind to the human population just before he died, which left Elan scrambling to protect the rights of Between all over the world. His family had owned San Amaro, an island off the coast of southern California, and the United States annexed the land as a sovereign nation for the half-animal shifters.
Kira thought Elan had done a better job for their race than his father Phillip ever had. Good riddance to the old bastard.
The hot smell of Max swirled through the air, scattering her thoughts. She automatically moved in that direction. It was like a Lorelei, that scent. Calling to her, tempting her, taunting her. Her heartbeat quickened, blood throbbing in her veins as her body readied itself for what she had in mind. Yes. All she needed now was Max.
