Page 106 of Kingdom of Aramis

I shrug. “I don’t know what their reasoning is, but I have a feeling the humans are being punished. They will all be under the rule of the shifters from what I understand. They will not have their own government, the neutral zone will be dissolved, and all citizens of Aramis will cohabitate. I think they are hoping the majority of them will change, and the ones who don’t will eventually die out.”

“And you are going to be the queen of everyone?” Gryffin asks, and I grimace.

“Yes, until I either choose to step down or die, and any heir I have takes over, but if I am queen of them all, then that will make you kings of them all.”

“No wonder the goddess gave you eight mates. I can’t imagine this is going to go smoothly with shifters or humans,” Lucas says dryly.

“Doubtful. I’m sure there will be some pushback. First, though, I need to be crowned, or all of this will be for nothing. We have two factions gunning for us at this stage, and I would like to make sure we put a kink in their plans by finding my final mates and getting those crowns on our heads. At least that way, I’ll control the power,” I tell them, even though I’m plagued with doubts. This is what the goddess wanted, though, and who am I to go against divine authority?

“How are you going to make so many humans into shifters? You can’t bite all of them,” Brodie growls possessively.

“The book is the key, so we need to get that back. I don’t need to bite them if we have it. We will allow anyone who wishes to be a certain animal to petition a shifter of that species and be bitten if they want. I will not force anyone to bite. If not, they can take their chances with the royal magic and get what they are given.”

“I’ll make sure our armies are ready for any fallout,” Bryson assures me.

“And I will start work on an updated manual for all new shifters,” Sable suggests. “We will probably need to have mandatory shifting classes so the new shifters can learn our culture. Otherwise, we may have more problems than we care to deal with if dominance fights become an issue because a new shifter doesn’t know the rules.”

“Yes, we always make any human mates we change learn all of those things. This can be an extension of that. I’ll help you with the program,” Layla offers, and Sable quickly accepts.

“Then you need to focus on getting to your other mates. Head into the human zone tonight. We haven’t had a chance to reach out to the humans yet, but their government would want a meeting with the new queen, and we don’t have time to waste. In fact, we don’t know if you would be safe. This conspiracy could go as far as the ones who are in charge. It’s better to sneak in and ask forgiveness than ask permission and end up dead,” Lucas advises.

“And you need to seal those other mating bonds as soon as you can.” Gracelin smirks at me, and Adam snickers like a tween boy.

“Enough,” Gryffin snaps at his sister. “Leave Colbie alone. Teasing her isn’t going to make it any easier.”

“No, but challenge day is in less than two weeks, and those matings need to be sealed. If they aren’t, they will question her dedication to being queen. Even with her kickass animal, she will get challenged, because being unmated makes her weaker,” Mia says, giving me a sympathetic look.

“I’m working on that,” I mutter, feeling my cheeks heat, and when I glance around the table, I find my mates looking at me with feral intensity.

“And you six need to be on full alert. Colbie doesn’t have the fighting skills you all have. Even though this is a covert mission, we have to assume the Tidemans are not the only shifters who want change. I’m going to have the other councilors watched as well just in case,” Bryson orders my guys.

“Should we leave tonight?” Hunter asks his dad.

Before he can reply, I jump in. “I’m exhausted from shifting. I’m already going to be a liability, so would it be alright if we go tomorrow night? I wouldn’t mind checking on my bakerytomorrow morning, and if we go early, no one will be around to see us go. We could hide in my apartment until nightfall, and once curfew comes, we can go into the human zone then. We just have to avoid my mother at all costs.”

“That would also give us a chance to speak to Brock Tideman and see if he knows his parents’ plans,” Gem suggests.

I’d forgotten about Brock. I’m not sure how helpful he will be since my mother got them banned from the shifter zone for the time being.

“That’s a good idea,” Lucas confirms.

“And instead of staying at your apartment, we can use ours at the watch headquarters. If you are seen, we can spin a tale about you learning about your new responsibilities,” Brodie offers.

“It seems like we have a plan then. Eat up, because you are all going to need your energy,” Evie says, and we’re quick to do as she suggests. During dinner, the guys and I tell them about my shift training in the afternoon, minus my fuck fest with Liam for obvious reasons.

The following morning, I wake up early, my internal clock still working on baker time. Through a crack in the curtains, I can see that it’s still dark outside. A warm body is wrapped around me, and the sound of soft snoring is loud in the quiet room. Each breath tickles my ear, and I clamp my lips shut so I don’t giggle at how bear-like Liam sounds. I stay still and simply bask in the feeling of having his body pressed against me,resisting the urge to push back against that delicious naked skin pressed against me.

Liam proceeded to show me how amazing being mated to a shifter with no refractory time can be. To say my body aches deliciously this morning would be an understatement. For someone who was so aggressive and surly, he really is just a snuggly, cuddly sweetheart now that we are mated and his bear is content.

I invited Hunter and Micah to join us as well last night—after all, they won fair and square—but both declined, letting Liam and me spend the night together on our own. Micah needed to return to the barracks, get his personal items, and move them into one of the king’s rooms that now flank my suite. The goddess magic rearranged this section of the palace to correlate with the fact that I now have eight mates. There are eight separate suites for each of the guys, and my bedroom is now enormous with a bed that is large enough to accommodate all of us if we were so inclined. I’m not sure how this will work, and if they’ll want to share my bed or sleep in their own rooms, but I guess we have time to figure it out.

“Little girl, if you keep wiggling like that, my bear is going to have you for breakfast.” The growly voice has me freezing. I hadn’t realized I started squirming at the thought of all eight of my mates and what our sleeping arrangements may be.

His hand drifts up my naked thigh and slides up the front of my tank. He cups my breast and scrapes his teeth over the bite mark on my neck, sending a thrill of excitement through my body. My nipples pebble, and I groan as I rub my ass against his rapidly hardening dick.

Before he can do anything else, though, the door to my room slams open, and Brodie appears in the doorway.

“Uh-uh, none of that. We need to get going if we don’t want to be seen moving through the neutral zone.”