Royally Enraged: A Reverse Harem Fantasy (Her Royal Harem Book 4)

by Catherine Banks

  “Are they there?” I asked.

  Deryn nodded. “Yep, Dad confirmed that they are there tonight.”

  My smile widened. “Great! Let’s go.”

  I climbed into Fox’s car and let him drive me, since it had been his idea for us to go on the date. He held my hand as we drove, and I relaxed in the passenger seat. Fox was a great driver, calm and attentive.

  He parked at the werewolf den, and we waited for the rest of the guys to arrive before we headed to the house. Dan opened the door and pulled me into a giant hug.

  “Hello, father,” I whispered against his incredibly wide chest.

  “Daughter, you’ve been gone too long. You need to visit me more often,” he chastised.

  “I’m sorry. I’ve just been busy with my lessons,” I explained.

  “I told him,” Leona said from inside the house. I couldn’t see her because Dan’s massive body was filling the entire doorframe.

  “How did I know you would be here? You heard free food and couldn’t stop yourself, could you?” I teased her.

  “You never look a gift horse in the mouth,” she reminded me.

  Dan stepped aside and let me enter the house.

  When I’d been at Atlantis, Dan had been tricked into thinking that I had died. In his grief, he had destroyed his house. Now, he had a brand new house, one that had rooms for me and my mates to stay in, as well as two additional rooms for our potential future children. He’d also built a much larger dining room, a play room for children, and two living rooms.

  “Your new bed was delivered,” Dan informed me.

  “Really?” I asked and started to head up the stairs.

  “Auntie Jolie!” twin girls yelled as they raced out of the children’s room near the stairway. Their noses still in the air, tracking my scent. They rushed over and slammed their little bodies into me.

  Martin and Sharla walked out of the room and both hurried over to hug me.

  Sharla pinched my arm. “You’ve been gone too long!” she chastised me, giving me her mom voice.

  “I just talked to you two days ago,” I reminded her.

  “But I haven’t seen you in over two weeks!” she said and pouted. “I missed your face.”

  “She does have a beautiful face,” Martin said. Martin was Sharla’s mate and my ex-boyfriend.

  Sharla growled and pulled me into her arms. “No, I won’t share her. You had her for years before I did,” she said.

  I chuckled and patted her back. “We need a girl’s night.”

  “I don’t know if I like the idea of you two going out together,” Deryn said, eyeing Sharla.

  “I’d be there to keep an eye on them,” Leona said, draping an arm around both of us.

  “That makes me even more nervous,” Deryn said.

  “Girl’s night!” I shouted.

  “Tonight?” Sharla asked, smile wide and eyes gleaming.

  “Yes!” Leona and I agreed.

  “Oh, boy,” Dan said softly.

  “You need a guard,” Martin said.

  “We can take Thor,” Leona said and smirked.

  “Not a chance!” I yelled at her.

  “Who are we going to take then?” Sharla asked. “I’m not taking Martin. Leona can’t take Thor. You can’t take any of the princes.”

  “How about me?” Ezio asked, walking in from the dining room. His copper hair glowed and his sapphire eyes focused on me.

  “Ezio!” I breathed. Even mated to four gorgeous and powerful males, Ezio still affected me.

  He hugged me and slid his cheek along mine. “Hello, Jolie.”

  “Why didn’t you tell me you were in town?” I asked, inhaling his scent that reminded me of cologne.

  “Sorry,” he apologized and kissed my cheek.

  “Great!” Dan said. “That settles that. Ezio will go out with the girls to protect them. Everyone’s happy.”

  “I don’t know about everyone,” Deryn muttered.

  I turned and arched a brow at him.

  He smiled and pulled me away from Ezio to kiss me and nuzzle my neck. “I can’t help being jealous.”

  “Moon Moon. I’m yours. We’re mated,” I reminded him.

  “Yeah, but look at him,” he whispered. “He looks like a god.”

  I burst into laughter and only stopped when Deryn nipped my neck.

  “I’m sorry,” I said, trying to contain my laughter. “But, you know I’m not one to be unfaithful.”

  “I know,” he whispered, his hand snaking around my lower back to pull me closer to him. “I’m trying to work on my jealousy.”

  “As long as you’re working on it, that’s all I ask for.”

  “Come, let’s eat,” Dan said. He clapped a hand on his son’s shoulder. “I need to speak to you after we eat.”

  Deryn nodded. “Okay.”

  We made our way into the dining room and took our seats. Dan and Deryn sat at the heads of the table. I sat to Deryn’s right and Nico sat on my right. The table was set with a bunch of food and pitchers of tea and lemonade.

  I reached for the lemonade, but Nico beat me to it, filling my glass for me.

  “Thanks,” I said and kissed his cheek.

  Everyone filled their plates and ate, chatting about random topics. I listened and relaxed. This was what I had always wanted my life to be like. Surrounded by those I loved, enjoying life, and just being happy.

  Nico set his hand on my thigh and rubbed his thumb across it slowly and gently.

  I leaned my head against his shoulder for a moment while chewing. Our connection was so much stronger now. Apparently, trying to kill him had helped us. Who knew?

  There was an explosion outside the house, so close that the dishes rattled on the table. Nico and Deryn wrapped their bodies around mine, protecting me in case anything came near us. The next second, all of the males except Fox and Martin were gone. Martin and Sharla each held one of their daughters and Fox was behind me.

  “What is it?” I asked, trying to look outside.

  “Shelter,” Martin growled and spun around.

  Sharla followed him, and Fox nudged me after the family.

  I didn’t want to go hide in the shelter. I wanted to find out what was going on.

  “Once you’re inside, I’ll find out what’s going on and—”

  “All clear,” Ezio said as he entered the house, saving me from going into the shelter. “Jolie, you should come outside.”

  I hurried out and came to a stop by Rhys. He linked our hands together, squeezing mine for reassurance.

  “They caught me away from home,” Johann gasped.

  He had blood coating his shirt and dribbling from his chin.

  “Mom?” Nico asked.

  “She’s at home. She is safe.”

  “Why come here?” Dan asked.

  “I teleported to Nico,” Johann explained.

  “Katar is on his way,” Rhys said.

  Johann groaned, his eyes squeezing shut as he tensed from pain. “It’s too late.”

  I dropped to my knees beside him. “Stop talking,” I ordered him. I set my hands on his chest and opened my bond with Fox to begin healing him. His internal injuries were much worse than any of us knew. That’s why he was giving up. He was bleeding internally and had several broken ribs and a pierced lung.

  Johann set his hand on top of mine. “Take care of him. He’s going to need all the help he can get to be king,” he whispered.

  “No,” I rasped, tears welling in my eyes.

  Fox knelt and ran his hand along Johann’s chest and stomach. “He has extensive internal injuries,” Fox told Nico.

  “Dad,” Nico whispered and knelt by him. “Who was it?”

  “Dhampirs,” Johann said. He looked at me. “Your dreams might be premonitions after all.”

  Shit. That was not what I wanted to hear. In my nightmares, my mates died.

  Nico’s body was beginning to glow. His fury and grief were beginning to consume him.

  “T
ake care of each other,” Johann whispered to Nico and gripped his hand. “Don’t make the same mistakes I did.”

  “Dad,” Nico whispered.

  Johann took a big breath, held out a ring to Nico and then all of his remaining magic siphoned into it. Johann’s body fell limp to the ground just as Katar came up.

  Katar dropped next to Johann and set his hands on Johann’s chest. “Dammit! No!”

  Kara hugged Nico and whispered something in his ear, but Nico didn’t seem to hear.

  “I need to check on my people,” he said as he slipped on his father’s ring.

  “Do you want me to—”

  He disappeared before I could even finish my question, but luckily Fox had set his hand on Nico’s shoulder and went with him, so at least he wasn’t alone.

  Rhys pulled me to my feet and hugged me. Johann hadn’t liked me much, but he was my father-in-law and he had been a good king. Plus, I could feel Nico’s grief through our bond and it hurt me.

  “Where are the dhampirs?” I asked Rhys, trying not to cry.

  “Dead. He said he managed to kill them and then teleported here,” Rhys whispered.

  Dan knelt beside Katar, tears in his eyes as he stared at his dead friend.

  Chapter 2

  Jolie

  Rhys took me inside and gave me a warm mug of tea. I sipped on it silently, staring at the floor.

  Johann was dead. Dhampirs had killed him. I couldn’t let my mates die too.

  “He just needs some time,” Rhys said. “Fox will help him deal with his initial grief.”

  Shouldn’t I feel worse about Johann’s death? He was my father-in-law. But, he had said so many things to me.

  “He’s closed our bond,” I whispered and rubbed at my chest.

  Rhys nodded and rubbed my back. “He’s doing it so you don’t endure his grief.”

  “I should be helping him,” I said.

  “You will. For now, he needs to deal with it with his family and Fox. Your time to help him will come. You should still go out tonight,” Rhys said.

  “Really? You think I should still go out?” I asked.

  He nodded. “Yes.”

  “Come on. Now’s the perfect time to go out for a drink,” Leona said with a wide smile.

  “There’s nothing for you to do right now,” Rhys said. “I think it would be best if you went out with your friends.”

  “Are you sure?” I asked. It felt wrong to go out after such a tragedy.

  Rhys nodded. “I’m sure.”

  “Okay,” I agreed with a sigh.

  “Ezio!” Sharla called.

  “Yes?” he asked, walking down the stairs.

  “You ready to take us out?” she asked him.

  He looked at me a moment and then said, “Yeah.”

  “Keep a close eye on them,” Rhys ordered Ezio.

  Ezio glared at him, but said nothing.

  I set my tea down and kissed Rhys. “Love you.”

  He rested his hand on my cheek and smiled. “I love you, too.”

  Ezio drove us to Leona’s favorite bar. It was a decent sized place with a dance area and served drinks with plenty of alcohol for the cost. It also usually had patrons around our age and good music. She had forced my mates and I to go several times since she’d arrived in Jinla.

  Leona sauntered up to the bar, smiling at Rowdy, the owner and bartender.

  “Hello, gorgeous,” Rowdy greeted her. He looked at me and Sharla. “You brought more beautiful women for me to meet?”

  I rolled my eyes. With Leona around, men forgot about any other women with her. I had met Rowdy multiple times, but he only remembered Leona.

  “They heard you had the best drinks in town, and we desperately needed a girls’ night,” Leona told him.

  He picked up a silver shaker and flipped it around a few times before catching it. “What are you girls having?”

  “Three of your special drinks,” Leona said.

  “I’m going to find a dark corner to stand guard in,” Ezio said, his breath stirring my hair.

  “Okay,” I said. “Sorry you were relegated to babysitting us.”

  He smirked and kissed my cheek. “I’ll babysit you anytime you want.”

  I laughed and joined Sharla and Leona on barstools at the bar.

  “You good?” Leona asked.

  I nodded. “Ezio’s making himself scarce so we can enjoy our night.”

  Sharla smirked. “He’s still got a thing for you.”

  “He also knows he can’t have me and he respects me enough not to really try anything,” I said. And, it was true. He may flirt on occasion, but he wouldn’t actually try anything. One, he knew I would turn him down. Two, he didn’t really want to deal with fighting my four mates.

  “Could you stop hogging all the hot guys?” Leon asked me with fake irritation, her brows furrowed. “Do you know how hard it is to find a single guy who isn’t in love with you?”

  Sharla tossed back her head and laughed.

  “Stop looking at werewolves and you’ll find some,” I teased.

  “I saw clips from the Summit. You’ve got all the hottest guys in love with you,” Leona said. “If I didn’t know your siren abilities were locked back then, I’d assume you lured them somehow.”

  I rolled my eyes at her. “You know that’s not what happened.”

  “I know. You’re just too damn likable!” she said and sighed. “You were as a kid, too. I wanted to hate you, but you were just too nice and too much fun.”

  I smiled triumphantly. “Say it.”

  “I love you,” she said. Then grumbled, “Jerk.”

  Sharla and I laughed loudly, but were cut off when a guy draped his arms around Sharla and my shoulders.

  “What can I buy you beautiful ladies?” he asked.

  “Some space?” Sharla asked and pushed his arm off her shoulder.

  “Oh, don’t be like that,” he said and moved closer to me.

  “We’ll pass, thanks,” I said and smiled sweetly. “We’re on a no-guy type of night.”

  “Just your luck, I’m a yes-guy type,” he smirked, thinking he was clever.

  “The ladies have been nice and now I’ll be rude. Move the fuck on,” Ezio growled.

  I turned, finally able to catch a glimpse of the guy now that his arm was gone. He was cute, middle-aged, and not cowed by Ezio at all.

  “I thought this was a no-guy night?” he asked me.

  “He’s the muscle,” I said. “He doesn’t count.”

  “Plus, she’s already tasted that several times,” Leona whispered around her drink.

  I glared at her.

  Rowdy slid my drink to me. “Here you go.”

  “Thanks!” I said and took a big gulp. It was fruity, sweet, and amazing.

  “Leave the girls alone,” Ezio said. “Now.”

  “Whatever. These old hoes aren’t that pretty anyway,” the man grumbled.

  Before I could stop him, Ezio punched the guy. The guy fell to the ground, unconscious.

  Leona cheered and Sharla clapped.

  “Ezio,” I whispered, my mouth agape. He very rarely lost control.

  He looked at me, and his cheeks reddened slightly. “What?”

  I shook my head, mouth still open, but didn’t respond.

  “I don’t care if you’re mine or not. I’m not letting some asshat disrespect you. Your mates wouldn’t let him, and I’m their stand in.”

  “I bet he’d stand in for other things while your mates are gone,” Sharla whispered in my ear.

  “Shut up,” I growled at her. I looked at Leona. “You’re a bad influence on her. I shouldn’t let you two hang out anymore.”

  Leona pouted, and Sharla cackled loudly.

  “I’ll be back,” Ezio said as he carried the unconscious guy away from us.

  “Another drink,” I ordered Rowdy. He looked at my full glass, and then his eyes widened when I downed it in two gulps.

  We waited until Ezio was back inside and
at his post, leaning against the far wall, before we made our way to the dance floor. Sharla, Leona, and I danced along to the music, the alcohol flowing heavily within our systems now.

  A guy tried to dance with Sharla, but Leona and I maneuvered between him and her, dancing right up against her. He took the hint and left.

  “You’re the princess!” a male voice gasped to my right.

  I turned and eyed the guy who didn’t look old enough to be in the bar, especially with such wide doe eyes.

  “Yeah?” I said, unsure why it mattered.

  He bowed his head slightly. “I’m Steven, a friend of Mawrth’s. I’m a dragon,” he said.

  Mawrth and I weren’t exactly on good terms, so I narrowed my eyes. “Nice to meet you,” I said.

  “Um, is Prince Rhys here? I actually need to talk to him about something,” he looked around, searching for him.

  “No, he’s not here right now. Do you want to tell me so I can tell him? Or you can give me a number, and I’ll have him contact you.” His hands were shaking slightly, which made me nervous.

  I looked at Ezio and once our eyes met, he headed my way, moving through people easily.

  “Um, I’d like to tell him. It’s sort of urgent and dangerous,” he said.

  “Dangerous for who?” I asked, my body tensing. I could fight if I needed to, but I didn’t want any bystanders getting mixed up in it. Or Leona and Sharla.

  “Everything okay?” Ezio asked, stopping by me.

  Steven’s mouth dropped open. “You’re Ezio!” he said, his eyes sparkling.

  Looked like Ezio had a fan.

  “Yeah. Who are you?” Ezio asked.

  “He said he has a message for Rhys and it’s urgent and dangerous,” I told Ezio.

  Ezio’s body tensed just as mine had. “Why don’t we talk about this outside?” Ezio suggested.

  “Okay,” Steven said. He gave me a smile and then walked ahead of Ezio out of the bar.

  “That was weird,” Leona whispered behind me, her mouth right by my ear.

  I spun around, ready to punch her before I caught myself and tried to calm my now racing heart. “Dammit! Don’t do that.”

  She smirked and then it slipped away. “What could he want?”