First Eclipse

Tim had never felt so conflicted in his life. He was bound to oaths he'd taken as a guard and more when he was selected to be part of the royal guard. He'd never not followed an order-unless it was to protect the huntress, and those didn't count in his mind because keeping her safe was more important. Now he was sitting here with his captain, a member of the royal family he was sworn to protect, and his mate whom he would do anything for. The mage had some information that they had gotten unwillingly from his mind and not his mouth, and it was taking all he had not to go to the cells and start executing all that were involved. They didn't want Fauna for her skills with animals. They wanted her dead and out of the way. She wasn't the only one on that particular list, but he couldn't see past the rage to consider the others yet.

He turned to see her still standing in the kitchen doorway while they sat at the table. She didn't look upset or worried; in fact, she was completely closed off, and that bothered him more than anything else. She didn't need to do that here, not with him five feet away.

"So-" She came in and put her hand on the back of one of the chairs and looked at the captain."--they want me and all of my sisters taken out of the equation." The captain nodded. "Have you told them?" The prince shook his head. "I came here first because they seem to be more focused on you right now."

She nodded her head slowly, and alarms went off inside Tim's head. He'd observed that particular reaction a lot in the past months with the royal mates, and it was never good. He glanced at the captain, and he had his expression set to neutral, but Tim suspected he understood they were mere inches from crossing the line that no man wanted to cross intentionally. "All those years ago, what she did to Ava, she was trying to eliminate her then, wasn't she?" Rafael glanced at Tim and then nodded. "Most likely."

She nodded again, this time faster. "We'll go back with you when you tell the others." She looked at Tim.

He'd been ordered to stay here for two days and rest. Now, his mate was looking at him with other expectations. He jerked his head once as a half nod and then looked at the captain. His boss looked amused before he looked down at his hands that were clasped in front of him on the table.

"I have to go over to Solrelm with Troy and talk to their king about the guy that sliced you open." He gave Tim a steady look. "I'll message you when I'm heading to your place." He nodded to Fauna and then stood up. "Thanks for the coffee. That's the first time I've sat down since last night."

Fauna offered him a brief smile and then went back into the kitchen.

Tim walked the captain to the door.

"Good luck," Rafael whispered as he stepped outside.

Closing the door, Tim blew out a breath. Something had happened in the last half hour, and he wasn't even sure what that was, but the vibe in his house had changed drastically. For the first few minutes, he'd foolishly thought he could get the information from the captain, and then he'd leave, and he could pick up with Fauna where they left off. That happening seemed doubtful now.

When he stepped into the kitchen, she folded the dish towel up and set it on the counter. "I'm going to go grab a shower." She barely glanced at him on her way past him.

Tim stared at her back until she was out of his sight, then turned around and looked at the window. Going over, he checked that Mac was still out there. How much of what they'd found out did he know? He heard the water turn on and went over to the back door.

He hadn't gotten five feet before his friend instinctively knew he was there. Mac turned around, grinned, and rubbed his chin.

"Found a reason to get all cleaned up?" His smile was wide.

Tim shrugged. "Or, I have two days of ordered downtime. That's new."

Mac nodded. "Yeah, I don't think we'll see much of that in the near future."

"You know?"

Mac glanced at the house and nodded. "I didn't fess up when Fauna asked why the captain was coming, figured it was better for him to tell her."

Tim snorted. "Yeah, the temperature in there went from warm to icicles within seconds of him telling her."

Mac made a pointed move of staring at Tim's arm.

Tim lifted it and looked at it. "I don't see a tattoo appearing there for a while."

"She's nice. I like her. You're a lucky man." Mac glanced away and scanned the terrain.

Tim turned and looked. "Just you out here? Woods isn't hiding in the trees over there or anything?"

Mac shook his head. "No. Just me. It was a bit chaotic after your bleeding all over the place; the princesses were all in a huff, and then it got worse when..."

"King Troy grabbed what was inside their heads at the cells."

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Mac sighed. "Yeah." He moved position so he could look around and still chat. "Remember how we used to joke that keeping up with the royal mates was a chore?"

Tim nodded and looked down at the lake. "Yeah." The back of his neck tingled and he wasn't sure if it was something from Fauna or not. With her being in the shower, he wasn't about to rush in and see if she was all right. A few kisses didn't grant him that privilege.

"Would I be a coward if I said I was afraid to try to do that to your mate's girlfriends?"

Tim chuckled. "No. That would just make you a smart, intuitive man."

"I'll take that." He looked the other way. "Tim, something is off."

Tim jerked his head around and looked at him. "I thought I was just me."

Mac was shaking his head slowly and looking around. "Do we sound the alarm?"

Normally, Tim would have said no, they had it covered unless an army appeared out of the bush, but the last week had been filled with too many surprises. "Sound it."

"Yup. Get your ass back in the house and get your mate secured." He pulled out his phone.

Tim nodded and then turned and walked toward the house. His gut said to run, but his head said to make it look like they were none the wiser. They'd found his home. Someone was getting their ass kicked for that.