A King to be Feared by Brea Alepoú

An invitationfrom an unknown house was the last thing Titos expected Ginger to deliver.

“Who is this?” Titos asked.

Adom took the invitation from Titos and inspected it. “They must be one of the smaller houses. It’s not one I’m familiar with.”

Everyone was gathered in the library upon Ginger’s summoning. She might have only been half edoli and didn’t have an ounce of power in her body, but she practically ran them. Titos was perfectly fine with that. If anything, because of Ginger he was able to focus on other things, like their enemies and what he was going to do about the council.

The card went around the room, and Kyo looked it over and shrugged. Titos had held out some hope she might have known with her and Gin traveling around and offering their services to various houses.

“Yes, the Amongie house is very small. Even smaller than our own. They reside in Beatrice, Nebraska,” Ginger started. She stood in the middle of the library and instantly held everyone’s attention.

“What are they known for?” Adom asked.

“Nothing. They stay to themselves. The house and territory are of course registered under the queen that rules it, but they stay clear of all edoli affairs,” Ginger said.

That was good. If only Titos could do the same, but it seemed no matter what he did, he made enemies. Even while he was living in hiding, his old house had sought out to kill him.

“Why have they sent us an invitation? No one knows that Titos has taken over this house yet,” Seth said.

“And they still do not know. However, the territory is still registered as a place that a significant amount of edoli live in.” Ginger turned on her heels and pulled out a remote control. “Theo, hit the lights.”

The room plummeted into darkness as Ginger clicked a button on her remote. The projector turned on, and a face appeared on the screen of a woman with bright blue hair, strong cheekbones, fair skin, and black-colored eyes. A scar ran over the bridge of her nose. It didn’t take away an ounce of her beauty; if anything, it enhanced it further.

“This is the queen of Amongie House. Julyanah is only twenty-six, but she came into power when she was sixteen upon killing the previous king of the territory. Ever since then, she has ruled over the territory.”

“Why—”

“All questions are to be held off until the end,” Ginger said, interrupting Mazki.

Mazki: Damn it, why am I always the one to get in trouble?

Adom: Maybe because you’re a brat.

Kail: Don’t you know the basics? She’s only on slide one. Haven’t any of you attended school?

Mazki: No, want to be my teacher?

Seth: When the bird attended school, they were still using stones to take notes.

Alfrik: Mazki probably skipped school. He can’t stay still unless—

Titos muffled his laughter. All of his keepers were picking on Mazki. It was times such as these that filled Titos with unexpected warmth, their chatter filling his head and their bonds glowing with the connection.

“Your Highness, no talking through your links either,” Ginger reprimanded. She leveled them all with a glare. “Focus.”

Titos straightened up in Seth’s lap and nodded. “Sorry.” He hadn’t been the one talking, but he hadn’t told anyone to stop either.

Ginger smiled at him and turned back to her slide. “She took over due to her sister being raped by the previous king and forced to bond with him. I know someone who works right under the ruler and can confirm this was the case.” Ginger flipped the slide, and it went from just the woman to her and three others. “Julyanah has a total of three keepers, two shifter types, and one magic user. She, however, only recently got the third keeper last year, and it was someone from this territory who was wasting away with no one to serve.” The awe in Ginger’s voice was easily detectable.

Titos studied the picture more. Three men stood behind her, but one clearly held her hand to the left. Ginger hit the slide again. “She has since then married one of her keepers and had a child. Because she was born of an unknown ruler, her bloodline is still fairly new, but it shows promise. I believe there will be talk of her soon enough. The bigger territory holders will take notice of her. Especially with her being pregnant again.”

Titos was surprised by that. Regular edoli could reproduce just fine, but rulers tended to have a harder time conceiving. And the fact that the queen had multiples was going to make her very important. Her house was going to be considered powerful. Ginger flipped through more slides as they learned more about the Amongie house. Titos sat and took it all in until the end.

“Theo, flip the switch,” Ginger said. She fixed her fluffy pink skirt. “Now questions can be asked.”

Everyone looked at Titos. Right, he was the king. He cleared his throat. “I get that she is great and all, but with me still hiding from the council, is accepting her invitation the greatest thing?”

“It cannot hurt to have allies, especially against the council. Amongie house might not be large, but they have built up enough of a reputation with the council to be left alone,” Ginger said.

“She is right. We are still in the unknown right now, but sooner or later, the council will either find us out or we will come out,” Adom said.

Titos looked to all his keepers, and they each nodded. He might have included Gin; even if he wasn’t officially bonded, it had felt right. “Kyo and Liby, what do you think?”

“It’s risky. Just because they are known to stay out of trouble doesn’t mean that they will willingly accept yours. Why should they risk themselves and their people to help you?” Kyo pointed out.

“That’s true,” Titos said.

Kyo shrugged. “Then again, I don’t know them personally. They might be willing to assist.”

Titos was grateful for her optimistic add-on. He hadn’t planned to get anyone else involved in his shit. It was enough that his territory and keepers were all tangled up in what amounted to Titos being alive instead of dead.

“I still speak with my cousin Dakota. He says nothing but good things about her,” Liby said.

Titos nodded. “And Ginger, you think this could be a good thing?”

“Yes, the bigger houses won’t pair with you right away, but the smaller ones are stronger together than apart.”

Seth: What is wrong?

Titos sighed through the bond while keeping his face neutral.

Titos: This is risky.

Kail: If you haven’t noticed, everything we do is risky.

Kail had a point. Titos glanced over to the man who sat at his feet. He was taking everything in stride. Sure, he hit some bumps, but who wouldn’t when everything around them was new and strange.

“Okay, we will attend,” Titos said. He held the invitation in his hand once more and looked it over. It was a simple dinner party. “Will there be any other houses there?”

Ginger nodded. “Yes, two others, but one of them will be sending the prince,” she said.

Titos cocked a brow at that. Princes and princesses tended to be kept under lock and key. They were a prize of certain bloodlines as next ruler of such territory. Ginger noticed his skepticism and continued talking.

“The territory he is coming from, the king is currently ill. He is unable to sustain power,” Ginger clarified.

“Do we need to know about these other territories?” Titos asked.

Ginger nodded. “I didn’t make a slide about them due to them not being the main focus. Their territories are both located far too close to powerhouses. It would be far too risky to publicly partner with them. The larger houses would take it as a threat, indicating a war.”

Titos might be fighting multiple enemies at once, but he was nowhere near ready to go to war. He’d only just gotten the edoli in his territory to bow down to him. To ask them to go to war for a king they hardly knew was unfair. He wasn’t going to be a soft ruler, but he wasn’t going to be a power-crazed dictator either.

“Okay,” Titos said.

There was a beat of silence before Adom sat up straighter. “When we attend this gathering, what is the secondary goal?”

“I say making sure they can’t be a threat to us,” Seth said.

Titos glanced over his shoulder at his alpha keeper. His warm, light brown skin was soft to the touch. His hazel eyes glittered back at Titos before focusing back on the room.

“We will have to be tactful with it,” Alfrik said.

“They could easily take the show of power as a threat,” Mazki said, sounding too serious.

“They might do that anyway,” Kyo said. She was already feeling like a part of their team. She didn’t hold back her opinions or what she felt. “With Titos walking in with five keepers, that’s a bold statement in itself.”

“Six,” Gin coughed.

A sly smile curved Mazki’s pouty lips. “What was that?”

Titos just stared at the man in shock. He knew Gin wanted to be a keeper, but for him to boldly blurt it out made heat blossom over Titos’s face.

“Aww, look, you made Titos blush,” Mazki teased.

“Shut it,” Titos said through clenched teeth.

Seth slightly trembled under him, and Titos caught the man trying his hardest to hold back his laughter.

“You all know I want to join. I want to bond with Titos,” Gin said.

Titos’s mouth dropped open.

“I knew it,” Mazki said cheerfully.

Kyo groaned. “I mean, I can’t say I’m surprised.”

“So what will it be?” Gin asked.

Titos audibly closed his mouth. His first thought was to shout yes, but Gin still didn’t know the important fact about him, and neither did Kyo. Titos glanced at his keepers, and they all sent encouragement through the bonds.

Titos rolled his shoulders back, taking in a deep breath. “Before I give you an answer, I need to tell you and your sister something.”

Kyo uncrossed her legs and sat up, and Gin’s smile only dimmed a little. It was like he was saying he still held hope that whatever came out of Titos mouth wasn’t horrible.

Titos could only pray that was the case. “I’m a soul eater.” The words were pulled out of him like sawing a head off a body. Messy and tiring.

“Okay, and?” Kyo said.

Gin’s head tilted to the side. “Is that all? You don’t ask for children to be sacrificed or demand people kill the family pet?”

Titos balked at the question. “What the fuck? No.”

Gin and Kyo shrugged. “I mean, you do seem different. I haven’t seen any of you drink blood much, and even Liby takes less than before.”

Gin nodded. “And what the council had put about soul eaters seems falsified. There are plenty of things in edoli culture that is just made up.”

Silence stretched for a few minutes as they took that in. It wasn’t exactly a lie—there were a few conspiracies about the council, and many of them lies they told to keep edoli complacent.

“Not to rush or anything, but you didn’t give an answer,” Gin said.

Titos glanced around. The room was entirely too full.

Kyo stood up and tugged on Liby’s arm. “Come on before it gets super awkward in here. I do not want to see my brother that way.”

Gin winked at his sister as Titos tried to squash the embarrassment running wild inside of him. He caught Liby’s gaze and gave her a nod. He could feel her question through the link they had.

Liby and Kyo were the first to go.

“I will get everything ready for when we leave,” Ginger said. She stopped short of leaving with Ethan and turned to face Titos once again.

“Is it alright if I attend?” Ginger asked.

Titos’s head tilted to the side. As if he could do this without her. He was still very new, and although Adom assisted, he hadn’t been a part of the inner workings of a house. Ginger was an asset that Titos planned to have by his side forever if possible.

“Yes, please. I don’t even want to imagine what it would be like if it’s just us,” Titos said.

A beaming smile took over Ginger’s beautiful face. “You know how to flatter a lady. Very well, I’ll go take care of things.” She bowed, which wasn’t necessary, but Titos said nothing about it. He knew it was just her way of showing him respect.

Once the room was cleared out, all who were left were himself and his keepers. Titos cleared his throat, but it was Kail who spoke.

“You want Titos or all of us?” Kail asked.

Titos glanced over at his man of darkness. His dark blue eyes were solely focused on Gin, awaiting the man’s answer.

Mazki: Never asked that question.

Titos was just as curious, actually. He didn’t mind his men being intimate with each other; in fact, he loved it. He could easily tell that Adom and Mazki had a special connection, and Kail and Seth had one as well, but they were just as involved as a collective as they were individually. And just because his men shared, not once had Titos felt left out or not the center of their steady attention.

“All,” Gin said, sitting up straighter.

Titos gasped in shock. “You know you don’t have to.”

“If you are only interested in Titos, we can all accept that. It is not one or the other,” Seth said.

Titos peeked at Kail. He nodded his head, but Titos could feel the hope through the bond not only with Kail, but Mazki and Alfrik as well. Already they had accepted him and were more than ready to open their arms and heart to Gin. Titos pushed affection throughout the bonds. Each of his keepers looked to him, and he gave them a shy smile.

“Yes, I know that, and the first day of meeting everyone, I was pretty sure I’d only wanted to be with Titos, but the past two weeks of being here and being around each of you, I know that is not the case. My first duty will be to my master. Titos is above all else, but I also feel a pull to each of you.” His golden gaze landed on Kail and stayed for a heartbeat too long.

Titos: I wish to have him.

Seth: Then go bond with your newest keeper, Master. He is right for you.

Adom: For us.

Titos nodded and finally got up from Seth’s lap and went to take the seat next to Gin, but he captured Tito’s waist before he could sit and pulled him down, forcing Titos to straddle him.

An undignified yelp escaped Titos. “Hey.”

Gin grinned up at Titos, his pearly whites showing. Titos couldn’t stay upset, not that he really was. He cupped Gin’s face, the little stubble there prickling the flesh of his hand.

“I’m so glad you want to do this,” Titos said.

His keepers were all there, but it felt as if it was just Titos and Gin at that moment.

Gin’s thick lashes fanned over his cheeks as he closed them. It felt as if the sun had disappeared.

“I am too,” Gin said. He opened his eyes once more, and Titos gave in to the one thing he’d wanted to do upon meeting Gin. Their lips touched, and warmth seeped into Titos and filled him to his fingertips and toes.

He groaned into the kiss and lowered his walls. He let his power leak out of him and wrap around them like a warm blanket.

Much like the others, Titos was transported to another world mentally. He took a big whiff of the fresh air. It was so crisp and clean it felt amazing. His own power surged with it.

His eyes opened, and a gasp left him. Titos stumbled back. The trees were massive, as big and wide as skyscrapers. Roots and wines covered a majority of the ground, making it hilly. Titos’s head tilted back, and he stared up at the jungle’s ceiling. There was no sky, and he could barely make out the top of the trees. There were branches everywhere and various ones connected.

They looked thick and wide enough to climb on. It was magnificent as specks of gold light fluttered in the air. Titos held his hand out to catch a few, and instantly upon contact, he was filled with an enormous amount of warmth. It wasn’t hot like fire but more like lying outside on a summer day. The sun. For a place that was missing the actual sun, Titos found it odd.

Something moved in his peripheral, and Titos’s head shot up instantly. Again, something whipped past him to his right. He turned his head to study all the branches but saw nothing but the mossy and vines covering the tree.

A blur had him whirling around and tripping over a vine and then on a root. Titos caught himself before he fell face-first onto a root. He wasn’t sure if he could really get hurt in such a metaphysical state, but it was still better safe than sorry.

He righted himself and saw a black tail whip in the air before disappearing behind a trunk. Titos’s head tilted to the side as he tried to think of what it could possibly be. He wiped his hands off and made the split decision to climb after it.

He went about climbing up the huge tree, and halfway to the branch where he’d seen the tail, he heard a distinctive meow. Titos found a black cat with gold spots on it and antlers poking out of its head staring down at him.

He froze as the eyes shone like the sun. Another meow came from the feline-like creature.

A tree cat. Titos had only heard of them, never seen one in person. They had been rumored, worshiped at one point. There were even once multiple edoli houses dedicated to tree cats.

Titos raised his hand, reaching out to the tree cat, but he got a hiss in response. Titos went still. He watched to see what the creature would do. He’d just hoped it didn’t run away from him. As the tree cat stayed still, Titos lifted his hand slower the second time around. He turned it, palm facing up, and rested it on the wood right in front of the beast.

Titos was stretched at an awkward angle, his back slightly curved and pushing up on his tippy-toes. But he refused to move until the tree cat knew it was safe. Soft fur slid over his fingertips, and Titos watched in awe as the tree cat rubbed his face on Titos’s hand.

Golden eyes that Titos knew all too well peered down at him, and Titos felt the moment he recognized him. Titos pushed up more on his tippy-toes, wanting to scratch behind his tree cat’s ears.

Before Titos knew it, everything had changed, and he was staring at the ceiling of the jungle above him and air rushed past him. His brain was slow on the uptake—he was falling, and fast. He saw a blur rush by him before claws sank into his wrist.

Titos’s mouth opened to scream, but no words came out. He could feel the pain, but it felt more phantom than real. He looked to his wrist in the tree cat’s mouth. No blood—his flesh hadn’t even torn. Titos stopped admiring his wrist and clutched at the tree. His hand slipped, and he started scrambling to get purchase.

Ever so slowly, he made it up on the branch. It was wide enough he could spread his arms and legs. He lay on his back, breathing in the clean air.

Something heavy climbed on him and lay on his abdomen. Vibrations followed shortly. Titos lifted his head and sucked in a breath as he stared at his tree cat curled up on top of him, his head raised and his beautiful antlers close enough to touch.

Titos gave in after a few seconds and stroked the beautiful antlers. They were a dark brown that had gold flakes on them. All too soon, Titos felt the usual pull—the connection was cementing itself. He smiled at the tree cat that would soon become his keeper. He pressed his forehead to the tree cat’s.

The tree cat got up and meowed once more at Titos before a rough tongue lapped at his nose. He got off Titos and stretched very much like a cat. A glow started to appear around the tree cat, and as it grew brighter by the second, the tree cat grew. It had been the size of a house cat but soon grew to be the size of a lynx. The antlers grew as well, and gold flowers appeared on them.

Gin was absolutely beautiful. All too soon, Titos blinked, and the library came back into view, his other keepers standing so close. He could feel them and hear them. There was nothing but wonderment and love rushing through the bond.

“Wow,” Gin said. As they came back, someone handed Titos a blade, and he took it. His body knew instinctively what came next. There was no thought to it.

Titos cut into the palm of his hand, the pain nothing but a dull ache. His entire body was full of power, blanketing everything else around him. Blood dripped freely, and he offered it to Gin, his sixth keeper.

Gin’s beautiful golden eyes blinked up at Titos curiously, but there wasn’t a drop of uncertainty.

“Drink of my blood so that you may be bounded to me for eternity.” He’d said the words to each of his keepers, and each time felt like the first. Sparks danced along his spine, and an unknown power swirled around in the pit of his stomach as he offered his blood to his keeper.

Gin didn’t hesitate as he locked eyes with Titos. His tongue was warm as he lapped at the blood running down from the cut on Titos’s hand.

The blood ran slower coming from his hand than from his wrist, but Titos wasn’t a normal edoli; he couldn’t bleed as much as the others. He couldn’t offer nearly as much to them.

Titos watched as Gin lapped up the blood, and as power rushed throughout all the bonds, the room was filled with groans. Every single bond within Titos hummed to life. His head fell forward as he breathed through the intense feeling.

“This—” Gin moaned, and it only turned Titos on.

Gin: This is more than I thought.

Mazki: Yeah, our master is full of surprises, especially bonding.

Gin’s eyes widened, and Titos chuckled. Adom had been just as surprised to hear everyone in his head.

Seth: You grow accustomed to it.

Gin: Wow.

There was a small inkling of sadness in the bond, and Titos studied Gin.

Titos: What is wrong?

Gin licked his lips and looked at everyone. “Yeah, that is going to take me a second to get used to.”

Titos worried he’d made the wrong choice, and as he tried to get up, Gin tightened his arms around him.

“Wait, that wasn’t—I was only sad because I had been looking forward to bonding individually with everyone,” Gin said.

Mazki: Hundred percent can still happen.

Titos laughed, and his shoulders dropped back down. “I agree.” He leaned forward, ready to kiss Gin once again. His power was surging high, and his need for his keepers had his cock thickening.