Red Riding Hood | BoyxBoy | COMPLETED

Easy Target

Cassidy's POV

The curvy, blonde lady stops us in the streets.

"Excuse me," she says. "Are you the Princes of Nasales?"

I am a little taken aback by the sudden question. And Alex and Garrison glance at each other. I didn't know her. None of us recognised her and try as I might, I could not recall ever meeting her in my life. No one answered her question.

She repeated herself, sounding a little more urgent. "Are you Prince Alexander and Prince Consort Cassidy?" she demanded.

I stepped back, hesitating with my reply even though it was a fairly simple question.

Our unwillingness to answer only seemed to incense her. But in the end, it didn't matter because she was hysterical and yelling. The attention she drew made us all uncomfortable and Alex put an arm around me protectively. The movement drew her anger.

"I know who you are," she screeches. "It's you. You killed my brother!"

"Miss, I do not know who you are," he tells her firmly. "I have not killed anyone in combat or otherwise."

I don't say anything, but something niggles at the back of my mind. And I feel like remembering would either answer questions or raise more. It was probably the latter.

"Alex," I muttered under my breath, knowing he could hear me. "Edenis. What if it's him?"

It obvious—by the way my husband tenses and pushes me behind him—that I know he heard me. Garrison moves to stand before me as an added layer of protection as well.

"I've only killed one person in self-defence," he says to her. "And he attacked my mate." Alex's voice is hard and unyielding, and I've seen lesser men shy away from his Alpha presence. But the lady didn't back down.

It enrages her. "You killed him," she screams. "How dare you!" She points accusingly. "You were supposed to be an easy target!"

I gasp quietly. Easy target? Alex was as surprised as I am—if the bond was any indication—but also offended at the implication that I was easy.

"Do not do anything you will regret," he tells her coldly. "Step away from us now or I will have you arrested for treason."

She looks furiously between Alex and I, eyes coming to rest on my slightly pudgy waist. Unconsciously, I put a protective hand over my belly. But the glint in her told me that she knew what I was hiding.

I did have scent blockers on since we weren't ready to announce the pregnancy yet, but they were meant for shifters with enhanced senses. I did not know if they would work on a succubus, especially one as strong as she was, not that she needed scent to tell apparently.

While I was not attracted to women, the succubus was practically glowing with her sexuality. She must have fed recently. And if she was confronting us so publicly right now, I feared this would escalate beyond control.

Alex's words infuriate her further and she shrieks an unholy noise that had all the werewolves in the vicinity covering their ears. She lunges at him, blonde hair streaking behind her.

My husband dodges her clawing but doesn't fight back. Even now, he is only defensive.

Garrison pulls me further away. I hate it, but I'm with child and everyone's priorities have changed—including Garrison's. And I'm grateful for his presence.

Every strike, every swing from the angry feral succubus had my heart in my throat. I was afraid. Garrison did not join the fight. And no other passers-by had attempted to intervene. I didn't blame them. The succubus was pulsing with vitality, a sure sign that she had fed before coming.

I bit my lip in apprehension. Alex was still blocking her attacks, but I could see that he was tiring. I could feel him tiring.

"Garrison," I pleaded. "Help him, please!" I grabbed his arm. "She's going to kill him!"

It was true. Alex was only standing in her way from getting to me. But she was avenging her fallen kin. If no one intervened, my husband would die.

"Garrison, please!" I cried when he made no move. He looked reluctant to leave me. Alex didn't look like he was losing strength, but I knew because the bond was steadily clogging up with the nauseating sense of panic.

Some of that must have transferred into my expression because Garrison nodded grimly and left my side. He circled the Succubus, putting himself behind her and diverting her attention from Alex.

She hissed, infuriated. Her sharp claws drawn back and ready to strike again. Garrison had a short blade he'd pulled from somewhere. Alex snarled back, forearms bleeding sluggishly from half-healed scratches.

The feral creature looks at me. Her face was no longer smooth and ethereally flawless, with shiny blonde hair that drew attention to her unnatural youth. Instead, wrinkles lined her forehead and cheeks, and her hair was frizzled. She bared her sharp teeth and turned to me, a glint in her malicious eyes.

I stepped back involuntarily, eyes widening in terror when she easily leapt off the ground in a graceful arc over Alex.

Alex's eyes were panicked, half-turned towards me. It was clear no one expected that, least of all me.

I know instantly that I could never have outrun her lust for vengeance. All I could think was Alex doing the same if his own siblings' lives—or mine—were taken. Someone screams. I close my eyes.