Dealing with Rika was one of the difficulties of being Alpha . . . or maybe it was a difficulty of being a fox faery . . . or maybe of trying to balance his personal goals and his duties to the desert fey. Sionnach wasn’t sure what the cause of the challenge was, but it didn’t really matter. The course was clear. Rika needed a nudge. She’d holed up in her cave licking her wounds for years—and he’d allowed it. He’d even supported it. Things had changed though. The Summer King, a faery Sionnach loathed, had finally discovered his missing queen. For centuries, he’d wooed mortals looking for her. As a result of his affections, those mortal girls had all been cursed to become faeries. Two of those formerly mortal girls ruled faery courts now. The Winter Queen and Summer Queen were originally mortals. Worse yet, they were both mortals who’d cared enough for Keenan to risk everything. Word had already traveled to the desert about the growing hostilities between the two queens. The final pieces of a multi-court war were coming to bear: the High Queen had taken an interest in a mortal the Summer Queen loved, and the Dark King had bound himself to yet another mortal girl. As rulers, they’d all failed to think of the good of their courts, putting desire ahead of duty. It was precisely what Sionnach was trying to avoid. He felt desire aplenty, but he wasn’t going to risk the safety of the desert fey for his own selfishness. He had to protect them. It was what being Alpha meant, and right now, he was risking everything he wanted in order to do just that. Trouble in the courts was growing, and only a fool would believe that conflict between regents wouldn’t spill over to the rest of their world. Sionnach wasn’t a fool . . . at least he hoped he wasn’t.

“Sionnach?”

He turned and was relieved to see one of his fey spies.

The faery who’d come to deliver the report stood like a corpse, emaciated to the point that his eyes seemed vast in the narrowness of his face.

“Well?” Sionnach’s whole body nearly twitched in expectation. “Is she with him?”

“She is.”

“And?” Sionnach felt the curl of excitement, of possibilities, in his stomach. He’d planned and schemed for years in preparation for this moment. Rika was like a hidden arsenal that he’d hoped not to use, but hope was different than reality. He’d still planned for the possibility. When he’d seen the way she watched the mortal boy, he knew the time was near. The mortal could be useful, and then Rika would be useful.