The heavy double doors of the council chamber shut behind them with a dull, echoing thud.
Nyra exhaled only when they were halfway down the winding path that led toward her private quarters, the scent of incense and old money still clinging to her fur. Allen walked at the front, his shoulders tense but deliberate, like a general who'd just marched through enemy lines with a bomb tucked beneath his shirt.
Fina followed with her arms crossed under her chest, tail twitching with silent fury. Rinni clung to her side, still flushed and jittery, her micro maid bikini shifting awkwardly as they moved—barely decent, utterly humiliating.
As they passed through the moss-draped archway that marked the entrance to Nyra's secluded hut, a voice rang out behind them.
"Leave the human, Nyra," Elder Lira purred, lounging beneath a tree like a lounging panther. Her inner thighs still glistened in the fading light. "He looks so eager to serve. I promise I'll be gentle…"
