Heart of a Rocky by Kelsey Jordan Page B

shift. Does that make sense?”
    Trent nodded. “Thank you.”
    “For what?”
    “Telling me the truth. I am nine, and adults like to lie to me as if I am unaware that I do not know that killing shouldn’t be a second nature to me, that my ability to discern a potentially volatile situation is an abnormal trait. I am aware that I am not normal, that my father is hard on me and expects more of me than he has any right to expect of a nine year old. By most standards—human and Lycan alike—I should be playing with cars and terrorizing girls with bugs or something. I am not that child. I am a killer, and my legacy is to be legendary. Anything less and my mother’s death would be in vain.”
    With that, the little boy, far beyond his physical age, left the room to stand guard down the hall in front of the cells.
    “He’s fucking intense,” Ronan said.
    Omar laughed because he was right. The kid was too serious to be nine. The idea that one day he would grow into an adult male and lead the Rockys with all that unrelenting strength of will was scary as hell.

C HAPTER 6
    ANISE STARED DOWN into her son’s bassinet, trying to decide what name would fit him. After watching Omar chase Derrick down and collar him, she knew she’d better humor him by giving her son a name.
    Still she was leery of the prospect that Omar would eventually view her son as a threat and eliminate him before he had a chance to make an attempt to overthrow the male that killed his father. Not that she would even raise her son with the idea that his father was some kind of noble male. Derrick was undeserving of an honorable legacy.
    “You should consider Arabic names,” a hard, feminine voice said. “Omar would like it, not that it will matter to him. My Tor will do anything to ensure the prince’s safety and well-being.”
    Anise frowned at the female. “Who are you?”
    “Sorry. I am Tor’s Lykata, Yara.”
    “You’re a female.”
    The Lykata laughed, the sound husky and sensual. “I’d hope so. My Innaani would definitely have an issue if the next time my Rut hit we couldn’t have our own cub.”
    “You’re married?”
    “Yes. Jazmir—we call him Jaz—is Tor’s Tukata.”
    Anise’s brows descended farther down as she tried to process how a male of any worth not only let a female take the leading role in protecting their leader, but allowed his wife to rule over him. The Alesers were more like their animal cousin in the regard that the females did not rule over the males. She found herself being instantly jealous of Omar’s Lykata.
    “You are angry. What can I do to ease your mood, Nabila?”
    “You can’t do anything to change the fact that I am queen only in title. You are a protector of the Tor. You have more power than I do already. I am to be nothing more than a bearer of children for the throne.”
    Yara’s features became carefully blank. “Is that what you believe? You’d think so little of my Tor?”
    “I don’t know a damn thing about him.”
    The female nodded and went to the window, staring out into the rising sun before she turned back around and faced Anise again.
    “Omar has moments of being overwhelmingly intense. He cares deeply for those he is charged to watch over. His rule is absolute, and when challenged… well, it’s best not to have to witness that. He is the Rocky that he was trained to be. I will tell you that anything you have witnessed here is not even close to the lengths he is willing to go to ensure that you are taken care of, nor is it to the limit that he will go to ensure that you are happy and living a fulfilled life.
    “For the first few months he was in Egypt after the Blue-Oconee wedding, he was brutal. His mood fluctuated randomly and rapidly. Neither Jaz nor I could discern the cause until the night Omar came to us and told us plainly that his mate was here and he was coming to get you. He was going to take you back. That was his plan until he spoke with Tepinok Ronan and