Page 16 of The Wolf King

The alpha’s body stiffens. “I’m going to need to put you down for this, Princess,” he says softly.

My breath hitches as he slides me down his front, and places me on the flagstones. The guards are charging, but everything feels still. His eyes bore into mine and they are as green and alive as the forest.

Don’t run, he seems to be telling me.Don’t run.

He pushes me aside. I flatten myself against a mural as he dodges the swing of a sword. He grabs his attacker’s head and twists. A sickly crack fills the hall before he hurls the body into the next soldier, who skids into the wall. He roars, and charges.

Blood and muscle and steel blur in front of me as he takes on three men at once.

He is a force of nature. He swings, and blocks, and dodges each lethal blow that comes his way. He impales one soldier on his own sword, then rams another into the far wall—smashing his head against the stone with such force that the chandelier above trembles.

My body trembles as though the decision that’s rattling inside my body is a tangible, living thing.

I should run.

But I don’t want to stay in this castle.

There are two paths ahead of me and I am lost. I do not know which one to take.

The alpha picks up a sword from the floor. He thrusts it through the chin of another guard, causing blood to spill from his mouth.

The horror of it forces me to face what the alpha is. A killer.

I flee down the corridor to my right, my bare feet slapping against the cold ground. My hair flies loose behind me, and my long nightdress bunches at my ankles. I’m breathing fast, and my heart is pounding.

I run wildly, frantically. This place is new to me and, though it is supposed to be my home, it is cold and unfamiliar. I am lost in a labyrinth of stone and there is a beast in here and I do not know the way out.

“Princess, wait.”

I turn.

The alpha stands in the corridor behind me. His shirt is slick with sweat, and his biceps strain against his sleeves. He walks slowly, carefully, toward me. He’s like a predator, trying not to scare his prey.

“Princess, do you really—”

He tenses when he reaches me, as if he hears something I cannot, then hooks an arm around my waist. My breathing sharpens as he draws me into a shadowy alcove. He pulls my back flush against his chest.

I am aware of every ridge of his torso, and the quick pounding of his heartbeat. His breaths are hot and uneven by my ear. His scent floods my nostrils—heat and sweat and the mountains. It overwhelms me. I still, even as my blood pounds through my body and my heartbeat hammers in my ears.

A scream builds in my chest, and he clamps his hand over my mouth.

“Find her!” Lord Sebastian snaps. “Find her now! She is my betrothed and I will not have her taken from me. If they touch her, if they defile her, she is of no value to me! Do you understand?”

I feel the slight growl building in the alpha’s chest.

For a moment, we are both breathing fast as Sebastian rants, just a few feet away, about the importance of my purity. Slowly, the alpha drops his hand from my mouth. It’s as if he’s daring me to scream.

“I need her with her virtue intact. Do you understand?” says Sebastian. “Find her. Find her!”

“Yes, my lord.”

The voices fade away.

I breathe out slowly. For a moment, neither of us move.

The alpha drops his arm and I step away. His face is as dark as thunder as he stares down the corridor.

“Do you really want to stay?” he asks.

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