Page 185 of The Wolf King

“But you didn’t kill him.”

“No. It just weakened him enough to knock him out.”

“Can I ask you something?” There’s no response, and I presume Blake must have shrugged because Callum continues. “The scars on your back. How did you get them?”

“The same way as your pet, I presume.”

There’s a shift in the air. “How do you know about—”

“Calm down. I saw her in the bath that time, remember?” I hear flames crackling in a hearth, and the wind rattles a window. “It’s an old Southlands tradition. If they suspect you have wolf genes, they try to beat the wolf into submission.”

Something Blake said earlier ebbs into my mind, but I’m fuzzy with sleep and I can’t quite grasp it.

“They did that to her?” Callum’s voice is filled with horror.

“It seems like it.”

A dark lull spreads through the room, and, whatever they’re talking about, I’m not ready to face it yet.

“What about the scars on your front? The one near you hip... it looked... nasty.”

“You know, it’s not particularly polite to ask a man about his body,” says Blake. “What next? Shall we compare cock size?”

“It’s not the size of your cock that concerns me.” Callum’s tone is pointed, like a sharpened blade.

“Oh, relax. I have no interest in your pet.”

“That’s not the way it seemed. She was dying, Blake. Is that what does it for you? They say you have dark tastes—”

A ripple of exasperation, of irritation, surges through me and I frown as I push it back. I do not know why I feel this way. I’m warm, and safe, and comfortable.

“Oh yes, you’ve figured it all out. My origin story. That’s why I became a healer. Sick people turn me on so much.” Blake’s tone is dripping with sarcasm. “I don’t know why they say those things about me. If I wanted Aurora, you’d know about it.”

“Hm. Can I ask you something else?”

Blake exhales. “What?”

“My father let you into his inner circle because you healed him.”

“Yes.”

“You were the one who made him sick in the first place, right? I’ve thought about it a lot over the past couple of years. I can’t think of how else it could have happened.”

“What? Poison a king just so I could heal him and gain his favor? Does that sound like something I’d do?”

There’s a weighted silence, but then Callum huffs a laugh. “Aye. I thought as much. You really are a piece of work, Blake.”

“Thank you.” I hear the smile in his voice. Ifeelit.

“It’s not a compliment,” replies Callum—and yet, I think that it is.

“Your pet is awake, by the way,” says Blake.

Footsteps thud across the room. I open my eyes as Callum crashes to his knees beside the bed. “Rory! Goddess, are you alright?”

His eyes are brimming with wonder, and concern, and relief. No one has ever looked at me like that before, and I smile.

I’m not sure how to answer his question, though. Am I alright? I was captured. I killed a man. I almost died. Ishouldhave died.

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