Page 188 of The Wolf King

I watch Blake. Even if I couldn’tfeelthe dark waves of smugness coming off him, I’d know he was plotting something.

“What’s in this for you, Blake?” I ask.

“I’d prefer Callum as king. And I’m better at politics than he is. He doesn’t know how to play the game.”

The ghosts of our previous conversations curl around us. For a moment, I wish I could read his thoughts as well as his feelings.

He turns and opens the door. “I’ll see if any word has come back from my scouts. James is probably licking his wounds right now, but it doesn’t hurt to be vigilant. We’ll start recruiting the outlying clans tomorrow.”

“Aye. Okay. You’re an obnoxious prick, Blake. But you saved Rory. I’m thankful for that.”

Blake glances at me, and a strange feeling I cannot quite place washes over me. He shrugs, and strides out into the hallway.

Callum sighs. “Budge over,” he says, knocking me gently with his hip.

He slides his legs onto the bed beside me, pulling me into his arms. “I’m sorry I left you. I won’t do it again.”

I breathe him in, and soften against his solid body. “I don’t want to be powerless again. I want to learn to fight. To defend myself.”

“Aye?” I hear pride in his voice again. “You did a good job, as far as I’m concerned. But I shall teach you.”

“Good.”

I stiffen as I remember the conversation Callum and Blake had while I was dying.

“Am I a wolf?”

“It... er... it seems that may be the case.” He chews his bottom lip. “Blake thinks your mother was a wolf. The way she died... he thinks she was poisoned with wolfsbane. He thinksyouwere poisoned with it, too, for a while.”

My soul freezes and ice spreads through my veins. “Sebastian said my father murdered her.”

Callum exhales, his expression gentle. “Aye. That was the conclusion Blake came to, too. I’m sorry, Princess.”

I shake my head, trying to process it all. Until fear dowses the anger. “What does that mean? Will I shift at the next full moon?”

“I don’t know, Princess. James’s bite could have activated the wolf inside you. What Blake did might have stopped it. I don’t know. If you do shift, I’ll be right there beside you.” His arm tightens around my shoulder. “There’s nothing to fear. I swear it.”

My head sinks into the crook of his shoulder, and he pulls me down onto the mattress, stroking my hair. I sigh.

“You’re going to challenge James for the throne?” I ask.

He hesitates. “I know I said I’d take you to Highfell—”

“No,” I say, my muscles hardening. “Let’s take his throne. I have just as much cause for revenge as you. I want to make him pay.”

Callum grins, then brushes his lips against mine. “My wild and fearsome creature,” he mumbles against my mouth.

“My wolf,” I say as I kiss him back.

***

Something wakes me. Perhaps it is the dull throbbing in my side where James bit me. Or perhaps it is Callum’s absence. I feel it instantly. There is a lack of warmth. Of comfort. Of safety. Instead, a darker aura pulses against my senses.

I jerk upright in the covers. Wincing, I press the spot where James bit me.

The room is dark, though the dying embers glow red in the hearth, and a couple of candles flicker on the mantelpiece.

Blake freezes beside the bed, halfway through the motion of placing something on my bedside table.

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