Page 11 of The Night Prince

You have something of mine. I have something of yours. Want to swap?

My brow furrows. “What does he have of yours?”

“Fiona.” Callum’s tone lacks intonation, and he stares blankly at the parchment in my hand.

Panic and anger twist in my gut. Callum’s bloodshot eyes are not just the consequence of worrying about my fever and the bite that throbs in my side. James has taken Callum’s oldest friend prisoner. She’s my friend, too, though I don’t know her well. Fiona was one of the only people at Madadh-allaidh who treated me with kindness, and she did so knowing I was from her enemy kingdom.

My fear hardens to resolve. I touch Callum’s arm. His bicep is clenched beneath his sleeve. “We’ll get her back. He thinks you have something of his?”

Callum swallows. “Technically, I do.”

“Then we should negotiate a trade.”

“That’s where it gets complicated.”

“Why? What does he want?” I frown. “What do you have that belongs to him?”

He runs a hand over his mouth. His gaze darkens when he looks at my waist, where James’s bite marks my skin. His eyes swim with regret when they meet mine. “You.”

Chapter Four

Ipull back from Callum. Hurt and confusion battle for dominance in my chest. “What do you mean? I don’t belong to anyone, least of all James.”

The rain has become more ferocious outside, and it drums against the arched windows as Callum drags his teeth over his bottom lip. “Technically, you do, Princess.”

“What are you talking about?”

“It’s wolf law.” Callum’s broad shoulders are hunched, as if he’s carrying a great weight. I wonder how many times he’s had this conversation with Blake and the others while I’ve been bedridden. “Usually, when a half-wolf is bitten, if they survive they become part of the clan of whoever bit them. The alpha of that clan must take responsibility for them. They essentially become the alpha’s property. James is from Highfell. If he’d not been king when he’d bitten you, you would have been mine. James outranks me. He has a claim to you. Wolf law dictates that if he asks for you, you must go to him.”

My legs feel shaky—from the fever or shock, I don’t know. I place a hand on the edge of the oval table to balance myself. The thought that the male who attacked me, who hasforever changed my life, thinks of me as his property makes my blood run cold. Anger twists in my chest, and my heartbeat thunders against my ribs.

Blake is backlit by the roaring fire in the hearth. Jack leans against the table. I hate that they are witness to this. I hate that they have all discussed this without me. I swallow my emotion, and bury it deep.

“That’s ridiculous,” I say. “Just because James says something doesn’t make it so. I don’t belong to him.”

Blake drums his fingers on the map. “Be that as it may,” he says, “if he asks for you back and we refuse, it puts us in breach of wolf law. The optics are bad—to have a future king refuse to adhere to the rules that bind all Wolves.”

Unlike Callum, there is no emotion in his voice. He speaks as if me being another man’s property is of no consequence to him. I note his wording, too.A future king.He doesn’t want to be in breach of wolf law because it may ruinhisprospects for the throne, not Callum’s.

My gaze snaps to his. “So you plan to hand me to him?”

Callum puts his hand over mine. His palm is hot and calloused, and his touch offers me some comfort. “No. Never.”

“There’s a simple solution,” says Blake. “Another alpha must claim you before James officially asks for your return.”

I note that Blake doesn’t name Callum as the alpha who must claim me, as if he himself is an option. Jack watches Blake carefully, his lips pinched in the corners. He seems to have noticed this too, and doesn’t look like he approves.

“What are you talking about?” I say. “I don’t want to be ‘claimed’. What does that even mean?”

Blake shrugs. “An alpha would mark you with their bite, and announce you as part of their clan in front of witnesses. The claim is stronger if it happens at a celestial event, or in the presence of a priestess, but it’s not always necessary.”

When I shake my head, it throbs. “Absolutely not.”

“Not even if it would keep you safe?” asks Callum.

I flinch. He agrees with Blake. They have had this conversation before without me too, then. “No.”

Callum brushes his thumb over my knuckles. “If you’re worried about the pain—”

---