Page 46 of The Night Prince

He’s manipulating me, I remind myself. He’s going to take everything from me, including Callum. I have to stop him. I have to break this bond.

His movements are strong and graceful as we travel around the dancefloor, and again, I find myself thinking he’s a good dancer. He told me he was born in a village, a half-wolf who later became part of the King’s Guard. There is no reason he would be trained to dance.

“Why are you so good at dancing?” I ask.

“I said I had information about the bond, and that is what you wish to ask me?”

“Yes.”

He dips me, and my breath hitches as I curl my arm around his neck. “Why are you asking?” he asks.

“Because I’m the princess. While the men in the castle were trained to fight, I was trained to dance.”

He pulls me upright, and his breath mingles with mine. “You say that as if it’s a bad thing. Do you not like to dance?”

“That is not the point.”

“Kingdoms are not won by men fighting.” He twirls me under his arm, and my skirt flutters around my legs. “They are won by men dancing and manipulating others behind closed doors.”

“I’m not a man.”

“No. But I’m sure you could bring a kingdom to its knees.”

“That is your desire, not mine.”

He only smiles. I wonder if it’s a lie, that perhaps something inside medoeswish to destroy and claim. To take something away from my father. I’ve felt the embers of something glowing in the pits of my soul since I found out what my father did to my mother.

“You’re avoiding the question,” I say. “How did you learn to dance?”

“Is it so hard to believe that I, too, was trained?” He cocks his head to the side. “Why do you want to know?”

“I can feel your emotions, and I know that you’re hiding something.”

“What of your secrets, little rabbit? I can feel you, too. I’ve sensed something within you, long before our lives were entangled this way.”

My breathing quickens, even though he’s talking nonsense. “Tell me about the bond.”

“Make me.”

My pulse thunders as some wild beast stirs in my chest. He’d implied he’d give me information if I danced with him. I should have known it was a lie. “You claim to be my alpha. That gives me a right to challenge you, doesn’t it? I could do it right here, in front of all these people.”

“Oh, please do, little rabbit.” His voice is as soft and dark as a shadow.

“Do you think I cannot win? You cannot harm me without hurting yourself. You would look like a fool.”

He dips me again, as if to prove he’s in control and I’m floundering off-balance. “I have endured much pain in my life. And I have caused much pain.”

“Do you think I have not?”

His hand shifts on my lower back. His finger brushes the spot where one of my scars brands my skin. I stiffen, and he pulls me upright. “I’m sure you have. But my experience with torture outweighs yours, I’m sure.”

My blood chills as I think of his handwritten medical tomes.

“Go on,” he whispers, his tone urging. “Challenge me. Show me how sharp those claws are.”

The wild thing in my chest rears her head. His eyes glint as if he senses it, welcomes it. I take a deep breath. I know howto win this, and it’s not by giving him what he wants. He wishes to play with me. I won’t indulge him.

I release my grip on his neck and I step back. I curtsey. “Thank you for the dance, Blake.”

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