Page 50 of The Night Prince

“Let’s go somewhere private.”

I fall into step beside him. He threads his fingers with mine, and leads me past the festivities in the Great Hall, and up one of the stairwells.

“I’ll have a word with Lochlan about Ian,” he says. “I don’t like how he was looking at you.”

He opens the door to our room, and we step inside. The fire burns low in the hearth, casting a soft glow onto the leather armchairs and the four-poster bed.

I walk past him, and sit on one of the armchairs—the one facing away from the window, so I don’t have to look at the half-moon that shines over the loch. Callum shuts the door, then lingers by the foot of the bed. There’s something... off about him.

“What did Claire have to say?” I ask.

“There have been some unexplained deaths in a few of the villages in her territory, and people were seen entering an old chapel dedicated to the God of Night not too far from Highfell. She thinks Night’s Acolytes are rising once more. They’ve been talking about someone called the Night Prince. We have enough to be worrying about with Lochlan and James right now.”

“Is there something else? Something wrong?”

He chews his cheek as he leans against one of the bedposts. “You tell me.”

“What do you mean?”

“I...” He drags his hands over his face. “I don’t know. Probably nothing.”

The room is silent but for the odd crackle coming from the fire, and the faint sound of bagpipes coming from the Great Hall. “Do you think I’m a damsel, Callum?”

His brow furrows. “What?”

“A damsel in distress. A weak female who needs saving.”

He folds his arms. “Because I’m going to have a word with Lochlan about a male from his clan who was up to no good?”

“No.” I know I sound petulant, but... “Do you think I’m your equal?”

He frowns. “Aye? Why?”

“You said once that you wanted to be with a female who was equal to you.”

“I do.” He cocks his head to one side. “I am.”

“Yet you feel the need to protect me all the time.”

“You’re very small.” When I don’t return his smile, he exhales. “You told me you did not want me to suppress myself, my wolf instincts, around you. I’m an alpha, and you are my lass, and aye, I want to protect you. What’s wrong with that?”

“I could help Lochlan with Alexander, you know?”

“I won’t risk you.”

I turn toward the flickering flames in the fireplace. “Claire’s an alpha. If you were together, you wouldn’t have to protect her, would you?” I instantly regret saying it. I sound weak. Foolish.

Silence stretches between us, and I long for him to fill it. I need him to say something. Anything. There’s the thud and creak of footsteps across the floorboards. Callum crouches in front of the chair and nudges my knees apart to accommodate him. I’m not sure what I expect when I turn back to him. Annoyance, perhaps, or even confusion. It’s not the wide grin that is spread across his face. I hate that it makes the corners of my lips twitch.

“What are you smiling about?” I say.

“So that’s what this is all about.”

“What?”

He slides his hands up my legs, pushing up my skirt, and nips my inner thigh with his teeth. “Fuck, I like that you’re jealous.”

My breathing hitches. “I’m not jealous.”

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