Page 17 of The Wolf King's Demand

“We need to get you out of the kingdom. We can send you to hide with one of your sisters or parents.”

Addison set her jaw. “No.”

Tyler balked, and the wolf inside him growled. Hadn’t she understood what he’d just said?

“I know you’re trying to protect me, but I won’t run,” she told him. “And I have a responsibility to these women. What kind of future queen would I be if I just ran?”

“I’m trying to keep you alive,” he retorted. “You can’t be any kind of queen if you’re dead.”

She shook her head. “This person put a bounty on my head. If they want to take me so badly, then who’s to say they won’t follow me wherever I go? I’d rather stand and fight than be hunted down like an animal.”

Her gaze was like liquid fire. A set and unshakeable determination settled in her eyes. “Let me stand with you and fight. Let’s face this enemy together.”

A part of him screamed at how incredibly stubborn and rash she was being. Every instinct in his body wanted to haul her away to the farthest corners of the world, away from here. And yet, he couldn’t help the small part of him that was exceptionally proud.

ELEVEN

ADDISON

“Addison.” The warning in his tone would’ve made most people shudder. But Addison simply jutted her chin out more. There was no way she would leave all these people behind while she ran and hid.

“Look,” she began before he could lecture her again. “If we stay and work together, then we have more of a chance of defeating whoever is attacking us. And if you take me away from here, you’ll have two fights on your hands.”

Tyler held her gaze as if searching for something in her eyes. Finally, he sighed and pinched the bridge of his nose. “Fine. As long as you promise you won’t throw yourself into danger.”

Addison thought about it for a moment. If she was going to make a promise, she wanted to be able to keep it.

After considering it for a moment, she answered. “I’ll stay out of trouble if I can. But I also have a duty to protect those women and children. I won’t abandon them if they’re in danger.”

From the way his mouth twitched downward, he was obviously not thrilled about that addition. Addison held her ground, however. She wouldn’t let these people down.

He nodded, and she noted the respect in his gaze. “Very well. But otherwise, you stay out of danger.”

Addison allowed a smile to quirk up onto her lips. “I will.”

“Good. I’ll put out the word and try to get a hit on whoever could have set the bounty.”

She nodded. “And if they catch word of where I am, there’s bound to be another attack on the palace. We’ll need to upgrade security around here. Luckily, you just so happen to have a tech genius around.”

That got a smile from him. “I most certainly do. For now, I’ll let you get back to moving the refugees in. I'll send out trackers to see what I can find.”

“Sounds like a plan.”

Evening rolled around quickly, and Addison was worn out by the time she was able to sit down after settling everyone. But at least all were comfortable now and felt more at ease.

After putting Cassia to bed in a room down the hall from her own, Addison debated just flopping straight into bed. Then she remembered that she and her sisters had scheduled a call for tonight. She didn’t want to miss out on that, especially since they didn’t get to talk as much as they were used to. Addison checked her phone and saw she was already a little late to their call.

She set up her laptop on her makeup table and jumped into the conference call. The images of her sisters popped up on screen, and their faces lit up with joy.

“Addison!”

“There you are!”

“Well, well, well, look who decided to show up.”

Addison snorted. “Hey. How’s everyone doing?”

Taryn, the second youngest, shrugged. “Can’t complain. Everything’s been pretty peaceful here right now. Thank goodness, I needed a break from all the craziness.”

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