Page 19 of The Wolf King's Demand

“Congratulations.”

Cassia ducked her head at the attention but still waved meekly back to them.

“Addison, maybe the two of you should come to stay with me for a little while,” Madison urged her gently. “Or with our parents, or Taryn or Lexi. Just get away from there until all this blows over.”

She’d been wondering when her twin would finally voice her thoughts aloud.

“I know you’re worried about me, but I can’t leave. I won’t leave,” she amended. “We saved a bunch of women and children from the rogue camp, and I won’t abandon them. I need to see this through and keep them all safe.”

Madison sighed. “You’ve always been too stubborn for your own good.”

Addison barked out a laugh. “Please, that goes for all of us.”

They all laughed at that one. The rest of the call was more lighthearted, and after about an hour, they all said their goodnights to each other.

Addison noticed Cassia was barely awake in her lap.

“Come on. Let’s get you to bed, little one.”

Cassia made half-hearted protests but was clearly too sleepy to put up a real fight. Addison carried her into the room. She gazed lovingly at her new charge and smoothed the girl’s hair.

She crept quietly out of the room when Cassia’s eyes seemed to have drifted shut for the night. Then, she made her way toward the king’s chambers. She needed to find Tyler and talk with him.

TWELVE

TYLER

He heard the door of the bedroom open as he stood in the shower, his shifter senses already on alert.

That would be Addison. Even if he didn’t know from the scent, it would have been obvious from the way she opened the door without knocking.

Perfect. Just who he wanted to see.

Addison always surprised him. Now, she had even brought a new child into the pack. Good, he decided. He looked forward to getting to know the nervous young thing. He wanted to see what she would grow into now that she was finally in a pack that would support her rather than tear her down.

She had grown attached to Addison so quickly. Surely, that meant the two of them shared some of their spirit. When she grew, Tyler believed Cassia would be every bit as confident and cunning as her new mother.

She would be an asset to the pack.

He turned off the water and stepped out of the shower.

Whoever had put the bounty on his fiancée wanted to hurt him and his people. Instead, they had made them stronger. That was good. That was the way things were supposed to be.

He dried himself off, then considered the bathrobe hanging on the back of the door.

No, he decided. It was only Addison out there. Wearing the bathrobe would be less fun. Besides, it would be wise to approach her romantically.

He opened the door and stepped into the room. Addison sat on the bed, and the moment she saw his naked body, her eyes widened. She looked to the side, blushing.

She was aroused. Good. They had that in common.

“I wanted to talk about Cassia,” she said, doing her best to sound calm and unperturbed. The act couldn’t fool his sensitive shifter nose. She was full of the same thoughts he was.

He sat on the bed next to her. “Is she settling in all right?”

“Better than I expected, actually,” Addison replied. “I took her to the park with some of the other children. She was shy for the first hour or so, mostly staying in her own corner. But eventually, she joined one of their games and started having fun. She’s got a beautiful laugh.”

Tyler smiled. Everything was always easier when the members of his pack got along by themselves. “I look forward to hearing it myself.”

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