Page 3 of The Wolf King's Demand

“There is a report that among the raiders, someone saw … Sir Maximilian.”

Tyler sat back, surprised, and considered the implications. If it were true, it would put the entire kingdom at risk of a civil war. No, he decided. That wasn’t possible. Better to ignore it for the moment because admitting the possibility would put him on dangerous ground.

“He’s dead,” Tyler said at last, looking closely at his beta. “The report must have been a mistake.”

“The witness is fairly certain,” Louis pushed back. “And he is someone who was personally acquainted with Sir Maximilian.”

“It was a mistake,” Tyler repeated, a little louder. “Maximilian’s dead and buried. It must be someone who looked like him.”

Louis bowed and said nothing.

Tyler took a deep breath, shaking it off. “Is there any other …”

But the alarm began to sound throughout the castle before he could finish the question. Without pause, Tyler was on his feet and checking his cell phone. The security alarm was for the house, not the castle. What was happening? Was someone after his fiancée?

They were about to find they’d made a very serious mistake if they were.

“Gather the security,” he cried. “Find Addison!”

And then, without a second’s pause, his body shifted.

The first time it happened, the shift was painful. Bones stretching, muscles expanding into new shapes, claws bursting out of the skin. In fact, it never actually stopped being painful.

But Tyler had learned to embrace that pain. It was the pain of taking on his stronger form. It meant that something was happening and that he was stepping up to meet it.

What if it’s too late? a voice whispered inside Tyler’s head. What if she’s already taken?

That voice was always inside Tyler’s head. It was the same that told him that he couldn’t handle the crisis in the north or the power of the throne. It was a whisper that told him Addison would never love him because he hadn’t earned her love.

But in his wolf form, there was only silence. His actions and decisions while in his wolf body happened entirely because of his animal instincts. When he was human again, he could be afraid about having done the wrong thing or whether he’d succeed the next time he had to shift. But he didn’t worry while he was a wolf. He just acted.

He bounded out the door of the library and down the steps, out the main door, into the outdoors. His body hovered halfway between human and wolf; he could move like either when he chose to. The wolf’s run was the fastest way to get anywhere, but standing like a human with his hands free was the deadliest way to fight.

As the house came into view around the corner of the castle, he let out a single, piercing howl. Security had already entered the house, and he would be there in a few seconds. He leapt through the door, past his guards, and into the study, following Addison’s scent with his powerful nose. She was down and obviously hurt, with two of his guards tending to her. The attacker was gone.

“He got out the window,” one of the guards said. “And he already made it to the forest.”

Tyler let go of his wolf strength. Like a spring coming back to rest, his body quickly returned to his normal self. He quickly redressed in a spare change of clothes, one of many stored around Addison’s house and his own castle.

“Are you okay?” he asked as he yanked a shirt over his head. “And who attacked you?”

Addison looked at him, still shaking from her ordeal. Tyler sensed her pain almost as if it was his own. Someone had tried to hurt someone close to him, and he hadn’t been there in time to protect her.

You failed her, that voice said.

“I’m fine,” Addison answered. “And I don’t know. I was working on reviewing a security system, and then suddenly, he was just here.”

“Did you see his face?”

“No, it was covered with a hood.” Then she winced as she tried to move.

Tyler held his anger back. After all, Addison wasn’t the one who had done anything wrong. But once he found the one who had …

“You’re sleeping in the palace from now on,” he declared.

“What?” Addison said, confused. “No. I’ve got all my work set up here and …”

“This isn’t a debate,” Tyler snapped. “I want you to be as comfortable as possible. But first, you have to be safe. And right now, this house isn’t safe. Do you understand that?”

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