Page 35 of The Wolf King's Demand

“Weak,” she said. “I feel like I’ve been run over by a herd of elephants, to be honest. Every bone in my body hurts. The bath is helping, however.”

“Good. The healer said the herbs would ease the pain.” He lovingly washed her back as he spoke.

“What now?” asked Addison.

“We should go to your parents,” he said straightaway. “You are not safe here.”

“You know that’s not what I want,” she said. “But in truth, I think I’m going to have to agree with you on this. We just don’t know what these rogues are capable of. We have the children to think about now, too.”

Tyler was so relieved. He did not want to have to insist. He was glad she’d seen reason.

He helped her out of the bath and into bed. She looked so pale against the sheets. She smiled up at him. “Thank you, Tyler. I feel so much better now.”

He bent to kiss her on the forehead, and by the time he stood, she had fallen asleep. He watched her breath coming slow, deep, and even. How differently this night could have ended. Taryn, you are a savior, he thought.

Just then, there was a knock at the door. It was his beta. “We caught the bastard,” he said. “He’s down in the dungeon.”

“Stay with Addison,” Tyler growled and brushed past him with seething wrath in his heart. Time to make someone pay.

The guy lay crumpled and naked in the corner of the cell. He had obviously shifted to try to get away, but there was no getting away from Anton.

Tyler was across the cell in two strides and picked the perpetrator up by his hair. “Tell me who hired you!” he shouted in his face.

“I don’t know who it was,” the guy whimpered. “Some guy in a bar paid me. It’s known I’m good with poisons. It was meant to be an easy job. I didn’t know she was a princess. I just got a description and a location.”

“Fuck,” Tyler swore.

“If you let me go peacefully, I won’t bother you again,” the assassin said, “but if you hold me captive, I’ll make sure the princess and all those brats running around in the castle die painfully.”

“Let you go?” Tyler asked incredulously. “You poisoned my woman. You threaten my family …” The shift was already taking place in his bones. The wolf within surged forward, taking control of the situation, and delighting in the taste of the traitor's blood in his mouth.

TWENTY-ONE

ADDISON

Addison still felt weak as a kitten after the poison dart. She had spoken to Taryn again on the phone that morning. Her sister told her to expect to feel drained for a couple of days, but Taryn was confident she would make a full recovery thanks to Tyler's quick actions. She had also told her that all her sisters were going to be staying with their parents for a while. She was looking forward to seeing them all and eager to set off.

The kids were playing chase across the palace lawns. They had all shifted and were enjoying their last few minutes of freedom before they were cramped up in a car for several hours.

The eldest boy, Timon, always seemed to take the lead in these games. He was a bit more organized than the others, good with rules and structure, and he loved being chased.

The game looked like it involved all the young pups trying their hardest to intercept him. He was very sporting, however, and even though he was the fastest by far, he would allow the others to catch him. He would then make a show of fighting them off, but it was all noise. Addison was impressed no one ever seemed to get hurt.

There were going to be four vehicles traveling together. A van at either end of the convoy would carry enforcers and their weapons. The two cars in the center were for Addison, Tyler, the four children, and the two nannies. Addison couldn’t believe how much stuff they all needed just to go away for a couple of weeks.

“You’d better round those pups up,” Tyler called to her as he loaded the last of the bags into the trunk.

“Sure thing,” she said, although she was reluctant to break up their game. They were having such a lovely time.

“Come on then, kids,” she called to them. They came hurtling across the lawn and ran around her a few times, howling like they’d caught their prey. She laughed at the sight. “Come on, you fearsome beasts, get a shift on,” she told them.

Once they were all shifted back to their human form and clothed, the convoy got on its way. Addison had Liddy, Timon, and Nanny Richelot in her car, while Tyler rode with Nanny Letitia, Cassia, and Jacob. Since the children were still adjusting, Addison and Tyler had deemed it best to split up so that each car and child had one adoptive parent nearby.

In Addison’s car, both Liddy and Timon were excited to be going to visit another castle.

“Is it a big castle?” Timon asked.

“It sure is,” said Addison, smiling.

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