Page 4 of The Wolf King's Demand

Her eyes widened.

He realized she clearly didn’t expect that kind of passion from me. Did she really think I would leave her in a house where someone had nearly killed her?

“You’re right,” she said finally. “I like being on my own, but … I’m not used to this kind of thing.”

“You shouldn’t have to be,” Tyler told her. “Let’s get you inside. You need a shower.”

“A shower?” she repeated, slightly confused.

“It will help relax you,” he explained. “Which is important after an experience like this. And also, it will get the smell of that foul attacker off your body.”

“Can we change that to a bath?” she asked.

Tyler smiled and scooped her into his arms. She relaxed into his chest. “Even better.”

Questions ran through his head as he carried her out of the house and into the castle. Who would do such a thing? Was it an enemy of hers, or was there someone out there who would try to get to him through her?

“Draw a bath,” he commanded the maid as he entered Addison's chamber, the bedroom reserved for her that she had refused to use until now. He laid her on the bed to wait for the bath to fill, and she smiled up at him.

“I didn’t know you cared about me that much,” she said, her voice light and dismissive.

Tyler said nothing. It wasn’t the only thing that he had kept secret from Addison. He always liked to play his cards close to his chest with everyone, and it was particularly important with her. If Addison knew that she was his fated mate, that the two of them were destined by magic and biology to be together for life, she would feel forced to love him. And that wasn’t the best way for them to come together as they were truly meant to. He had to tread carefully.

THREE

ADDISON

Addison let herself sink into the hot bath as the white and gold marble-tiled bathroom filled with steam. The maid had put a selection of herbs recommended by the healer into the bathwater. They let out a wonderfully sweet aroma, something like lavender, relaxing her even further.

She hadn’t noticed she was cut and scraped in several places until they stung upon contact with the water. However, the sting was momentary, and it gave way to a much softer sensation, an ache that was healing.

All of her fear and panic slowly subsided. She could think again. When in the house, she had felt slightly defensive when Tyler had suggested she move into her room, but it had been a good idea.

“Someone just tried to kill me.” Saying the words out loud still didn't feel real.

Here in the bath, with Tyler and all of his guards outside, she could finally accept the truth and start to make sense of it. That attack hadn’t been a random event coming out of the blue. Someone planned it. And they had to have a good reason.

There were two main possibilities. One was that it had to do with her job in computer security. Maybe the attacker had predicted she would find the coded backdoor and was trying to take her out before she learned his identity.

“That would mean he had very big plans,” she mused to herself.

Which was possible, of course. The client had been from one of her parents’ companies. Anyone gaining access could cause trouble on a national scale as they could pass themselves off as a royal.

The other possibility was that Tyler had an enemy she didn’t know about, and they were going after her to get him.

That was certainly possible, too. There was a lot that she didn’t know about Tyler. She certainly hadn’t known that he would respond so passionately and quickly when she was in danger. She had assumed he felt the same about her as she did about him. That their upcoming marriage was a bump in the road, an inconvenience that she had to deal with as part of being a royal.

But that hadn’t been what she’d seen in his eyes. He had been furious, but it was the kind of anger that sprang from fear. The idea of losing her was clearly unthinkable to him. But why? How had he become so attached to her when she had barely let him get close to her?

She would have to investigate the mystery of who was targeting her, but she also wanted to know more about Tyler. The strength in his arms, the gentleness in the way he carried her, and the care in taking her immediately to relax in a bath had surprised her.

The man she was being forced to marry might be a lot more interesting than she had initially thought.

Finally, she drained the tub and stepped carefully onto the floor. She dried off as best she could, wincing once or twice at movements that made her ribs ache, and finally got into a red dressing gown.

It was time to talk to Tyler and learn a little more about the intriguing wolf shifter.

She took a breath and opened the door to his bedroom, stepping in.

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