by Logan Keys
“To protect me?” he shouts. His bushy brows shoot to his hairline and red tinges his face and neck.
“Yes, Noble, to protect you. On our wedding day, I promised to protect you as you promised to protect me. If I told you what your guards did to me, what would you have done?”
“I’d have dealt with them accordingly.”
“Exactly,” I agree. “You’d have fought or done whatever you wolves do when another mistreats your wife. A wife your pack despises, especially after your father’s death. If you’d taken up for me, your pack would’ve been outraged and right now, they need you more than I do.”
“And this?” He throws a ripped, crumpled piece of paper at me and my heart stalls for a few beats before it begins an erratic thumping behind my chest. “Was this to protect me, too?”
I fist Crede’s letter in my hand and will back the remaining tears. “Yes, my lord. Whether you see it or not, everything I’ve done is to protect you and our fragile relationship.”
“I’ve news for you, my lady.” He sneers. “You will not be going back to Summer. There will be no annulment. You are my wife and you belong here, not with Crede.”
Tipping my chin, I meet his tempered gaze. “Then, my king, I expect my coronation to take place soon.”
Chapter 25
Noble
How many nights has my father paced this carpet by the fire? How many times had I walked in to find him leaning against the edge of the fireplace, dark head bent, eyes locked onto the flames?
And it would have been Oren’s father who would have also joined my own, but tonight, it is me that leans against the mantle, and it is Oren who’s boots click across the stones until he is at my side.
The carpet at my feet is worn with the black wolf’s worries, and now it is mine that wears what’s left of the thread.
“You asked to see me, my king.”
I turn, wondering if it’s the right thing, guessing that my father had most likely often wondered the very same. “Do you have it?” I can barely force the words out, such is my anger.
“Yes, my lord.” Oren’s hand opens and there is my mother’s ring.
I take it from him, looking the jewel over in the firelight.
“Was this your order?” I ask, and he takes a step back in surprise.
“My lord?”
“Did you tell your men,” I pause to swallow, closing the ring tightly in my fist. “Did you tell your men to accost my wife? To steal this ring…my mother’s ring that I placed on her finger?”
Oren seems truly horrified by the idea. “No, your grace. Never, your grace. Unless you had commanded it, I would never abuse your wife, or had I known it was going on, I would have intervened.”
I breathe steadily through my nose long moments until I am satisfied that what he says is true. Releasing that burden, I relax slightly. “Can I trust you?” I ask.
I stare deeply into eyes that have always been judgmental of my every move. Oren would not have killed Katarina, of that I am certain. He would not have married a lion. He would not have allowed his own wife to be abused under his own roof. He would not have torn his kingdom in two the very same day he became king.
But Oren is not king.
I am.
“Of course, sire.”
I narrow my gaze. “I do not mean in the wolf way. The pack. I mean can I trust you with everything, Oren? Will you be the man that my father hoped you’d be? Your father was his first in command, his first line of defense, his everything. Now, after the battle, he has resigned and offered his position to you. I would give it to you freely and have no regrets, if only I could know, truly, how much I can trust you.”
“With your life,” he says, fist at his heart.
I smile, but it holds no humor. Looking at my mother’s ring again, I say, “Then it is not mine I ask for.”
His face changes. Oren knows what I mean. “The queen,” he says.
“The queen. And she will remain as such despite the rumors.”
“You can’t be serious.”
I turn to find who had spoken. Emilie is there in the shadows. Her eyes have the glint of a wolf ready to change. She stalks forward, and at first, I think she means to argue, but instead she bows. “I mean, your grace. You can’t be serious.”
I breathe deeply. “The lions killed my father. That is true. And we don’t know who had a hand in it, but neither do they. I have read a letter from Crede, and he’s no reason to lie to Liana. They were unaware.”
“But still---” I give Emilie a look that wilts her where she stands.
“I have already tasked you both with finding the truth of my father’s death. And I believe you will. But that does not mean I will accept a questioning of my command. I cannot.”
“Oren,” I say, turning toward him. “Can I trust you to protect her? With your life if need be.”
“I…I…” his shoulders slump in defeat.
“My father wanted this, Oren. If not for me, for him. Would you let the great black wolf down?”
His eyes fill. “I will protect her, sire. If you ask.”
Tension leaves my body. The thought of Liana’s bruises, her attack, it had rocked me to my core. Imagining her not recovered, but rather cold and dead alongside my father had been too much to bear.
I know her speech about protecting me is only half right. She feels guilt, and rightly so, because her pride would, of course, feel nothing for the loss of a lowly wolf king. Liana, only days ago, would have been just as indifferent to our plight. As long as the memory and coldness of the wolves have been, the brutality and ambitions of the lions have met them with the same amount of stubborn and willful fatalisms. Unwillingness to heal our realms of the lines drawn in ancient times has cost us both dearly, but we’ve never sought a way to ease such pains.
Until now.
But we, the wolves, are in more pain now than ever, and Liana must know it. It’s not right, but it’s not wrong. But her abuse…I’ve raged silently inside since learning of it.
And now our guilt is shared. Cuffed together in more than simple vows, Liana and I now have pain in common. And I sense that this is only the beginning.
Chapter 26
Noble
“I have left Oren here to keep you safe.”
“Where are you going?” Liana tries to rise but I stay her with a hand.
I want to be gentle with my new wife. I long to reach for her. But instead, the full moon is upon us and she cannot join our pack weakened as she is. Or perhaps…ever.
“I feel much better, Noble,” she says pushing up, letting the sheets fall, and again I am reminded that my wife, while modest by lion standards, is unfitting here in our cold palace where women button up to their chin.
To them, and me, she is a harlot among prudes. And never had I been more thankful for that then when we’d first agreed to marry. But now, things have changed. Distance, modesty, it’s what’s best.
Liana seems to notice my discomfort and she lifts her chin, daring me to comment. She’s showing me everything these last days of despair has bought and paid for. A wife by my side that is not only willing to throw herself to the wolves, quite literally for me, but one who’s brash boldness is making my skin heat even this moment.
Then I feel guilt slap me across my face for the very thought.
Liana is not even healed fully, and here I am ogling her, after being the one who’d left her to such abuse. By his own people.
“I have something,” I say.
Reaching only as far as I need to, I hand her the ring. Liana’s eyes barely glance at the jewel before she places it on her finger, and she searches my features.
So much hope rests in her golden gaze, that I rise, forcefully and mean to leave.
“Noble, wait!”
I turn, and Liana motions to the fire. “Could you please throw in some more logs? I’ll never get used to this frigid weather.”
I do as she asks, then I use the poker to stoke the flames, rememb
ering that Oren is right outside her door. He’s promised to keep her safe while I run. I can trust him.
“Do you have to go?” she asks.
We two are done with politics for now. We have stuck with silence, and quiet comments, me offering her protection, her graciously accepting such things as if I am her jailer.
My teeth grow in my mouth by the second, and I wipe a hand across my lips.
“Yes,” I say. “I’m already changing. It’s just for the night.”
“The whole night?” she asks, her eyes round, the gold in them catching the light of the fire.
Is there an offer inside of that enchanting gaze? Is she beckoning me still even after all that I’ve done?
Instead of being pleased, I find myself growing angry with her all over again. I’m saddled with a wife who is too beautiful to even protect myself from should I need it. And everyone in my kingdom must see the weakness. They must say to themselves, “Oh there goes Noble to his death. Too stupid to see what’s right in front of him because of a good pair of…”
Emilie is ever reminding me that Liana could have been a part of the plot to kill my father. That this entire goal for marriage could have been so our defenses were down to the lions. They could swoop in, and I’m buried in Liana’s soft flesh, forgetting my duty.
They’ve already struck. Could be: First the great black wolf, then me. After we bear children, she’d rule through our son.
Liana has a sense of my thoughts it seems. Her gaze steels. “Will she be with you, Noble? Tonight. The one who seems to always be by your side?”
Liana bites off the end of her words. She pulls the blankets to the side and means to stand.
“Stay seated,” I snap.
Not for her wellbeing, but for mine. She’s naked and I’m here thinking about children already, even if it means she’ll cut my throat afterward, I’m teetering on the edge of insanity.
Go ahead, Liana, I think. As long as I die in your arms while I change and howl at the moon, you can end me once and for all.
She stays seated, but lets the sheets pool in her lap, uncovering more, knowing exactly my reaction.
Liana half naked is enough to change a man’s mind about death. She’s been sent here by the gods of the realms to tempt me. Indeed, she must have. Beckoning men like me to our doom without even trying. Women will rule the realm if they all look and act like her.
“I have to go,” I say, hoarsely, but strong enough, that while I’m losing myself every step towards the door, I am still managing to take them somehow.
I’m changing too swiftly. It’s too soon. I barely make it out before lifting the bar and crossing it in front of her door, half me, and half animal.
“Don’t let anyone in there tonight.”
Oren nods his head, “Yes, sire.” His eyes are wide.
My face is slowly transforming. Most can’t do that. They either change or don’t, but my lineage is so old, it is said that the wolves once lived as half and half.
“Not a soul gets into her room,” I growl.
I check the bar and lock. Twice. Then I run through the castle until I am on the steps. I’m almost free, free to run away from all that troubles me, but Winnie is there waiting on the landing.
Despite how terrifying I must look, her face is thunder, and all of her sweet bunny features are tight with anger. “What is the meaning of this, Noble?”
I grab her by the shoulders, meaning to move her---hide her. I frantically search the courtyard with a sweeping glance and hiss, “What are you still doing here! It’s the full moon, Winifred. The wolves are out! They are running.”
She shrugs me off roughly. “Don’t you Winifred me, Noble.”
“I am king. King Noble now.”
She points a finger in my face and the wolf growls at the appendage until it disappears. “For all of a few days! I’ve known you your entire life. This isn’t you. Liana is being abused, accosted in your own palace.”
“You think I don’t know that? I’ve taken care of it.”
She crosses her arms, sighs, and Winnie looks close to tears.
My own eyes burn in answer, and her gaze softens to notice my desperation. “Noble,” she says softly. “I know you’ve lost your father, but you have to remember how many times we discussed this very thing. A change for the realm. Remember? You promised.”
“I don’t have time for this, Winnie. And you’d better get out of sight before the pack sees you.”
She nods. “Fine. But we will talk. Later.”
My body shudders and the change begins without warning. I’m me, but suddenly, not me at the same time.
Winnie backs away. “Noble? Noble!” She trips on her feet and I stalk forward, half me, half rogue. “What should I do!?” she screeches.
“Hide,” I say with a strange mixture of animal and man vocal chords. Snapping my jaws, Winnie spins and springs up the steps for the castle before I completely lose myself.
Forcing the final amount of control I do have, I flee, running toward the woods, tearing off my clothes. I fly past the gardens, through branches that cut neatly into my skin, eyes blurring with the wind when I’m finished.
Now, my paws take up the ground. At first, I head toward the others, I can hear them. The pack is strong together. They are formidable and perfectly working as one.
But not one wolf is as fast as I am.
At the last second before I am out of sight of the castle, I spin and glance up at the tower to Liana’s rooms. Like I knew, she is there, hair flying in the wind, eyes finding me with ease. A cat can see in the night as well as any of us. We are all nocturnal beasts. At least she and I have that sole common thing to build on.
And build we must, lest they tear us to pieces.
It is only now that I realize I am me inside of this wolf skin. I can control it somehow when never could I before. I’m unable to think about the surprise of that because Liana stands at the window, bare chested, and as if she notices my sudden hesitation, she finally pulls her robes closed.
Even covered, she sends me a look of such challenge that I shake my fur in reaction to the piercing gaze. Bruised, battered, but never conquered, my wife may be in a strange realm, but already she is not only Queen of Winter, Liana has become queen of my heart.
Chapter 27
Noble
Returned to the castle after hardly any time has passed, I dress in my rooms, confused by the fact that the wolf had finished hunting so swiftly.
The night is young. The wolf had hunted, yes, but strangely enough, he’d not strayed far from the castle.
I stalk through the halls, uncertain of what I’ll do when I arrive, but my feet take me to Liana’s room as if they have a mind of their own.
Oren’s there, he’s standing in my way.
“You said no one could enter, sire.”
“Careful, Oren,” I mutter.
His raised brow is my only reply, but he steps aside. “Perhaps I could run with the pack, the night is still young.”
“Yes,” I say, realizing just now he’s withstood his own change all this time.
Oren looks weary from the fight. He rushes away, almost as swiftly as I had before.
When I open the door, I’m greeted by an angry, gigantic ball of fur. Despite my very manly self, I yelp and barely catch the teeth and claws before they can decapitate me. The lioness stops attacking me, and my wife rises from her paws to her feet, changing so swiftly, that I am still trying to fend off myself from the assault.
“I’m sorry!” she shouts.
“What in all of the realms, Liana!”
“I thought it was your guard! I thought to escape and go after you.” She glares at me, breathing hard. “I should be with you, Noble. By your side. Not trapped here like a prisoner.”
“Prisoner…?”
“Yes.” She flings a hand at the door. “I’ve checked. It’s barred, locked tight.”
“For your protection.”
She motions to the bru
ising that is fading, but still visible on her beautiful skin.
I realize in the moment, I am arguing with a very naked and angry wife. It’s not entirely terrible.
“No one will harm you ever again, Liana.” I take two large steps forward, and she stands her ground.
I cup her chin in my hand. “Never again. I swear it.”
Her golden eyes show hesitation. Not fear, but something else…distrust.
I glance around. I don’t have a sword, but I have a knife. Pulling this, I slice it across my hand, then bow to a knee and offer her the blade. “On my honor, on my life, I swear it by this blade, Liana, Princess of Lions, Queen of Wolves, that if anyone should harm you again under my roof, that you may then press this blade between my ribs and put the cold point into my heart.”
I sense her reluctance, but Liana takes the knife. “It’s a beautiful blade,” she says, her eyes turning mischievous.
“Do you accept, my lady?”
Swift as a snake, she presses the point of the blade under my chin, forcing my gaze to meet her eyes. Measuredly and with meaning she says, “And you will never again point your sword in my direction as well, King Noble.”
“Yes,” I whisper, entranced by the fire in her eyes, “I swear.”
She could cut my throat right now, and the sight I should die by is one of a goddess of the realms taking what she deems is owed. Long seconds pass, and I sense the change before I see it.
“Then yes, Noble,” she whispers, touching my cheek, dropping the knife, “I accept.”
Something passes between us until I am on my feet, and in one smooth motion lifting the queen off of hers. I carry her not to the bed, but to the window where I throw aside the curtains, then push open the glass, letting in the cold rush of winter.
“Noble!”
“The moonlight,” I say, feeling it strike me at my core.
Liana in my arms, the blue glow reflecting off her skin, it does something to me.
