AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“Good evening, Lady Reyna,” he said, his voice low.
My wolf was alert and overjoyed to see him. Despite my worries, the draw was still there. I couldn’t help but remember the way his hands had felt on my waist, and the heat of all that muscle pressed against me.
His eyes flashed gold briefly before settling back into their usual deep chocolate-brown. Was he thinking about it, too?
“Good evening,” I murmured. The king stepped out of the way and welcomed me into his quarters. The space wasn’t too large, but it was luxurious, with a dining table set up in the center of the room, a sitting area by the roaring hearth, and big windows with the curtains half-opened so the light of the full moon shone in. From the top floor, the snow-dusted trees of the forest were visible.
It was so quiet, the sound of the crackling fire was all I could hear. The king set his hand at my bare lower back. The contact burned. “Please,” he said. “Take a seat.”
I took my seat at the dining table, which was laden with tasting plates and low candles. It was different than the meals I’d had so far: smaller portions, different meats, spices that smelled more exotic and curious than the fare the Nightfall Court usually served. Immediately, my interest was piqued.
“You look lovely this evening,” the king said in his low rumbling voice.
“Thank you,” I said. “Can’t say I had much to do with the choice.”
A wolfish grin flashed across his features. “Not what you would’ve chosen for yourself?”
“I don’t know what I would’ve chosen,” I admitted. “I’ve never worn anything like this.”
“Well, it suits you,” he said. “A she-wolf of Nightfall should always look so elegant.”
I nodded, then cut my gaze down to the floor. My wolf preened from the compliment, even though I wasn’t a wolf of Nightfall. Not yet. Hopefully not ever. And yet the possibility made my wolf shiver in delight.
“I hope having dinner with me isn’t too much of a hassle,” the king said easily. He ambled over to the small bar at the wall and pulled a bottle from beneath it. “I know the council wanted me to have my decision made, but I find it’s easier to get to know someone in private.”
“I see,” I said. Our encounter in the woods wasn’t enough?
“And,” he continued as he opened the bottle of wine, “I wanted to see you again, after you ran off yesterday morning.” He decanted the bottle.
My cheeks burned. I wasn’t going to let him make me feel bad about what had happened, though—since I was the one who had been drugged in his court. I straightened up in my chair and said nothing.
The king stepped back toward the table with the decanter in hand. Delicately, he poured me a fine glass of red wine, then smoothed his hand over the bare skin of my back.
How was such a gentle touch making my wolf go so wild? She’d been so quiet all day, and now suddenly in the king’s presence, she wanted more, more, more. And having the king serve me—pour me wine, like I was the one in higher standing! I set my teeth into my lower lip gently as he poured his own glass, too, an elegant motion made more beautiful by the shifting of his biceps and forearms.
“Please,” he said as he sat down across from me. “Let’s eat.”
I took a sip of my wine. At least this one I’d seen opened and poured. No funny business. It was a rich red wine, deliciously smooth over my tongue, running warm through my veins.
“I didn’t intend to shift,” I admitted.
“I could tell,” the king said. “But you are a beautiful wolf. I’ve never seen a pelt so pure white.”
Again my wolf preened. My cheeks heated under the praise. So few people had seen my wolf at all—the only person I’d ever run with was Griffin. In some ways, the run felt more intimate than the way we’d woken up in our human forms.
“I hear you’ve been spending most of your free time with Fina and Adora,” the king said. He took a bite of the well-seasoned meat first, and I did the same. It was so tender it nearly melted on my tongue. “And that this is why Fina has chosen to stay in Efra for the remainder of the competition despite her dismissal.”
I nodded. “They’re lovely women. They’ve been so kind to me throughout this process. The competition is a bit nerve-racking” –that made the king smirk— “and having those friendships has made it much easier. Especially for me, since I’ve never had many friends at home.”
The words were simply spilling off my tongue, but this time it wasn’t the wine forcing my hand. It was just the king’s presence. Even with my nerves and my wolf’s sudden wakefulness, the king’s attention was so…simple. In this context, without the council around us, or the prying eyes of the court, or my confusion about his attention in the quiet of the halls or the spell of the forest, he looked curious. Interested. Like this was just a conversation—like there was no ulterior motive. He always had that same intoxicating pull.
“No friends?” he asked. “I have to say, I find that hard to believe.”
“That was the way of things in Daybreak,” I said.
“What do you mean, the way of things?”
I sighed. “I was a Lady of the Court before anything else,” I said. “My father, the duke, preferred that I prioritized my duties.”
