AllFreeNovel
Share Us
Sigwulf’s eyes narrowed.
“I’ve been rude to keep you out in the cold like this,” he said gruffly. “Come inside. I’ve stoked the fires higher than usual. I know humans require more heat than I do.”
He held the door wider, allowing me space to pass through.
I pursed my lips, casting one last glance back at the lonely winter road that had led me here.
Then I steeled myself.
And went inside.
Chpater 3
Sigwulf
I hadn’t been this close to a human in quite some time.
I’d forgotten how tiny they were.
Even with the bulk of her brown cloak, Wynthea’s frame was small. Almost fragile. She slowly pulled back the hood of her cloak, revealing soft, russet-brown hair that framed her heart-shaped face. The hair was lovely. As was the face.
But what was truly striking were her eyes. Large, set rather wide apart, with a thick fringe of lashes. It wasn’t just their size or their set that had caught my attention. But rather their colour. Somehow both crystalline and opaque, clear and stormy, all at once. A vivid, deep, tempestuous blue.
My Dragon Caste side curled sharp claws inside me, wanting to hoard that pretty blue for myself.
“This is a very impressive home. Thank you for… Thank you for welcoming me here,” she said, turning back towards me after having cast her gaze around the entrance hall.
She stared at me expectantly, maybe even nervously, her hands clutched together in front of her, holding tightly to a small bag.
So far, this whole interaction had felt… Odd. She wasn’t acting the way I’d expected at all.
You do not engage with humans often. Perhaps she does not engage with monsters much, either. Perhaps that explains the squeezing of her hands and the shaking of her voice.
“Thank you for coming,” I said stiffly, feeling awkward for some reason. “I’ve had great need of you.”
Her creamy cheeks flushed deep pink.
“Oh. I see. I suppose… I suppose you’d like us to begin right away, then?”
“You’ve had a long journey. I anticipated you’d settle in for tonight. We can get started tomorrow.” The Matchers Guild was in the capital, nearly two days’ ride from here. An exhausting journey even for a strong monster male, such as myself. For this little slip of a human? It had likely sapped all her strength.
“That is very kind,” she said, letting out a sigh. She paused, biting her lip, and eyed me appraisingly. For some reason, I found myself standing up a little straighter and arranging my wings into a more impressive position behind me.
Then she smiled, filling the entry hall with soft light.
And I knew exactly what my sudden preening had been for.
Portals of the moon, but she is beautiful.
And she was also my new employee.
My virile Orcborne side urged me to stalk closer, to take a good long inhale of her scent. To slip off her cloak and find out how those small shoulders would feel under the weight of my hands.
My meticulous and vastly more professional Dragon Caste side held me frozen in place.
“Alright, then. I suppose the… Um… Duties… Will begin tomorrow,” Wynthea said, her cheeks still a surprisingly deep shade of pink.
My tail and wings twitched as I held myself in check against the desire to reach out and stroke her skin, to see if that colour translated to heat beneath the pads of my fingers.
