by Haley Weir
“Why do you care?” she asked again when he didn’t answer. She wasn’t going to let this question go—not this time. She wanted to know why he seemed to show up every time she needed him and why he was suddenly concerned about business that affected the kingdom and the wolf packs, even though he was part of neither.
“About the shifters?” he asked benignly. “Just because I’m not in a pack doesn’t mean that I don’t care what happens to shifters. I am still a shifter too. If we become hunted, then it risks my safety as well.”
“No, that’s not what I meant,” she said. She had a feeling that he already knew that wasn’t what she meant. “I meant why do you care about me?”
The blunt nature of the question made Dex instantly toss back the rest of the contents of his mug into his throat and then he made ready to stand up to refill his ale. But Holly reached and grabbed his forearm before he could get to his feet.
“Answer me,” she said.
Dex froze. His eyes looked at Holly as if there was a battle beneath them—a struggle against himself that he was quickly losing.
“I just didn’t want to see you get hurt,” he said.
Holly’s hand was still holding onto his arm, and she felt his muscles trembling beneath her fingers. Without thinking, she sat up on her knees to bring her body closer to his until her chest was nearly pressed against his and her face was so close that she could feel his breath on her cheek. She stayed there and let go of his arm, waiting to see if he would back away. But they were unable to resist each other any longer, and Dex’s last thread of restraint was quickly severed.
He threw his arm around her waist and pulled Holly into him, putting his mouth on hers and pushing his tongue through her slightly parted lips. As their tongues encircled around each other, Holly put one hand against his chest and twisted the fingers of her other hand through his dark and messy hair. There was a feverish urgency between them that resulted in a pushing, pulling, clashing explosion of limbs as they tried to get closer than was physically possible. When the barrier of clothing between them became too much to bear, Holly tugged at his shirt and he pulled his chest away from her just enough so that she could lift it over his head and toss it onto the snow-covered ground beside them. It was cold out, even for a wolf shifter and even with a blazing fire. So Dex lifted Holly up and carried her into the den. Once there, he made swift work of removing each piece of clothing between them and stared at her beautiful body in awe.
The moment didn’t last long before the throbbing mass between his thighs begged for release. Holly urged her body toward him as Dex laid her down and climbed over her. He kissed her passionately and she wrapped her thighs around his waist and pulled him into her. With a steady and strong motion, he pushed into her, and she let out a gasp of pleasure as he filled her completely. His eyes looked into hers as he moved within her and Holly was so consumed by him that she felt as if everything in the world had suddenly fallen to its knees before her. There was nothing that she wanted more than this—than him. If she could have any one thing in the world, it would be to have this rogue shifter belong to her forever.
They both tried to hold on to the escalating climb for as long as they could before their bodies quaked and trembled and no longer obeyed their desire to prolong it. When they released together in an explosion of sensation, Dex’s trembling body collapsed upon her and she held him against her chest as if she would never again let him go. They both took a moment to catch their breath, and the contradicting sensations of the cold and biting breeze that wafted into the den met with the heated beads of sweat on their prickled skin. Dex gently rolled to the side and pulled Holly with him to lay against his chest. She listened to the furious pace of his heartbeat as he ran his finger along the side of her torso. For a while, they rested quietly in the peaceful enjoyment of the delirium that followed their love-making. But then, Holly remembered something. She remembered that Dex never did answer the question. She wanted an answer that would tell her he had feelings for her. One that would let her stop worrying that what Rubius had warned her about was true.
“What will happen now?” she asked.
It was the same question, disguised in a different way.
“What do you mean?”
“You are a loner who belongs to no one. And I am a queen who belongs to everyone. Yet somehow, the two of us have managed to join together. What will happen to us now? Will we go back to the way we were before, or will we be something else?”
“Something else? What is it that you want to be?”
Holly thought for a moment as she pressed her head against his shoulder and rested her hand against his chest.
“I don’t know,” she said at last. “But I do know that I don’t want to go back to how things were before.”
Dex chuckled and kissed her temple.
“Well, I don’t think that you have much of a choice. You have to go back to being queen. And I will go back to being a recluse shifter who cares nothing about anyone other than myself.”
Holly was instantly horrified and tilted her head up to look at him. But she was met with Dex’s wide grin and knew he was teasing her. She smacked her hand against his chest.
“Ow,” he said playfully as he rolled her over and climbed back on top of her again. “You know, there is something else you don’t know about rogue shifters.”
“What is it?” she asked as she tried to keep her eager body still beneath him.
“We are very, very active.”
“Active?” she asked, confused.
When she felt the hard swelling between his legs press against her thighs, she knew what he was referring to. She also knew that he was taunting her again. There was no rogue shifter myth about an increased ability to make love again and again throughout the night. But she was nonetheless ecstatic for it.
“You cannot leave me,” she said as he lingered torturously just above her body.
Holly had never felt this way about anyone, and she knew that she would never feel it again. Everything that her mother had ever said to her about following her heart made sense now, and she knew without a shadow of a doubt that no matter what else she dealt with as queen, she wanted Dex by her side. The only thing that scared her was the fear that maybe he didn’t want to be by anyone’s side for long.
“Leave you?” he asked as he looked deep into her eyes. “Why would I ever want to leave you?”
It wasn’t an actual answer, but then again, she hadn’t asked an actual question. His words were good enough to appease her worries, at least for now. She smiled and leaned her head up to kiss him as she used her thighs to pull him into her again. This time, when Dex pushed steadily into her warm body, he let out a groan of pleasure that echoed throughout the little den and carried the sound out onto the breeze in the night. In a few moments, the entire forest was full of the sound of howling wolves, and the night was impassioned with the two of them making love again under the moonlight.
CHAPTER SIXTEEN
In the morning, as Holly and Dex laid in each other’s arms, she thought of something that began to gnaw at her in a slow realization which she hadn’t yet decided was wonderful or terrifying, or perhaps a bit of both. She was falling in love with Dex. She was certain of it, and it was too late to do anything about it.
“I want to tell you something,” she said softly as they laid together and both tried to ignore the beginning of the day in exchange for wanting to just stay there inside the den indefinitely.
“What is it?”
“I am very concerned about my rule as queen,” she said.
“Rightly so,” Dex agreed. “There have been too many threats and whisperings not to warrant concern. You are smart to take it seriously and to enact precautions.”
Holly shook her head against his chest. She wanted to tell him two things. She was in love with him now, and there was nothing that she could do to stop it. And she also wanted to tell him the real reason that she feare
d for her rule as queen. Although the second should have given the most cause for concern and secrecy, it was the first that she couldn’t bring herself to say just yet. So, with a deep breath, she told him the one thing that no one aside from her family knew. She confided her secret to him as a show of her love and faith. Perhaps it was foolish, but she needed to tell him.
“There is a reason why there are so many rumors and whispers about the legitimacy of my claim on the throne,” she said hesitantly.
Dex bent his face toward her to look intently in her eyes while she spoke.
“It is because the rumors are true,” she said.
“What?” he whispered in surprise.
“My mother had an affair with Rubius while she was married to King Aeron. They covered it up—all of them, and Aeron accepted me as his own daughter. While I do have the royal blood of my mother running through my veins, I am not Aeron’s daughter. Therefore, the whispers are true. Theo has the rightful claim to the throne, and I do not. I am an illegitimate princess.”
“Why are you telling me this?” Dex asked with widened eyes and a shocked expression. “If a secret like this were to get out, it would ruin your family’s rule and put all of you in mortal danger.”
“Are you going to tell anyone?” she asked, wary that she had said anything at all.
“Of course not,” Dex answered as he held her even tighter to him than before. “I would never betray your secret.”
Holly sighed in relief, not only because she had been momentarily frightened that she had made a grave mistake, but also because his devotion to protecting her secret proved to her what she had been seeking an answer to all along—he cared about her.
“If you truly want to be queen,” he said, “then I have no doubt you will be the best queen Grenvich has ever had.”
“That’s a lot to live up to,” she laughed. “And currently, I can’t even seem to keep the peace in the kingdom.”
“That will change,” he said. “I have no doubt that you will do great things.”
They laid there for another blissful moment together, and then it was time for Holly to head back to the castle before Rubius came looking for her. When they got up, they lingered naked outside of the den for a little while, letting the cold air kiss their skin before helping each other put their clothes back on. Holly thought that she heard rustling in the trees, but when Dex went to check it out, he came back without having seen anything. Sometimes the heavy snow made the branches drop, and that was probably all that it was.
Dex accompanied Holly back to castle, just in case any human hunting parties were out. But no sooner had they reached the castle gates than Dex put his arm around her protectively as he saw the castle being stormed by angry mobs of townspeople. Instantly, he picked up on the humans’ shouts to remove Holly from the throne, and he pulled her into a nearby alleyway to keep her hidden from sight.
“We need to get you inside of the castle,” he said with an urgent tone in his voice.
“I know a secret way in,” she said.
Holly led them toward the hidden tunnels that led into the castle, and Dex kept a keen eye as they went to make sure that no one spotted them. Once they had made it inside the castle, they found everyone gathered together in the throne room trying to make a plan in the midst of what looked like utter chaos.
“Holly, thank god you’re okay,” Cassandra said when she spotted her daughter.
“What the hell is going on?” Holly asked as she looked around and saw the same concerned looks on the faces of Rubius and Theo as well.
“One of the humans was in the forest and found out your secret,” Theo said.
For a second, Holly felt herself panic that after everything, she may have accidentally revealed them as shifters.
“Which secret?” she asked.
“A human overheard you saying that you weren’t Aeron’s biological daughter,” Rubius said.
Holly was relieved, even though it was still a bad situation. At least the secret of being shifters remained intact.
“Now that they know you are an illegitimate heir to the throne, the city is in an uprising. Not all of the townspeople care; many of them know you and our family and they are happy to call you queen. But some are not so lenient with the old ways. They are asserting that you cannot be queen and that either Cassandra or Theo should take the throne,” Rubius explained.
“And if they don’t get what they want?” Holly asked.
“Then they are prepared to overthrow the royal family,” her mother answered.
“I can assume the throne,” Theo offered reluctantly from his place at the table. His voice made it very apparent that he didn’t want to do it. “If it will keep the peace and will keep Holly safe, then I will be king. If it is needed to restore the royal family’s control over the kingdom, then I must do it.”
“No,” Holly protested. “It’s not what you want to do. This is ridiculous. Who cares about bloodlines? We are all part of the same family. The humans are petty and naïve, and these stupid rules are outdated.”
“That may be so,” Rubius said. “And none of us would disagree with you, But the humans are prepared to fight over it. Their old traditions are of high importance to them, whether we think it is right or not.”
Theo’s face lit up.
“Wait a second,” he said. “I think I might have a crazy idea that could work.”
Everyone turned to look at him inquisitively.
“What if Holly were to marry?” he asked as he leaned forward in his seat.
“Excuse me?” Holly said in shock. “I fail to see what that has to do with anything at all.”
“I see where Theo is going with this,” Rubius said. “The humans and their silly traditions—he may actually have an idea here.”
“Yes,” Theo said eagerly. “I think I do. If Holly got married, since there would also be a king by her side, she would be more difficult to overthrow.”
Rubius nodded.
“Although nothing will squash the rumors of illegitimacy aside from the passing of time, especially not since Aeron is dead and cannot speak on it. This might be the only way to assure that Holly keeps the throne.”
“This is crazy,” Holly said as she looked to her mother for guidance.
Cassandra didn’t offer much in the way of objection.
“I don’t agree with the outdated views of humans,” her mother said. “But I think they may have a point. I can continue to uphold that you are a legitimate and rightful heir, and if you have a husband as king, it will probably back down the troublesome townspeople that are protesting your rule.”
Holly looked to Dex to get his opinion on the matter since he was the only one who had not yet spoken to it. Dex hadn’t planned on even being asked his opinion to begin with since he was neither part of the royal family nor the kingdom or the packs. He simply shrugged and looked uncomfortable. Cassandra picked up on his demeanor, though, and noticed something else.
CHAPTER SEVENTEEN
The question remained: who would Holly’s husband be? And how soon could she marry?
Holly knew that she was in love with Dex, but she also knew that Dex was a loner and that asking him to marry her for the sake of a kingdom that he held no allegiance to wouldn’t be a fair thing to do. She couldn’t ask him to join the royal family in the castle—she wouldn’t.
But Cassandra would.
Holly may not have known the depths to which Dex had fallen in love with her, but Cassandra could see it. She recognized the way that Dex looked at Holly. It was the same way that Rubius had looked at her when they were younger and madly in love and had been ready to give up life and limb just to be together at any cost. She, like her daughter, would never have asked Rubius to give up his life for her, even though he would have done so without question. And Cassandra knew the same held true for Dex. Which is why, without Holly even knowing, Cassandra went to Dex and posed the idea to him.
> As much as Dex had tried to stay away from everyone, he now found himself in the midst of a situation that he couldn’t walk away from. He couldn’t walk away because he was too in love with Holly already. By the time he had finished speaking with Cassandra, he had agreed to marry Holly, and Cassandra had spoken to him about how they could make it work without sacrificing his freedom, just as she and Rubius had.
When he went to find Holly, she had already left the castle—something that both her father and brother had warned her not to do. But Holly felt like she couldn’t breathe inside the castle walls that were ringing with the sounds of the agitated chanting outside. She needed to get away to think and started down the hidden tunnels toward the forest again. As much as she knew she should stay inside the castle, she needed to go into the forest.
“You are so much like your mother,” a voice called from behind her.
Holly turned around quickly to see Rubius walking up next to her. He smiled instead of scolding her and walked beside her as they continued down the tunnel together.
“At least let me walk with you,” he said.
Holly smiled and put her arm in his.
“Your mother used to do the same thing,” he mused. “Except instead of walking with me out the tunnels of the castle, she would be running toward me.”
“Well, I guess you can’t be too mad at my recklessness if I get it from my mother,” Holly teased.
“I am not mad at you, sweet girl,” Rubius said to his daughter. “I only worry about you. I want you to be happy and fulfilled, and I want you to be safe from harm.”
They walked the rest of the way in silence until they reached the end of the tunnel, which opened out into the trees.
“Do you really think that I should marry?” she asked him before they went into the woods.