The Wolf's Temptation

by Anastasia Chase

  "Why exactly can't Evette tell me any of this herself? I have come to see how she is because I haven't heard anything. I am concerned, everyone who cares is concerned, including her sister and her nieces and nephew; one of those being a newborn baby she has not seen yet," Valen said, leaning into the door frame. Joe backed up a bit, at least slightly intimidated.

  "She doesn't want to see or talk to anyone right now, and as far as her new niece, I don't see how her being around a baby right now is smart. She can see her when she is well, when she can actually hold her and play with her." He did have a point there, but it didn't mean what he was doing was right.

  Valen backed off and got in the car, heading straight for Kathy's house where she and the baby would be by now. He would at least go see that child on Evette's behalf and maybe one of them could talk some sense directly into Evette since he was not allowed to see her.

  In his head, Valen was running through a decision, one he had been thinking about for a couple of weeks now but didn’t want to fully admit it to himself was an option. It would mean doing something he never thought he would do; going back home.

  Kathy's house was not too far from where Evette lived; about a ten-minute drive even with the fact that traffic was always terrible no matter what. It was a nice suburban neighborhood with lots of ranch-style houses. If a single man living in one of these would not look creepy, he would have totally chosen this over being right smack dab in the middle of the city like he was now. Not that any of those ideas mattered if he stopped weighing his options and just decided to save Evette, no matter the cost to himself. And that cost would be steep. It could cost her too, but there was a chance that if he took her home with him, she would be saved and be allowed to go home.

  Valen got out of the car and went to knock on the blue-grey door with a wreath on it filled with white flowers. It fit so much with the lightness that surrounded Kathy all the time. Evette and Kathy were the best selling compliments to each other, and he kind of wished he had a sibling to grow up with and always go to when he needed something. Maybe that would be someone who would help him now when he was at a loss at how to help the woman he was very nearly sure he was in love with.

  Kathy's husband came to the door with a broad smile on his face, the exact kind Valen would imagine any father should have when having a child. Though, most high ranking dragons were not that way. They were more proud of having an heir than happy to have another person to love.

  He led Valen through the house into the den where Kathy was sitting with the sleeping baby in her arms, looking down at her. Valen leaned over to look at the precious being, so small and delicate. It was a wonder humans survived their first year of life in such a vulnerable state.

  "Any luck with Evette?" she whispered. Valen knew she must have been feeling sad that her sister wasn't there to see this when they were always together for everything from what he could tell. Valen shook his head and walked over to the couch to take a seat, sighing with anxiety. He wished for them to find a logical solution together, but he just had this feeling in his gut that there was not going to be an answer, not one that he liked.

  "Joe is still there, and he won't let me see her. He says that she doesn't want to see me and that he is going to take care of her now. She’ll come see the baby when she is well enough to. I don't know. I almost feel like he’s holding her hostage in her own home, and I don't like it. I didn't want to start something with him in case he was telling the truth, but to be honest, I just wanted to take him down."

  Kathy's husband quietly chuckled, standing next to his wife. "I feel like that a lot with him. He kind of brings that out in people. Look, do the two of you want me to go get her? I have a key, and I don't think Joe is going to mess with me if I literally carry her out of there and bring her here?"

  Valen and Kathy looked at each other. the decision was clear. The first step to any healing, whether emotional or physical, would be to get her out of the grasps of a man who left her for her beliefs and her medical brilliance. Valen turned to her husband and nodded. "If you think you can do it, then yes."

  He went for the keys and was quickly out the door. Valen looked at Kathy.

  "I am going to go put her to bed now, but don't worry. Joe has always been scared of him for some reason I think it's because he is so successful and Joe is so not."

  Valen nodded and sat there nervously rubbing his hands together.

  Valen waited patiently for Kathy's husband to return with Evette, wanting to see just exactly how she was doing. That was what was going to make his final decision about whether or not she needed to be healed by a dragon instead of anything a human could offer her. In truth, he would have done it already himself. It wasn't like he was squeamish. He could easily use some of his own blood to heal her. It didn't have to come from a specific dragon. However, he was not a healer. He did not have the experience he needed to care for her while undergoing that intense of a treatment. He had never actually seen a human being treated by dragon's blood, he had only heard stories. Some humans could reject it entirely, and he might give her too much or too little. It needed to be done by someone who knew what they were doing. At the age of ten, he had been dragged away from doing anything with the healer because it was deemed inappropriate for the prince.

  He shook his head angrily at the memory, knowing there was a good chance he would have to face those people and ideas again if he took Evette there. At least she would be worth it; worth every minute he had to face being oppressed by his own kingdom again.

  Finally, the door opened, and Valen rushed to it to see if any help was needed. He had his answer as soon as they were fully in the door, Valen reaching out his arms to give Kathy's husband a break. He had to carry Evette up to the door. It was clear she was not any better than the day she left the hospital. Sure, the meds did not necessarily begin working right away, but what if they didn't work in time to save her at all? Valen could not risk that. So, he knew he would have to make his move tonight. He would stay as late as he could, offer to take her home or to at least stay up with her for a bit so the new parents could sleep, and that when he would get her out of there.

  Valen felt a pang of guilt at the idea of just making her disappear. They would wonder what happened to the two of them after a while. There might be rumors and suspicions. Kathy would be devastated, but as much as that hurt him to know, he couldn't tell any of them the truth. He could not risk losing his chance to take her where she could be saved.

  Valen was never asked to leave, and in fact, everyone seemed to be relieved to have him there. Evette was laying down, asleep in the guest bedroom with the door open. Valen waited until it was clear everyone was down for the count, even the baby before he tiptoed into Evette’s room. He was going to have to be gentle and quiet, making it out the door with her before she woke up because if she woke up, then he would be busted and she might never be saved.

  He pulled her up into his arms slowly as she snored and tossed, but she did not wake. There was a large window behind her bed, and he took advantage of it, standing up on the bed while holding her and using his foot to shimmy the thing up. Then, as he perched on the sill, half into the night and half still in, he knew he would have to risk changing. He glanced upwards to see that it was thankfully a cloudy night. He would be able to soar up quickly from darkness and hit the cloud cover with few prying eyes to see him. They wouldn't know it was a dragon if they did see it and would probably make some claim about a UFO or government project.

  With one fell swoop, he came out, his golden wings expanding and then going behind him to get him up to speed as he straightened out, heading into the clouds like a bullet. Valen was sure this movement, if nothing else, was going to wake Evette up, so he hoped to stabilize soon so she wouldn't squirm like that where he would drop her from his claws.

  Sure enough, just as they hit the right altitude, the whispy pillows hiding his otherworldly appearance from sight, Evette began to scream bloody murder. She kicked and s
creamed as he held on tightly, unable to communicate with her that it would be alright. There as no way he could produce a psychic connection when she was in this state, and he was partially afraid she might have a seizure any moment. The thought just made him fly faster.

  The journey didn't seem as long as he expected. He had felt completely removed from who he was and his home for several months now, and he didn't exactly think it would be so easy to just fly back, but it was. He did not know how bad the trials he would face when he got there would be, but he just felt in his heart as he landed at the entrance to his village that they would be able to help Evette.

  The guard that was there was one Valen knew well. He was younger than him by about a year, and the two had lived close to each other growing up. They often played as young children, well, fighting is more the word. All dragons play, especially among men, was meant to prepare for battle with other dragon clans and any other race that decided to show up in their territory.

  "Valen, what the hell are you doing? You are gone for almost a year, and then you come back carrying some human woman in your claws!" the voice of the guard screeches in his head. He had missed this, the silent communication of the psychic powers of a dragon. He had gotten so used to having to speak aloud that he had almost entirely forgotten what it was like.

  "She is very ill, otherwise, I would not be risking this. Do not ask any questions. Get the healer up here, now, and do not come in contact with anyone else on the way!" Valen ordered. He could feel the guard was trying to resist him, but he had not been gone quite so long that the pull to follow his commands was no longer inside of his subjects. He was a prince and of age. It was their job to do as he said, even if they did not agree. Even if it might get them killed later. He was certainly afraid that his father would have mercy on all but him.

  The healer showed up, and Valen was relieved to see him and that it was the same dragon he remembered from his childhood. He had not been removed from his position, which was a good sign. There was hope.

  The healer, Stathim, looked back and forth between him and the woman in his arms. Evette was out cold now, and he was worried about her. The healer shifted into a human, placing his hands on her and nodding. He understood something was very wrong with this woman. “I can start treatment tonight, but you know this will get to your father by morning. Are you prepared for that?” he asked with compassion, scooping a weakened Evette up into his capable arms. Valen nodded, blowing a puff of smoke from his nostrils. He was perfectly aware of that. But if the healer could get to healing Evette first, that was what mattered.

  Stathim turned and carried her away, and Valen turned into his human form to follow, leaving the guard back at his post as if nothing had happened, as if the long-lost prince had not just come home.

  Chapter Eleven

  Valen had sat in a chair most of the night, watching Stathim do his job, working on Evette and infusing her with dragon blood a little at a time. He had also been watching Evette and trying his hardest not to distract Stathim with his worrying or questions as he saw she was still not waking up. His worry was focused so much on her he had almost forgotten about the fact that he was back home in his village, in a home and office set apart in the stone of the mountains where the dragons resided in secret from the outside world.

  The days they spent together ran through his head like a movie reel, and he wondered why he had fought so hard against what he felt for her. If he was being completely truthful with himself, that fire in her the first time they met had stirred something up in him, though, it was something he didn't recognize. He should have known the moment her sister started calling him hottie and they were pulled together at every turn that he was doomed to be in a relationship that was forbidden. Beyond forbidden. It was unheard of. It couldn’t be for so many reasons. And yet, it had to be. He didn't think he could live with the idea of being without her, and it was almost like he didn't see that in his own heart until he was losing her, until he saw her laying there lifeless, hoping that she would be spared from the disease and his father.

  Stathim had left for a little while, most likely to keep up appearances and do his usual morning routine. Valen imagined it was probably about time for the kingdom to be waking up by now.

  Without any prying eyes, he stood up to walk over to where Evette was laying. She was on a small bed, made of stone and cotton, almost completely still as her veins filled up with dragon's blood that came to her through an IV in her arm. He tried to see if anything looked better about her, and he swore he did see some color improvement, but he just couldn't tell.

  There was a hair on her face, and he reached down to brush it out of the way, caressing her cheek in the process. Her skin was so warm, most likely from the blood that was going into her. Dragons were always warmer than humans, which was just part of the danger of the transfusion.

  Valen heard footsteps and looked up to see that Stathim had come back. Valen backed away from Evette, feeling caught red-handed with the way he was so near to her. He had not wanted anyone to realize his strong feelings for her for fear his leaving might be taken out on her. In truth, he had probably stirred up much chaos by leaving.

  Valen was the only heir to the throne, and he was supposed to be ruling right now in some capacity, by his father's side, to prepare the clan for when his father would step down completely and pass on the kingdom. On top of that, he was supposed to be married by now as well. A deal was made with a dragon who had a daughter, one thought worthy of being Queen one day. She was smart, cunning even, beautiful, and had the right values and the right rank to be worthy of Valen. At least in his family's eyes.

  When he was younger, Valen had used the arrangement to his advantage because she was the most beautiful, young, female dragon in the clan. But he did not love her. in fact, it was quite the opposite. She was sometimes worse than his father when it came to her discriminations and hunger for power. Finally, when a union had been pushed, that was when he left. It was too much. He could not remain cleaved to a woman he did not live forever or until one of them was struck down by a hunter or caught one of the rare diseases that could kill a dragon. No, that was not the life for him.

  "I am sorry if I interrupted something," Stathim spoke while clearing his throat. The dragons here, most of them, were not used to using their voices very often. His sounded dry and old, but really, he was just out of practice. In dragon form, they only communicated through telepathy. There was not always a need to take on human form unless they were in confined spaces, and then, they were usually alone and doing work for the kingdom, much like Stathim who was the healer and had been for quite some time.

  "No, I was just wondering why she has not awoken yet," Valen said, matter-of-factly, backing off and playing as though this wasn’t ripping him to shreds.

  Stathim looked him over. "You don't have to pretend with me. I, unlike others, was not that surprised when you left. I also do not think you would have brought a human here and come back unless there was a reason you wanted her to live. The way you look at her, even if you try to hide it, is obvious. Have you mated with her?"

  Stathim’s words were not harsh or judgmental. Despite anything that had happened in the past year, he remained his kind and understanding self, the same man willing to train a young dragon prince in simple healing work when that is not what he was supposed to be doing.

  Valen shook his head. "No, we have not mated. I did not think it was proper because she was sick and because I still felt I should not be with a human, even if I was among them. It turns out it didn't matter though, since my feelings have betrayed me." Valen scoffed as Stathim began to examine Evette, checking all of her vitals and then halting the infusion. Valen looked up at him to see if he had any good news. He certainly needed it considering the risk he took to get her there.

  "She is a tough case, Valen, I will be honest with you. Her condition is serious, especially for a human, and even the strongest of humans can reject the dragon blood. I am infusing her
as fast as I can without killing her, but there is a chance she will never wake up. You have to know that. If she can survive this and wake up though, she will be completely healed of her disease forever." Valen liked the sound of the last part, and he wished she could hear him so he could tell her if she would just fight she would never have to be sick like this again.

  "Look," Stathim spoke up again, and Valen got the feeling there was something on his mind. "I understand why you had her brought to me first. She would never have made it otherwise. I wonder what your endgame is with her though, with even being back. You will surely be found out, and it will likely happen today. You can’t hide forever, and neither can she. You will most likely be punished for more than just this, and they could even decide to go after her because of what you have done. Have you thought about any of this?" Stathim questioned. It was a good question that Valen appreciated. His old friend was thinking of him. He had thought of all of that, though, weighing the possibilities for days before he acted on them.

  "I thought this through for a while before I brought her here. I knew what it could mean. But I feel confident I can find a way to make this work, and if I can't, I am willing to fight to the death for her, even against my own people. I am sorry if that offends you, but she has taught me things I have never known in my life that I have always needed," Valen admitted. He would never go against those values he had learned of love and family and helping others. It was nothing like how he was raised, and it was for the better. He did not want to bring a forced child into the world in a place where all he or she would learn is rank and duty.