by Logan Keys
Her fingers stroke the base of my neck. “Is this some sort of wolf tradition?” she asks, her breath brought short as I sit her on the edge of the window, naked.
With the chill at her back, I’m working at my clothes until I can bring our warm bodies together.
“It’s part of my promise to you,” I say.
“Is it?” Her eyes are wide with surprise, but the light inside of them is dancing.
I don’t answer. I kiss her collar bone, and move her hair to the side and busy myself with more available goosebumps. Holding her with one arm around her back, lest she fall out into the open air, my body is now demanding that Liana and I do what we should have been doing the entire of our wedding night.
“Your promise?” she prods.
“Oh yes,” I gasp, because she has bitten the stubble along my jaw, and her claws have found my back from nape to rump.
“I promised you protection,” I say, pushing her legs wider, “to keep you safe.” I press myself between them more firmly.
Liana is the gasping one now. “You can’t always.”
“I can’t always.”
She wraps her legs around my waist when there is nothing between us but fast breathing, the cold making our desperation visible in wisps of fog.
This is not the quick and heated cheat before our wedding, a swift romp in the bed, no, this is our vows made true in the flesh. Even with all the frustrations, mistrusts, and misdeeds between us, we push and pull, kiss and tug, and make sure the other knows that it is merely a truce struck because we cannot seem to be apart from one another.
Not in the physical way, at least.
“I cannot always protect you, but I promise to lick your wounds,” I murmur as I kiss her bruise on her breast, and Liana hisses, cat eyes narrowed. “And I will…”
She pays me back from deep inside and I stifle a moan. “You will what, Noble?”
“Forget… I forget…” And I do forget everything but this woman in my arms.
“Liana,” I say, as a swear word, in worship, in desperation. “Forgive me. Forget with me.”
Beyond her is the forest, the moon, and the wolves are there---all of my priorities in that order.
Her eyes close. “Yes, my king,” she whispers taken by the same flood that rises in my ears. “Yes…Noble.”
Whatever sounds we make…they are echoed in the woods by the howling of wolves.
Chapter 28
Noble
I work at my cravat on purpose until she fixes it for me. I kiss her fingers and her eyes meet mine but then they move away.
The sun has risen, and though we are sweet, it is with a careful---careful wariness that proves the past cannot be completely forgotten, but perhaps, forgiven…for now.
“Noble, you said that I am not a prisoner.”
Waiting until she meets my gaze, I touch her cheek. “You are not. Soon, there will be a coronation. One big enough that even lions will envy it.”
Liana steps out of my embrace and I frown.
“That’s not what I meant,” she says. “Either I am free to leave or not.”
The tension has returned. The threat of the day is stealing too swiftly what was easy at night: Trust. I find myself frantically trying to grab it even as frustration floods into a space where only fondness had been moments before.
“Of course, you can leave,” I say, buttoning my jacket with jerky, angry movements. “If that is what you wish.” I don’t want to be cold, I want to stay warm, in bed, with her, but my mouth gives away the heart of fear drumming beneath my ribs, and I add, “No one is keeping you here, Liana.”
With long, furious strides, I head for the door. When I reach it, I throw over my shoulder, “I’d prefer you tell me such things before I spend the night in your bed again.”
I stiffen when she reaches my side. When she tries to touch my hand, I snap, “Get dressed.”
I can’t think with a naked Liana moving about the room.
Indignant now, she grabs her robe, her frustrated movements make everything shake with an unseemly flow of flesh.
“Have you no real clothes?” I practically shout.
“What’s wrong with this? Does it bother you?” she taunts. “I thought I’d take a walk in it later, it’s refreshingly light compared to the winter clothing.”
The robe is open from neck to belly almost.
I’m slowly coming unhinged at the thought of her leaving this room half undressed. It has me so angry, I’m seeing red. I breathe through my nose. “We were speaking of you leaving.”
Liana sighs. “I only meant. Well, it’s Crede.”
I bite down on my back teeth half poised to flee from this sudden turn of discussion, half ready to grab her by her arm and throw her back into bed. And more than half willing to keep her locked up like the prisoner she feels that she is.
Liana continues, unaware of the caged animal she’s married to. “He’s being made king in ceremony as well. Since we were---are friends, I think it would be good for the kingdom to see us there. Don’t you? For solidarity. If we mean to heal the rift between our realms.”
I’m trying to see it for what it is. A political move, a diplomatic gesture, and one a great queen thinks about before breakfast, while I, the King, have been merely sated in a haze of lust and forgetfulness.
But the jealous part of me is yelling through my every cell that my queen---mine, will never see that lion again. That he’d have been her husband instead of me, if it was his choice, and that’s all I’ll ever see whenever I look at his handsome golden face. A man waiting to steal what is mine.
“Noble,” Liana says, frowning, her eyes steeling, her body straightening, ready for a fight. “Husband. You said I wasn’t a prisoner. I don’t have to ask permission if that is the case.”
“Fine,” I grind out as if there are rocks in my throat. “As you wish, Liana. Wife. We shall return to the Summer realm for his crowning together.”
With that, I stalk out of the room.
Chapter 29
Liana
Turning points. Crossroads.
Obvious yet unavoidable.
They’re there, all of them, deterring us from what we really want. What our hearts and souls sing for. They draw closer and closer so that it’s impossible to ignore them. They hold us up, slow us down, when we should wing straight through them. Slice across the deviation and hold fast to what we truly desire.
I know this. I think Noble knows this, too. Still, we stumble left, when we should sprint right. Because dignity somehow means more than our vows. Our promises to protect each other withers and turns to ash every time we choose ourselves over the other. We’re husband and wife, mates chosen by the stars themselves.
Strangers with small moments of intimacy, little glimpses of what our love could become should we let it flourish.
My body yearns for my beautiful wolf. My heart cries for my husband. All while my brain remains wary of my new king.
Emotions warring against emotions litter my bloodstream, obscuring my senses so I doubt every attempt Noble or I make so that our union may work. He harbors his own suspicions about me and I feel his mistrust grow when we arrive at Summer for Crede’s coronation. Without his mother, only his faithful lapdog, Oren, has come with us, but he changed into wolf form before we made it to Summer, so he could slink away from the lions he despises without being noticed.
I, on the other hand, become more at ease as the sun kisses warmth back into my cold bones. With eager fingers, I unfasten my coat and let it fall to the ground in a rumpled mess by my feet. Feeling freer in only my light summer dress, I turn my face skyward. I drink in the sun, let the heat splatter and spread against my skin.
While I notice the absence of my pride welcoming us to Summer, I don’t let it steal the calm that returning to Summer brings me. It’s mine to cherish, to hold onto when the cold seeps back into my body when we return to Winter.
I spoke to Noble about wanting to heal the rift between our
two realms, but what I truly want is to heal us. For us to make peace so we may have a future. So that I can have my warmth in Winter where he will not refrain from draping his strong arms around me every night.
Noble stands beside me, a curious look on his face as his blue eyes darken to a shade of gray, seeming to drink me in the same way I took in the sun. I smile at him with a shy lift of my lips. He brushes his knuckles over my cheek and I shut my lids, so I can remember his touch when the moment passes. And it will pass, with an abruptness that leaves me hollow.
“You look magnificent basking in the heat of the sun,” he says.
He peers down at me, his eyes questioning me. I answer him the only way I know he’ll accept. Leaning into him, I press my lips to his, cupping my palm against the light stubble on his cheek. When I step away, he tugs me back to him, and his mouth covers mine. Noble steals my breath but I don’t mind. I part my lips, welcoming his wild yet faultless taste as his tongue sweeps and slides against mine.
It’s as if he’s never touched me, and I’m desperate to feel the heat of his skin on my fingers so I glide my hands beneath his shirt and drag them over his expansive back. His muscles coil beneath my touch and he grips me by the waist, dragging me closer to him.
He growls my name and I lose my senses, needing so much more than stolen kisses and frenzied touches.
Eyes unfocused, mind in utter chaos, I step away from him. My chest lifts and falls as I heave in frantic breaths. Noble buries his fingers into his hair and drags in his own breath of air.
It isn’t enough. With us, I don’t think anything will ever be enough.
He takes two steps away from me and shakes his head, but I know the fog between us will never clear. There’s too much at stake for either of us to let our guards down again.
I go to him and take his hand. He turns his face to look at me, his expression mapped with confusion and the same disquiet I feel. “We are united. Always, in front of my old pride or your - our pack, we must be viewed as one.” My voice is low, my heart adorned in bleak sadness. “When we are alone, you may treat me as the estranged nobody you both desire and despise.”
“Liana.” His tone is stern, while his telling eyes plead behind the torment. Fingers that have both caressed and bruised my skin tighten around my own while he fists his other hand by his side. “It isn’t like that.”
“Isn’t it?” I arch an eyebrow in his direction while a sad smile plays across my face. “One minute you can’t keep your hands off me, the next you recoil from my touch. You don’t trust me, Noble. You blame me for your father’s death. Your mother can’t be in my presence without bursting into tears. Your pack hates me, and there are too many days I wonder if you feel the same.”
“I don’t hate you.”
Although the sky is clear, thunder claps in my ears and I drop my smile. “You don’t love me either.”
“And you, Liana, Princess of the Lions, Queen of the Wolves, do you love me?”
More emotions swim inside me, making my head light and my heart feel like lead.
“Do not pretend as if our marriage were anything more than politics. My father,” he swallows hard, “my father and your father wanted us married to unite our realms so that we may fight against the human hunters preying against our kind. There is no room for love when all that surrounds us is war and violence.”
“Of course, husband.” I bow my head, hiding the hurt from my expression, and curtsy. “You are correct.”
Sensing Crede’s hasty approach, I square my shoulders and tip my chin. Where I once thought Crede’s stride was powerful and elegant, I now notice the sloppy impatience in every urgent step and I can’t help but wonder if it was always there. If I had been so blind to nothing but the throne that I never saw him as the flawed man that rushes to my side.
Without greeting Noble, he takes me in his arms. His embrace is strong and intimate while I keep my hands slack on either side of me. For Noble, I don’t return my oldest friend’s hug, but instead I push away from his hold. The lines on his forehead fold when I wrap an arm across Noble’s back and he slings a possessive arm over my shoulders.
The two men glare at each, both beasts ready to strike.
“Crede.” My skin twitches at the formality in my voice, but I keep myself steady. “It’s good to see you. We have come a long way to bear witness of your coronation.” This time I can’t fight the giddy smile that takes over my face. “You always said you’d be king.”
“I said I’d be king with you as queen by my side,” Crede replies, his voice hoarse.
I blanch. “Yes, well…”
“She is to be Queen of Winter,” Noble interrupts.
“So you say, but I’ve heard no word of her own coronation.”
“You are not yet king, Crede, but even if you were, you rule your realm. Not mine. You’ve had no word, because I do not answer to you, nor do you answer to me.”
I dig my toe into the ground, not wanting to correct my husband in front of Crede. Because the three of us know the truth. Crede will not only rule Summer, but all the realms, including Winter. That is the way of the lions.
Crede’s inquisitive eyes flash toward me and a hint of guilt crashes into me. “Noble and I have spoken of my coronation but have not yet set a date. I thought it was best to first concentrate on yours, before we focused on mine,” I explain. “My father and Noble’s father,” my attention darts to Noble in time to see the flash of hurt that darkens his features, “wanted us to unite our realms, and that is what we must do. You are to rule Summer, Crede, and by now you must know the stories of men are real. We are stronger if we fight together. It’s the best chance we have against this enemy. So, we must come together. You are to be crowned today and my coronation will take place soon thereafter. I hope you and Lia will attend my ceremony as Noble and I have attended yours.”
Crede puffs his chest out, arrogance spills from his body and the scent turns my stomach.
“Lions will not form a treaty with wolves who disrespect us,” Crede spits. “Who can’t uphold our tradition when we are the ones affected by their decisions. Arlo deserved more than what you’ve given him.”
“Do not stand there and tell me what that murderous lion deserved when he killed my father, who trusted him in the battlefield.”
“Listen to your own words, wolf. In the battlefield,” Crede says, his demeanor suddenly calm. “Your father died in the battlefield, as a soldier. What of Arlo? We assume him to be dead, but no body has been brought to us so that we can honor and mourn him.”
“Your pride may mourn him however you see fit, but you will not honor him.”
I gasp and place two trembling fingers against my lips. “Noble,” I take in a shaky breath, “give my pride Arlo’s body. Please, my king. You have no use for it. Let his parents bury their son.”
“Your pride?” he snarls.
“Crede’s pride,” I amend.
“What is this, Liana?” Disgust taints Crede’s voice. “Since when do you bend for anyone?”
My eyes narrow as heat travels over my neck and to my cheeks. Not from shame because there is no shame in how I feel about Noble, as twisted and varied as the emotions are, but from anger. “This is marriage. It’s a give and take of two people who want to make their relationship work. It isn’t always pretty but,” my gaze shifts to Noble, who studies me, “uniting our realms, bringing peace to our people is worth it.” I swallow my words, because what I really wanted to say was Noble was worth was it, only I no longer know if it’s true.
Crede shakes his head and scoffs. “The Liana I grew up with, the Liana I know and recognize as mine, knows she’s the only one worth fighting for. You can give it up, my lady. I told you I’d find a way to bring you back to Summer so you can rule by my side and I have.” He turns to address Noble, whose stance is so rigid I’m afraid he’ll break. “I’ve spoken to your mother, Noble, and we have decided it is in your pack’s best interest if you annulled the sham that is your ma
rriage so that Liana can indefinitely return to Summer, to her home, and take her place by my side.”
Eyes wide, hands and legs trembling, I look from Noble to Crede. Unable to speak, I stand there, mute, and wait for Noble to decide my fate. He looks over me, assessing me entirely and I wonder if once again I fall short of his expectations. A derisive snort rushes through his nose and I wrap my arms over my chest, holding myself together.
“Noble,” I finally whisper, but his attention is on Crede.
“You cannot have her,” Noble decides.
His words make me sound like a piece of property, rather than a beloved wife. But I was never beloved by my husband. Crede was right in calling my marriage a sham, yet it’s a sham I’m not ready to give up on, because my heart… it belongs to Noble.
I didn’t realize it until now, until Noble had yet another chance to cast me aside. But my heart, it beats and trembles, cries and rejoices for Noble.
Pathetic as it may be, I’m grateful my husband still wants me, even if it’s to scorn Crede. While Noble stares straight ahead, Crede takes in my relief and with a repulsed nod, he turns away from us. The same impatient steps I witnessed before, carry him back to the castle that I once lived in.
“You best make good on your word, my lord,” I say, my tone as steely as my gaze.
Noble’s attention snaps to me, but he remains quiet. A quiet that fills my heart with dread.
Dignity and pride, that is all I have left. “My coronation,” I answer his unspoken question. “As soon as we get back to Winter, I will be made queen, so our marriage can no longer be called into question.”
Chapter 30
Liana
Crede’s coronation goes by in a foggy blur. Words are spoken, promises made, and the new King of Summer is crowned. My gut twists and a slight pang of jealousy slams into me. Because even when I’m queen, I will never truly have a home again. My people - Noble’s pack, will never be mine and they will never honor me the way the lions respect Crede.