Wolf Princess Sold to the Dragon King novel Chapter 2

Chapter 2: Who Touched You

His heartbeat thudded against her ear. Slow. Calm.

Hers, on the other hand, was trying to crack a rib.

For three full seconds, neither of them moved. She could feel his chest rising against hers, steady as a drum.

He removed the hand covering her mouth and signaled for her to be quiet.

Her better judgment was somewhere on the forest floor, twelve paces back. She had not bothered to retrieve it.

Keeping one arm around her waist, he gently led her into a cave she would’ve missed completely because it was tucked behind boulders and looked like a dead end.

When they were fully inside, his other arm went around her too. She was shivering, and in no position to say ’who the fuck are you.’ The bar of decency was rock bottom low.

He felt like warmth wrapped in sunlight, and smelled too damn good to complain.

His thumb traced slow circles on her back. She didn’t notice until he stopped abruptly, his entire body stiffening against hers.

Warning sirens should have been blaring in the back of her mind, but they weren’t. In fact, her body was full-on leaning into him like she’d known him for years, and her brain was too tired to argue.

The sound of leaves crunching under heavy paws echoed off the boulders, followed by the low, frantic snuffles of a wolf tracking. They were close. Too close.

"If you’re found on these lands, they will kill you."

He blinked down at her, opened his mouth, then shut it. She wasn’t sure if he was human or had a wolf, but either way, he’d be outnumbered.

The noises grew closer. It was no longer a matter of if, but when they would be discovered. Her heart beat furiously against her ribs.

The math: let a stranger die who was trying to help her, or go be a problem outside. She was getting alarmingly comfortable with making decisions that looked insane on paper.

"Don’t leave this cave until you hear them gone," she whispered, pulling out of his arms.

"Wait."

She didn’t.

In a blur, she was outside of the cave, just in time to stop Cassian’s wolf who was already there.

The man had a gift for being exactly where she did not want him.

He shifted back to human form.

"Well, well. Looks like the golden child has a little secret father will be interested in."

He said golden child the way other people said tax audit.

"Lovely to see you, Cassian. You’ll have to be more specific." Her voice was calm.

"Don’t play coy. Though I heard you played hero yesterday. This will cancel that out."

Behind him, Tyler Draven approached, shifting back into human form. The Beta’s son had always been nice to her. "She is a white wolf. I’ll be damned."

"I don’t know what you’re referring to."

"You’ve always been a terrible liar, Gwen," Tyler said, smirking. "Too many people saw you."

Stupid. Considering she had lied about her wolf for five years since her first shift, and not one of them had caught it. The fact that the streak ended tonight was a budget issue, not a skill issue.

More wolves closed in around them, shifting as they came.

"Bind her," Cassian ordered with no warmth in his voice. "Should the prisoner attempt flight, the rope becomes silver."

"Riveting dialogue, Cassian. How many times did you practice that one in the mirror? Be honest."

Snickers erupted behind him. Whoops. Usually they didn’t laugh.

The gold rose in his eyes the way it always did right before he proved he was his father’s son. He stepped forward and didn’t hesitate, backhanding her hard enough that she stumbled and tasted copper.

The laughter died like a snuffed torch. Even the wind seemed to hold its breath.

Her hand found her lip. When she pulled it away, her fingers came back red. Her eyes watered, briefly, against her will. She swallowed it down, straightened, and faced him head on.

"Cassian," Tyler clipped. "She is just surprised you are threatening silver on her."

A warrior moved towards her with rope. Tyler intercepted him.

"I’ll do it."

The please was what did it.

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