Wolf Princess Sold to the Dragon King novel Chapter 44

Chapter 44: Your Move, You Presumptuous Dog

Four wolves at the gate at midnight meant one of two things: a declaration of war, or something worse. Renwick’s steward had the sense to know the difference.

"How many men did he bring?"

"Four, Alpha. His Beta among them."

"Send him in. And wake Cassian."

Nicholas Shadowfell entered the study with his Beta behind him. The other three remained in the corridor.

He looked worse than Renwick had ever seen him. Sweat had dried on his temples, and his skin held the grey undertone of prolonged pain. His jaw was set rigid like he had been clenching it for hours and had forgotten how to stop.

"Renwick."

"Nicholas. You look terrible. Sit."

Nicholas sat with reluctance.

"She’s in pain."

Renwick’s expression did not change. He folded his hands on the desk.

"Define pain."

"The kind that breaks a shift. The kind that travels through an unfinished matebond across six thousand miles of open ocean and hits hard enough to put me on the ground in front of my own patrol." Nicholas’s voice was measured, but the cracks were showing.

Renwick leaned back in his chair. He studied Nicholas the way he studied trade agreements: looking for the margins, the concessions, the places where a man revealed more than he intended.

"Matebond?"

"You chose Drakencrest gold over my claim. We have been through this, Renwick."

"I chose the best arrangement for Lunaris. I will choose it again. Every time."

Something dangerous moved behind Nicholas’s eyes, the kind of restraint that lived one sentence away from evaporating entirely.

The door opened, and Cassian entered. His eyes flicked to Nicholas and stayed there two seconds too long. Then he straightened an inch taller and lifted his chin.

"What is this?"

"Your sister is in danger, Cassian. King Shadowfell has come to tell us personally. Very noble of him." Renwick gestured to the empty chair beside Nicholas.

Cassian crossed the room unhurried, and sat beside Nicholas.

Nicholas exhaled through his teeth, then grunted, hunching over. One arm flew across his ribs. He lifted his head, his eyes on Renwick. The veins in his neck were standing out like cables, and his wolf pressed so close to the surface that the human face wearing it was barely holding.

"She is being hurt. Right now."

Renwick’s fingers stilled on the desk. One micro-movement. A pause so small that Cassian missed it entirely, but Nicholas did not miss it, and the look that crossed his face said he had just found the margin he was looking for.

"You already knew."

Renwick’s eyes lifted. "I knew what?"

"You let the bidding climb because you wanted to see who would offer the most for what you already suspected she was." Nicholas leaned forward. "What is she, Renwick?"

Cassian looked at his father. The question had landed in a place that made him uncomfortable, and the discomfort was visible.

Renwick stood. He moved to the fire, and placed another log on the grate.

"My daughter is a wolf with white fur and green eyes. She was kept away from the public because she was a runt until she wasn’t."

"That is a description, Renwick. I asked what she is."

Renwick turned from the fire. The light caught the planes of his face, and for one unguarded second, the mask slipped. Something that looked, from a certain angle, like fear.

It vanished so quickly that only Nicholas, who had been looking for it, saw it at all.

"Her mother was unusual," Renwick answered.

"When Drakencrest offered fire and gold, you knew there was something in her that would react to dragon flame."

"I suspected. But no, I wasn’t certain," Renwick answered. "When you have children you’ll understand. They are investments, not just company. Hers paid more than I thought."

Cassian’s face had gone very still.

Nicholas rose from his chair. "You’re going to let her suffer."

Renwick almost laughed. The sound died before it formed, but the shape of it lived in his expression for one brief second.

"I will do something better. I will send a message to Drakencrest requesting confirmation of my daughter’s status. If the response is inadequate, I will come myself. And I will bring Cassian."

Cassian looked up. "You will bring me?"

"You are her brother. Your presence communicates concern with weight that Nicholas’s claim, however sincere, does not."

Nicholas absorbed the insult without flinching, which said more about his self-control than anything he had said all night.

"And if the message goes unanswered?"

VERIFYCAPTCHA_LABELVerify