Page 113 of Wolfkissed
Mate,the voice at the back of my mind hisses again,mate.
She can’t be. She’s not even fae. She’s human. A human I’m not allowed to have. What the fuck is going on here?
She’s silent as she gets to her feet and brushes dirt and crushed stalks from her skirt. Her face is still too pale, which I don’t like, but a flush is rising to her cheeks. Her gaze keeps straying to me and shying away.
Dammit.I make a conscious effort to shed the rest of my animal traits, though nothing I can do about my fae ears and sharp teeth. About who I am. An alien creature who arrived in her world centuries ago, a creature of magic, twisted and corrupted now.
A creature not deserving of her.
I start walking, still fighting myself, and she eventually follows me. I slow down to allow her to catch up, and we walk past the small grove and through more meadows where deergraze. As we crash our way through their pastures, they flee like the wind, ghosts of shapes dissipating into mist, almost as if they’d never been there.
Toward the end of the day, when the shadows start to lengthen, she stumbles and I catch her arm.
“I’ll find us a place for the night,” I say.
“Are we far, you think? Did you see Lord Eorl’s manor from the top of the hill?”
“No, I haven’t seen his fucking manor. I saw the wyrm and came racing down the hill as fast as I could.”
“Thank you,” she breathes. “For saving my life yet again.”
“It’s becoming a habit,” I mutter, shaken. “As for this Lord Eorl… are you sure he’s on your side?”
“What do you mean? The arrangement is valid. Just because my family didn’t want to give him the dowry doesn’t mean he changed his mind.”
“Just checking, Princess…” I meet her worried gaze. “I wouldn’t want you to arrive at a scene where more people want you dead.”
“Too much work for you, defending me?”
“I have my schedule to think of.” I’d meant it seriously—I was meant to find out what happened to my mother and return home, check on things there—but I find myself winking at her because… because fuck the schedule. Fuck things back at home, and as for my mother… Well, I know now what happened to her, don’t I?
What the fuck was she thinking, attacking a human settlement, and why had her wolves stolen Rosie? Now my mother was dead and had no answers to give me.
“Lord Eorl would never harm me,” she whispers.
“Well, I wish you all the fucking happiness in the world,” I growl.
“Why are you so… Wait, you’re not… jealous?”
“Of whom?”
“Lord Eorl.”
“What right do I have to be jealous of him?” I snarl, but the words taste bitter in my mouth, laced with falsehoods. “Of him, or any man who can hold you and touch you because you want them to. Who doesn’t have to tease you and trick you into touching them.”
“You never tricked me,” she says quietly. “You never had to.”
I rub the back of my neck and look away. Fuck, I needed to hear that. And I’m absolutely fucking jealous of anyone touching her, be it man or woman, person or beast. At this point, I’m jealous of the air that caresses her, the soil that cushions her steps, and the light that makes her blue eyes shine.
Is this what falling madly in love means? Themadlypart. I’ve lost my fucking mind.
“Valen… you’re hurt,” she whispers.
“It’s nothing.”
“Let me see.”
“I’m telling you,” I growl, “it’s nothing.”
