Page 80 of Settle Down, Princess

“Don’t go looking for her.”

He’d managed to avoid our detection, and it wasn’t the first time, which was why the prince had the wolf’s respect. Arik leaned on the fence, a small cigarillo curling smoke from the tip. His eyes gleamed in the darkness, and not for the first time, we wondered at his heritage. All humans in Khean had some wolf shifter blood, but he seemed to have more than others. He took in the wolf with a long look, then moved his focus away, dragging in a big lungful of smoke.

“She doesn’t want us.” He shook his head slowly. “Can’t say I blame her. I worked real hard to make sure she didn’t. I’m sorry for that. If you can make that clear to Creed, I’d appreciate it.”

Smoke billowed around his face as he exhaled in a long stream.

“I thought I was doing the right thing, protecting us from a reality…” Our ear pricked up at the sound of pain in his voice. We watched his throat work, which made it seem as if whatever he had to say was physically clawing its way out. “One that threatened to crush us all. I wanted us to survive this, Creed, because I know…”

This was the problem with forming a pack with humans. The elders had made clear my mistake privately, trying to dissuade me from this direction, but I’d stood firm. I couldn’t imagine binding my soul to any other men. But despite our connection, forged through a ritual few human men saw, if survived, Arik had secrets.

How had the bastard prince of the old king ended up in the army with a bunch of misfits like us? It wasn’t just the murder of the previous king that weighed on his soul.

“I know what pain it is to want someone with every breath in your body. There’s a particular kind of horror to have that torn from you. So…” His focus returned to me. “Don’t compound my mistakes by seeking Jessalyn.”

The man and the wolf lived differently, the truce between us sometimes an uneasy one. The wolf had control right now, so he turned and trotted off into the darkness. He didn’t heed what Arik, our alpha, had said, nor did he pay attention to me. Instead, he passed house after house until he reached his destination.

We’d tamped down the grass under a tree outside Mother Marian’s cottage. When she’d forced me to leave, telling me to have a bath, I’d instead taken fur and curled up here. Right now, we turned around—once, twice, three times—before plopping down on the flattened greenery, the scent of it and the soil rich in my nose as we watched the laneway.

Time meant nothing to the wolf, so I couldn’t have told you how long it took for Jessalyn and Jorah to arrive. All I knew was as soon as they came into view, our whole body stiffened. Our nose drew in the night air, catching the traces of white flowers and the wind, then we jumped to our feet.

Arik had instructed us not to search for Jessalyn, but he would only ever be able to understand things from the perspective of a man. The wolf saw things entirely differently. Jorah leaning in close, claiming her attention as though he had a right to it. That alone was enough to have us leaning forward, a growl brewing, but before we could utter a sound, they’d stopped and he cupped her jaw in his hand, bending down to kiss her.

Chapter 46

I liked being Jess rather than Jessalyn.

My body felt light as air as Jorah and I walked up the laneway. It was only the rapid beating of my heart that seemed to keep me grounded. Almost as if in response, Jorah sidled closer and snaked his arm around my waist. At first, I stiffened. Jessalyn had been conditioned to never let a man take liberties, but instead of pulling away, I drew my focus back to my body to work out what Jess thought about it.

The sensation of his arm, the warm weight of it, the way our steps fell into sync was… comforting…? Yes. That was it. His thick, muscle-corded arm made me feel as tiny as a bird—and twice as delicate—but at the same time protected and not at all vulnerable. And that was such a welcome feeling that, with a smile, I looked up at Jorah to tell him only to find him staring down at me. As we regarded each other, I realised something.

Oh.

He was beautiful.

I hadn’t really noticed it before. All of these wolf shifter men had faces constructed from such severe angles they appeared harsh, but Jorah’s thick blond beard softened the sharp slope of his cheeks. I wondered if it was as silky as it looked, and my hand rose, as though of its own accord, to test the theory. I whipped it back before I made contact, and his lips twitched in amusement. I let out a little sigh, blinked, and then dropped my hand back down to my side.

“Thank you for walking me home, Master—”

“Just Jorah,” he said. “Master makes me feel like you’re talking to my dad, not me.”

“Oh. Well, thank you, Jorah—”

“You make it sound like it’s such a chore to escort a beautiful woman back to her cottage. His smile faded so slowly I couldn’t tell at what point he grew serious. “When it’s something else altogether.”

“What?”

My response came without thought or good manners.

“An honour.”

I wondered if this was what it would be like if I made a life here. Would beautiful men have me dancing and laughing and then walk me home with all the consideration of fine gentlemen? Would I find myself partial to one of them, and would he see something in me as I saw something in him, so that we set up house in one of these lovely little cottages we walked past? And would that male be Jorah? Jessalyn could never think such things, but Jess…

His eyes started to light up with an unearthly green fire, as if he could sense my train of thought. I knew that beast men’s eyes glowed in the dark from the legends, but I’d never expected it to be so beautiful. I blinked and then smiled nervously as his focus dropped down.

Why the hell was I feeling skittish? Why was it that the way Jorah’s eyes traced my lips felt ten times more intimate than when I’d had that bastard Arik’s prick in my mouth only days past? I didn’t know what to think nor how to respond—I swayed in his direction, then pulled back. But he took that as a sign of my interest and slid his hand across my jaw, gently cupping it before tilting my head as he moved his mouth to mine.

He kissed me.

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