Page 23 of King of Forest and Fur

“Wait, wait,” Idris called out, pushing his steed to catch up, “are you really going to storm to the castle leaving your mate behind?”

Rehn hadn’t even thought of her when he spurred his horse on. He just fell into his common pattern, the way he always arrived home, leading the way and charging ahead.

“Ride back to her, let her see the castle with you by her side,” Idris said.

“So be it,” Rehn replied, turning his horse.

Even as he rode back, passing several in the royal party, he chafed at the change in his normal protocol, though wondered if something else darkened his mood. The idea of having to woo his mate still felt like a rejection and his inner bear wholeheartedly agreed. Then, Leila came into view at the edge of the forest.

She had stopped her horse and stared out across the valley to where the castle rose beyond the river. Her wide eyes seemed to try and take everything in at once and her jaw had fallen. It brought a smile to his face, seeing her experience the castle for the first time. He’d lived there his whole life. Maybe that familiarity had diminished the majesty of it, but seeing it through her eyes reminded him.

“Wait until you see the inside,” Rehn said, startling her. “Come, we shouldn’t keep everyone waiting.”

“Of course,” Leila replied, nodding, her cheeks dusted pink.

Riding beside her toward the castle felt like torture in a way. Rehn held his inner animal at bay but only just. Her scent perfumed the air, and the way she kept craning her neck, taking everything in all with that smile of hers, kept him pulling back at the beast with all his willpower and at the same time watching his mate for any and every hint of her feelings. It was exhausting and exhilarating at the same time.

Once past the gates and into the main courtyard, a weight lifted from Rehn’s shoulders. Inside his castle, he could protect her better than anywhere else. His bear still rumbled just under the surface, demanding he claim his mate but the beast no longer feared for her safety.

“I’ll have to show you the castle gardens,” he said, pointing to the tall hedges separating the gardens from the rest of the courtyard. “There is a pond in their center I go to when I don’t have the time to head into the wilderness. It is the most beautiful place in the castle.”

“I’d like to see it.” Leila glanced where he pointed but only for a moment before her eyes climbed the towers rising from the main keep.

“You must be tired from the journey,” Rehn said. “I’ll show you to your quarters where you can rest and relax before getting ready for dinner.”

“Oh, I’m sure you’ve got more important things to worry about than me,” she replied, head shaking.

“I promised to ensure your safety and when I make a promise, I keep it,” Rehn said.

Groomsmen approached the royal party when they neared the stable. Rehn swung off his horse, nodding to the man who took the reins before moving to Leila’s horse, offering his hand to help her dismount. She smiled shyly at it before accepting the help. His inner bear savored her touch as much as he did, though it was all too brief.

Off their horses, he led her toward the main keep. Her roving eyes grew wider inside, studying tapestries on the wall and the mosaic floor in the entryway. Servants already began preparing the great hall for tonight’s dinner, cleaning tables, setting up chairs and place settings. They paused as Rehn and Leila entered, bowing to their king who waved them back to their duties while his companion gawked at the room with its towering ceilings and ornately carved pillars.

Rehn escorted her past the great hall and up the stairs to the royal residential wing. He waited for Leila when she turned to study a stained glass window in an alcove off the hall. She rushed to catch up with him once she noticed he’d stopped. Their destination lay only a few doors down, across from his own chambers. He pushed open the doors to the queen’s quarters and waved her in.

“I’m so used to the academy, form over function,” she said with wide eyes, taking the room and its furnishings in. “I’m more than happy with the simple rooms I had there, this is all so overwhelming. It is too much.”

No, as far as Rehn thought, it was exactly what she deserved, the exact place she belonged as his mate and future queen. He dared not say that, not yet.

“My chambers are just across the hall,” he said. “Like I said. When I make a promise, I keep it and I have promised to keep you safe and there is no safer place in my castle or my keep than near me. Beyond my closeness, the royal wing is constantly guarded by only the elite royal guards, even when I am not in my chambers.”

“Thank you again for offering your protection,” she replied, running her fingers across the curtain tied to the corner of the bedpost.

“I will leave you to rest and get ready for tonight’s dinner,” Rehn said, before hurrying from the room, across the hall to his own.

He let out a breath, leaning against the door. Seeing her standing so close to the bed, caressing the silk curtains had his inner beast so close to the surface, demanding he claim his mate. If only she were a shifter like him, feeling the mating call the way he did. Things would be so much easier. With any luck, wining and dining her will change things tonight.

NINE

LEILA

The room the king left Leila in was far too much for her. After he closed the doors behind him, she paced, taking it all in. It was a new feeling. Riding up to the castle, her neck craned to take in the towers and spires over the outer walls. It dwarfed the academy and displayed an opulence the scholars there would have found wasteful.

The same could be said with the quarters given her, not even Xanthus had such a large room at the academy and the only luxury he indulged in were books and tomes that piled on his desk.

A massive bed that would have nearly taken up her entire room back at the academy sat opposite the doors, flanked by two windows almost as tall as the bed’s canopy. A dressing screen provided privacy in one corner, with two chests and three wardrobes all made of dark wood and covered in carved flowers sitting behind it. All the clothes she had could have fit in one of those chests.

Moving closer to the corner, Leila caught movement on the far side of the room. With everything that had happened so far, the attack and her unexpected time travel, she flinched and readied herself, facing… herself.

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