Page 102 of Craved By a Wolf

She grabbed Kin’s arm as soon as she was close enough, hitched her skirts up with her other arm and dragged him into the crowd.

Her anger hit him hard as she tugged him along with her, keeping her head down as the people parted, evidently not interested in fighting them or getting in their way.

“What the hell are you doing here?” she snapped without looking at him, her grip on his arm growing fiercer, her fingernails digging into his flesh.

“This the thanks I get for coming to rescue you?” he bit out, his own rage coming to the fore to match hers, the thought that she hadn’t wanted to be rescued and had possibly planned to wed the nymph rousing it and blackening his mood.

She glanced back at him, fear bright in her eyes.

“You’re trapped here now. I made a bargain with Ethyrian. You’d be—” She ducked beneath a blow a male aimed at her and stabbed him with what looked a lot like a small knitting needle at the same time as Kin punched him on the nose. The male went down and she pulled Kin forwards again. “You’d be spared, banished from this realm and left to live your life if I married him.”

Kin growled at that, part of him touched by what she had been willing to do for his sake and the rest of him so furious that he wanted to turn back around and find Ethyrian to beat the living hell out of him right that moment.

“A life without you isn’t one I want to live, Hella,” he snarled and she abruptly stopped and looked at him, her blue eyebrows pinned high on her forehead as she gazed up into his eyes.

He wanted to mention that stopping in the middle of a battle when there were guards closing in on their location wasn’t the wisest move, but he couldn’t get enough of the way she was looking at him, didn’t want her to stop.

And he needed her to know the truth.

“Back in Scotland… I went to the witch to make her break my curse. I couldn’t bring myself to do what she wanted. I couldn’t hurt you like that. And then when I found her, she cast a spell on me. Stole control of my bloody body. I never wanted to hurt you, lass. It was never my intent. I was trying to make everything right. And when you left me… I couldn’t bear it. I had to find you. I had to explain, even if you turned me away. I vowed I wouldn’t give up, no matter how many times you teleported me away from you. I need you, Hella. I’d sooner die than live a second without you, love.” He lifted his hand and brushed his fingers across her cheek, tracking the approaching male with his senses. There was a better time to tell her this, he was sure, but this moment felt right. He held her gaze and swept his thumb over her lower lip. “That’s why I decided I’ll keep my fangs to myself. I’ll never bite you, Hella. I won’t shackle you with a bond like you fear. If it means I get to be with you, I’ll never claim you.”

Her eyes slowly widened and for a moment he thought she might kiss him, and then she grabbed a gold post and swung it at his head. He flinched away, anticipating the strike, unsure what he had done to deserve being hit. Did she want him to bite her?

To claim her?

There was a hard thump and then a male grunt sounded behind him.

Kin looked over his shoulder in time to see the nymph guard falling to the floor, out cold from Hella’s blow.

She tossed the post aside and grabbed Kin’s arm. “We’ll discuss this later.”

She dragged him forwards and he didn’t miss the two words she muttered as the crowd enveloped them again.

“Over dinner.”

Like a date? Kin could do that. He hadn’t dated anyone in a long time, but whatever Hella wanted, he would do it.

He spied a set of glass doors ahead of them and took over, hauling her towards them. When she noticed them, she sped up, almost keeping up with him. As much as he hated running from a fight, he needed to get Hella safe. As soon as she was safe, he would figure out a way to deal with the nymph permanently.

Although, killing a king would probably turn an entire kingdom against him.

He and Hella would never know peace.

A guard stepped in front of them and Kin barrelled into him, sending him through the glass doors first and using him as a blocker. As soon as they were clear, he shoved the male aside and scanned his new surroundings. Not great. They were at the bridge that spanned the gorge.

Guards rushed towards them from the other side and he had a terrible sense of déjà vu as Hella pulled him in the direction of the balustrade to his left.

“We have to jump.” She cast him a wild look, one that relayed the fear he could feel in her.

Fear that wasn’t only about the king catching them now.

He peered over the edge of the bridge at the drop to the raging river far below them and his stomach flipped. They had survived the rapids once. They would survive it this time.

But just in case, Kin dragged Hella against him and kissed her hard.

When he released her, she muttered, “I hope that was for luck because we’re going to need it.”

He scooped her up in his arms when he sensed her hesitation and the guards got too close for his liking, leaped up onto the stone railing and stepped off the other side. Hella screamed all the way down, the shrill sound piercing his sensitive ears, and he braced her against his chest a split-second before they hit the water. She twisted his jacket into her fists and clung to him as they were spun around by the current, and he clutched her more tightly, fear pounding in his veins. Her wrists weren’t bound this time, meaning she could swim more freely, but he was damned if he was risking losing his hold on her.

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