Page 85 of A Sky of Emerald Stars

“Look at me,” he commanded, and my eyes opened again. He pushed into me an inch and my mouth dropped open into a perfect O. “I love you,” he whispered as he pushed in farther. “I won’t let anything happen to you tomorrow.” His face was so open and raw as the feeling between my legs grew until he filledme to the hilt. “I swear it on my life. You are the bravest of warriors, but you can rely on me, too. I am stronger than you know. I will fight any human, Wolf, or monster who tries to tear us apart, Sadie.”

Tears misted in my eyes, the emotion catching me by surprise. Normally it was me who did all the fighting. I was always the one vowing to slay my enemies and rain vengeance on loved ones’ foes. Knowing I didn’t always have to be the fighter, knowing in my deepest soul that Navin meant every word of love and protection, made a tear slide down my cheek.

“I love you,” I said breathlessly, and Navin kissed that tear away. Just that slightest action made him move inside me and we both let out a unified moan. I relished the way we joined, never in my life feeling such a completion as when he and I were together.

He pulled out and pushed back in. Slow rolling thrusts that coaxed me back up toward the precipice I once teetered on. My bound hands threaded into his hair, pulling his lips to mine as he picked up speed again. I tilted my hips, meeting each of his pumps with a rocking of my own. He buried himself deep inside me, hitting a spot that made me cry out every time the tip of his cock grazed it. I was already so close, my thighs trembling as they tried to clench around his hips. Navin moved faster, his movements growing erratic as he grew closer to his own release.

“Yes,” I moaned. “Gods, yes.” He rode me faster, pushing me higher and higher.

“Sadie,” he groaned, burying his face into the crook of my neck as he drove into me in deep, wild thrusts.

I tried to speak, tried to form words, but only a choked cry of ecstasy escaped my lips as my orgasm tore through me. My vision spotted, the force of it feeling like I was falling through the sky. My thighs gripped him tighter as my body clenched around him and he spilled into me. His fingernails clawed into my skin as his climax shattered him, until I couldn’t tell where one moan ended and another began as wave after wave of pleasure coursed through me.

With a final breath Navin collapsed to my side and gathered me into his arms. And I knew then that this wasn’t just to calm the anxiety we both felt for tomorrow, but also to remind us of all we had to fight for. Tomorrow would go well because it had to, because I needed hundreds of more nights in his arms, listening to our breathing slow and our heart rates steady. This moment was everything I wanted my future to be.

Sadie

The capital city of Rikesh was a vast pyramid, sloping up and up to the royal castle in the center that looked down on the domed rooftops, gilded spires, and waving pennants of the city below. When we departed the wagon, Maez gave my arm a quick squeeze. She cut an impressive figure in her stolen uniform. She’d had to cinch the Wolf’s belt to the tightest hole, but otherwise the garments fit her surprisingly well. With the gilded chin strap and the low-brimmed helmet, her features were obscured enough that no human would question her. So long as a member of the pack didn’t try to strike up a full-on conversation with her, she’d be fine.

“Be quick,” I whispered to her as she adjusted her military jacket. I wanted to give her a hug. Her face told me she wanted to do the same. But there were too many eyes upon us now. Instead, I just gave her a swift pat on the shoulder like I’d done so many times before. “Good luck.”

“We’ll be laughing about this over a bottle of wine tonight. I promise you,” she said in her usual cavalier way and dashed off through the crowd. The humans of Rikesh gave her a wide berth, darting out of her way like a school of fish scattering in the presence of a shark.

Navin tugged on my arm, and I adjusted my veil one more time. The bloody thing was itchy and sweltering. I could barely see the castle in the distance but up close was a blur and I was forced to rely on Navin to guide me through the crowd. We trudged uphill, Navin parading me through the streets to the towering castle gates. Everywhere around us dripped in opulence. Even the tall sandstone walls surrounding the castle were beautiful, adorned with intricate mosaics depicting the many monsters that the Onyx Wolves had driven out of Valta.

Now, all that history seemed tainted and warped somehow. The war with the humans was entirely left out of the legends depicted on the walls. The histories that wrapped around the Onyx Wolf palace were that of Wolf glory. The only humans amongst any of the mythical creatures and heroic figures were the ones kneeling and bowing to Wolf kings of old. Never once had I thought to question this art, this truth. Never once had I thought the Wolves were anything but the saviors of the humans despite how we treated them now in current times. How—how—could I have ever thought that? The fact that humans ever battled with Wolves was so diametrically opposed to everything I was raised to believe. But history forgets the losers. Only those who win wars get to dictate how that event is told, and in Wolf history, humans showed up onourshores, begging to be saved from monsters; we saved them and they made us Gods.

I wondered if, after all this, Calla or Nero would be the one writing our next phase of history.

My eyes trailed from the swirling murals along the walls to the lone guard who stood in front of the towering iron gates. I had to twist my head to the side to see him through my veil. The beads and lace made blotchy patches that obscured my view. Beyond him was a winding path that led up to the black and bronze steps of the giant castle, resplendent with seven gilded domes and glinting bronze parapets that glittered in the sunlight.

I imagined from all the way up there, they’d be in the clouds, watching the city below like a sea of ants. The grandiosity was even beyond that of the other court castles, and the imposing positioning made it very clear who the ruler was in this land: a King who lived at the tallest peak of the highest mountain.

“I need to speak with your King,” Navin called to the guard who was clearly a Wolf. Even at several paces away, I could tell by the keenness in his eyes and that otherworldly stillness. As he swaggered closer, his image blurred, obscured by the beads and lace.

“Andwhywould the King bother to see a human?” he asked with a rough chuckle. His assessing green eyes flickered toward me. I felt his gaze rove over my veil, down my ruffled gown, and to where my hands were bound in silver rope behind my back. “Who’s she?”

Navin kept his grip on my upper arm as he took a step forward and leaned in—a universal sign of a secret to share—and the guard couldn’t help but lean in, too. “Sadie Rauxtide,” he whispered. “I have Tadei’s bride here. I’ve come for my bounty.”

The guard’s eyes flared as he looked at me again. “Lift her veil,” he commanded.

“And let you be the first to gaze upon her?” Navin had the gall to sound offended. I chewed on my lip to keep from smiling. He played this role too well, like so many others he played, but I saw beneath it now, saw to the core of him and all he so easily hid. “Let me ask you something: Do you know this Silver Wolf, Sadie Rauxtide, personally?” Navin asked, his voice heavy with skepticism. “Have you even seen her before or a painting of her likeness?”

“No,” the guard spat. “But I know aWolfwhen I see one. And I have a hard time believing a Silver Wolf could be caught by a single human.”

“What about a hundred humans? My entire village was involved in her capture,” Navin continued. “We have a vested interest in obtaining her bounty. Of course, now with her handsbound and the inability to shift, she’s much more compliant, aren’t you, dear?” He pulled me roughly forward, and I snarled at him as he shoved me into the bars of the gate. “Look her over, smell her, or whatever it is you Wolves do if you don’t believe me. But if you touch the veil, I’ll have to let Prince Tadei—and King Luo—know.”

“You are rumpling my gown, you piece of shit,” I gritted out.

Navin tsked and rolled his eyes, playing along as he said to the guard, “She’ll certainly make a good princess, eh?”

The guard arched his brow, taking a step in toward me and sniffing the air. I tilted my head to get a better view as his pupils dilated and his lips curved. “She’s a Wolf all right.”

Navin bounced on his heels. “Excellent—”

“But who’s to say she’s the one King Nero promised my prince?”

“Who else could she possibly be?” Navin guffawed. “I thought Wolves didn’t abandon their packs.”

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