Page 28 of The Winter Prince

He gritted his teeth as his body stretched, grew—as familiar and agonizing as ever. Kienna was sobbing now, her face buried in her hands.

Back in his more familiar wolf form, Revi hesitantly padded forward and lowered himself to the ground, resting his head on her knee.

“I’m sorry.” It was paltry, but it was all he had to offer her.

She dropped a hand and buried it in his fur, pulling so hard that it hurt. But he tensed himself and held still, ignoring the instincts to fight back against the one who caused him pain. Sobs racked her, and as her head slumped forward with each one, Revi pushed up into a sitting position so that he caught her head on his shoulder. He didn’t know what else to do, but as she cried, he stayed there.

That, at least, he could do.

Chapter 17

Kienna

ThistimewhenKiennawoke up in her cozy cottage, her recollection that it was a dream came almost immediately, between one breath and the next.

She put water on for tea and sank into the chair next to the fire. The lights filling the space seemed drabber today, or the color of everything was flatter; her dream state reflected her melancholy.

She briefly considered trying to change the dream. She missed home terribly, especially after the past few conversations with the beast.Especiallyafter that evening. That he had even thought to shift into a rabbit, something surely so against his instincts, just because she’d made a passing comment about missing home and her pets…

The thoughtfulness of it nearly overwhelmed her. She didn’t know what to do with this version of the beast, one who wasn’t so stoic and prideful.

And the way he’d appeared in the dining room, looking like an almost exact replica of Mushroom—his fur had been silky soft, just like hers.

Perhaps she could conjure up a replica of home here. But after considering the idea for a moment, she decided against it. It wouldn’t be home just because it looked like it, just like this cottage wasn’t home, despite how her mind tried to whisper to her that it was. She didn’t want to see fake versions of her family. That would only dig the ache deeper.

A part of her wanted to wake up. Being alone in this dream cottage felt unappealing. If only her regular companion would appear with his silvery hair and glowing blue eyes. She much preferred her dreams with him than those without. She supposed she could have snuck away to find him in the waking world too, now that she knewwhereto find him. But he was just so…muchin the waking world. He overwhelmed her with the way he didn’t have the same reserved manner, how he’d crowded into her space with his touches and smiles. It should have been flattering, but instead it put her off-kilter. Maybe she just needed to go meet him again—she’d only visited him once. She needed to give it more time. He… he just felt like a different person.

Maybe he was. Maybe she’d found the wrong man.

The idea prickled along her spine. If he wasn’t her dream prince, then who exactly had she found? And why had he let her believe she knew him?

She wouldn’t avoid him in the waking world forever. She just needed to figure out how to suss out if he was who she thought, and if he wasn’t… how to handle that.

And if he was her dream prince, she just wanted time to become accustomed to the idea of that loud, bright version of him. His presence in her dreams was calmer. Comforting and steady. She missed him when he wasn’t here.

She shook her head. It wasn’t logical to miss the prince. She didn’t even know him—not the man she’d found in the waking world, nor the man in her dreams. All she truly knew was that her dream prince felt dangerous, but not to her. She didn’t even know his name. But then, that was the way of the fae world she found herself in, wasn’t it? It wasn’t like she knew the name of anyone else here either, besides Zoya. Even the beast hadn’t given his true name.

And the beast—he was another man of contradictions. Of all the people in the Winter Court, he was the one she felt she knew the best, and still she knew solittleabout him.

Perhaps at their next dinner, she would ask him more. After all, he had opened up to her about his parents, and he had comforted her this evening. He always seemed so proud, dignified. Every inch the prince he was, even in an animal form. But he had chosen a different form—forher. A form it had been clear he found uncomfortable. And she had shown her gratitude by weeping on him.

She pressed her hands to her flushing cheeks. That had not been her finest moment. She truly didn’t know what to make of him. He was a mystery to her, one she found herself wanting to understand. She had to stay in this place for a full year; the least she could do was befriend her only companion.

Not her only companion, she corrected herself. She had her prince, her fellow prisoner, as well. The thought of him only served to further complicate the feelings in her chest toward the beast.

A knock at the door broke through her reverie. She jumped to her feet. The kettle over the fire was whistling as well. How had she not heard it?

She pulled it quickly off the fire and set it on the table on her way to the door. There he was, as tall, broad-shouldered, and intense as ever, but there was something different today. His long hair was pulled back, halfway done up in a braid that fell over his shoulder with the loose bottom half of his hair. Even with the change, he looked as much the prince as ever. His circlet crown glinted as he tilted his head.

Kienna smiled at him. “It’s as if my thoughts summoned you.”

He raised a delicate brow. “You were thinking of me?”

When he put it that way... She turned quickly to hide her blush from him. “Come in. I’m sorry the tea isn’t quite ready yet. I was caught up in my thoughts.”

“Of me.” His voice was too serious to tell if he was teasing her or not.

She busied herself pouring the tea. “No, not at all. I...” She let out a slow sigh. “I was thinking of home.” It was true enough. She had been thinking of home before her thoughts turned to the man before her and the beast. It was the safest thing to admit, anyway.

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