Page 21 of Wolf Caged
I would be a fool to fall for his charms, for his looks, just as I had been a fool to fall for Lucas’s.
And I was sure if I did, if I lowered my guard for even a second around this fae king, my fate would be far worse than what my mate had done to me.
“A bad fae.” I pushed the words out, part of me wanting him gone so I could breathe again and find some balance, his presence seeming to tilt my world even further off its axis.
“A very bad fae,” he corrected and angled his head the other way, a predator sizing up his prey. “You would do well to remember that, little lamb. You are in my domain now.”
The shadows that clung to his shoulders like a cloak rose again, swirling around him, and as he melted backwards into them, he left me with parting words that rattled me to my core.
“Entertain me and you might live to tell the tale.”
Chapter 5
KAELERON
The moment I entered my study on the second floor of the castle, Jenavyr was barging through the ornate black wooden doors, her anger a living thing as she stormed towards me. Perhaps the moniker of ‘the wrathful’ fitted my sister better than myself.
Now I had two forthright and fierce females to contend with, a headache I did not need.
The little wolf had shown far too much spirit for a female locked in a cage in a world she did not know. Her courage had made me recklessly reveal myself in some spiteful attempt to rattle her, to shake her and make her fear.
It had only made her bolder.
Her gaze had been scalding as she had raked it over me, taking me in from head to toe, lingering on my face for far too long.
So I had shaken her harder.
And it had worked.
Better she remembered her position. I did not need her getting too comfortable. She was here for a purpose.
Perhaps it was better I remembered that too.
I stopped by the grand arched window on the right of the room that filled the space between two arched bookcases set into the black stone wall, my gaze on the formal gardens that lined the lake on the left side and the cliffs on the right. The waterfall that separated them, plunging into the bay below the cliffs, threw mist into the air that sparkled with hues of the aurora. I normally found this view calming. But not today.
My sister glared at my shoulders, silently ordering me to look at her.
I refused.
This vengeance was something we both needed, even if she would not admit it.
“Do not push me, Vyr.” I remained with my back to her and clasped my hands behind me, my gaze drifting to the horizon, to the wide expanse of ocean beyond the jagged black mountains that edged the high lake.
If she did, my council would hear of it, and they would push me too, demanding I strip her of her rank for her insubordination. Something they were prone to do whenever she spoke out of turn. It was the last thing I wanted for her. I had trained her for a purpose, had fought for her to join my commanders so she would know how to fight and how to protect herself. I had wanted her to be strong.
What I had not wanted was this female who challenged me at every turn and had found her passion in life as a warrior.
It was not meant to be.
Another life awaited her.
She had forgotten that.
Perhaps we both had.
“You need to let her go, brother. Return her to her world. This is not right. This is not you.” Jenavyr slammed the doors closed behind her with such force I was surprised the gold metalinlaid into the black wood in the form of trees and elkyn did not fall out.
“This is me.” I turned on her, shadows swirling outwards with the motion to blot out the natural light. The candles and lamps guttered out, leaving only the motes of golden magic that danced and gathered near the vaulted wooden ceiling to illuminate us. I stared her down as anger rose within me, the pain of what had happened as raw within me as the night we had lost our parents. I growled, “Would you have me do nothing? Would you have me give up on our brother? Our blood?”
