Page 67 of Wolf Caged
Forgetting my desire to run in the woods in my wolf form, I followed the path that crossed the brook, soaking up the beauty of this place. The orchard stretched below me, each tree a different colour, some heavy with fruit while others were brightwith blooms. The air was sticky and sweet, perfumed in a way that reminded me of the buns.
I shivered, heat coursing through me as I recalled how Kaeleron had taken a bite of the bun I had dared to throw at him, how a deep moan had rumbled from him, steeped with pleasure that roused fire in my veins.
Some wicked part of me wanted to hear him moan like that for another reason.
I shut it down, slamming the lid on it. This cursed heat was only growing stronger, my hungers only growing bolder, and I felt as if a clock were ticking down and soon I wouldn’t be able to control these needs that were only getting more and more overwhelming.
I wasn’t sure what I would do when the full force of it hit me.
Locking myself in my rooms sounded like a good start, but it wouldn’t help, not here in this place where the people could teleport. If Kaeleron summoned me and I refused to go to him, he could simply appear in my room. And then what would I do?
Possibly pounce on him.
I breathed deeper, inhaling the cool, crisp air, struggling to quell this rising beast within me. My wolf side had never felt so unsettled. So wild. I crouched and ran my hands through the grass, feeling the dew coating my fingers, trying to root myself in nature and calm my wolf side and my primal instincts. It was slow, painfully slow, but gradually, little by little, I pulled back on the reins and found calm again, the heat falling away and the hungers fading.
I lingered, my hands still in the grass, savouring that connection between myself and the earth.
And just breathed.
I felt I could breathe here in a way I never could back home.
My gaze lifted from the grass to the mountains and that slice of sea beyond the castle.
And calm flowed into me.
A sensation that all was right in the world.
Strange that I so often felt that way here, in a world that was not my own.
I took my favourite path back to the main formal garden, passing under a series of beautifully carved white wooden arches studded with glittering black jewels that seemed to hold the universe within them. My gaze lingered on them as I passed, catching the stars that sparkled and shifted in their depths, my eyes growing heavy.
I stifled a yawn as I descended the worn steps to the main garden and picked up the wide paved path that led to the elegant circular fountain. The sound of the water trickling from one tier to the next lulled me as I passed, only making me more tired, but I pushed on, determined to make the most of my freedom, heading towards the lake-side edge of the patio. The water glittered in the aurora-kissed light, beckoning me to swim in it. Perhaps I would do that tomorrow. Although I wasn’t sure how my shadows would react.
Birds flitted across my path as I banked right, towards the pergola that led back to the castle, and I breathed in the scent of the spears of lilac flowers.
And stifled another yawn.
“I’m tired,” I murmured to my shadows as I neared the castle. “I’m returning to my room and if you follow me there, I won’t be responsible for what happens to you.”
I gave them my best withering look, one I had been practicing in my mirror in my room so I could act as haughty as the highborn should I run into one again.
Neither male looked inclined to leave my side.
So I huffed and stomped towards the side entrance of the castle.
When we neared it, they suddenly peeled away from me, and I twisted to look at them, unsure why they had stopped following me.
They stood with their heads bowed and hand pressed to their chests.
Crushing pressure slammed into me.
The scent of a wild storm swept me up in it.
Kaeleron.
I pivoted in the direction I had been heading, turning slightly more to my left, so I was facing the main gate, and froze right down to my breathing.
The fae king strode towards the castle with purpose, dressed in striking black and gold armour that made him look like a dark knight, his handsome face etched in vicious lines as he tugged his gauntlets off and handed them to Jenavyr where she hurried to keep up with him, wearing her usual leathers.
