Page 118 of Wolf Caged
She had the audacity to roll her eyes at me, a trait she had surely picked up from the little wolf. “You could ask her yourself.”
I brushed that suggestion off with a wave of my hand, because I was not sure what I might do if this male turned out to mean something to her. There were ways to be intimate without claiming the flower of a female. I had no way of telling whether Saphira had been touched by another in the way I had touched her, and she had responded so sweetly to my caress, a wild little thing as she had sought her pleasure. What if this male had beenthe one to teach her how to writhe like that, how to move her body in that bewitching way?
Darkness blanketed the room, my claws emerging to dig into the arms of my chair as I growled through my fangs.
Saphira was mine.
Jenavyr cleared her throat from somewhere within my shadows. “There is one thing I wanted to mention.”
I pulled back on the shadows, drawing them to me, clawing back control as the reckless part of me that wanted to claim Saphira as my own demanded I hear what my sister had to say, in case it was vital to securing Saphira as more than my possession.
I shut that unruly side of me down as I stared at my sister, waiting to hear what she had to say, because this information might be vital for another reason—it might reveal Saphira’s purpose to me. I had gone through half the books in the library, had pored over ancient tomes, and had visited Neve hoping she would have had another vision, all to no avail. If the dragon did not experience a vision soon, I would force one out of her.
The longer Saphira was in my court, the more dangerous her presence became.
To me.
I would not lose sight of my vengeance now.
Blinded by a female.
“Saphira is strong.” Jenavyr pursed her lips, her gaze thoughtful as she considered something.
“Wolf females can be strong, and I was told she is born of alpha blood.” Although I had my doubts that the wretched thug who had sold her had been telling the truth about that.
My sister still looked confused, her brow crinkled as she continued to stare at me.
“What is it?” I studied her, almost able to see the cogs turning in her mind as she worked through whatever was bothering her.
But then she shrugged. “I know wolves can be strong, but I think this is different. I do not know how… her strength and speed just feels… unnatural.”
“You have never trained a wolf before. It is likely that you are expecting her to feel like a fae, to respond like one, and that is the reason you are confused.” But as I looked at her, I had the feeling it was more than that.
My sister was clever, astute, and often noticed small things about people. Years of being allowed to do nothing more than watch others as a child had taught her to look hard at them to divulge their secrets to entertain herself.
What secret was Saphira hiding?
Chapter 31
SAPHIRA
My legs ached as I sank into the black velvet upholstered wooden armchair, the latest round of training Jenavyr had put me through wreaking havoc on my tired body. Vyr was nothing if not persistent, and had apparently adopted her brother’s methods of training—no breaks until I broke.
But I was getting stronger every day, learning new ways to attack and defend, and Vyr had even complimented me this morning after our session.
And then she had announced Kaeleron had requested my presence this evening in the drawing room.
I was starting to suspect the compliment had been her way of softening me up before she had issued that order to me, and before I had discovered the low-cut silver-grey blouse that had been left on my bed with a corset and a pair of dark brown pants. I had planned to spend most of the evening in my bath, lazing in the warm and soothing water, letting it erase my aches and pains so I would be ready to get up tomorrow morning and go through the paces of training again.
It was swordplay day tomorrow.
Vyr never went easy on me when we trained with weapons.
But there was a part of me that was glad he had finally summoned me, that had been missing our time together while we had been apart because of his work and the demands of running a court. I just hoped he didn’t ask why I had been so tired lately, retiring to bed early each night, and just assumed it was because I was still healing. If he grew suspicious, I would have to lie in order to protect Jenavyr and my training. If he discovered the truth of what was happening, he was bound to take my training away from me and punish his sister.
My traitorous gaze drifted to Kaeleron where he sat in a large black wingback armchair in front of a roaring fire in the onyx-walled drawing room, the warm light flickering across his handsome face, adding to his brooding air.
Although, I was starting to wonder why he had summoned me.
