Page 179 of Wolf Caged
His right eyebrow lifted. “Easily. It’s heavily wooded. It wasn’t difficult to avoid the locals, and with my wolf sight and hearing, it was a simple matter of listening in from the shadows near a few taverns and inns to find out the name of your capital and then following the signposts at night, when I wouldn’t run into anyone. Any hunter could have done it.”
Hunter.
The male thought to make himself out to be an apex predator when he was in the presence of one far superior to him.
But still, I would dispatch a few of the stronger members of my court to strengthen the barrier magic, reinforcing the detection spells. I had the feeling that the Silver Court seelie who had crossed the border had tampered with the spells somehow, leaving them open to this wretch before me, and that was the reason he had gone undetected.
“I want to see her. I want to see she’s unharmed.” The wolf stood his ground, back ramrod straight, gaze never strayingfrom me even as my guards formed a line behind him, ready to seize him at my signal.
Malachi casually toyed with one of his knives, a looming shadow at my back.
The wolf was outnumbered, and seriously out of his depth, yet he dared insinuate that I would harm Saphira, risking not only my wrath but that of my men.
“The little wolf is fine. She has no need of your assistance. Return to your pack, wolf.” I tipped my shoulders back as I stared him down, looking down my nose at the bastard as he continued to remain where he was, dripping all over my floor.
Trying to take my little wolf from me.
Lightning flashed crimson behind the wolf, throwing his shadow out long before him, and it writhed as fury curled through my veins, as darkness clouded my mind, whispering how easy it would be to eliminate this fool before he even knew what had hit him. My shadows would make swift work of him.
And then the threat to Saphira would be gone.
But fate was against me.
And the dread pooling in my chest only grew stronger as Saphira strolled into the room through the side door, muttering about the rain as she wrung out her long silver braid.
“I thought I might find you here,” she said. “About An’sidwain?—”
Her eyes widened as they landed on Morden, shock dancing across her beautiful face as she noticed him, followed by something terribly like relief and happiness as her eyes lit up.
Andmyheart froze solid.
She ran towards the wolf, fracturing the sickeningly fragile thing in my chest.
I stepped forward, almost blocking her path to the male, and she drew up short and looked at me.
“Return to your room,” I said in the fae tongue so the wolf could not understand me and wove magic to make her words come out in the same language, concealing our conversation from him.
“But this is Morden… my protector. The one I told you about. I can’t believe he’s here, that he’s come for me!”
That was a blade in my chest, slipping into the fracture in my heart and twisting to prise it open. “You believe this male has come for you… to take you from me. To save you. Do you feel you need saving?”
She blinked at me and then frowned. “No, of course not.”
Shadows rose and rippled around me as I looked from her to Morden. “You wish to leave with him.”
She hesitated, and then shook her head. “No, but?—”
Morden slipped his hand into his pocket and withdrew something—a silver chain. Saphira’s blue eyes lit up again at the sight of the bracelet, as if it meant the world to her and so did the male who had brought it to her.
“I thought I would never see it again.” Joy shone in her eyes, brightening her face, her happiness so fierce that something within me snapped, hissing at the sight of it and how she took several steps towards the wolf.
A wall of shadows shot up between her and the male, keeping them from each other, and she glowered over her shoulder at me.
I held her gaze, darkness pouring through my veins in response to that insidious, poisonous thing that writhed in my chest, snapping fangs at Morden as he glared at me from beyond the veil of shadows.
“Take our guest below.” I did not take my eyes from Saphira’s as I issued that command to my guards and to Malachi.
Hurt flashed in her blue eyes, revealing she knew what I meant by that. I was sending Morden to the dungeon. That hurt morphed into anger as she stared me down.
