Page 122 of With Fangs and Claws (The Wolf Queen 1)

“Like many things, we’re not at the point in our relationship yet,” he said. “So, I content myself with making sure you are where you need to be, that you are being cared for. Did Weyland let you sleep at all? He’s a hedonist and has trouble controlling himself at times.”

He went to draw closer again, to inspect my face like a mother fussing over an errant child, but I brushed his hand away.

“What the hell was… that?” My mind searched for nouns, verbs, but I failed each time to describe that tiny little moment, but he just smiled wryly in response.

“A very brief power exchange,” he replied. “And one of no consequence. I wanted to know how you’d respond to it. Fear mostly.” He didn’t look terribly pleased by that. “Though there was some curiosity there. Now, can you trust me to provide you with breakfast and some water or shall I meet you at the temple?”

“Temple…?” My eyes narrowed. “You’re watching me today?”

“I got up early enough that Father won’t have thought to call for me yet and, by the time he does, Mother Aeve and her sisters will be reluctant to let his men in, but right now I must stay ahead of him to provide for you.”

“Provide?” I asked, frowning slightly.

“Buy you food that you like and watch you enjoy it,” he explained, needlessly, because there was no great mystery to it, but as he did, his eyes slid down, finding my lips and staying there. “Making sure you eat and drink enough. Ensuring you get to rest breaks in all that gruelling training. It’s been all I’ve been able to think about since you were banished to the Maidens. I’ve pestered my brothers enough that they finally grew angry and insisted I go myself. So here I am.”

“Two-souled men like doing that for their mates, right? Providing,” I asked, feeling like I was clutching at straws right now. He’d woken me up and dragged me out of bed, but I felt like I was still dreaming, trapped now in some strange surreal world. He noted that with a tilt of his head.

“Seeing that you have all you need? That fulfils something deep inside me, a need I hadn’t even recognised until I met you. But, yes, let's put all of this down to a wargen’s instincts, shall we? I think it will make it easier for you to accept. Now, breakfast?”

Honestly, it was a simple enough offer, so why would I say no? But as I pushed away from the wall, I felt again the sense of walking on unstable ground, waiting for the cobblestones to be yanked away and—

“Pepin let me know that Kelly has decided to bring her pie cart to the capital for the festival. She’s supposed to be here this morning. Pepin said you were impressed by her wares, so why don’t we get some of them for breakfast?”

He tucked my arm in his, ignoring the fact that I was staring at him as he led me into the marketplace scrum. We found Kelly’s cart and ordered a wide selection of her wares because I was having difficulties choosing, still feeling unbalanced. More than what we’d need for the day, I protested, but Dane didn’t care. He just bought everything I expressed an interest in, then a brand new waterskin as well. We found a quiet spot just outside the marketplace to sit and eat, Dane placing the baked goods on the table between us, then pushing the contents my way when he unwrapped them.

“Eat, Darcy,” he said, which in my father’s voice would’ve been a sharp command, but in his was a soft push, a hand on my shoulder, bolstering my resolve as he forced me forward to do what I needed.

“You’re going to watch all of this?” I asked as I hovered over the selections, not sure if I wanted something sweet or savoury. “What I choose, then eat?”

“I watch you all the time,” he said. “I try to make sure you don’t notice, stealing glances when you’re talking with one of the others. I don’t actually want to make you feel uncomfortable, like I am right now.”

I smiled then, but it was a nervous gesture, because his gaze wasn’t any less intent. His focus sharpened as my fingers went for what looked like an apple lattice danish, as if he was storing that knowledge away for later, then revising it when I finally settled on the apricot. He watched me pick it up, a feeling welling up in me like I was in my father’s court again, everyone’s eyes on me, although this had a different feel to it. Same intensity but with about ninety percent less judgement. I blinked as I raised the danish to my lips, smelling the buttery sweet pastry and tart apricots, right before I took a bite.

“Good girl.”

I hadn’t heard those words often, so perhaps that was why I flushed. Linnea or Father used them so sparingly, and only in response to things I hated, so in the past praise’d had little effect on me, but not this time. His voice was deep, resonant and felt like it vibrated all the way through me, creating a strange twin to the sensation I felt at the taste of the danish, the two things twining together to become greater than the sum of their parts. My eyes flicked up, meeting his for a moment and that felt somehow more insanely intimate than what had happened with Weyland, which made me feel oddly disloyal. But Dane just met my gaze head on, seeming to want it, to need my attention, until finally the moment faded away.

“Is this what it would be like?” I asked in a quiet voice, feeling a little as though I was seeking information about something I shouldn’t be interested in. “If I surrendered. I’d do what you wanted and you’d praise me?”

“You’d do all the things you dream about and are too scared to even think about when you’re awake,” he replied, long fingers going for the apple danish, something that created a momentary pang inside me, but I needn’t have worried. He held it out to my lips and I bit into it dutifully, but wasn’t this a different experience? Compliance earned me a super-sweet, yet tart, apple pastry that melted in my mouth, something that drew a little moan from me, which in turn made him smile. “I’d take away all those inhibitions and prohibitions swimming around in your head and free you.”

I saw a wolf in my head at the sound of his words, a wolf running across the plain, just her. Just me, rather, because this was the other side of my soul.

“I’d create a space where you could become everything and anything you wanted, just inside that room, where every single desire could be indulged without fear. Because I would have you, Darcy. You would need to trust me, but, together, I could make you fly.”

Then he pulled the apple danish away, taking his own bite and chewing it with methodical precision.

“But not yet. You’re not ready.”

“You all keep saying that,” I said, tossing my pastry down onto the paper. “I keep seeing glimpses of how things might be.” I paused then, feeling Weyland’s hand in my hair, Axe’s hands on my breasts and Gael standing there, wrapped only in a towel. “And then they get yanked away with a declaration that I’m not ready.”

I expected to get told to eat my breakfast, but Dane just chuckled.

“Then tell me you’re ready. We’ll skive off for the day, ride out to one of the smaller towns and find an inn with a warm fire and a big bed. Tell us you want to claim us as your mates. To say no to the offers the Maidens are dangling in front of you. To become our mate, our queen, as I know you were born to be. Everything we offer and more will be yours. You won’t be a maiden anymore. Perhaps our seed will take the first time and you’ll become—”

“Stop.”

I snapped my response, but I didn’t expect him to accede to it so quickly. He remained perfectly quiet with just that damnable cat-like smile on his face.

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