Page 19 of With Fangs and Claws (The Wolf Queen 1)

“You’re alright, unharmed. They didn’t…?” We both knew what he implied but didn’t dare say. “Your father’s been in the great hall drinking with the other knights, talking about what those beasts must be doing to you in return for the ore. It’s disgusting.”

My eyes widened as I saw Kris’ lips peel back from his teeth.

“I always knew your father… had his faults, but this?” He moved closer then, his eyes scanning my face, searching for evidence of harm. “To allow a good Granian woman to be sacrificed to those beasts, and not even with the sacrament of marriage to keep you safe.” He just stared. “Did they…?”

It took me a moment to answer but I shook my head slowly.

“I remain untouched.”

His arms went around me then, clasping me to his chest in a way I’d never felt. He wasn’t wearing armour now, so there was no metal barrier between us. Only Darcy and Kris. My arms took longer to go around him, feeling sure he’d be somehow snatched away at any second. But the embrace went on and on and as it did, my muscles unlocked. When I sagged against him, he held me closer, stroking my back, murmuring sweet things into my ears that I’d never heard him say before.

“You’re mine, my love, I see that now. I tried and tried to fight the pull, but we all know what happens when we seek to thwart the gods’ will.” He pulled back slightly, just enough that he could look down into my eyes. His fingers stroked my hair back from my face, traced the line of my cheek and then paused at my lips. “I’ve dreamed of you, Darcy, over and over and over. I’ve lain in bed late at night, sure I could feel your lips on mine, your body…”

Kris struck me completely dumb. Whenever we were in the same room, our eyes seemed to find each other’s. When training, he always came to my side to give me some tips. He was a constant presence when I went for rides, even sharing a few words with me, but I’d always assumed the feelings were one-sided. But to hear him speak so clearly about the very same passion that lurked in my heart? I wrapped my arms around his large frame, then pressed my cheek to his chest. He held me in what felt like an endless moment of peace before he finally spoke.

“Tales of old tell of knights saving fair maidens from unlawful marriages, and I am humbled to find myself in the same position. I know the others glory in what they assume will be their share of the king’s largesse, paid to your father once you are wed and the deal has been struck, but not I. I will stand against these creatures, be the man strong enough to save you from a fate worse than death and the gods shall reward me for it.”

I’d doubted Kris, I didn’t mind admitting. What he proposed… It was so far from my reality to seem laughable, but right now I was utterly caught up in his words. I could see it so clearly, the two of us living as husband and wife. We would spar, just like we always had, living the life of two equals on his small estate, buried in the country.

“So now that’s decided,” he said in a lower, huskier voice. “What should we do now?”

“Spar?” I suggested. “I’m wound so tight by everything that has happened I don’t think I could sleep without burning off some of this energy.”

He snorted in surprise but seemed to cover it quickly.

“Of course, my love, but be prepared to defend yourself.” He walked with me across the courtyard to the training grounds and then tossed me a wooden sword with edges blunt enough for practise fights. “I’ll not go easy on you. What we plan to do? It will require all of our strength and wiles to achieve.”

The word wiles triggered a memory in me, my head jerking up even as I raised my sword in a salute.

“The wargen didn’t touch me, but I did use their attraction to me as a means to glean information from them,” I said.

“Did you indeed? My clever girl. And what did these beasts have to say?”

“That they could take me home tomorrow if it suited me.” Kris growled in frustration at that. “But that they would stay here and work on the agreement with Father until they felt like I had accepted their bond.”

“Hmm…” Kris sliced another wooden sword experimentally through the air. “Then in theory, you could linger for some months here, though I’m sure your father wouldn’t stand for that. But that information is useful. You must string the beasts along, make them think you are teetering on the edge of accepting them, but always holding off. This will give your father hope and keep the beasts from claiming you, and all the while we will be formulating a plan. Ready?”

I grinned then, raising my sword.

“Always.”

---