Page 3 of With Fangs and Claws (The Wolf Queen 1)

A thudding sound interrupted me. I’d slipped away from the castle before the sun rose, managing to get into the stables to coax Arden out before putting on his saddle and bridle myself. But by now, people would have missed me and, if the sound of thundering hooves was anything to go by, they’d found me.

“I wouldn’t dream of it,” Dane said with a slow smile, then he touched his finger to his forehead and performed a strange little bow, as did the other three. I didn’t bother to interrogate it further, chancing releasing my bow and slinging it over my shoulder before giving Arden his head.

Elverston warhorses were raised in herds. It was a controversial practise, allowing so many intact male animals together, but we found that they soon established a pecking order with teeth and hooves, one that the lot of them would fight hard to protect. Arden’s ears pricked at the sound of other horses and when I kicked him into a canter, he took off gladly, striding across the moors towards a cluster of knights.

Afterwards I would be reprimanded severely. I could hear their voices in my head. What if it had been wargen that had found me? What if it had been another lords’ knights out on patrol? Not all of the lords of Grania kept their men to the same standards of chivalry that Father did. But as we galloped closer, I saw a familiar blond head amongst the host, and it was Kris who brought his horse abreast of mine.

“Darcy!”

My heart swelled at the sound of my name on his lips.

“Kris!”

My knight was off his horse in one moment, his arms raised to help me down in the next. I rushed into his embrace, welcoming even the cold press of his armour against my skin. But there was no time for hugs, apparently. His hands went to my face, searching it for evidence of harm. When he didn’t find any there, he held me at arm’s length and inspected the rest of me.

I stared up at him. His was a face that would provoke a thousand ladies’ swoons. That strong jaw, those full lips, that sweep of blond hair that had other women comparing the colour to that of sunlit days and golden wheat. But there was nothing soft or gentle in his deep brown eyes right now. I knew it was his affection for me that had him searching my face so closely, but the anger banked there frankly scared me.

“Darcy.” I forced myself to hold my ground as he took in the state of my hands and my dress. “What in the name of the gods?”

“I had a small accident, Kris,” I said. “I wanted to go out hunting for deer.”

“And so you took it upon yourself to go, no matter what your father had to say about it?”

His tone was respectful, polite, but that cool edge cut deeper than my knife had. I shivered then, a cold settling over me now my heart rate was beginning to slow.

“Milord, we should return the Lady Darcy to the keep,” one of the knights said, edging his horse closer.

“She rides with me,” Kris insisted. “She’s exhausted, and gods know what she’s done to her hands. Take her bow and quiver. I’ll have to get her to Lady Linnea before the duke catches sight of her. He’ll have us all whipped if he finds out what she’s been up to, Nordred especially for filling her head with such notions.”

And at that, I was boosted up onto the much taller horse’s saddle, Breaker dancing at the feel of an unfamiliar rider on his back. My Arden moved forward, nuzzling at Breaker’s muzzle to settle him before Kris hoisted himself up behind me.

I might have been a duke’s daughter, but I knew I was going to catch it when we returned home. The early morning ride, the bloodied dress, were evidence enough, but then there was this. A lady didn’t ride astride. A lady demonstrated her competency in archery on tourney days only, when a banquet was held for the goddess, Hrist, she of the bow. A lady certainly didn’t travel across the moors unescorted and unchaperoned, hunting deer. And I’d committed every single one of those sins.

“Kris—” I began to say once he’d reached forward, gripping the reins, his body pressed against mine.

“When we’re back at the keep, Darcy,” he said in a terse voice before nudging his horse into a trot.

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