Page 83 of The Wolf Queen

He knew exactly what he was doing, taking fate, destiny, the war off the table and putting the choice back in my hands. I stared down at mine, saw the scarred fingers, the calluses and then clenched them tight, right before I walked over to the bed and lay down on its surface.

Chapter48

Was Bryson as nervous as me? I scanned him as he approached the bed, but Dane stopped him.

“You don’t know Darcy. You’ll need to listen to me. You want her to be your anchor when you use your power? I’ll be yours now.”

Bryson looked down at my mate’s hand on his chest.

“I don’t know any women.” There was something so very plain about his admission, as if it hurt for him to do so. “I didn’t dare…”

“None?” Weyland’s brow creased.

“Not such an impossible thing, when you know where your heart lies,” Gael said, shooting his brother a dark look. But he turned to Bryson and nodded. “You waited for her.”

“I knew…” Bryson hissed and then pressed past Dane’s hand and walked over to the bed. “My mother and I theorised that Darcy was my fated mate. She had to be. My father and hers worked so hard to keep us apart, but… The king thought he could break that need, dilute it with other women. He pushed them towards me, slipped some into my bedchamber at night.”

I jerked up and off the bed, a growl in my throat, and where the hell had that come from?

“But I sent each one packing, some with gold in their pocket, to ensure they circulated rumours about our night together.” Bryson shook his head. “Ones that weren’t true.”

“So you do need our help then.” Axe settled down on the bed beside me, wrapping his arm around my shoulders before pulling me towards him. He kissed me with a smile. “The first time I was with a woman it was a bloody shambles.”

“Over in less time it took to get your boots off,” Weyland drawled. “Barely worth the effort.”

“I’m fairly sure you cried after your first time,” Axe shot back.

“Tears of joy, just like the girl did.” Weyland’s smirk widened.

“So what, you want to school me through this?” Some of the regal air came back into Bryson’s voice. “Just because I’m untried, it doesn’t mean I’m unknowledgeable.” He stared down at me. “I’ve thought of this moment so very often.”

I wondered then, what it would’ve been like, if a young stripling prince had visited a wild Lady Darcy back at my father’s keep. Would Linnea have knocked my sword from my hand, hissing to me about all the ways I dishonoured her and Father, right as my gaze locked with Bryson’s. Would we have taken stumbling steps towards each other, despite what our fathers had to say? It didn’t matter, neither man was here right now.

Just us.

I reached out then and all the chatter in the room seemed to fade away when Bryson’s fingers touched mine.

“I thought Rake was an arrogant idiot,” I told him in a low voice.

“I was baiting you,” he said with a smile. “I needed to know what kind of woman you were.”

“And what am I, King of Grania?” I asked as he bent his head down.

“My queen…”

Each one of my mates gave me that title with such reverence, it made sense he would do the same. I watched his brows crease, his lips part right before he darted close.

His mouth on mine, his lips parting and mine doing the same. My hand went to his hair when he went to pull back and I held him right where he was. Bryson made a low noise of appreciation in the back of his throat, right before going back for more. One kiss bled into the other, layering themselves on top of each other until my mouth stung and my body craved more, but Axe had something to say.

“You’re getting lost in her, aren’t you?” Bryson pulled back for just a second, eyeing the other man that lay beside us. “It’s what made me confident I could survive battle fever. If I could come up for air after diving deep in her, no fight could take me away from myself. Because I always feel Darcy.” I tilted my head towards him, like a flower following the sun. “My true north.”

“Axe—” I breathed out his name, ready to say something, anything, but he kissed me long and hard, then directed me back to Bryson.

“The boy is barely holding on by a thread,” Axe told me.

“Boy…” Bryson growled, his eyes flashing bright.

“Have pity on him,” I was instructed. “I know what it’s like to want something so bad you can almost taste it.” Axe nodded at Bryson. “Makes him seem a lot more palatable than before.”

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