So, I won’t tell them of my plans to challenge Liana’s father.
We fight as a pack. Die as a pack.
This would never be approved of. They’d lock me in the dungeon before they’d allow it. But they’ve not seen Liana’s expectant glimmer in her eyes. They’ve never even been around a lioness, not like this one.
It has a way of changing a man…wolf.
And besides, they don’t know the real difference here. I’m a rogue.
Maybe it’s time I should embrace the lore. Perhaps my battles were always meant to be won or lost in solitude. That must be my fate.
I finish fixing my cravat and despite the wounds, I stand tall and leave my rooms for the great hall.
There is energy once again in my stride. I face certain doubt within my people, but I can’t seem to feel down about it. No, I actually smile a wolf’s smile, a toothy grin, all the while glowing inside because the flame I’ve found, is one I plan to keep. And if I have my way, it will be that same fire in woman form that warms me on cold winter nights from here on out.
Liana…
Even her name makes every risk make sense, somehow.
I’m not stupid enough to think it love…no, ‘tis lust I feel rushing my blood into the places that are least necessary.
Chapter 12
Liana
Foolish dreams made for a restless night where I fantasized about a certain wolf with eyes as vivacious as they are perfect. They’re like a beacon of smoldering gray that stands out in a sea of the light eyes I’ve seen my whole existence. Noble’s eyes, they shine, they glimmer. They do all those silly things females ramble about.
What draws my attention most though, is the way they change color. One minute they’re gray and the next they’re any icy blue that rivals the clearest of skies. They bore into me, melting me so I’m nothing more than a puddle on the floor. They should be outlawed.
Thumping my head on the cool grass beneath me, I roll my eyes at my suddenly romantic mind that now wants to spew stupid words about beautiful men. It’s so cliché. So juvenile. So unlike me.
But even now at midday, lazing beneath the canopy of my favorite tree, I think about those eyes, the eyes that flickered, perhaps even twinkled at me. Eyes I dreamt about into the long hours of the night. Eyes, so raw and true, that promise an endless possibility away from the alluring oaths I thought I was destined for.
I’m trapped between last night and the lengthy days before I can see him again. Unless he comes to me again in the form of a delicious dream.
It startles me how much I want to see him, if even in my imagination. The dips and curves of his body. The easy smile that shoots static electricity sizzling through the air and zests into me like a flash of lightning.
My betrothal to him is a certain type of hell with redemption only a step in his direction and into his strong arms. My marriage to him is almost like heaven, where I will be free from other wives and able to run wild and fast with the pack that will be my family.
And love? Just as I can’t control the sudden gust of wind, spiraling and whirling around me, I can’t force love to grow between us. But I can hope. Lost in thought, I dip my face upward, listening to the promise behind the low hum of the breeze.
“When did you plan on telling me?” Crede’s tempered voice slices into the silence.
I sit up, leaning against the rough bark of the tree. “I’m to be married, Crede. I no longer have to answer to you.”
“That may be, Liana, but we’re still friends.” His words come out broken, as if it wounded him to even speak them. “I’d have liked to hear it from you that we were no longer betrothed to one another. That you were no longer my beloved.” Hard, he swallows the words down as if it brings him nothing but agony.
My rigid shoulders crumble and on tired legs I stand to hug him. The man I’ve shared my heart and body with. His arms fold around me, his embrace regretful and forgiving.
“I didn’t know how to tell you,” I mumble.
Seeking comfort, I dig my face into his chest and clench my hands into fists around his shirt. Comfort from the pain and uncertainty of losing my destiny. Comfort from the desire I find in my new destiny. Comfort from the brewing passion for the man and the wolf that makes my heart stutter within the confines of its cage.
“It’ll be okay,” he whispers in my ear.
I shiver and although he holds me closer to him, this time the shiver isn’t out of want, but because Crede’s breath on my skin, the intimacy of his embrace makes me anxious.
“I’ll find a way to get you home. I’m not giving up on us.”
Stepping back, I peer into his eyes. Eyes so unlike Noble’s, they rival one another. Crede’s brims with hard confidence, an incomparable golden hue that steels into our pride as if every member were after his throne. Noble’s are softer, more settled, a gift of peace he grants me with each lingering gaze as they tremble with a worry I’m yet to know.
“I’ll come back to you,” I promise him. “In another lifetime. Not this one, Crede.”
He shakes his head, his shoulders resolute in his decision. His hands grip around my wrist, much like Noble did last night and I neither feel the power of his hold or the warmth of his skin on mine. “I’ll challenge your father, our King. When I win…”
“Crede.” I sigh.
“You’ll sit by my side as my queen,” he continues as if I hadn’t spoken.
Taking his face with my hands, I bow him to me and press my lips on his temple. I brush my fingers through his hair. He rumbles a soft sound that once made me weak with need. When he nips my neck, I inch away. He lets me, a dark expression marring his features.
“You are my love for another lifetime,” I reassure him. “My marriage to the wolf will unify our realms, make our pride stronger. Two kingdoms will be better because of this.”
“Then you’ve already decided?” He leans into me, his face inclined as he sniffs me. “I wonder, Liana, if this is a sacrifice for our pride or something you’re willingly being led to.”
I push him away from me, taking several large steps backward to put distance between us. “Does it matter?”
“Yes.” His grave tone hits me like a sledgehammer and I wobble on my feet.
“I have to marry Noble. The king and queen demand it.” Putting a calming hand on his arm, I squeeze and whisper, “My mother and father ask it of me. For the pride.”
“For the pride.” He scoffs, a bitter sound that makes the hair on the nape of my neck rise.
Stepping into me, he invades any distance I wanted to put between us. I take in his scent - ferocity, affection, and possessiveness tangling with the other. It makes my head swim, my senses heighten. He digs his fingers into my long hair and pulls back. Teeth graze over my neck and when he bites, I gasp.
“A mark for the wolf to find.” Crede’s voice pulsates in the air, darkening the space around us.