And the pack wouldn’t have to hear from the new queen herself that I’m a rogue. What would a lion know or care about my running? She wouldn’t be with us. She couldn’t tell the tale. My father must have considered this. No one would know about our failing lineage.
“What is it?” I ask, curious. “The Lion custom.”
“You’d have to face their king.”
“Oh...”
Emilie shifts, and I just now remember she’s in the room. Her anger is palpable. The incredulous look on her face is clear. She’s about to lose her chance of helping her village. Of giving her sisters a place to live. “But you can’t just---I mean the wolves won’t even---this is preposterous!”
The room is silent. My mother’s still trying to catch her breath.
“Emilie,” I say, decided. “You and your sisters can stay here as long as you need.”
My mother closes her eyes in relief.
I sigh. “I’ll do it,” I say to my father. “I’ll marry the lion.”
Chapter 10
Liana
Customs be damned. I won’t permit my father to disgrace the wolf I nearly killed. If he is to be my husband, then I can’t permit my pride to see him for his weaknesses.
My father, a prideful king, will surely expose them all and I will be nothing more than the princess to a prince who doesn’t deserve the title. Worse than Lia or Calla, for at least their husband is bold and capable in battle.
My heart aches for everything I’ve lost, everything I took for granted. The love I almost had. The high rank I’d been promised since cubhood. Now, my name and reputation will be tainted because of the wolf whose cowardice I despise.
Power and strength, that is the lion’s honor. This wolf, Noble, has neither. If he did, he wouldn’t have been prowling around our realm like some… rogue! And he surely wouldn’t have shown such hesitance. He wouldn’t have wavered away from the fight. As if he were meek, rather than the mightiness I felt beneath his strong build.
Instead of relying on our conventional traditions and waiting for the wolf prince to arrive to Summer in five days’ time, I steal into the night, charging through the woods and across realms in my most natural form as a lion, until I reach Winter. I smell the muskiness of their realm before I see it and while it isn’t altogether unpleasant, it’s a scent I’m unaccustomed to. One I’d rather turn my nose away from than move forward.
But move forward I do. So distracted by the new scent, I trot through the forest until I stumble, rather ungracefully, over a large mass lying on the damp ground. The familiar scent of the wolf hits my nostrils and I breathe him in, needing to know my future husband as well as I know the man I’m no longer destined for.
His ears pull back, his eyes narrowing as he snarls in my direction. I let out my own growl, low and warning. He stands, his full height again taking me aback. We circle one another, my prowl graceful, opposed to the slight limp in his gait.
Not wanting to quarrel further, I retreat and sit on my haunches. Although patience isn’t a virtue I possess, I wait for recognition to cross behind those dark, stormy eyes that have tormented me since the day we crossed paths by the river. I angle my face to the side, try to remain passive while keeping a steady gaze on him, observing him as nothing more than my opponent.
His tail drops, pointing straight down as it switches lightly in a wag.
He shudders, his ebony coat trembling with the gesture as his lean muscles constrict. On a yawn, he transforms into human form. Curious, I peer up at him, assess him for the damages I’ve caused, for the strength I sense brewing beneath the surface.
“Well?” He gestures with an impatient wave of his hand. He settles in his form as a human man and I take some pride when he doesn’t shrink away when I stalk around him. “Are you going to change, Lion? Or have you come to admire your future husband?” His mouth bows upward in a tight smirk.
Apparently not shy of his sculptured physique, he splays his large hands on either side of his hips. Veins slope up his arms, the sinewy muscles moving as I admire him as a man. He’s brawny, as well built as the wolf, with wounds still healing from our encounter. Not ready to question him about it, about the reluctance I felt in our brawl, I lick my lips, my eyes darting away from him only to find amusement playing across his face when I look back at him.
“Don’t tell me, my bride is shy?” He laughs.
Narrowing my eyes, I also change. Back in human form, I’m more self-conscious but I hold my posture upright when his stare sweeps over my bare body. My chest heaves, my breasts growing heavy under the weight of his stare. I turn in front of him, a small circle as I let him have his fill, pretending I don’t mind the vulnerability of being naked before him.
“Are we done now?” I question with a melodic lilt to my voice.
“I don’t even know where to start,” he answers, his voice hoarse. “You came to me, Lion. What is it you want at such a late hour?”
“My name’s Liana. You may call me that or my lady. The choice is yours, Noble, but I demand you treat me as your equal.”
Dark, bushy brows shoot to his hairline and the corners of his lips twitch. “Very well then.”
“Very well then, what?” I demand. “Which will it be?”
“If I’m given the option, I’d like to call you Liana in private and my lady in public. So, that I may treat you with the respect you deserve.”
I curtsy, a deep bend of my knees as I bow my head down, showing him the same respect. “My thanks, Your Grace.”
“Your Grace in public,” he corrects. “As your husband, I ask you call me Noble when it is just us two.”
“Very well, then,” I mime.
Humor dances behind his eyes with a glint of mischievousness, mesmerizing me for a moment before I remember what I’m here for.
“You’re to fight my father for my hand,” I say, my voice steady, my nerves quaking. A small tick makes his jaw twitch as his features darken, but I continue. “You’ll lose if you don’t grow more confident. I’m sure from looking at you, strength isn’t against you.”
“And do you fear for my life, Liana?” His lips lift into half a smile that I can’t help but return. “If I remember correctly, it’s you who almost took my life two weeks ago.”
The smile falls, wiping itself from existence as my lips pull down into a frown. “You were spying on me, watching me bathe. When I saw you, you growled at me.” I poke his chest with a firm finger, and must hit a particularly sore spot that makes him flinch slightly. So slightly I might’ve missed it if I weren’t trained to notice these things. “What was I to do? Let some rogue wolf attack me?”
“Don’t do that.” He grabs my wrist, wrapping his fingers tightly around it. “Don’t call me a rogue wolf. I’m a wolf.”
“A wolf that can change when there is no full moon.” I tilt my chin skyward.