*Ella*
I shove Ryatt away from me, putting several feet of distance between us. I can still feel his touch on my chin from when he’d inspected the bruising on my cheeks. I realize with a start it had been only the second time we’d ever touched, the first being when I placed my hand in his hand when he’d come to take me home, to take me here.
Now, I’ve shoved him. That’s the third time we’ve touched. Maybe, hopefully, the last. At least, I tell myself that. Seeing him in the flesh is incredibly unnerving. The sharp angles of his devastatingly handsome face draw me in, and those eyes? They’re magnetic.
But being drop dead gorgeous only gets you so far in life. “I told you to stay away from me.”
One dark brow arches, and his eyes narrow with obvious frustration. “You said, ‘Don’t come for me.’ What makes you think I’m here for you, Princess?”
I bite the inside of my cheek. “Why else would you be here? I didn’t need your help with anything.”
“Oh, really?” He looks down at the pile of ashes between us, all that’s left of the Magpie. His eyes meet mine again, gleaming a very male, very smug expression dancing behind them. “I see. I apologize for ruining your little game and saving you from a life of explicit servitude.”
“Don’t mock me–”
“Where is Princess Amanda of Granite Rise?” he asks, cutting me off. He towers over me, casting me in his shadow. His hair is damp from the rain, causing his black curls to stick to his forehead. Rain slides down the black leather armor he’s wearing, making it glisten in the gray light coming from the opening above our heads. He crosses his arms over his chest, waiting for my answer.
“I know as much as you do,” I tell him, shrugging. “He mentioned taking her to a breeder auction, and I think he might have done it if she’s not here.” I look up at the opening. The sky is starting to darken, night creeping in through the already dark gray clouds. “He has men around, warriors–”
“He had men around, yes. Not anymore.”
“Well, then you’ve taken care of my issue,” I say tartly, wiping my clammy hands on my filthy, wet pants. “Goodbye, then.”
“Ella–”
“Do not call me that,” I snap, glaring at him. It’s a look that makes most, if not all, pompous, arrogant men I encounter cower, but Ryatt only seems amused.
“What am I supposed to call you, then? Her Royal Highness Princess Ella of Crescent Falls?”
“You won’t be calling me anything, because this–” I hiss, motioning at the air between us, “isn’t happening.”
He takes another step toward me, a brow lifted in challenge.
“Did you not just hear me?” I ball my hands into fists, my wrists raw from wearing iron bindings for the last several hours.
“I heard you,” he says, his tone totally void of emotion. “I don’t want you either, your royal highness. If it had been up to me, I would have had literally anyone else over you.”
His words sting but only add fuel to the fire now prickling to life in my chest. He takes another step, walking right through the ashes of the Magpie.
“If you come any closer, I’ll use my powers.”
“Oh, I’d love to see you try,” he growls, but his voice is heavy and slightly seductive, and to great disappointment, my body responds, and a blush ignites over my cheeks. He smiles–a boyish, tilted smile that only lifts one side of his mouth. He takes one last step, effectively closing the distance between us, and I bolt.
I barely make it halfway up the stairs before his arm comes around my waist, and he lifts me up and hauls me over his shoulders. I screech, kicking him soundly in the stomach with the toes of my boots, but it’s like kicking a stone wall. Punching him repeatedly in the back doesn’t have the desired effect I’m looking for, either.
He reaches the top of the stairs, and I look up only briefly to get an idea of my surroundings for when I inevitably get free of him and make a run for it. Trees. Nothing but trees. A small, dilapidated cottage built in an overgrown clearing adjacent to a dirt road.
A road. I haven’t seen one of those yet. Do they have cars here? Or does everyone just run amuck in their wolf forms?
I kick him again, narrowly missing his groin.
Male chatter comes from within the cottage. He’s walking me toward it now. I know if he gets me inside, he’ll have backup, and my chances of escaping him and finding not only Amanda, but Hannah, on my own are over.
I thrust my elbow into the side of his head and make a grab for his sword hilt with the other. My fingers curl over the intricate hilt covered in jewels, and the sword seems to sing to me as I start to pull it from its sheath. He tightens his grip on my legs, saying in warning, “I wouldn’t do that.”
“Let go of me, you bastard!”
All of my strength is dedicated to pulling the sword free, but it’s incredibly heavy. I was never taught to fight with a sword. The only time I ever saw one in action was during the war, when it became clear our enemy–Eastonia–wasn’t fighting fair. What are wolves compared to demons of mist?
I give up, my arms trembling, and go back to trying to squirm out of his grasp. I lift up off his shoulder and pull his hair, forcing his neck back. He bends at the knees so suddenly I nearly lose my balance, and suddenly, I’m on the ground beneath him, his hand pinning my wrists above my head.
He leans down so we’re nose to nose. “I’m trying to help you.”
“Get off of me, you fucking brute!”
I bare my teeth at him.
“Make me,” he says, his voice dripping with challenge. “Use those powers, Ella.”
I’m not supposed to. Amanda told me not to. I had used them down in the cellar and disintegrated the Magpie’s hand before I realized what was happening.
I hesitate; the idea of turning Ryatt into a pile of embers is something that pains me despite how much I hate him and this situation we’re in.
“Are you done now?” he asks after a long moment.
Rain pelts my face, heavy and ice cold. I say nothing, but continue to look him in the eyes as he keeps me pinned to the wet ground.
“I’m not going to hurt you.”
“Why am I here?” My voice breaks over the words, every suppressed feeling and thought rushing back to me. I feel like I’m about to burst into tears.
Ryatt sighs heavily and rises up on his knees. He looks down at me, his eyes grazing over the curve of my jaw, my neck, like he’s taking me in for the first time. “You know why.”
I’m not sure why I even asked him. Of course, I know why. I spent months debating my options knowing his father would come for me, destroying my kingdom in the process.
Ryatt stands and offers me his hand. I ignore him and struggle to my feet, wet to the bone and falling to pieces. I can’t let him see that. I’m sure he can feel it, though, through that strange bond we share.
“I need to find Hannah,” I say.
He watches me as I reach up to brush my wet hair away from my face and neck and begin to braid it again. “Your maid,” he says, his eyes locked on my fingers, “Something happened to her, didn’t it?”
My nostrils flare as I dare a glance at him before looking back down at my boots. “She won’t wake up. That’s all I know.”
“That’s why you were going to the Moonrise Coven?”
I meet his eyes, holding his gaze. “How did you know about that?”
“The Alpha of Granite Rise had scouts track your group. They found the place where you were attacked by the Magpie and his men. The other women in your party are going to the coven, aren’t they?”
“I hope so.”
“It was foolish of you to try to do this on your own–”
“I wasn’t alone!” Each word is clipped as I snarl at him. “And what do you care? What was your plan for me, anyway? Keep me locked up? Use me like a weapon just like your father–”
He steps into me, taking me by the shoulders. His closeness is suddenly overwhelming, his forest-rich scent blurring my senses. “I brought you here because you called out for me, Ella. That’s all.”
I close my eyes as he pulls away, his hatred clear in every word. He turns, giving me his back, and says, “You wanted to protect your kingdom. This was the only way. Now you're here and being hunted. As your mate, I’m obligated to ensure your safety.”
“You don’t owe me anything.”
He takes a few steps toward the cottage before stopping and looking over his shoulder. “I can’t allow you to fall into the wrong hands. You’re right. You’re a weapon.” He walks away, disappearing into the Magpie’s cottage.
I stand in the rain, sniffling. My heart cracks into pieces I’m not sure I have the ability to mend. I was a burden back home, and I’m a burden here.
I look over my shoulder at the forest then back at the cottage. Ryatt is standing in the doorway talking to his Beta, I believe. I recognize the tall, blond man from the war. I take a few steps toward the men, and they both stop speaking and turn to look at me.
I stop walking, the rain pummeling the top of my head as I meet Ryatt’s eyes. “I need help finding my friends,” I say, wobbling over the next words, “I need to find a way to get Hannah back to her own kingdom.”
“Why do you think I’m here now, Ella?” he asks and then shakes his head and motions for the blond man to follow him inside the cottage, leaving me out in the rain without another word.
I wipe water from my face and take a deep, restorative breath before walking forward, my shoulders squared. I push open the door to the cottage and stop in the doorway, my eyes going wide as a half dozen men suddenly rise from the chairs they’re sitting on or straightening up from the counters and tables they’re leaning against. Several dead wolves are scattered throughout the room, but none of the living men seem affected by it in the slightest.
“Everyone,” Ryatt says, “This is Ella, my mate, and your Luna. You’re to protect her with your lives.”
My breath catches in my throat as the men bow or bob their heads at me.
Who the hell said anything about being his Luna?