Chapter 0005

Raven

I only realized what I had done once that voice growled in my ear.

“Have you gone mad?”

Blinking, I returned to full consciousness and looked around dazedly. The memories of the day instantly came rushing back, and I realized where I was—not in the helicopter, but a bedroom in the Lycan castle.

Not that it was much of a comfort. I still wished I was home instead.

Neil clicked his tongue and lowered his hand now that I had stopped screaming.

“I… I thought I was in the helicopter again,” I said, glancing over at the window. The wind had died down somewhat, although the shutters were still banging against the wall. In my half-asleep state, it had truly sounded like whirring helicopter blades and booming thunder.

With a shake of his head, Neil released me and walked over to the torch on the wall, relighting it with his own. The room turned golden again as the torch flickered to life, and I finally felt like I could breathe.

“Regardless, you should have considered the consequences before doing something like…”

His voice trailed off as he turned to face me. If I hadn’t known better, I would have said that the Lycan prince even… blushed a little.

It hit me, then, that I was still wearing that nightgown—and my body was on full display beneath the sheer fabric. All of it, too. I hadn’t been able to find a clean bra or panties.

Blushing as well, I quickly ran over to the bed and grabbed one of the furry throw blankets, which I wrapped around my body.

“Pig,” I spat out.

Neil’s expression hardened and he pulled his shoulders back, very much in the same way he had when I had insulted him earlier. “I’ll have you know that I am betrothed,” he said, turning away. “So I am not interested in you. And I still intend to reject you once your wolf is strong enough to handle it.”

I couldn’t help the way my eyes widened slightly in response to that. My mate was…

Snap out of it, Raven, I told myself. I shouldn’t care—didn’t want to care—that he was engaged. All the better, honestly; it would just make our eventual separation that much easier. My response was nothing more than instinct, an echo of my wolf’s jealousy, that’s all.

“Someone might come looking now,” Neil continued, glancing out the window at the darkness below. I tried not to stare at the hard planes of his back, tanned skin almost glistening in the torchlight, as he did.

“I’m sorry,” I said, looking away. “I woke up and just acted on instinct.”

Neil huffed. “Well, then maybe you need to learn to control your instinct. Damn lazy Werewolves…”

“Hey!” I said, placing my hands on my hips, only for the blanket to slip. I blushed even deeper and quickly tugged it back around myself. “You know, you leave a lot to be desired around here, too. Like your ice cold baths.”

The Lycan prince raised an eyebrow at that. “You bathed?”

Resisting the urge to comment on why it seemed so surprising that I’d washed myself, I said, “Yes. And the water was freezing cold.”

He snorted. “Cold baths are good for the system.”

“Not mine,” I said, jutting my chin out. “I need warmth before bed. Maybe I wouldn’t have had that nightmare if I hadn’t shocked my system right before sleep. I’d appreciate it if you could at least tell me how to heat the water myself.”

“You act as if you are the new princess around here,” Neil retorted, “making demands.”

Before I could respond to that jibe, the sound of jangling keys and footsteps sounded down the hallway. Neil cursed under his breath and moved in front of me. “I told you someone would come thanks to your screaming.”

“So tell them to leave,” I said, shooting him an incredulous look. “You are a prince, aren’t you?”

He frowned. “It’s not that simple. Your idea of privacy is… not the same as here. And it is a little more complicated when your eldest brother is the one who is in charge of security.”

My eyebrows shot up at that. I knew that there were three Lycan princes, but seeing the way his lip curled and his nose wrinkled ever so slightly at the mention of his brother… Maybe there was more competition amongst them than it seemed.

Suddenly, before either of us could move an inch, the door banged open. I jumped, grabbing Neil’s bare arm on instinct. His muscles tightened under my touch, but he didn’t pull away.

A moment later, a tall form—so tall he had to duck a little to get through the doorway—stepped into the room.

“What is going on here?”

The man that stood before me looked so much like Neil, and yet so different; he was larger in stature, impossibly muscular, with a hard jaw and steel eyes.

His jet black hair fell sharply to his shoulders, a tanned leather uniform barely fitting over the taut muscles of his body. I suppressed a shudder at the thought of that beast coming after me if I had tried to run earlier.

“Caleb,” Neil said, holding his chin high. “Why did you come here?”

The prince, Caleb, looked around for a moment before his steely eyes landed on me. His nostrils flared as he sniffed the air, and I held my breath, wondering if he noticed my Werewolf scent.

But surprisingly, he didn’t seem to pick up on it. Perhaps my wolf’s weakness had one benefit—no smell. Or maybe the soap I’d used earlier had stripped more than just the stench of the ocean from my skin.

“I heard screaming,” Caleb said, still staring at me. “A woman’s screaming. And ironically, I heard a rumor that you brought a female guest into the castle today without registering her. Is this her?”

As the tall prince stared at me, I felt myself shrink beneath his gaze. Normally, I refused to let myself be cowed by men—particularly ones like this with big egos. I’d had enough of that sort of thing during my early days as a model, and I had made it too far in life to let myself be bullied anymore.

But something about this man in particular made me cower. Maybe it was his sheer size or the sharp sword at his hip or his striking eyes. Whatever it was, I even felt my wolf’s presence diminish a little more, as if she too were trying to hide from him.

And when his eyes flickered down to my bare body, I realized that I had dropped my blanket in shock—leaving me fully exposed beneath that damn nightgown.

Gasping, I moved to grab the blanket again. But before I could, Neil wrapped his arm around my waist and tugged me close against his warm body, pulling his shoulders back one more time, and one side of his mouth lifted in…

A smirk.

“Next time, you really shouldn’t scream so loudly when you’re climaxing, my love,” Neil said, to which I felt my face turn red hot. Climaxing?! “And as for you, Caleb…”

He turned to his brother then and clicked his tongue.

“Can’t you see I am trying to be intimate with my fianceé? You really have no tact, brother…”