Prologue

"I only have one question for you," the man in front of me says, pacing the floor more slowly. "Why are you in my forest?"

The sound of his boots scraping the rough wooden floor grates my ears, but I force myself to look him straight in the eye and say, "It's not your forest. It's not your land."

He laughs, a deep, rumbling sound that doesn't quite match his long and lean frame. "But it is. You just have no idea, princess."

Princess. His words, as well as the mocking tone that he carried with his voice, hit me like a punch in the gut. For a second I wonder if he knows who I am, what I am. The thought of it frightens me. 

I try to get up from my chair, but the ropes around my body hold me in place, bound by my wrists and ankles. The knots are digging into my skin, leaving red spots that sting worse the more I move.

"Let me go," I say through gritted teeth. "I didn't do anything wrong!"

"Oh, didn't you now," he mutters. 

At once, he stops pacing and stands before me, drawing himself to his full height.

Only now does it occur to me how larger he is than me, just how threatening. However, he has an air to him that's calling to a different side of my emotions. He scares me, yes, but at the same time, I can't look away from him. Something about him is pulling me in. His black coat is extending before my very eyes like a wall of shadows, and I find myself mesmerized.

The longer I look at him, the more I get the impression that he can sense my fear and my strange fascination. 

And he likes it.

As though to prove this, he smiles. Slow and taunting. His teeth are white and even, except for his canines, which are noticeably long and pointy.

"I was lost." I swallow hard. "I swear, I did nothing wrong and I. . . ."

I trail off as he leans over to me. Our faces are now only a few inches apart. His breath is warm and gentle on my lips. Still, he continues to close the distance between us until I have nowhere to look at but his eyes, and I can’t avert my gaze. Gray, his irises, pale and cunning. Like thin rain clouds brewing into a storm. Like the moon in an inky black sky. 

"Nothing wrong?" he repeats, his hand closing around the backrest of my chair and pulling me even closer. "Don't worry, I'll give you one chance to prove it to me."

My heart races faster. "And how can I do that?" 

The man lowers his hand, smirks, and hooks his finger on the neckline of my dress, his fingertip grazing the skin of my chest. "I think you know how."