29

The man went limp. The king tossed him aside like cleaned chicken bones. The body hit the stone floor with a sick thump, and the king didn’t even grant him a second look. He nodded at two nearby servants, who quickly shifted into small brown wolves. They trotted forward and dragged the corpse out of the ballroom. Every hair on my body was standing on end, and my heart raced.

When I finally tore my eyes away, the king was staring at me.

This wasn’t the curious look I’d felt at dinner, or the amused gaze when I’d spoken with some rudeness. I’d seen his eyes flash gold before, but never so completely. This wasn’t the man looking at me—this was the wolf.

I felt the shift before it happened.

The air in the room crackled with energy. My wolf whined in my chest, and my nape ached. I felt frozen in place, pinned by his gaze.

Then, like a rippling wave, he shifted. He didn’t wear the moonstone rings like the servants did— as his wolf rushed forward, his fine clothes ripped at the seams, falling like autumn leaves. His immense paws hit the stone floor almost soundlessly, and he jerked up and down like he was shaking water from his inky-dark pelt. I’d never seen a wolf so dark. There was no brown in his fur at all, it was all rich black, so deep it looked almost purple in the low light, not dissimilar from the colors of the Nightfall crest. He was the biggest wolf I’d ever seen, bear-like in his immensity, muscles shifting with every breath.

The wolf stalked toward me, his tail low and ears pricked forward.

Fina and Adora took a step back. But me? I couldn’t move.

Then the wolf growled. The sound was so low and so loud it seemed to vibrate into my very bones. I couldn’t help it—I whimpered quietly, lower lip quivering. My wolf whined in my chest, begging me to let her out—to shift, and cower, and show submission in my wolf form. I could feel the desire tugging at me, burning behind my eyes. As much as my wolf wanted to appease the king, I wasn’t going to shift. Not here—not in front of all these strangers. I shifted so rarely, only when I absolutely had to, when I’d skipped too many moon-shifts that I started to get sick. That wasn’t going to change now. My instincts were going crazy. I had no idea what would happen if I did shift.

The king’s wolf was so big that he was nearly as tall as I was standing up straight in human form. He stalked closer until I could feel the rough, hard exhale of each breath through his nose, and smell the wild animal scent of his pelt. My wolf whined again. She wanted to be free so badly—she wanted to make this right, to connect.

His golden eyes bored into me. His jaw dropped open, revealing his sharp teeth. He wasn’t snarling, but such an expression didn’t seem far off.

Even in his wolf form, I wasn’t getting any more answers. He was just looking at me. What did he want?

A brusque laugh cut through the silence of the room. Rona was doing a terrible job of hiding her smile behind her hand, watching this encounter like it was the funniest thing she’d ever seen in her life. The sound caught the king’s attention, too, and he swiveled his head, peering over his shoulder to find the source. This close I could reach out and bury my hands in the thick fur of his hackles or run my finger down the velvety-looking fur of his big, pointed ear.

I could. I wouldn’t—but I could.

Rona didn’t seem to capture the king’s interest, though. He turned back to me, and this time, he moved even closer. He tucked his snout right into the crook of my neck and sniffed. I could feel the small inhalations and exhalations as he explored my neck and shoulder, pushing the fur stole out of the way to better access the bare skin. I closed my eyes tightly and tipped my chin up, just barely, and prayed to whatever gods were listening that the king didn’t decide to tear out my throat for my earlier insolence.

His fur brushed my jawline as he moved. It was softer than I’d imagined. I was too afraid to move or think or even breathe.

Then the wolf stepped back. I risked opening my eyes. His ears flicked, and his golden eyes burned into mine for a long moment—and then he turned and bounded out of the ballroom.

I staggered backward. Only Fina’s hand on my shoulder kept my knees from buckling.

“Music, please!” Lady Glennis crowed, gesturing at the band. With some confusion and effort, they picked up their instruments and began playing again. A strange tension rippled through the crowd as people began to speak again, and the servants cleaned the spilled wine.

“Was that ‘Bloody’ enough for you?” Fina hissed in my ear.

I swallowed. Even with the king gone, the sensation of his breath on my neck still lingered.

8

“H e’s completely out of control,” I said furiously as I rapidly braided my hair into a plait. After a somewhat fitful night of sleep, I’d woken up not shocked by the king’s behavior, but angry. “I’d known the Nightfall wolves were keen on shifting, but that display last night was sickening!”

Barion had joined me in my room for coffee before I headed to the solarium for breakfast. Amity and Rue had brought my clothes from the tailor earlier that morning, but I’d requested privacy to get ready. The next trial was right after breakfast and I needed to get on my head on straight before I went into the arena.