All Chapters of Primal Wolf King (Wolves Of The Night Book 2): Chapter 11 - Chapter 20

Elias nuzzled closer then licked my snout, just once, a gentle soothing motion. Somehow, in the quiet of the cave, I was able to fall asleep.I awoke at dawn, before everyone else, and the world was still. I padded out of the cave and stretched luxuriously, from the tip of my snout to the tip of my tail, then took a deep inhale of the cold morning air. The balds were covered in a layer of pristine snow, untouched save for a few animal footprints here and there. The sky was clear and the sun was shining high overhead, already beginning to loosen the hold the snow had. It wouldn’t be too hard to get the carriages moving in this weather.I was considering going on a run—a thought I never would’ve considered before this journey—when Kodan stepped quietly out of the cave. She was in her human form and was already leading one of the horses outside.I shifted quickly back into my human form. “Good morning,” I said.“Morning,” Kodan said. “Just going to start to hitch up the horses, since I’m

“Why?” I asked. “Because I like maps?”“No,” he said, “because you’re worldly.”I blinked at him. “What?”“I do recall you chose a Shiangan sword to fight me with,” he said, “not to keep bringing up the arena. But I was struck by that. No other competitor wanted it. They were challenging to wield.”“It’s just a reflection of my training,” I murmured, even as pride bloomed in my chest. “And my interests.”“Well,” he said, “I’m glad you’re coming with me on this trip, then. Maybe I’ll have you show off some of those sword skills.”“Before I was sent for the Choice,” I said as I gazed out toward the horizon, “my dream was to travel as far and wide as I could. I dreamed of seeing the entire world if I could.”“Do you no longer dream of that?” he asked.“Well,” I said, “now that I’m queen, it’s not like I can take off for a trip whenever I’d like.”“Maybe not whenever,” he said, “but your role as queen doesn’t mean you can’t leave Efra.”I looked over at him. He was watching me closely as

5By mid-afternoon, we reached the ivory gates of the Shiangan palace. The rest of our journey had been without incident, with Elias either on foot or in his wolf shape, keeping a careful eye on the horizon for any further threats. He was focused on ensuring no other spies showed their faces—it was almost overkill. I got the sense that something about the Daybreak spies had deeply unsettled him, but when I asked, he just shook his head, distracted. There was something he wasn’t telling me. I’d done what he asked, though, trading out my dirtied, comfortable travel clothes for a simple tan silk gown under the usual cloak.I’d have to question him about it all later, because as the gates rolled open, pushed by two immense guards in golden armor, my worried curiosity was overridden by sheer awe.I pulled the door to the carriage open enough so I could lean out. The weather was warm; I shucked off my cloak and let the breeze tousle my hair. The carriage rolled smoothly down a well-paved n

6“Oh, Gods above,” Fina said, grinning widely as she took a sip of a bubbly, sweet drink. “I swear Adora and I nearly knocked the carriage over when the guards shifted back to their human forms. I do not remember seeing that when I came here as a girl.”“I know!” I said. “I was shocked! And they just stood there!”“I’ve never seen a royal guard act like that,” Adora said. Her cheeks were flushed pink just talking about it. “It’s so interesting.”“Interesting, huh?” Fina teased. She kicked at Adora’s ankle under the table. “Maybe we need to find you a nice duke here to marry. Do Shiangans have those?”I laughed and stole a sip of Fina’s drink. It was crisp on my tongue and slightly fruity. Just sitting with them had lifted my spirits substantially. Even though Elias was getting on my nerves with his hot and cold behavior, my friends always made me feel better.“Come on,” I said. “I need to stretch my legs after that carriage ride. Shall we poke around the grounds a bit?”Fina sprung

“There’s quite a lot to discuss,” King Draunar said. “Have lunch with me tomorrow and I’ll be happy to share the historical knowledge I have.”I looked up at him. He was leaning against the desk with his arms crossed casually over his chest, one eyebrow arched curiously.I rolled up the map and tucked it back into the leather tube. While I was still internally delighted to have such a rare artifact in my possession, I wasn’t going to let King Draunar know that. He was using this gift to manipulate me—to what end, I wasn’t sure. I couldn’t understand his motivations, and that scared me more than his behavior. I could handle a creep. But a creep who was the King of Shianga, of that I wasn’t so sure.“Your Highness,” I said, “I’m not sure what my husband would think of a private lunch between us.”King Draunar laughed, loud and booming, like I’d just told the funniest joke in the world. He shook his head. “Queen Reyna, it’s just lunch. I wouldn’t ask you to do anything your husband would