The Wolf King's Demand

4

ADDISON

Addison let herself sink into the hot bath as the white and gold marble-tiled bathroom filled with steam. The maid had put a selection of herbs recommended by the healer into the bathwater. They let out a wonderfully sweet aroma, something like lavender, relaxing her even further.

She hadn’t noticed she was cut and scraped in several places until they stung upon contact with the water. However, the sting was momentary, and it gave way to a much softer sensation, an ache that was healing.

All of her fear and panic slowly subsided. She could think again. When in the house, she had felt slightly defensive when Tyler had suggested she move into her room, but it had been a good idea.

“Someone just tried to kill me.” Saying the words out loud still didn't feel real.

Here in the bath, with Tyler and all of his guards outside, she could finally accept the truth and start to make sense of it. That attack hadn’t been a random event coming out of the blue. Someone planned it. And they had to have a good reason.

There were two main possibilities. One was that it had to do with her job in computer security. Maybe the attacker had predicted she would find the coded backdoor and was trying to take her out before she learned his identity.

“That would mean he had very big plans,” she mused to herself.

Which was possible, of course. The client had been from one of her parents’ companies. Anyone gaining access could cause trouble on a national scale as they could pass themselves off as a royal.

The other possibility was that Tyler had an enemy she didn’t know about, and they were going after her to get him.

That was certainly possible, too. There was a lot that she didn’t know about Tyler. She certainly hadn’t known that he would respond so passionately and quickly when she was in danger. She had assumed he felt the same about her as she did about him. That their upcoming marriage was a bump in the road, an inconvenience that she had to deal with as part of being a royal.

But that hadn’t been what she’d seen in his eyes. He had been furious, but it was the kind of anger that sprang from fear. The idea of losing her was clearly unthinkable to him. But why? How had he become so attached to her when she had barely let him get close to her?

She would have to investigate the mystery of who was targeting her, but she also wanted to know more about Tyler. The strength in his arms, the gentleness in the way he carried her, and the care in taking her immediately to relax in a bath had surprised her.

The man she was being forced to marry might be a lot more interesting than she had initially thought.

Finally, she drained the tub and stepped carefully onto the floor. She dried off as best she could, wincing once or twice at movements that made her ribs ache, and finally got into a red dressing gown.

It was time to talk to Tyler and learn a little more about the intriguing wolf shifter.

She took a breath and opened the door to his bedroom, stepping in.

Tyler sat in a chair in the corner of the room, tapping his foot impatiently. The moment she entered, he stood and gestured toward the healer perched nervously on the bed.

“Before we talk, I would like her to examine you for injuries and treat you. Are you comfortable with that?”

Addison nodded. “I was going to ask for her even if you weren’t going to.”

He frowned, and she realized he thought she meant that as a rebuke. She hadn’t. She was just tired. But before she could say anything, the healer waved her over.

“Lie down on the bed, on your back,” the healer said. “It looks like this shouldn’t be too difficult.”

Addison put the puzzle that was Tyler aside to do as instructed, the healer hovering over her. She felt the magic sink in and explore her body. Some days, Addison wished she had at least been a healer because that was one power everyone admired. It would have been a lot easier than just being a half-blood with no idea of her abilities.

Maybe her parents were right. Maybe sometimes she did use computers to retreat from the real world. Online, she could meet other people as equals rather than having to deal with the fact that some people were born more powerful.

People like Tyler. People who could turn into a wolf at a moment’s notice and run to her rescue. Sometimes, Addison resented the fact that she could not rescue herself.

She groaned at a sharp pain as the magic pressed her ribs back together, but it only lasted a second.

Finally, the healer stood and nodded. “That should do for now. You’re very lucky. There were no internal injuries.”

Addison remembered the knife that had nearly plunged into her several times. Lucky indeed.

The healer gave a quick bow and left the bedroom. Addison snuggled under the blankets, and Tyler sat next to her.

“I owe you,” Addison said, giving him a smile. “Your howl scared him away. If you hadn’t been as quick and as angry as you were, I don’t know if I would have made it.”

Tyler returned the smile. “You’re my bride-to-be. You deserve no less.”

“Yeah, but …” She hesitated. “I didn’t know you felt that way.”

“I try to avoid letting people know how I feel.”

That made sense. At first, she had assumed that what she saw with Prince Tyler was the whole story. A boring man who did his duty and not much else. Now, she was seeing another side. Someone who cared enough about duty to stay hidden from most eyes but who was a passionate and interesting man in his own right.

Maybe there was even some fear there. Anxiety? The kind of emotions people experience. Maybe there was a human somewhere underneath all that toughness?