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Chapter 9

Cedric Raine

I’ve taken Leanna out several more times to run in her wolf form and build up her stamina. She’s getting stronger, but after she shifts back to her human form, she’s still a little dizzy and queasy, and mostly flustered by her wolf’s behavior.

The full moon is drawing closer, and I can feel my own wolf’s restlessness. The close proximity between Leanna and me is making it harder to keep my hands to myself. The night of the full moon is the only time a female shifter can conceive, so I don’t know why I’m so reluctant to touch her. Maybe it’s because there is something incredibly fragile about my mate, and I know how brutish I can be. Even when I hold her in bed, sometimes it feels like I might snap her in two. But my wolf’s desire to get closer to our mate is becoming overwhelming.

As a result, I’ve started to come in later and later at night. She doesn’t complain. She never does. It doesn’t matter what I do, Leanna never complains about it. When I’m kind to her, she’s baffled. When I treat her well, she looks at me as if she doesn’t quite understand why I’m behaving that way. There’s a distrust of me deep within her, a wariness that I wanted there from day one but doesn’t sit well with me anymore.

The castle staff, all the way down to the chefs in the kitchen, is determined to win her over. Meals are carefully prepared, snacks sent to her, new recipes tried every day to suit her taste.

I can understand the enthusiasm behind these efforts. It has almost become a game to the staff, and wolves are nothing if not playful. Leanna is the first queen to make such dramatic changes to the castle and the kingdom. They want her to be happy. But my mate still withdraws into herself as if she cannot comprehend kindness or gratitude.

I never know what to say to her when I see her standing on the balcony, looking out, a forlorn look on her face. She’s not trapped here, but she doesn’t leave the castle unless it’s work related. I don’t even know what she does in her free time aside from read. Ever since I got the greenhouse fixed up for her, if she has any time to herself, she spends it there.

This afternoon, Leanna is not in the dining room where lunch is being laid out, and I can’t find her anywhere else. I decide to take a stroll over to the greenhouse to find her. I’m sure she will be there. I’ve never once set foot inside there. I want it be her sanctuary, a place where she doesn’t have to worry about anyone intruding.

I make sure to knock on the door before entering. She has cleaned up the area very nicely. To my surprise, I see all sorts of flowers blooming. I didn’t even think such plants could grow in the North. On closer inspection, I realize these are all flowers that my mother had when she was alive. I don’t know where Leanna got the seeds or how she managed to get them to bloom so quickly.

Maybe she got help from the witch in the village to grow these plants. The same witch who has been helping her accelerate the growth of the vegetables. The seeds from the Human Wolf Kingdom that I gave her have turned out to be quite suitable for the weather here. Leanna has placed an order through me for more seeds. The farmers are all excited.

I touch one of the thick, luscious roses and wonder if Leanna sees the changes she’s bringing to my kingdom. I remember how she approached me to ask for more seeds, nervous and anxious as if she fully expected me to say no. It bothers me.

I call out her name.

She’s not here. Her absence gives me the chance to look around and see what she has done with the place. There’s a small shelf in a corner with different books. I find one paperback on the small table in the center of the greenhouse, in which Leanna has placed a bookmark. I open the book, curious to see what she’s been reading.

It’s a novel. A romance. The bookmark is at a page with an explicit scene. As I flip through the book, I realize that she has dogeared all the pages that contain sexual situations. Almost as if she’s trying to learn.

I put the book back down the table, feeling strange. If she has questions, why not come to me? Why is she seeking answers in some silly romance novel?

More determined than ever to find her, I make my way to our bedroom. I don’t expect her to be there, but to my surprise, she’s coming out of the bathroom wrapped in a towel. Her hair is piled on top of her head and appears to be dry. When she sees me, her eyes widen. “Cedric?”

Just like I’ve started calling her Leanna, she has begun using my name more frequently.

“What are you doing taking a bath in the middle of the day?” I ask her.

“I slipped in some mud outside the greenhouse,” she admits. “I didn’t want to wait for Harriet, so I took a bath by myself. Did you need something? Just let me change. I’ll be ready in a minute.”

I remember the explicit scene she had been reading, and my eyes linger on the curves the thick towel is hiding. Is it just me or has she become a little too comfortable without clothes on in my presence? Almost as if she doesn’t expect me to touch her.

“I went looking for you in the greenhouse. You left a book there.”

She frowns at me, as if trying to remember which book it was, and then color bursts into her face. “Oh. You didn’t happen to read it, did you?”

“What if I did?” I question her, liking the way the blush crawls over her neck.

She clutches the towel closer to her. “I—Well, it was educational. I don’t have much knowledge about—”

I cover the distance between us. “You should’ve asked me. Experience is the best teacher, after all.”

For a moment, she stares at me with an uncomprehending look, and then she stumbles back a couple of steps. “That wasn’t my—”

I catch her before she falls to the ground. She’s so light. Those soft, brown eyes of hers are filled with embarrassment and a hint of shyness.

“How about a lesson?” My wolf was already hanging by a thread, but after discovering her choice of reading material, I don’t have the patience to keep my hands to myself anymore.

“A lesson?” she repeats breathlessly.

I walk her backward to the bed. “Yes. I am your mate, after all.”

“But—” She looks tense. “I heard you don’t want a child from me.”

“What?” I frown. “What’re you—”

The backs of her knees hit the edge of the bed, causing her to lose her balance. Her arms flail, and she loses her grip on the towel.

She’s lying on the bed now, her whole body bared to me, her pale skin flushed, her creamy white breasts perky and soft. I lean down, caging her with my arms on either side of her head.

“If you need to learn, I’m right here.”

Her lips part, and my nose twitches when I catch a familiar scent in the air. Her arousal.

“I—” she begins, trembling. But there is no fear in her eyes, only desire and confusion.

I touch her stomach with one hand and she squeezes her eyes shut, shuddering. The scent of her arousal grows thicker. I watch her face carefully as my hand climbs higher, curling around one of her mounds and squeezing it. She makes a gasping sound before I lower my mouth against hers.

I kiss her deeply, my tongue probing past her lips, seeking entrance to her mouth. When she lets me in, it takes all my willpower not to move too aggressively. I toy with her hardened nipple, eliciting soft, wanton moans from her. The sounds she makes are enticing. My hand travels down the expanse of her flat stomach and reaches her pussy. She immediately squeezes her legs shut.

A virgin’s reaction.

To be fair, she is essentially inexperienced, so her response don’t surprise me. But patience doesn’t seem to be my strong suit when it comes to her.