Chapter four

Constance 

William did not move. His weight pinned me flat against the mattress, all muscle and heat, trapping me completely.

My whole body had gone rigid the second his hand closed around my wrist. The pounding in my chest was a violent mix of fear and disbelief.

His head dipped down. His breath moved along my jaw, down my throat, stopping right at the dark bruise on my arm where Elias's fingers had dug in. He breathed in slowly, as if taking something from me.

I pulled back as far as his grip would allow, my eyes wide as I stared into those dark gold eyes hovering over mine. The surreal fog in my head instantly evaporated. I knew it. I hadn't been losing my mind in that chamber.

"You were never in a coma, were you?" I breathed, my voice tight with quiet shock. "In the Royal Chamber... when I touched your wrist. You opened your eyes. You've been conscious this whole time."

William’s expression flattened into the cold mask of a prince who answered to no one.

"You are a candidate brought here for a blood ritual, Constance," he said, his voice smooth and entirely devoid of warmth. "You do not ask questions about the crown, nor do you demand explanations from your lord."

His hand pinning my wrist above my head did not loosen in the slightest. He leaned down, watching the pulse jump in my neck, his gold eyes narrowing.

"You reek," William growled, the sound rolling low in his chest. "Another male was in your room. Recently."

"Elias," I said, forcing my voice steady despite the adrenaline roaring in my ears. My arm throbbed where the bruise had gone purple. "He snuck in through the balcony while the servant was out."

William's face did not change, but I felt the muscle in his arm flex hard against my ribs. "Why?"

"To ruin me," I said, looking him straight in the eye. I was done cowering. I was done playing the quiet, obedient girl. "He wanted to break the purity seal so the pack council would throw me out. If I'm rejected as a surrogate, I lose Blackwood protection. I'd have no choice but to go back to him and my stepfamily."

Silence stretched between us. William stared down at me, weighing every word.

"Why did your blood pass in the Royal Chamber when the others died?" he asked, his voice dropping low. "What did they promise you for stepping onto those stones?"

"They promised me nothing," I snapped, my throat burning. "My stepfamily used my name to get paid. Elias threw me into the selection because I was inconvenient. I wasn't sent here as a spy, Lord William. I was sent here as trash meant to sweep itself out."

I did not beg. I did not play the delicate, tragic noblewoman. I just lay there, breathless, and let the truth spill out into the dark room.

William said nothing for a long moment. I made myself hold his stare, even though every instinct in my body wanted to look away. I had spent three years shrinking myself smaller and smaller for Elias. I was done doing that for anyone, even a man who could snap my neck without trying.

The absence of greed in my answer seemed to throw him off more than a lie would have. His chest rose and fell, slow and measured. Slowly, he released my wrist. He did not move off me, still braced over my hips like a shadow made of iron, but the pressure eased.

"New rules, Little Bird," he murmured, his voice smooth as glass. "You do not leave this bed without my permission. You do not speak a word of what you see in this room to Julian, the guards, or the King. And if another male's scent touches your skin again, I will handle it personally."

"You don't get to make rules for me," I said, even with his body still caging mine in. "I'm not one of your soldiers."

Something flickered behind his eyes. Not quite a smile. "No," he agreed. "You're something far more inconvenient."

Before I could challenge his arrogance, his body seized.

A violent shudder tore through him. His knuckles went white as his arms locked, elbows buckling slightly above my shoulders. The gold in his eyes flared so bright it swallowed the color whole, and a low, pained growl tore out of his throat.

The room turned cold. The air went heavy like the smell before lightning strikes. The silver on the bedside table rattled.

The spell holding his wolf in check was tearing itself apart. It was rejecting the lingering scent of Elias while locking onto how close I was. The anchor duty was not just a story. It was happening, right now, tearing through him like fire.

William gritted his teeth, sweat rolling down his jaw. For the first time, the royal holding me down was not in control. He was drowning.

"Don't pull away," he rasped, his breath hot against my cheek. "Put your hands on me. Now."

My heart slammed against my ribs. I had one second to decide. I could shove him off, roll away, and let it consume him. Let the prince burn himself out. Or I could steady the monster pinning me down.

This was not about pride. It was about staying alive.

My hands hovered in the air for one useless second. Every part of me screamed to run. But I had already watched two girls die in front of me today. I was not about to let a third death happen because I froze.

I pushed my hands up and pressed both palms flat against his bare chest.

The second my skin touched his, something like a shock wave rolled through my fingers. William gasped, his head snapping back as the fire in his eyes flickered. The violent shaking in his body began to slow. The growl in his chest softened into a low rumble I could feel straight through my palms.

We stayed like that, frozen. My hands anchored against his pounding heart. His body braced over mine, still trembling as whatever this was burned itself out.

Neither of us spoke. The only sound was our breathing, ragged and matched.

Slowly, the gold in his eyes dimmed back down to a dark amber. The cold in the room lifted, leaving only the heat of skin against skin.

"What was that?" I whispered, my hands still pressed to his chest, afraid to move them. "What just happened to you?"

He did not answer right away. When he finally spoke, his voice had gone quieter. "You held the wolf back. That is not something every woman in this palace could do."

"Why me?" I asked. "There were nine other girls in that chamber. Why did it have to be me?"

"I don't know yet," he admitted, and something in the honesty of it surprised me more than any of his threats had. "But I intend to find out."

William's forehead dropped, hovering an inch from mine. His chest hit mine with every breath. For a long moment he just stared at me, like he was seeing me for the first time. I was no longer just a girl pinned to his mattress. I was the thing keeping his wolf on its leash.

"You're quick," he said, his voice rough. Slowly, he pushed himself back, sitting up on his heels but staying on the mattress. He reached out and brushed his fingers over the bruise on my arm, gentler than I expected. "Remember the rules, Constance. If another man touches you again, my wolf won't care about your story. And I won't apologize for what's left of him."

I opened my mouth to tell him exactly what I thought of his rules and his royal authority. I never got the chance.

Before I could answer, footsteps echoed through the stone floor outside.

The clink of porcelain and the steady clatter of an armored escort came closer to the doors. Julian, on his morning rounds.

William's eyes snapped toward the entrance. In one fast, fluid motion, his arm wrapped around my waist and pulled me flat against his chest. He threw the heavy quilt over both of us, pressing my face into the crook of his neck

His lips brushed the shell of my ear.

"Pretend."

The lock clicked. The doors swung open.