4.Prey

I stared down at the broken man at my feet. Every instinct left screamed at me to run. The rogue could still be out there, and this man, this monster, was the reason I was in this nightmare.

I turned to leave, but a cold, heavy hand clamped around my ankle. I gasped, looking down to see Kaven groaning in pain and coughing up blood.

“Let… go,” I whispered, prying at his fingers.

Then I heard a faint crashing in the bushes. My heart pounded.

I looked at Kaven again. His chest was heaving and his skin was deathly pale. He was the king in waiting, yet here he lay, dying in the mud like a discarded dog.

I couldn’t just watch him die.

“Damn you,” I hissed, dropping to my knees. “Fine. But you have to help me.”

I scanned the area and spotted a heavy bush. I walked closer, pushing the leaves aside, and found a small opening. It was a cave, small, but just enough for us to hide inside.

I grabbed his massive arm and tried to lift it over my shoulder. I almost choked under his weight, crushing me. I was already lightheaded from losing blood to Damien and from the wound on my thigh. Moving a two hundred pound muscle felt impossible.

“Kaven! You have to stand!” I pleaded, my voice cracking. “They’re coming. Do you hear me? If you don’t get up, they’ll kill us both!”

He let out a guttural sound, his head rolling back. With a surge of desperate strength, I shoved my shoulder under his armpit and lifted.

We staggered forward. Kaven groaned, his legs barely working. We were a pitiful sight, a wolfless girl and a cursed King, leaning on each other for safety.

“Just… a little… further,” I wheezed.

We didn’t make it five steps before his foot caught on a root. The weight was too much, and we both went down hard. Kaven’s body slammed into the ground, dragging me with him. I fell flat against his chest.

I could feel the faint beat of his heart.

I lay there for a moment, my heart pounding, before pulling back. I can’t do this.

But then he pulled me back into his chest, burying his face in the crook of my neck. I stiffened when he did not groan this time and only inhaled sharply.

A deep, hungry sound rumbled from him, sending shivers through me. I closed my eyes, trying to make sense of the feeling.

“Pure…” he rasped, his voice low, vibrating against my skin. “What… are you?”

I ignored his question, my cheeks flushing deep red. The way he breathed against my skin felt too intimate, too carnal for a man who was supposed to be a stranger.

“Just… help yourself,” I muttered, forcing the words out, “so we can get inside the cave.”

Kaven’s fingers twitched, not in aggression, but in a desperate attempt to anchor himself.

I grabbed his hand and placed it on my shoulder again. “On three. One… two… three!”

With a guttural cry from him and a strained sob from me, we lifted ourselves off the forest floor. I dragged him, every step feeling like a battle.

“Almost… there…” I gritted my teeth and dug my hands into his arms, pulling him until we finally reached the small opening.

Once we were inside, I sank to the ground, my body trembling, and let out a long, shaky breath. At least we were safe for now.

Inside the cave dim. I watched as Kaven groaned low, his body trembling. Every movement made him hiss through clenched teeth, his growls rough and ragged, almost desperate.

He rolled onto his back, scraping against the stone floor.

I did not know what to do. Seeing him suffer made my stomach twist, and part of me wanted to help, to do anything that might ease the pain. I bit my lip, knowing I could not just sit there in silence.

“Kaven, please,” I whispered, crawling closer to him. “You have to be quiet.”

“Why?” he rasped, his sightless head turning toward me. “Why stay? You smell like fear. I did not ask for your help.”

I leaned against the opposite wall, clutching my injured thigh, watching the blood soak through the cloth I had tied there.

Even while bleeding out, he still had the nerve to be difficult. I rolled my eyes, as if he could see. “I smell like fear because I am afraid. But I still dragged you out there. So don’t pretend you’re alone. I don’t even know why I stayed. I just know I couldn’t let you die.”

He only groaned in response as he shifted, pressing his back against the wall.

There was no way he was getting better. He was getting worse. God knew how long he had been like this, or how long he could last.

What could they have done to him to break him in the worst possible way?

My hands curled in my lap. Then one moved to my thigh, and I thought of the strange liquid mixed with my blood. The same liquid that had kept my father strong and powerful all these years.

My heart started beating faster.

No. I should not. Not here. I was too weak already. I would probably die trying.

But then Kaven let out another broken sound, and his head rolled to the side like he could barely hold himself together.

I swallowed.

If I did nothing, he would die.

I pushed myself closer, slow and careful. He tensed at the movement, his blindfolded face turning toward me.

“Do not touch me,” he murmured, weak but still proud.

“I am not trying to hurt you,” I said quietly.

I moved closer anyway.

“What are you doing?” Kaven asked, his voice rough.

“I do not know yet,” I whispered back. “But you will have to trust me.”

I lifted my wrist, my hands shaking.

I took a deep breath.

“I want you to feed on my blood,” I said.

Kaven still did not move.

His head turned slightly in my direction, even though his eyes were covered.

“Your blood,” he murmured. “You do not know what you are offering. What is it supposed to do for me?”

“I know you are dying,” I said. “And I know I cannot just sit and watch. And I do not have to explain anything right now.”

He let out a weak, rough laugh that sounded more like pain.

“You should have left me.”

“Maybe,” I whispered. “But I did not.”

I pushed my wrist closer to him, close enough for him to feel the heat of my skin.

“Just do it,” I pressed.

His jaw tightened.

Then his hand lifted, slow and unsure, and wrapped around my wrist.

His touch was hot, almost burning, and it made my breath hitch.

“Once I start,” he said quietly, “I may not stop.”

His grip tightened slightly around my wrist.

“And if I lose myself, I won’t see you as human.”

I tensed, but held my ground even though he could not see me.

“Then do not let me die.”

His lips brushed my skin.

The touch was light at first, almost hesitant, like he was testing me.

I sucked in a breath.

His mouth opened slightly, and I felt the scrape of his teeth.

I froze.

“Wait,” I whispered, my heart pounding.

He paused, his breath warm against my wrist.

“You are afraid.”he murmured.

“Yes,” I admitted. “But I am still here.”

For a second longer he stayed still.

Then his teeth sank into my skin.

I bit down on my bottom lip to muffle the sound that wanted to escape.

The moment my blood touched his tongue, he stiffened, and then a low growl rolled out of his chest.

I tensed when his grip tightened around my wrist a little too hard.

“Kaven?” I whispered.

He jerked back suddenly, throwing himself against the wall. His claws scraped against the stone as he hissed like an animal.

“Don’t,” he snarled.

I flinched when the blindfold slipped just enough for me to see his burning red eyes.

His chest rose and fell fast, and his sharp fangs slowly came into view. He was close to shifting.

“You need to leave,” he rasped, his voice sounding more beast than man. “ I cannot control myself.”

My heart hammered. “I was trying to help you.”

“And you did,” he growled. “Too well.”

He dragged a hand down his face, his claws biting into his own skin, like pain was the only thing keeping him grounded.

“If you stay,” he continued, his voice low and dangerous, “I will forget what you are.”

He hissed again.

“I will only smell prey.”

I took a shaky step back. “Kaven.”

“Leave.”

My feet would not move.

“Kaven.”

“Now.”

I did not know why I was still  there while the cave trembled from his growls.

“The full moon is almost close,” he said. “I will lose myself completely. I do not want you near me when it happens.”

Silence settled between us.

Then his voice came softer.

“You saved my life. Do not let it become the reason I end yours.”

I gulped.

Slowly, I stood.

I looked at him one last time. At how his eyes burned red in the dark.

“Don’t die,” I whispered.

His jaw tightened.

“Run while you still can.”

I turned and left the cave.

Behind me, his hiss followed like a warning.