Chapter 6

Moonlight spilled into the royal gardens. It turned the paths all silvery. That sharp smell of wolfsbane hung in the night air. It was poisonous stuff. Selene stayed back in the shadows of a stone archway. Her heart pounded quicker than she wanted to move. Every little noise seemed louder tonight. Her own breath. Crunching boots far off. Music floating from the big hall.

She wasn't scared of the soldiers or the fancy people. No. It was him she worried about.

King Aurek walked through the gardens by himself. His steps were slow. But they had a purpose. Shoulders tight. He had his head up like he was looking for stars or something. He came out here a lot. Too much, she figured. And each time she hid. Watched him. Not like a servant. Not even like the cursed princess she was. Just as a woman stuck on him. Her heart had her trapped.

Her wolf inside her got restless. It pushed into her mind. Mate. The word came softly. But it demanded attention. Mine.

Selene shut her eyes for a second. That bond hurt badly. Feeling it. Knowing it. But never getting to have it. Never saying it out loud. Her promise to stay quiet kept her brothers hanging on to some hope. The sixth shirt wasn't done yet. One sleeve is missing. Until it was finished, she couldn't say a thing. Risk nothing.

But what if being quiet cost her even more? Than just her voice.

She watched his face as he stopped under that ivy-covered arch. Torches lit up his jaw. Sharp. Hard. He seemed on edge tonight. His wolf is right there under the skin. Even from the dark spot she hid in, she felt him. Like a hunter. Watching everything. Some pull on him, too, maybe.

Selene held her pouch of wolfsbane tighter. The sap still burned her fingers. She had grabbed what she needed. Like always, over the years. But tonight the air felt off. Full of charge.

Aurek's head snapped around. Nostrils wide. Amber's eyes squint at her shadows. Selene pushed back into the hedge. Made herself still. Lungs hurt from holding her breath.

For a scary moment, his look cut right through the dark. She felt caught. Bare. His eyes glowed a bit. Wolf light in the night.

Then a voice broke in. Your Majesty.

Selene jumped a little. Lord Brennan came into sight. Aurek's advisor guy. Robes swishing on the gravel.

Aurek's jaw clenched. I wanted to be alone.

I get that, sir. But state stuff can't wait. Brennan bowed a touch. The council wants you to see Lady Veyra from Silverest. She pushes for an alliance. Through marriage.

That word hit Selene hard, like a knife.

Aurek's tone stayed cool. Far away. Marriage for a deal. That's your idea.

Brennan moved uneasily. Duty means giving up things sometimes.

The quiet after that weighed heavily. Selene touched her shaking lips with her fingers. Chest hurts too much. She had told herself for years that she meant nothing to him. Just a servant. A nobody in the background. But hearing about another woman. Especially her. It broke down those weak walls she had around her heart.

Lady Veyra. The name turned her stomach sour. She remembered that silver-haired queen from Silverest. The witch is pretty on the outside. Mean inside. The one who cursed her brothers. Killed her father.

Now that woman stood by Aurek. Ready to take what Selene couldn't have.

No. Aurek said at last. He ran a hand through his dark hair. Not tonight.

But Selene knew better. Veyra waited things out. She always did.

A breeze kicked up. It brought the bitter smell of wolfsbane over the garden. Aurek breathed it in. His face got sharper. You smell that.

Brennan waved it off. Gardens have all kinds of weird plants.

Still, Aurek hung back. Eyes scanning the hedge again, where she was. His wolf growled in him. Looking. Hunting.

Selene gripped her pouch hard. Pushed deeper into the shadows.

At last, Aurek turned. Went with Brennan toward the palace. Music from the ballroom got louder as they went inside.

Selene's legs felt weak. She slid down against the stone. Pulse thumping in her ears.

Marriage to Veyra.

It emptied her out. She put a hand on her heart. Whispered her brother's name quietly. No sound. Desperate. Kaden. Liam. All you guys. I can't mess up.

But as she snuck back into the servants' paths, a bad truth chewed at her.

If she stayed quiet, she might save her brothers.

If she stayed quiet, she might lose her king.

And her wolf. Her soul part. It wouldn't let that go.

The palace never really slept. Even on nights the halls had servant steps shuffling. Guards talking low on rounds. Candles in those iron holders flickered. Threw shadows dancing on stone walls.

Selene slipped through the servant ways quietly. Her wool skirts touched her ankles. Wolfsbane smell stuck to her hands, faint. She made it back from the gardens without being seen. Or she hoped so. But the air felt strange somehow. She got to the laundry room. No usual noise there. Two girls folded sheets by the fire. Their talk stopped quickly when she came near. One looked her way. Then whispered to the other. They both turned fast. Hunched like they hid from her.

Selene slowed down. Chest got tight. This wasn't brand new. Her not talking made her the odd one always. But tonight their dodging felt pointy. Like they suspected something. Scared even.

She put the herb bundle on the table. Acted like she didn't see. Her hands wanted to grab that half-done shirt under her bed upstairs. Every second here wasted meant her brothers stayed trapped longer. In those thorn chains and fur. But she had to watch it. Be careful all the time.

A laugh barked out suddenly from the hall. Selene looked. Two guards walked by. Armor clinking lightly. Voices carrying in the quiet night.

The king's wolf is acting up again. One said low. Sniffing at shadows like prey was out in the gardens.

The other laughed. Prey or poison. Word is he caught the wolfsbane smell tonight.