*Rion*

I held the princess in my arms. Sleep was going to be the last thing that I would be able to do that night with the princess pressed into me the way she was. My wolf panted incessantly. I tried to ignore him, and my thoughts drifted to other places that could help distract it.

My first thought was of my sister and a particular memory we shared, long ago. We were in one of the Royal’s palaces, sitting on an ornate bench in a hallway. I stared at the ...