Chapter 188

I’m stunned silent for a moment, then I look at her with wild eyes. I can’t really understand what’s happened here, or why she would do that.

Before she can get even one more word out, I shout, “Someone is planning to kill Caleb!”

She rolls her eyes at me. “Someone’s always trying to kill him, you silly girl.”

“No, I mean. Someone here is trying to kill him. They are poised as guards. I overheard them talking when I was in the garden. We have to get in there and warn Caleb.”

I start to try to sidestep around her, eager to get into the Hall. Glaring, she moves into my path.

“Do you want me to slap your other cheek?” Kira snaps at me.

“You don’t understand –”

“I do understand. You will use whatever excuse you have to, to get into that Hall right now and cause a ruckus to delay the wedding.”

“I don’t care about the wedding!”

“No one believes that!”

“I only care about Caleb!”

“Then leave him alone!”

Our shouting draws the attention of some curious guests, who all turn to look at us and the fuss we are making. Kira straightens, attempting to regain her composure.

I don’t care about perceptions or reputations. Let these people think about me whatever they want. The only person here that I truly care about is Caleb, and…

In the gaping crowd, I spot the three men from the gardens: the nervous one still looking nervous, the annoyed one seeming even more annoyed now, and the silent one looking at me like he means to dissect me with his gaze.

Could they hear what I was saying? Do they know I mean them?

If that’s the case, it’s too late for subterfuge. Shoving Kira roughly aside, I dart toward them.

“Guards! It’s those three men there! They are the traitors who mean to harm the king!”

The nervous one looks at the annoyed one. “What do we do?”

“What the fuck do you mean, what do we do?” the annoyed one snaps.

“They are rebels!” I shout.

The guards posted near the door finally start to take interest in what I’m saying.

The trio notice.

“You bitch!” the annoyed one shouts. He unsheathes his dagger and starts forward. As a werewolf, he’s much faster than me. In a flash, he’s far too close.

I immediately stop and try to backpedal, but he snatches his hand out, grabs me by the hair, and throws me down to the ground.

As I fall, the wind knocks out of me. It takes me a moment, looking up at him with fear, to recover my voice. When I do, I shout for the first person that comes to my mind.

The one who has always protected me, just as I’ve protected him.

“Caleb!”

The annoyed one laughs. “Go on. Call your king. Bring him out here so we can dispose of him just as we planned. We aren’t afraid of death, but we will see our mission completed.

From nearby, I hear a howl.

“He shifted? Foolish. He won’t even fit through the door.” The annoyed one seems more afraid now than he did a moment ago.

We both look toward the entrance of the Hall, just in time to see Caleb, in full, massive wolf form, plow straight through it. The assassin wasn’t wrong, Caleb is too big for the door. So he took out most of the doorframe and heavy section of wall as well.

Caleb’s furious red eyes gaze around the courtyard before falling onto me and then the man gripping my hair.

A low growl emits from his monstrous maw. If I didn’t trust him with my entire being, I would have cowered in fear at the sound. Even the assassin seems unsure.

To his immediate left, the silent assassin attempts to sneak up to Caleb’s side.

“Caleb! That guard!” I shout.

My shouting was unnecessary. Before the assassin can get close enough to use the dagger he wields, Caleb swings one massive paw, and the man’s head topples away from his body. Blood splatters in a wide arch, across Caleb’s chest and on the ground.

“I give up! I surrender! Have mercy please!” the nervous one says, prostrating himself across the ground. One of the legitimate guards immediately tackles him. Caleb doesn’t even glance at him.

His gaze, as it’s always been, remains fixed on my attacker.

“Let me go,” I say. “Or he’ll kill you too.”

“Too late for that,” the assassin says. “I’m dead either way. I’d rather take you out with me.”

The man lifts the dagger, ready to slide it home. I raise my arms defensively while shutting closed my eyes, bracing myself for the pain I imagine will follow.

Instead, I feel nothing.

One second. Two. Nothing.

Opening my eyes, I see a headless figure drop to the ground right in front of me. Caleb, holding the dagger in his palm, casts it aside, throwing it across the courtyard. It clatters along the cobblestones, leaving drops of blood in its wake.

Caleb’s blood, I realize. Not my own.

Caleb grabbed the dagger with his bare monstrous paw, saving me from the pain. And death.

“Caleb…”

He looks around, scenting the air as if he can detect more enemies. Turning, he places himself between me and the watching, frightened crowd. No one comes forward to try him.

Then, as if satisfied things are safe for now, he shifts back to his human form and approaches me again. His clothes are in bloody tatters.

That sharp, handsome wedding suit. Ruined.

Reaching out, I touch the shredded ends of what was once the tunic.

I could be in shock. I’m struggling with words, and I think I might be shaking.

Since arriving at the palace, I’ve seen my fair share of violence. This isn’t even the first decapitated body I’ve experienced.

But… I’m still not accustomed to such harsh violence.

I know Caleb to be intimidating and fierce, yet it is still difficult for me to connect in my mind that the man who commits acts like these is the same who holds me so gently in the night.

He saved me though. I cannot hold his actions against him when he only raised his hand to save me and himself.

I want him safe. I wouldn’t have spoken up if I didn’t.

Even now, he lifts his hands and cups my cheeks so softly… It’s impossible that these same hands tore two men apart only moments before.

“Are you hurt?” he asks me. His eyes peer over my face and then search my body. “Did he touch you?”

“He… uh… just pulled my hair,” I say, trying to recover myself. The guards are taking the bodies away swiftly, to keep most of the guests from seeing them.

I am also benefitting from this quick removal.

Caleb checks my hair, gently carding one of his hands over my scalp. It’s a little sore, but not as bad as it could have been.

“I’m okay,” I tell him.

His eyes return to my face, where he cups my chin once more. He rubs his thumb over one of my cheeks and I wince a little.

There’s a bruise forming there, from where Kira slapped me.

“Did he do this?” Caleb asks.