Instead, when those clawed hands finally release me?—
I scream, but don’t hit anything hard. Not even frozen ground.
No, I land on something... impossibly soft?
I look down, then scramble to a sitting position, tangling myself in what appear to be luxurious sheets—actual silk, not cotton—and furs so plush they must have come from arctic foxes or something equally exotic. The bed beneath me is enormous, easily twice the size of any king bed I’ve ever seen, and built proportionally for someone much, much larger than any human.
A bed?
He’s brought me to what might be the most comfortable bed in existence.
I immediately retreat to the wall, suddenly remembering exactly what I promised in exchange for healing. To be his consort.Oh shit.
I hold up both hands as the creature lands on... are those hooves?
He takes a step toward me, and full sunlight streams through the window. I look around frantically, trying to orient myself.
The walls are ancient stone—massive blocks fitted together with medieval precision, like being inside a real fairy tale castle.Tapestries hang in faded splendor, their once-rich colors now muted with age, depicting scenes I can’t quite make out in my panic. The window is enormous, easily eight feet tall, with a stone arch that frames the vista like a painting. Through it, I can see the endless snow stretching to distant mountain peaks that scrape the sky, and that frozen lake below gleaming like a mirror in the morning sun. He just flew us straight through this opening like it was nothing.
The room itself is... actually breathtaking. The ceiling soars at least twenty feet high, supported by carved stone beams that look like they could hold up the world. A massive fireplace dominates one wall, cold now but built for roaring fires that could warm this entire space. The bed I’m sitting on is clearly built for someone much larger than any human—the frame looks hand-carved from dark wood, probably oak, and draped with furs that feel impossibly soft against my skin.
I scan the view desperately through that magnificent window, but there’s only more pristine wilderness. Rolling white hills dotted with dark evergreens, more of the lake stretching beyond what I can see, more isolation than I’ve ever imagined possible.
Where the hell am I? This isn’t just remote—this is like being dropped into another world entirely.
I look back at my captor.
He advances another step toward the bed, and I can see him more clearly now in the brilliant morning light streaming through that cathedral-sized window. His enormous black wings span the room’s entire width, and this is not a small room. The feathers are glossy, almost iridescent, catching the light like oil on water. While his face has a distinctly human bone structure, his nose remains proudly feline, and that split lip gives him a perpetually wild expression. His eyes are the most unsettling feature: cat-like pupils that seem to see straight through me.
Instead of human skin, he’s covered in short, dense fur that looks incredibly soft—like touching a lion’s pelt. Now that he’s clean, I can see his coloring clearly: golden fur with darker strands threaded through it and a magnificent mane that frames his face in waves of burnished bronze. But those curved horns extending from his temples are intimidating as hell—inky black and polished to a shine, looking sharp enough to gore someone.
The short fur covers his powerfully built chest—and I meanpowerfullybuilt, like he could bench press a car—but stops when it reaches his?—
I drop my gaze, and my eyes go wide. He’s completely, utterly naked.
Oh God.He’s definitely male down there. Very impressively so. And apparently... very excited, if the substantial length between his muscular thighs is any indication. Everything about him is built on a scale that makes me feel like a doll in comparison.
I press myself further against the wall, even though there’s nowhere left to retreat. I curl into the corner and keep my hands raised.
“Whoa, slow down there, big guy! Let’s just take a second here!”
“Slow down?” he growls. “I did not see my consort slowing down when she ran from me. You ran, I gave chase.”
I laugh nervously, hands still up like they could possibly protect me. “That was just a misunderstanding. When you flew off like that, I?—”
Despite all that fur, I can somehow tell he’s raising a skeptical eyebrow at me. “You ran in the opposite direction, forgetting your promise the moment you received what you wanted?”
I shake my head quickly. No, definitely not that. “I wasn’t sure if you’d actually healed me.”
“Now you know. Your legs work perfectly. You saw how fast you ran.”
My mouth opens to give him a smart comeback. To explain the whole adrenaline thing. But then... I actually stop and consider it.
The way I was moving out there... that was more than running. That was sprinting. I’ve never been able to do that. Not even as a child. It was one of the first signs that something was wrong. I couldn’t run around like other kids. I just stumbled and fell constantly.
I certainly never sprinted fast enough to feel wind whipping through my hair. Not once in my entire life.
“But I—” I start, and that furry eyebrow climbs even higher.
