“But don’t worry,” Auren adds. “Dire wolves have a heightened sense of smell. Vaelen is an excellent guard. He stays close to camp, even when he leaves to hunt.”
As if his words have summoned him, Vaelen appears from the darkness on silent paws. He steps into the firelight, silver fur catching gold at the edges as he walks toward us.
Auren runs a hand down the wolf’s neck, and Vaelen rubs his snout against his side affectionately.
I’m surprised when the wolf’s golden eyes sweep to me and he pads closer. He nudges his massive head against my shoulder, and I pat his neck, running my fingers through his soft, thick fur. He leans into the touch and then nuzzles my arm, similar to how he did with Auren only a moment ago.
When I look up, I find my Dark Elf husband watching us, his expression softened. “I think you’re quickly becoming his favorite person.”
I must admit I like that thought. I smile and scratch behind Vaelen’s ear. “Well, I suppose he’s growing on me too.”
As the night wears on, the air grows a bit colder. Even with the fire, it’s still rather chilly. I pull my shawl tighter around my shoulders and glance back at the bedroll in the tent behind me. “I’m going to bed,” I announce.
“Goodnight, Vivienne,” Auren says as I enter my tent, closing the flap so I can change into my night shift.
When I’m finished, I lie down on my bedroll, arranging my blanket around me like a cocoon. The ground is hard and I’m fairly certain that’s a root digging into my shoulder blade. I twist onto my side and sigh heavily.
This is rather barbaric, in my opinion. I’ve never slept on bare ground, without real walls, and without servants nearby.
The forest is alive with far too many sounds. A slight rustle outside the tent makes my skin prickle with worry. My hearthammers as I blink in the darkness, wondering if perhaps sharing a tent might be a wiser decision right now.
Or perhaps… “Auren?”
“Yes,” he replies, and it sounds as if he’s still near the fire, in front of my tent.
“Do you think Vaelen might be uncomfortable out there?” I ask. “I—I mean, if you think it might be warmer for him, he can share my tent.”
Auren’s silent for so long, I wonder if he is on to me. After a moment, he replies, “He’s gone back into the woods to hunt.”
“Oh,” I reply, trying to hide my disappointment.
Lying in the dark, I blink up at the ceiling. Something screeches in the woods, and my heart begins pounding so hard I wouldn’t be surprised if Auren can hear it.
“It was a fox. You’re safe, Vivienne,” Auren’s voice cuts through the darkness. “I’m out here, keeping watch.”
Something in my throat tightens before I can stop it, and I feel my body begin to relax.
Closing my eyes, I think of Auren just outside my tent. It does something strange to me knowing that he’s there, making sure I’m protected. And it isn’t long before I’m drifting away, secure in the simple, steady truth that he’s there, and he won’t allow anything to harm me.
CHAPTER 15
VIVIENNE
Astrange fog surrounds me, and I frown as I realize I’m not in the tent. Cold presses beneath my bare feet. It’s smooth stone instead of earth. The fire is gone, and the air is still.
As I turn, darkness stretches in every direction, seeming to swallow everything. There are no trees, no river… and no sign of Auren or Vaelen.
Something shifts at the edge of the dark. I hear a faint scrape, like something being pulled across stone. My breath catches as something brushes my ankle. I look down and see several vines.
They slither over the stone, thin and twisting, and full of thorns. One begins to curl around me, snagging on the fabric of my shift. I step back, but another vine moves behind me.
“Auren?” I call out, but he doesn’t answer.
A pair of golden eyes blink at me from the shadows. My pulse pounds in my ears as the vines tighten around my ankle, the sharp thorns pressing against my skin. Fear ripples down my spine. “Let me go.”
“Mine,” a deep voice whispers inside my mind.
The Goblin King.The realization settles like ice in my veins.
