His hand releases my ankle, and I scramble higher, wondering why I went along with this bad idea.
Oh, right.Because I have no clue how to survive in the wilderness.
“I didn’t know wolves climbed trees,” I say.
“I’m not a natural wolf, Sweetheart. I do what it takes to escape death, including eating with silverware and wearing clothes and mingling with people when I’d rather…”
“Go naked?”
He chuckles. “That’s a thought. I was going to say, I’d rather take a walk by myself.”
“Naked.”
“You seem obsessed with my nakedness. I’d take a walk naked with you, Princess. You only have to ask.”
“You…” I’m smiling again. What’s wrong with me? Huffing, I climb higher, his presence below me reassuring.
He won’t let me fall. It’s a feeling I haven’t had in… a very long time.
Fighting the warmth it brings, the cozy echoes it carries, I pull myself higher, and he pushes my feet so that I’m sliding up on the jutting, wide branch he had spotted from below.
“That’s it,” he says. “Get up there, and I’ll follow.”
“I’ll fall!”
“I won’t let you.”
And that statement, so calm and imbued with certainty, cements it. I shouldn’t trust him, I don’t really know him, and he may have saved my life, but he also brought me out here where I’m as helpless as a baby.
Here I am… placing myself in his hands. Large, capable hands that gently shove me upward until I’m sprawled on the wide branch, panting and terrified.
He climbs up behind me and grabs my waist, pulling me to all fours. “Don’t fight me, Princess. Relax and let me hold you.”
“Hold me?” But he’s already dragging me backward until I’m seated between his legs.
“We’ll both fall,” I whisper, breathless for so many reasons.
“Such little trust.” His breath is warm on my neck. “Have some faith in your bodyguard.”
“You’re not?—”
“A deal is a deal. As a wolf and a lord, as a man, I won’t ever go back on it. I’ll deliver you to your destination. I’ll do everything in my power, I swear it, and I know what I’m doing. So rest.”
“I’m the daughter of your enemy,” I whisper.
“Didn’t I tell you not to remind me of it? Sleep, Princess.”
“Valen…” I swallow hard. “I’m so sorry about your mother.”
“Yeah. And I’m sorry about yours. Now, I said, sleep. I’ll keep you safe.”
CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR
VALERIAN
How did I find myself in such a fucked-up situation?
It’s troublesome. Exhausting. Annoying. I should be back with my people, not babysitting a traumatized woman whose family has set out to assassinate her.
