The Wolf King

“I promise I will not ask you to do anything that will cause you harm, nor compromise your morals or integrity. And in return, while you will be mine, I will be yours, too. I will be your alpha. And I promise to take care of you. For as long as you’re here, with me.”

“And there is evidence it holds the power for us to shift whenever we choose, to be free.”

“But the Sun had underestimated the power of the Moon’s love. So distraught to have been parted from him, to see him suffer from her prison in the sky, she ripped out her own heart. She cast it down to the earth so he could keep it, and he could always be close to her power.”

“But the ability to transform into a wolf was not the curse.”

“We’re searching for the Cridhe na Ghealach—the Heart of the Moon. Because with it, we’ll have the power to shift when we want. With it, we’ll have the power to win this war.”

“You look exquisite, by the way. You should never pretend to be less than what you are.”

“You’re saying the Elderwolf was once able to change whenever he wanted. That the curse wasn’t that he had to transform into a wolf, but that the power was taken away from him.”

“We may not have noblemen and ladies like you have in the south. But we have rules, and laws, and traditions. Like, if I were to challenge Rob and win, I would take his clan and title. Wear this, and you won’t be harmed. It’s wolf law. Unbreakable. Inevitable. Just as we are bound to the Moon and must shift when she touches us.”

“He expects you to treat him as your alpha, and to do everything he says. And he doesn’t know what to do with you, now he’s found out you won’t.”

“I do want to know you. I want to know everything about you.”

“It’s a wolf thing. Rare, but powerful. Stronger, even, than love. Two souls chosen by the Moon Goddess to be together, their fates entwined. So. . .I may have to touch you from time to time—”

“When the Sun found out, she set out to punish them both. The Moon was banished. She was given to the God of Night to be locked within his prison in the sky. And the Elderwolf? Well, the wolf inside him was caged—only ever able to break free of his chains when the Moon was the closest and her power could reach him.”

“I will not hide from you that I want you. I’ve wanted you since the moment I first set eyes on you. I told myself I took you from the Borderlands because I needed you for the Heart of the Moon, but I think even then, I knew the truth. I couldn’t bear the thought of leaving you there.”

“So if I started prancing around without my clothes on, you’d be perfectly okay with that?”

“I could see the determination, and the strength, and the fire in your soul. Most people would’ve looked away from me if I’d looked at them the way I looked at you, but you didn’t. And I felt the hatred in that gaze. You hated everyone in that room, and you hated me. Goddess, you hated me.”

“Do you truly think I give a shit about Sebastian? That I would give him the slightest bit of consideration when it comes to you and me? Princess, I made a promise not to touch you because it’s the right thing to do. And it’s a promise that gets harder to keep every day, every hour, every second I’m around you.”

“When does protectiveness become possessiveness? Can you even be an alpha if a part of you doesn’t like to be in charge?”

“He wasn’t trying to kill you. He was protecting you. And Blake doesn’t do anything unless it’s within his own interests. So I want to know why.”