Chapter 5

Kane stared at the young female wolf in front of him as she held herself away from him, her tear-stained eyes filled with fear but not too much fear that she couldn’t hold his gaze.

She was like no other wolf he’d ever encountered before. Her frame was small, but there was something about her that seemed larger than life. Was it the confidence that swirled around her even as she begged him to spare her life? He stared at her oval face, small blue eyes from which tears flowed freely, dark hair that covered her shoulders like a curtain and pale cracked lips he was very sure was pink on a normal day.

But it wasn’t a normal day. No. When he’d decided to take a walk to clear his head, he never imagined running into three wolves. His first instinct had been to shoot at them. If he could kill at least one, then maybe his doubts concerning if he was doing the right thing would be sated.

Two had gotten away but thanks to one of the animal traps Eric had made them set up earlier, he’d been able to catch this one.

But he was certain they weren’t rogues. Those kinds of wolves usually walked with humans, looking for prey. In fact, something told him this particular wolf was more than just a wolf. The way her held was raised high even in defeat, the defiance in her eyes….

“I’m not going to hurt you,” he said quietly, not liking the way she was staring at him like as though he was a monster.

Her eyes told him she didn’t believe him one bit. “Get the hell away from me.”

“You’re hurt. You can barely walk on your own.”

“Yeah, thanks to you, dickhead.”

He paused, letting the expletive surprise him. She might be small but she was certainly a firecracker. “If I leave you here, another hunter’s going to come and I can assure you they won’t be as kind as I am.”

Her only response to him was the narrowing of her eyes. He hoped she would see sense in what he said because he was telling the truth. He might not kill her but Eric would not hesitate and he’d been gone for too long anyway. Someone was bound to come looking for him. Fiona, maybe.

“Do you have a place we can go so I can tend to your wounds?” he asked her.

He could see she still didn’t trust him but after a while she nodded, wetting her lips. An action he had the sudden urge to repeat. On her. Instantly, he shook off whatever that was and reached out a hand to her.

“Here, take my arm,” he offered. “I think it’s best I carry you.”

She was shaking her head almost immediately. “No, no. I’m fine. It’ll heal really soon.”

Kane gave her a humorous look. “You sure? Wound’s pretty deep.”

She bit her lip, obviously torn between letting a hunter carry her or risk getting caught by another hunter.

“Here, let me make it easy for you.” Kane hung his bow over his shoulder before reaching down and scooping her into his arms swiftly, ignoring her instant squeal of surprise. He wanted to get away from here before another one of his crew came and saw him helping one of the creatures they’d all sworn an oath to kill.

“Where are we going?” he asked.

“A cave, just a few miles from here.”

They made the rest of the walk in silence. Kane couldn’t stop wondering why he was doing what he was currently doing. He was supposed to kill wolves, not help them tend to their wounds. Even if the wolf in question was the beautiful woman he’d ever seen in his life. Even if something about her made him tick.

Fiona would be horrified, not to talk of Eric. Christ. Here he was fraternizing with the enemy. An enemy whose face was turned away from because maybe she felt the same as he did, like a traitor, receiving help from her enemy.

They reached the cave half an hour later. It was dark even in daylight, and at the wolf’s request, Kane set her down on a spot just a few feet past the circular opening. She scooted to the rough wall so that her back was pressed against it, and Kane thought she resembled a prey desperate to get away from its predator.

Sighing, he sat on the ground opposite her, wondering if anyone from the crew had gone out to look for him by now. He doubted they would venture this far, almost near the city. He could hear noises coming from afar.

“Do you know who I am?” the female wolf asked, her voice small. A glance at her wound told him that it had started its healing process, as there was less than blood than before.

“Am I supposed to?”

“I guess not. If you did, you would’ve killed me a long time ago.”

“How so?”

She didn’t seem too scared now. “Why didn’t you, anyway? I mean, aren’t you a hunter?”

He heard the disgust in her voice, as if she couldn’t believe anyone would want to harm one of her kind. “I am but I don’t have the answer to that question. Believe me, I’m at a loss myself.”

Distrust filled her gaze. “So you’re not trying to use me as bait so you can sneak your way into the castle? Easy access to the heart to the kingdom?”

He chuckled. “Use you? Why would I want to do that? For all I know, you could be at the bottom of the food chain.”

“But that’s just it,” she said, fire in her eyes. “I’m at the very top. The highest.”

He narrowed his eyes at her, trying to piece together the puzzle she was so obviously throwing at him. He paid attention to everything, the high rise of her chin, the defiant gaze, the way she carried herself even though she was at a loss here and then the penny dropped.

“You’re a princess.”

“The princess,” she corrected. “I’m the princess of the Blue Hounds.”

Kane sucked in a breath. Eric would be out of his head had he been present. Kane had managed to capture the princess. Now if only he could take her back to the team, this entire ordeal would end quicker than any of them expected. But still, he couldn’t bring himself to do it. The thought of killing her left a sour taste in his mouth.

“This is a pleasant surprise,” he finally said. Today had to be his lucky day. What was he doing here with her instead of with his friends?

“If you’re going to kill me, just get on with it.”

She truly thought he was a monster. The thought did not please him at all. “I’m not going to kill you.”

“Why not?”

He opened his mouth to answer, but nothing came.

They stared at each other in silence. For some reason, Kane felt a connection to this woman. When he’d first laid eyes on her, he felt a shock that reverberated through his entire body. As their eyes locked, he thought she was familiar, like he’d known her somehow somewhere before. But he was certain he’d never seen her in her life; he’d never have forgotten that face.

“I’m Kane. What’s your name?” he asked, wanting to know that little piece of information with all his might.

The wolf hesitated for a second before answering. “Ophelia. My name’s Ophelia.”