Heart of the Wolf Prince

Chapter 18

When I make it to the top step, I virtually collapse onto the landing before I sprint the last stretch. I swear I can feel breath pushing against the back of my neck and I close the distance between me and Kohl's black-painted doors. Tears are streaming down my cheeks, and my side is howling in pain, but I do not stop.

Ten feet. Five. One—

A guttural sob rips from my throat as I throw myself at the door. I bang on the wooden panel with my fists, aware that the attacker could be closing in at any moment now. The thought makes my throat constrict.

"Kohl!" I cry, banging on the doors with enough force to break them. Urgency ploughs into my chest, and I hit harder. "KOHL!"

The door swings open, and the moment I see Kohl standing there, his face white with confusion and alarm, I throw my arms around him with a sob of relief.

"Naomi?" he asks, and I am too rattled to even notice that he used my first name. He wraps his arms tentatively around me, as though at a loss of what to do. "Naomi, what's—"

"Don't let them hurt me, please," I sob, clutching him harder, as though letting him go would mean the sky caving in above us.

He pulls me back, his worried eyes searching my face. "Who? What is—" He goes deathly still as his eyes land on the wound in my side. I look down to my shirt, the white material soaked through with my blood. With a curse, he sweeps me up and drags me inside his room, throwing the door shut behind him with a thud. He crosses the space and sets me down on the bed. "You're bleeding," he says, his eyes wide with panic and question.

I look away, unable to handle the intensity of his gaze right now. "I was stabbed. They stabbed me..."

"Who? Who stabbed you?"

I can feel his anger, seeping off of him in poisonous tendrils. I know they are not directed at me, but they terrify me all the same. I shake my head as the memories replay in my head again, and I feel myself nearing the precipice of where I break entirely. To distract myself, I clutch the wound on my side, the tender flesh aching at my fingertips.

Kohl curses and storms for his draw, searching frantically for something. He pulls out a roll of bandages and is at my side in a few seconds, lifting my shirt to wrap the white material around my torso. I flinch at his touch as he goes to work. When he's finished, he finally meets my gaze again, his golden irises smouldering.

"I need to know who did this to you, Naomi."

The floodgates break, and I fall into a wave of hysterics as the fear, heartache, and relief hit me all at once. The words tumble from my mouth as I think of them. "I was walking back from training and I was going to the infirmary but then I realised I was being followed and... and then I ran back to my room and the attacker chased me all the way there and they were wearing all black and when I tried to get into my room they threw a dagger at me and it hit me in the side and then... and then—"

Another sob pushes from my throat. It's official. I've lost my shit, right in front of the prince of Raelia.

Kohl grabs my hands, his hold warm and firm. It's the grounding I need as my mind whirls like a maelstrom, and I focus on the heat they provide. "Hey, slow down. It's alright, you're safe with me. I won't let anyone hurt you."

I stare at him, at the determined fire in his golden eyes, and I know I believe him. I know I can trust him, knew it even in my almost-dying breath. Kohl had been one of my last thoughts and my first point of contact when I needed somewhere to hide. In my heart, I know he means those words.

I nod weakly, allowing myself to slump against him as he sits by my side, wrapping one arm around my shoulders as he keeps the other firmly intertwined with my hand.