Heart of the Wolf Prince

Chapter 25

I run through the halls as fast as my legs can carry me. I can sense Kohl giving chase some ways behind me, but that only makes me run harder. I have to get outside. I have to get out of these walls and just breathe for a second.

The doors to the courtyard are open and I burst through them without a second thought. Icy droplets of rain slam against my skin like rocks, chilling me to the bone, but I do not slow. The wet blades of grass lick at my soles and bite into the sensitive skin there. The smell of earth and moisture dulls my senses, calming me a fraction.

"Naomi!" Kohl's voice pierces through the rainy veil behind me. Before I even make it to the rose bed, he grabs my wrist, his skin like burning coals as he whirls me around.

His golden eyes find mine, wide and afraid. I don't even bother to hide my tears as they well in my eyes, lost to the streaks of rain that run down my cheeks.

I yank my hand back with something between a sob and a growl. "My sister, Kohl? Are you fucking serious?"

"It wasn't what it looked like, Naomi, I swear," he stammers, trying to catch my wrists again but I snatch them away before he can. I stumble back, slipping in the mud as I struggle to regain my footing.

"Her?" I hiss through a sob. "I can bear anyone else, Kohl. Hell, you can screw my other sister for all I care. Just not her. Not her."

My heart thumps a war tune in my ears, and I can barely hear anything over the deafening patter of rain all around us.

"It wasn't her, Naomi, listen to me." Kohl reaches out again, and I mean to pull away, but the plea in his voice stops me. He takes both of my hands in his, and the warmth of them sends a dull ache through my chest.

For a moment, I raise my eyes to look at him. His dark hair is plastered to his face, his golden eyes wide and frantic as they scan mine. His lips hold a blue tint, his skin a little grey despite the warmth of his hands. My eyes linger on his lips for a moment.

Kohl takes my several seconds of silence as his sign to continue. "Your sister forced herself into my quarters. I didn't even mean for her to get in – I answered the door and she pushed inside without even bothering to ask if she could come in. She started interrogating me about you, about us—"

"Us?" I repeat. My rapid breathing slows a little.

Kohl nods fervently, seeming glad to have finally gotten through to me. "Yes. She knew something was going on between you and me. I tried to cover for us, but she kept being so damn insistent and it got to the point where I just told her to get out or I'd call the guards. That was when you showed up at the door. I swear, I would never touch her like that. On my life, Naomi."

His words take a moment to register with my mind, and movement in my peripheral steals my attention. I glance over Kohl's shoulder, and though the sheet of rain distorts my vision, the candlelight in the archway is enough to make her out. Althea stands at the arch, her spine rigid. She glares at us through the rain, her eyes particularly furious when they focus on the back of Kohl's head. And when they turn to regard me, the shadow of jealousy flutters through them.

"Is this true?" I call to Althea, unable to keep some of the anger from seeping into my tone. My eyes track her like a hawk's as she steps into the rain, eyes trained on Kohl.

"Isn't this a little scandalous, Prince?" Althea hisses, ignoring me.

Kohl's hands tighten around mine, and a gasp escapes me as he suddenly draws me closer. "You have no clue what you're talking about."

Her eyes dart between us, narrowing on where one of Kohl's hands now rests on my waist. Her eyes find mine and I find nothing but pure venom there.

"This is illegal," she hisses.