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My lips part, and then I turn my attention back to the view. “No,” I admit. “I’m afraid she doesn’t have a very positive opinion of our kind right now. I don’t want her to run away or think I am trapping her.”

My brother sighs. “Well, you’re going to have to get this past the elders first. They will fight you on having a human queen. It’s never been done before.”

“You mean the same elders who pushed you onto the throne?” I look over my shoulder at him.

Erik stands and walks toward me. “They may not want you back anymore, but I do.”

“You’ve ruled in my stead.”

“Because I had to.” He looks at me again, gentler now. “I never wanted the crown.”

“You wore it well.”

He chuckles. “I learned quickly. I had to. I couldn’t be the grieving younger brother forever.”

“No,” I agree. “You had to become the king.”

“I did.” He goes back over to our chairs, his voice steady. “But now that you’re here, it’s time I stopped pretending.”

“You’re not pretending,” I mutter. “You did well. This place isn’t falling apart. You’ve held it together, and that takes resilience and effort. You would have made Father proud.”

His eyes glisten for a moment. “Maybe, but now that you’re here, I want to step back and focus on the Silver Ring Organization. And you, you take back your crown. It’s too heavy for me.”

I smile at him. I understand how he feels.

A silence stretches between us before Erik opens the door and calls to a messenger in the hall.

When a young wolf steps into the office, Erik gives the order: “Send word to the North. Queen Leanna—tell her Maya has been found. She’ll want to come immediately.”

The messenger bows and vanishes into the corridor, closing the door behind him.

I open my mouth to say something when the door opens again and someone else appears there. It’s Maya, freshly showered and changed. She walks in.

“My mother is resting. Jerry is with her. I thought this was the best time to come talk to you, Erik. Am I interrupting?”

“You’re not interrupting,” I say immediately, crossing the room toward her.

I can feel my brother roll his eyes. I know he sees it: the tension coiled in my shoulders, the way my hand hovers near her waist like I can’t quite bear the space between us.

She lifts her chin to look at me. “Is everything okay?”

I glance at Erik.

“Depends,” he says, smiling faintly. “Did you come to rescue him?”

Maya arches a brow. “He doesn’t need rescuing. But he does need food and a trip to the healer’s.”

I can’t help but notice that she has become strangely possessive since she first saw Erik. I can see it in her eyes. I wonder if she realizes it.

Erik watches us both for a moment, then nods. “Food will be ready soon. We were just talking about old enemies and new threats.”

Maya steps closer to me. Not touching, but close enough that I can feel the pull between us. And I know, even without the bond spoken, that she feels it, too. But her eyes hold a soft confusion, a resistance, and I know she is not ready to know of our bond.

Not yet.

Chapter Six

Dr. Maya Sorin