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“Ruleone,” Cole says, holding up a big, long finger in front of my face. It takes everything in me not to smack it away. “Youlistento me. If I say stop, stop. If I say quiet, quiet. If I say run for the hills, yougo.”

“Fine,” I say, agreeing to it, eager to getallof this done so I can just getintothose caves. I don’t know how or why I just…feelthat this is right. “What’s rule two?”

“I don’t know,” he says, dropping his hand and grimacing a little. “I got a little ahead of myself. That was pretty much it. But this isdangerous, Nadia – fucking…foolhardy.”

I shake my head, glancing towards the caves. “Wehaveto do it. They’re…afraid.”

“What are youtalkingabout?” he whispers.

I look back at him, worry starting to curl in me. Because whatamI talking about –whyam I here? Everything Cole said before was right – this is…stupid. I’m not prepared for this! I’m a damn nurse – I don’t belong on a battlefield! I just got this crazy idea in my head that there were girls who needed help and dragged the crown Prince out here all alone –

Oh my god, if this gets him killed –

“Nope,” Cole says, shaking his head at me, stepping close. “Stop.”

I look up at him. “Stop what?”

“I canseeyou doubting yourself, Nadia,” he says. “Just…if this is what your body is telling you to do, maybe we have to do it.”

I exhale slowly, anxiety at war with my desire to get into the cave right fucking now.

“Hey,” Cole says, stepping close and stroking a hand gently over my hair. “I’m in charge, right? You’re going to listen to your gut now. What’s it say?”

I bite my lip, closing my eyes, trying to listen, to feel what’s right. And something in me is just…pulling me there. “We have to go in.”

“All right,” he murmurs. I sigh and drop my head, shutting my eyes, taking a moment to collect myself. Passively, I feel Cole shift closer, feel the warmth of him –

But my eyes fly open when I feel him kiss me softly on the forehead.

“What are youdoing?” I gasp, whipping my face up.

“Sorry,” he murmurs, grimacing and stepping away, raising his hands. “Sorry. You just…sorry, you looked worried.”

“Iamworried,” I growl, stepping forward to smack him on the chest. “Which is not a great moment tostealakiss!”

Cole smirks at me like he kind of disagrees, but then he shakes himself all over. “I’m going to shift back into my wolf,” he says, glancing at the cave entrance. “My senses will be heightened. You stay on my right side at all times, okay? By my shoulder. It’s the safest spot.”

I nod, agreeing to it, watching this time as he shifts into his wolf, the change happening so fast that I can barely comprehend it. He stands before me, his pink tongue peeking between his fangs as he pants a little. And I just shake my head, amazed.

Still staring at him, I take a step forward, reaching out and stroking my palm over his muzzle and then up over his head and ears. I don’t let myself think about the fact that if he was still a guy, I’d basically be caressing his face.

I just…want to feel his lovely silky fur again. “You’re a very pretty wolf, you know,” I murmur, looking him over. Pretty and…gigantic. I mean, most wolves would come up to a human’s hip, right? But Cole comes up atleastto my shoulder, probably taller. And it’s not just that he has long legs – he’s just…big.

Cole barks a little sound of confirmation, letting me know that he does indeed know that he’s pretty. I start a little, looking into his eyes – which are just as blue as they are when he’s a human. And then I swat him gently on his nose.

“Oh, come on, you conceited thing,” I murmur, shaking my head and moving to his shoulder, as instructed.

Cole does his little wolf-laugh and we move forward together toward the cave.

I peer into the entrance of the cave a few minutes later, grimacing because it is…dark.

Cole huffs and then nudges my shoulder. I stare at him for a second before putting together what he means, slipping the backpack off and pulling a flashlight out of the front pocket. I turn it on and sweep it around the darkness of this great hole in the mountain.

He starts forward into the light, and I follow, my heart pounding, breath coming short. My mind is completely at war with my heart in this moment, calling me afullidiot for walking into this cave, which was awar zoneyesterday.

But with every step, my heart sings that this isright right right.

I start to lean more toward my mind’s conclusion when I sweep the flashlight over the ground and seebloodsmeared everywhere. I suck in a deep breath, going still and just staring at it. But Cole glances back at me, a little growl running through him, letting me know I need to keep up. I scurry back to his side, wanting to be close