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CHAPTER TWENTY-SIX

NEAH

T hings felt different. Clearer than yesterday, when her thoughts had felt like a jumble of scents and sensations driven more by instinct than logic. And Wren had been… surprisingly sweet.

Now though, he was firmly in kingly plotting mode.

He stood, towering over Zennon in a way Neah didn’t much like, and then a shimmer of light rippled over him and in his place stood a tiger that was a larger but identical version to her own form.

She’d caught sight of herself in the mirror and could hardly believe this was her .

After all this time, she’d finally fucking shifted.

Her eyes, though, looked the same. Anchoring her into this new reality.

Wren turned to her, nudging at her face with his as he sniffed at her and Zennon’s laughter drew Neah’s attention.

“Well, that’s one way to get them talking.” Zennon walked them to the door just as Romi appeared from the bed chamber, eyes widening at the two wild beasts in the foyer. “Go. Have fun. Be safe.”

Neah brushed against her sister as she left and Zennon nodded, understanding what Neah couldn’t say. You too .

If the reactions to one tiger stalking the halls while being chased by the king were shocked, then the court was downright flabbergasted to see the two of them.

Neah caught hints of conversation as they stalked through the halls, more than she was used to being able to hear. She’d thought her senses in her human form had been sharp, but this was another level altogether.

“You see? I told you it wasn’t the wine! She shifted in the middle of the ball ? —”

“Pack up our things, Esmerelda. The king’s found himself a mate and there’s certainly no other men of status worth your time here ? —”

“The king has been blessed by the Goddess! Praise Selene! Long live the king!”

The last speaker had Neah’s eyes rolling skyward as they descended the stairs that would lead them to the palace’s entry way and, finally, to the forest.

Fresh air drifted in toward her on the breeze and Neah raised her head, inhaling deeply, amazed by the layers to the wind in this form.

Her pace picked up, eager to see what else was different about the forest on four paws, and Wren gave a little yip that seemed ridiculous coming from an animal so large.

Before she knew it, they’d cleared the last of the stairs and were out the small side door that led to the forest, rather than the stone entryway where the carriages came and went as they ferried nobles.

The ground under Neah’s feet was softer than she had anticipated, the dirt crumbling in places and slippery in others.

She had assumed it would feel like walking barefoot, but the sensation was completely different.

The grass tickled and droplets of dew dampened her fur, and then the wind changed and she could smell everything .

Wren nudged her and then bounded off ahead, as if to taunt her. But it felt different to the last time they’d been together in the forest. This felt playful.

He darted away and Neah gave chase, tongue lolling out to taste the wind as they kicked up the scents of the forest with their claws. Wren was bigger, so his stride was longer, but she had always been fast.

They collided, rolling over and over until they came to a halt on the edge of a lake she hadn’t even known was there before this. Wren shook off the dirt and leaves that she’d mashed into his coat and then shot her a look that made her huff out a laugh in the form of a breath.

Their forms were one as they bounded forward together, splashing into the water with a reckless abandon that made her feel untethered, the shock of icy cold freshness pushing into her with an insistence that felt a lot like freedom as she swam in lazy circles.

Now that they’d all but announced to the world that they were mated, things would change for her.

She couldn’t very well maintain her cover as a spy in enemy courts as the king’s mate.

Her time as a spy had come to an end and, to her surprise, she was very okay with that.

She’d been pleased to serve, and to travel and see the kingdom, but it had come at the expense of her family, her loneliness.

Maybe it was time for a new kind of life.

Warmth cascaded over her and suddenly skin replaced fur, fingers appeared where claws had been and the cold that had felt luxurious before was piercing against her more fragile human skin.

Wren had looked up at the flash of light and from one second to the next he changed from beast to man, grinning. She started to shake and his smile faded into a look of concern as he dipped under the water and appeared at her side with his hair slicked back.

“What’s wrong?” The words were quiet and when thunder rumbled overhead it felt like they were in a cocoon of safety. Nothing else besides them, at this moment, mattered. Not being strong, or keeping him at arms length to protect her heart, and Neah realised she was so tired of fighting.

“What if I can’t do it again?” The words were small and she was relieved when Wren didn’t mock her. Instead, he pushed a wet strand of hair away from her face and smiled gently.

“You can. It’ll always be there, waiting inside of you. Like it had been from the start.”

She wished she could share in his confidence.

“Thank you for last night,” she said finally as their eyes caught and held, the space between them seeming inconsequential as rain began to hit the surface of the water, creating mini ripples that cascaded out until the lake appeared to have a current.

Wren’s brows furrowed. “For what? I didn’t do anything.”

She shook her head. It wasn’t true in the least. He’d done everything .

Reassured her when she hadn’t even known she’d needed it, told her it was okay to have lost herself in the instincts, to have killed, even before he’d known what had happened, and best—or maybe worst—of all, he’d sleepily told her to do the one thing she’d never done before.

To choose herself. To put her wants and needs first.

It had always been the kingdom, the family, and then her own desires—in that order.

And Wren had thrown all of that out of the window, like nothing else could be more important than her happiness.

Maybe that was what she’d needed her whole life, for someone to tell her it was okay to choose herself sometimes.

His golden eyes had darkened, the clouds reflected in his gaze as he watched her for any indication of her thoughts. So she decided to show him what she was feeling the best way she knew how.

Their lips met and tingles zipped up her spine, spreading out beneath his touch, his mouth, until all she could breathe and taste was Wren.

His lips parted and she followed his lead, tasting his mouth with a hesitancy that he ignored, devouring her like he’d been waiting for this moment his whole life.

The rain fell harder and her nipples pebbled from his touch rather than the cold as Wren lifted her from the water and her legs locked around his waist. While he had managed to reconjure his trousers with his shift, she had yet to learn that nifty ability, and so her bare skin pressed to his slick chest. Her breasts crushed against him as burning hot kisses trailed from her throat to her chest.

Neah barely noticed that they were moving until her back hit the soft grass near the water’s edge. A large Valeneos tree offered them some shelter overhead, the rain pattering softly against its leaves on the way down as Wren drank in the sight of her sprawled out beneath him.

“Beautiful,” he rasped, and when he kissed her again she knew he meant it.

It was clear in the delicate reverence of his touch as his hands moved down her sides, coasting across her arms, feeling out the curve of her waist, and then his mouth found the rigid peak of her breasts.

She gasped and he smirked as his hot tongue worked in circles against her nipple, pleasure shooting directly to her core and making her throb as he relinquished one breast and repeated the process on the other.

Her thighs parted, welcoming him closer, and her legs locked around his hips as she tried to relieve the building pressure by rocking against him.

“Patience, mate. I’ve heard it’s a virtue.”

“You know what else is a virtue?” she growled. “Putting your mouth to good use and?—”

Her moan was lost in the sound of the thunder, booming around them and making her heart jump in her chest as Wren’s mouth was, indeed, put to good use.

Neah remembered exactly how talented his tongue was from the last time they’d been out here and under the influence of the moon, but this felt more measured, unhurried, like he could feast on her for hours until she was a writhing, whimpering, mess.

Wren’s tongue darted against the center of her where she throbbed for him, a rumble of satisfaction vibrating his chest as he pulled back and grabbed a hold of her thighs, lifting her pussy up to his face so he could taste her.

If she’d thought she knew what it was like to be claimed before, she’d been wrong.

Her hips bucked and she cried out as Wren suctioned against her clit and then curled his tongue into her opening, licking into her in deep strokes that made her head feel fuzzy.

“You taste like fucking heaven,” he growled against her flesh and she whimpered as his breath teased her sensitive skin. “You taste like mine .”

His tongue plunged back into her, pressing into her inner walls until her cries turned to high pitched mewls.

Still he continued. Two fingers pressed into her heat, curling and rubbing her into an exhausted second orgasm before he spread his fingers inside of her, adding a third and fourth and laughing when her eyes widened.

“Need to get you ready for me, mate.” He pulled down his trousers, freeing himself, and she swallowed hard as she took in the size of him. “You’re going to take every inch.”