Self-consciously, I raised a hand to my neck, feeling the leather. I had almost forgotten it was there. After seeing so many wolves wearing them, I’d begun to not even see them. Last night, I had barely even noticed them on the wolves who had run with me.
“What did you mean that Prince Bartlett was a follower of his father’s?” I asked.
“Simply that his father chose to take no consort, and we had thought Prince Bartlett fell along the same lines.” The elder dryad looked back at the tree trunk, tilting her head and observing the bird as it hopped up and down the trunk, searching for insects.
There was no way I could tell them that Cade did, although likely not for the same reason that his father hadn’t taken a consort. Cade’s decision was born out of fear, out of the sort of trauma no one should have to go through. Why hadn’t his father taken a consort? His dad hadn’t had the excuse of a parental murder to keep him from the tradition.
“Do you know why his father chose not to take a consort?” I asked. “Cade’s pretty tight-lipped when it comes to his dad—you know, because of the whole murder thing.”
“No, he wouldn’t want to speak much of his father.” The dryad shook her head. “From my understanding, he found an alternate way to rid himself of the excess magic.”
I started to askwhat excess magic, then snapped my mouth shut. This was something she clearly expected me to understand, and if I revealed that I had no idea what she was talking about, she could figure out I wasn’t actually Cade’s consort.
“Are there any other wolves in this town of yours?” I asked. “Or is this going to be like the city dancing kid moving into a small no-dancing town?”
“No. It has been many years since wolves have roamed our forests.” The dryad tilted her head. “Eleven years, in fact.”
“Eleven years? That’s a very specific number. Almost like it lines up exactly with the death of Cade’s father,” I said. “Does it have anything to do with that?”
“Eleven years ago, a pack passed through. As far as I know, they didn’t even interact with the town. They used our forests for a month or so, then disappeared. We found out about the death of King Bartlett several months after the fact. Whether or not they aligned, we don’t know.”
“Yeah, it’s not like they were sending out calendar reminders about the death.” I frowned, remembering how Cade had said they locked down the estate for weeks afterward.
It couldn’t have been the Castillo Pack. My parents had come alone. My siblings and I had been watched over by one of the pack aunties, and everyone else had stayed in Flores.
So who could the pack have been? And why had they been here?
A branch cracked, and Jesaiah trotted out of the woods. He narrowed his eyes at me.
I stood, nodding at the elder dryad. “Thanks for the company. And for reassuring me about what will happen to the pups.”
“I’m glad to have helped.” She stood, tilting her head down to gaze at me. “Despite my misgivings, I am glad that Prince Bartlett has found a consort who he can trust.”
“Yeah, well, someone has to protect him from a shiv in the back.” I nodded again. “I’m going to head out.”
I didn’t wait for acknowledgment, shifting back into a wolf smoothly.
It felt like water grinding a groove through rock. Each time I did it, it became easier and faster. Soon, I would be back to normal.
I needed to talk to Cade, whether he wanted to or not. Turning, I headed straight back to the king’s house.
ChapterThirty-Seven
When I reached the king’s house, I trotted up the stairs. Ignoring propriety, I didn’t shift before coming in, pacing through the house in my wolf form.
“There you are,” Jay said. He was standing in front of the library door, clutching a clipboard in his hands. “People have been looking for you, but I put them off.”
I jerked my chin up, then down.
Jay seemed to understand what I wanted. “Of course. Go change. I’ll be here.”
I leapt up the stairs, taking them four at a time. When I was just outside Cade’s room, I shifted into my human form. The house was nearly empty again. It had been strange seeing so many people there overnight. I was used to the quiet, just the two of us and the servants in the house.
Inside Cade’s room, I grabbed clothes that had been set neatly out for me. Whether it was Cade or one of the servants, I appreciated the thought. When I was dressed, I walked back downstairs, the feeling of wolf still buzzing under my skin.
“Do you need a cooldown?” Jay asked when he saw me. “The two scouts are in the resting room if you want to meet them.”
I needed a cooldown, probably more than I ever had in my entire life. But I couldn’t afford to take one. My questions for Cade had to take priority.
