Finally, Queen Lysia set down her napkin with decisive finality. “Korran, why don’t you drive Tess to the medical facilities now? She should get acquainted with the space and the team.”
Korran’s jaw tightened, his knuckles going white where they gripped his water glass. “Very well, Mother.”
The prince’s behavior made no logical sense. Wouldn’t he want to be actively involved in his father’s recovery if he knew so much about shifter biology? And why does it seem like onemoment he’s overly attentive to her and the next moment he’s actively trying to avoid her?
Unless there’s something he doesn’t want me to discover.
Tess had never been one to tolerate secrets or half-truths, especially when lives hung in the balance. She had two weeks to solve a decade-long medical mystery, prove her capabilities, and save a dying king. She couldn’t afford to dance around whatever political or personal dynamics were complicating this situation.
Time to get some real answers, whether Prince Korran likes it or not.
SIX
KORRAN
Korran guided Tess from the dining room with his hand pressed against her back, the contact burning through the layers of her blouse and his self-control. He held himself rigid, a statue of royal decorum, as they moved through the grand foyer toward the carved double doors that led to the entrance. His bear thrashed beneath his skin, furious at the distance he maintained, demanding he pull her against him and bury his face in the scent of rose and rain that clung to her like a promise.
“Your coat,” he said, his voice a graveled command as he lifted her practical winter jacket from the brass hook. He held it open, his knuckles white where he gripped the fabric.
She turned, slipping her arms into the sleeves, and the motion brought her body flush against his chest for a single, searing second. Every instinct screamed to wrap his arms around her, to lock her in place and taste the skin of her throat. But he forced his hands to release the coat and stepped back as if scorched. He then shrugged into his own heavy parka, the movements sharp with frustration.
This is torture. My mother is forcing me into a slow-burning hell.
He opened the front door, a blast of icy air doing nothing to cool the heat coiling in him. “Mind the steps,” he murmured, offering his hand as she navigated the snow-dusted stone staircase.
She placed her fingers in his, and the jolt of connection was a live wire straight to his core. But he released her the instant her boots hit the gravel drive. Korran turned abruptly and led the way to his vehicle—a massive, black SUV built for Northern Dominion’s harsh terrain. He opened the passenger door, his other hand hovering near her waist as she climbed in, not touching but close enough to feel the warmth of her. His bear immediately roared its approval.
Drive her somewhere private. Claim what’s ours.
He slammed the door shut, the sound like a gunshot in the quiet courtyard. He dragged in a lungful of frigid air. Control. He needed absolute control.
He made his way around to the driver’s side and slid into the leather driver’s seat. But once inside the SUV, her scent was everywhere. It wrapped around him, intimate and taunting, as he started the engine and pulled onto the main road leading from the estate into the town proper.
The silence stretched, thick and charged. He’d spent the entire lunch sitting ramrod straight, his every muscle locked in a battle to keep from reaching under the table to feel the curve of her thigh. Now, in this enclosed space, the battle reached a fever pitch.
Just pull over. Now. She’s right there. Our fated mate.
His hands tightened on the steering wheel until the leather creaked in protest.
No. She’s human. Look what it did to Father. The bond is a poison. Varix confirmed it.
The logical part of his mind, the part trained by his mother to observe and question, whispered a traitorous thought:Did he? Did you ever actually see the data?
He shoved the doubt aside. Varix had served Northern Dominion for forty years. The head healer’s word, his diagnosis, was the bedrock of a decade of understanding. It was the story that made the unbearable make sense.
The quiet broke with the force of a cliffside avalanche.
“You need to start telling me what’s really going on here.”
Korran’s head snapped toward her, surprise and a sharp thrill shooting through him. No one spoke to him like that—not his advisors, not the council, not even his parents. Her green eyes were direct, challenging, and completely unafraid.
His bear surged forward, pride and possession roaring to life.
See? She is strong. She is ours.
Korran wrestled the beast back, his alpha pride and stubborn logic taking the reins. “What do you mean?” he countered, keeping his eyes on the snow-packed road now. “I told you at lunch. Varix’s research indicates the completed mate bond is altering my father’s cellular functions. The effect is cumulative with age.”
“Did you look at the data yourself?”
