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“Is that so?” I tease.
“It is,” he says proudly. “We have superior sight, hearing, smell, and—”
“Then find me.” I push away from him and break into a sprint, turning one corner and then another as I make my way through the maze.
All the while I can hear him behind me, his feet crunching on the gravel as he gives chase, laughing and calling out. “You cannot run from a Wolf-Shifter, Luna,” he teases. “I will find you.”
Wolf-shifters are much faster than humans, and I know I only have a few moments before he catches up with me as I hear him give chase. We started this game when we were much younger, but over the past few years it has developed into something more.
Something that borders on the forbidden because every time we do this, my longing for him grows even more. But he is a Prince of Winterhold, and I am merely an ambassador’s daughter. Wanting someone I shouldn’t is dangerous. And I know if I am not careful, it will destroy my heart.
Sometimes I wonder if he feels as I do. I often fantasize that he has the same breathless and excited anticipation I experience when he races after me. That my feelings are not one-sided, as I fear them to be.
When I make another turn, I find an open area with a three-tiered fountain and a bench beside it. I hide behind the bench, crouching low.
Malak skids to a halt when he reaches the fountain, and I put my hand to my mouth, trying to stifle my breathing.
“You think you’re so clever,” he teases. “But I can hear your heartbeat, Luna. You cannot hide from me.”
Stifling a laugh, I jump up from my hiding place and make a run for the exit, but his strong arms wrap around my waist, halting me abruptly.
His breath is warm on my neck. “I caught you,” he whispers against my skin, and heat pools low in my belly. “Do you yield to me?”
This is a game we have played since we were younger, and I have never surrendered easily. Laughing, I wriggle in his hold. I break free just enough to tickle his ribs.
Malak is very ticklish and I have exploited this knowledge often.
Laughter bursts from his lungs before he finally pins my arms to my sides and locks me in his iron embrace. I twist my neck to look back at him, grinning as I tease him. “My, what strong arms you have.”
He grins. “The better to hold you with so you cannot mercilessly tickle me.”
I smile as he loosens his grip just enough that I turn in his arms to face him. He is so handsome it takes my breath away. My gaze drops to his full, perfect mouth. Something about this moment makes me bold, and I reach up and touch his cheek.
CHAPTER2
MALAK
Luna’s warm brown eyes stare up into mine as she touches my cheek. She is the most beautiful female I have ever seen. And as her gaze holds my own, my inner wolf thrashes beneath the surface, demanding to be freed. He longs to mark her, claim her, and make her ours.
I cannot deny that I want the same, but I will not allow him to surface. Not yet. Luna is not a Wolf-Shifter. I must court her as a man, not a beast.
Although my inner wolf and I are one and the same, he is unsettled and will remain that way until we have claimed her. My inner wolf knew she was ours the moment we met. I was too young to understand it at the time, but as we grew older, I recognized what my wolf knew from the beginning: Luna is my mate, and my heart and soul will only ever belong to her.
Tightening my hold, I pull her flush against my body. I run my hand through her long, silken red hair. My gaze drops to her mouth and I long more than anything to taste her lips. I want to know if she tastes as good as I’ve imagined.
Her delicious scent of apples and cinnamon floods my nostrils. I cup her chin, tipping her face up to mine. The soft scent of mint escapes her mouth, fanning across my lips, and I lower my gaze to the curve of her mouth, already imagining that taste of her kiss. Searching her eyes for silent permission, I lean in and close the small gap between us.
Someone cries out, startling her, and she quickly pulls away as a couple runs past us, giggling as they race around the corner.
The clock bell tower strikes five times, and she gasps. “I have to get back, Mal. My father will be awake soon.”
Curse the time and curse her father. He is very strict and has never approved of our friendship. As the Ambassador from the Kingdom of Avalor, his job is to maintain good relations between our two kingdoms, and you would think he would be pleased that his daughter is a personal friend of me and my brother—the two princes of Winterhold.
The King of Avalor is just as easily riled to anger as my own father, and our two kingdoms have come close to war several times. If Luna will accept me as her mate, I only hope that her father will recognize the advantage of such a match.
“Do not worry.” I lift her into my arms, and I love how she instinctively curls into me. “I will get you home before he awakens.”
Tucking her close to my chest, I race down the cobbled streets until I reach her home. The garden gate is unlocked, so I quietly slip inside. She squeezes her eyes shut and tenses as I leap up onto the balcony railing.
