“Papa, no! ”
The boy’s cry cut through the morning mist, and Cersei froze. She was a wolf, silver-white fur matted with dirt and dried blood, and she had just been discovered. The man standing twenty feet away had a hunting bow raised, an arrow knocked and aimed directly at her heart.
His voice was deadly calm. “Step away from the wolf, Bronn. Slowly now. ”
Bronn didn’t move.
Instead, he planted himself in front of her, a small, brave shield. “Papa, he’s not dangerous. He’s my friend. ”
Cersei had been running for days.
Running from the palace, from her mate, from the betrayal that had shattered everything she believed in. She had been Queen Cersei, mate of Oruron, the Alpha King. She had believed his love was absolute. She had been wrong.
Twenty-two days he had been gone, and she had counted every one. Their bond demanded closeness, intimacy, and she had felt him through it, content, happy, radiantly happy. She had told herself the rumors were nothing. Then she had walked into their chambers and found Lady Reva sitting in the chair that had been empty for twenty-two days.
Reva, Oruron’s first love. Reva, whose skin carried the unmistakable scent of her mate’s claiming. “The child is mine, of course,” Oruron had announced, as if discussing the weather. “Reva has most kindly agreed to do what you cannot for the good of the realm.
She will bear us a strong, healthy heir. ”
Cersei had pulled her hand free from his grip. “May I speak with you privately? ”
“Anything you wish to say about our heir should be said in front of his mother.
”
Through the bond, he had betrayed everything he was trying to hide. Images flooded her mind. Reva beneath him in tangled sheets. His hands, the same hands that touched Cersei with careful duty, mapping Reva’s curves with desperate hunger.
His desire, raw and consuming. He had never loved her. Not like she loved him. She had walked from the room with the measured steps of a woman who still remembered how to be a queen.
Then she had run. Through gardens, into the wild forest, until her legs gave out and she collapsed beside a stream. “My love, where are you? ” His voice drifted through the bond.
“Come back. Don’t be dramatic. ”
She had dug her nails into the dirt. Then a wolf had emerged from the shadows, massive and scarred, with yellow eyes that held no recognition of her humanity.
The beast lunged, and Cersei’s own beast responded. Her bones snapped like dry kindling. Her muscles tore and reformed. Fur erupted from skin that had known only silk.
She shifted for the first time in her life. She had fought the rogue, but it was cunning. Its teeth closed around her paw with crushing force, and she screamed. The sound startled it enough that it released her, and perhaps the scent of alpha blood was enough to make it retreat.
She was alone, bleeding, trapped in a form she could not change back into. That was when Bronn found her. He was eight years old, almost nine, with a father who worked too hard and a little sister who had eaten the last heel of yesterday’s bread. He had brought her scraps of food, hidden from their meager stores.
He had talked to her, told her about his mother who had died giving birth to Roslin. And she had listened. For the first time in her life, someone had looked at her and seen something worth saving. On the fourth morning, Bronn’s father found them.
The man’s name was Lionus. He was tall and broad-shouldered, with quiet strength that came from years of hard work rather than birthright. He lowered his bow when he saw her injured paw, infected and swollen. “Your wolf is a girl,” he told Bronn.
“She needs cleaning and binding. ”
He carried her to his cottage in a crude wooden cart, beside a struggling garden and a chicken coop. He put her in the tool shed, with fresh blankets and a rope around her neck. “I won’t risk you hurting my children,” he said, and the apology in his voice was real.
Then three-year-old Roslin burst through the door. “Doggy! ”
The child wrapped her small arms around Cersei’s neck, and something deep in Cersei’s chest cracked open. Protect, her wolf instinct surged.
Through the bond, Oruron’s voice intruded. “Where are you, Cersei? I need you. Come back to me.
”
She whimpered despite herself. “Shh,” the little girl murmured, arms tightening. “Shh. ”
Cersei felt her heart break and heal simultaneously.
The days settled into a routine that was both blessing and torment. Bronn read to her every morning. Roslin brought flowers and mud tea. Lionus brought food twice daily and checked her paw with hands that grew gentler as her injury mended faster than any normal wolf should.
“You heal quick,” he observed one afternoon. “The children love you already. Bronn especially. He hasn’t been this happy since his mother died.
”
At night, when the family went inside and left her alone, Oruron’s voice was loudest. “Come back to me, my love. Our bed is cold without you. ”
Then his tone would shift.
“Think of our child, Cersei. You’re being selfish, worrying poor Reva. ”
Rage flooded her. His child with Reva.
The air that should have been hers, growing in another woman’s body. One night, Lionus found her pacing, her distress audible from the house. “I heard you,” he said quietly. He settled with his back against a post, close enough to offer comfort but not crowd her.
“My wife was the expert at caring for wounded animals. She’d sit with them just like this until they calmed. ”
His name was Agnes. She died two years ago, bringing Roslin into the world.
“You understand every word I’m saying, don’t you? ” he asked. “You wouldn’t happen to be a shifter, would you? ”
Her heart stopped.
She wanted to shift back, to tell him everything. But her body refused to obey. The wolf form that had saved her life now held her prisoner. “Guess not,” he sighed.
“Of course not. ”
He smiled, kind and not condescending. “Whatever you are, you’re safe here. ”
Three weeks passed.
Her paw healed completely. Every logical thought told her she should leave. If Oruron’s soldiers found her here, what would happen to Lionus and his children? But each morning she woke to Bronn’s eager footsteps.
Each afternoon Roslin pressed wildflowers into her fur. The thought of leaving felt like tearing out her own heart. Then Roslin reached for the axe. It sat embedded in a chopping stump, its blade gleaming in the sunlight.
The little girl stretched up on her toes to wrap her tiny fingers around the handle. “Shiny! ”
Cersei was on her feet before conscious thought could intervene. The rope jerked tight against her neck.
Through the bond, Oruron’s voice slammed into her mind like a fist. “Don’t reveal yourself. Stay hidden. ”
She slammed the bond shut like a door closing.
The shift happened as she leaped. Bones cracking and reshaping with familiar agony, fur dissolving into pale skin as she hit the ground hard on human knees. Her naked hands closed around the axe handle and wrenched it sideways, away from Roslin’s face. The momentum carried them both down.
Roslin tumbled safely on top of her. “Lady? ” the girl asked, staring down in confusion at the stranger who had appeared where her doggy used to be. “It’s okay, little one.
You’re safe. ”
Bronn skidded to a halt, his face going from confusion to protective fury. “Who are you? Let her go!
”
“I’m your wolf,” Cersei said gently. “And I’m also your queen. ”
An hour later, Lionus came home to find a strange woman wearing his dead wife’s dress, sitting on his floor. His hand moved to the knife at his belt.
“Who are you? ” he demanded. “My name is Cersei of House Nellum. I’m a wolf shifter.
The first time I managed to shift was nearly a month ago, and I was stuck in that form until I shifted to save Roslin. ”
“Why did you stay? ” he asked. “You’re not an animal.
”
“The children,” she said. “I’ve grown quite fond of them. And I have nowhere else to go. My mate… he hurt me.
So I left. ”
“He hit you? ”
“No. He took a mistress.
To bear him a child because I couldn’t shift. He was worried my children wouldn’t be able to either. ”
The tears came then. Lionus fetched water and a blanket.
“Don’t apologize,” he said gently. “I just don’t understand what’s so terrible about not being able to shift. ”
“You’re human. For wolves, rank is everything.
Oruron is the king. His heir not being able to shift would be…”
“Hold on. Your mate is the king? ”
Cersei paused, realizing her mistake.
“Oh. Yes. ”
The color drained from Lionus’s face. “So that would make you the queen.
”
“Yes. ”
He stared at her. “The queen of the entire kingdom has been sleeping in my tool shed. ”
“You can stay here,” he said finally.
“Until you figure it out. You saved my daughter’s life today. You made my son happier than he’s been since his mother died. You’ve been kind to my children, and that matters more to me than titles or politics or kings.
”
“Thank you,” she whispered. “Well, you are the queen,” he said with returning humor. “I can’t exactly refuse you shelter, can I? ”
A month later, Cersei was helping Roslin stack blocks when Bronn asked, “Cerse, how do you spell dragon again?
”
It felt like home. Then Lionus didn’t come home. He found him sitting on the porch steps, a bottle clutched in his hands. The sharp scent of alcohol hung in the cold air.
“It’s the anniversary,” he said finally, his voice cracking. “Of Agnes’s death. Three years today. Most days I’m better.
But today I just miss her. ”
She settled beside him, urging him inside. When she handed him a blanket, he caught her hand instead. “Stay.
”
His fingers threaded through her hair. “Beautiful,” he murmured. “I’ve asked you to call me Cersei,” she said, trying to keep the hurt from her voice. “I know.
But I prefer not to. So I don’t forget what you are. A beautiful royal. Far above my station.
”
When he leaned down from the chair, she rose on her knees to meet him. Their lips came together in a kiss that started soft and questioning, then turned desperate and hungry. “God, Cersei,” he groaned against her lips. She was drowning in sensation when he pulled back, his eyes glassy and unfocused.
“You’re beautiful,” he slurred. Reality crashed back. The empty bottle on the porch. The grief that had driven him to drink.
“Wait,” she breathed. “Lionus, perhaps we should… he’s drunk. He’s grieving. We can’t.
”
His face crumpled. Then he released her. “You’re right. Of course you’re right.
What was I thinking? Forgive me, your highness. ”
He disappeared down the hall, and his door closed with a soft click. The next morning, he emerged and said, “Good morning, your highness,” with a voice carefully neutral.
“Your Highness, not Cersei. ”
He didn’t meet her eyes. He didn’t acknowledge what had happened between them. The pattern repeated itself the next day and the day after that.
It was Bronn who finally asked, “Are you angry at each other? ”
The breaking point came when Lionus asked, “Your Highness, where should I store the extra grain? ” without looking up. “Oh, I’m fine,” she snapped.
“Don’t call me that. ”
She grabbed her cloak and pushed through the door into the cold evening air. In the forest, she found the spare axe he had left embedded in a stump. She wrenched it free and started chopping.
Thunk. Her stupidity. Falling for another man who didn’t want her. Suddenly, there was a familiar voice in her head.
“Cersei. I feel your pain, my love. Come home. Let me comfort you.
”
“Go away! ” she snarled aloud, bringing the axe down. “Whatever that man did to hurt you, you don’t belong there, darling. You belong with me.
”
“Cersei! ”
She spun toward the sound, axe still raised, and found Lionus striding through the underbrush. “What in the seven hells do you think you’re doing? You’re bleeding.
”
“I’m fine. Go back to the cottage. ”
“Like hell. ”
In one fluid motion, he stepped forward and caught the axe mid-swing, his larger hands closing over hers on the handle.
“Let me go. ”
“What’s wrong? Cersei, what’s wrong? ”
She stopped fighting, going very still in his grip as all the rage and hurt rose up to choke her.
“You kissed me,” she accused. “You kissed me, Lionus. You called me beautiful. You wanted me.
I could smell it. And then you pretended it never happened. Do you even remember? ”
Lionus stared at her for a long moment.
“I remember. ”
“Then you regret it. ”
“Of course I do. How could I not regret it?
You’re a queen, Cersei. I’m not presumptuous enough to fancy myself worthy of a queen. Especially,” his voice dropped to a whisper, “especially if that queen is you. ”
“I’m not a queen anymore.
I’m just a woman. A woman you kissed. And… and I…”
Lionus’s hands released hers only to slide up her arms, finally coming to rest against her face with a gentleness that made her heart stutter. “Forgive me,” he whispered, “for kissing you when I had no right and for leaving you.
For pretending it never happened when it’s all I’ve been thinking about ever since. When it’s all I can do not to do it again. ”
“Do it again,” she breathed. “Cersei…”
But before either of them could close the final distance, the sharp crack of a breaking branch echoed through the forest.
Footsteps. Many footsteps, moving with the disciplined rhythm of trained soldiers. A dozen guards in royal livery emerged from the trees. And at their head, tall and regal and utterly impossibly present, walked King Oruron.
“There you are, my love. I found you at last. ”
He pulled her into his arms, and the mate bond sang with satisfaction at their proximity. “What came over you, my love?
How could you leave me? Do you have any idea how worried I was? ”
She pulled away. “What are you doing here, Oruron?
”
“Looking for you, obviously. ” His gaze flicked dismissively to Lionus. “And who is this? ”
“This is Lionus.
He and his family have kindly allowed me to stay with them. ”
“Yes, peasant. How kind. ” Oruron turned back to Cersei.
“Now we can finally go home. ”
Lionus spoke up. “If I were the queen, I would say it’s bold of you to assume she wants to go anywhere with you. ”
The temperature in the clearing dropped ten degrees.
Oruron went very still. “Leave us,” he commanded, the words carrying all the weight of royal authority and alpha dominance. “I don’t think so. ”
Cersei stepped between them.
“Lionus. Leave us. This is a private matter. ”
She saw the hurt flicker across his face, quickly suppressed.
“Please,” she said more gently. He nodded once. “I’ll be at home if you need anything. ”
When his footsteps faded, Oruron said, “I can’t believe you just left.
Without a word. You closed our bond so completely, I couldn’t even tell if you were alive. ”
“You don’t think you hurt me? ”
“How did I?
What are you talking about? ”
“Your mistress. Your child. Flaunting them both in front of me and expecting me to be grateful for the privilege.
”
“Right. Well, that’s in the past now. I felt it, you see, through the bond when it reopened. Your transformation.
You managed to shift, didn’t you, darling? This means we can conceive properly now. There’s a chance our children won’t be defective. ”
Cersei went very still.
“Defective? ”
“Like you were. Well, are. Oh, don’t look at me like that, my love.
You know your lack of wolf doesn’t change how I feel about you. ”
“I’m not defective, Oruron. I never was to begin with. ”
“Well, my love, one would say a shifter who cannot shift is…”
“And what of the humans in your kingdom?
Are they defective? ”
Oruron paused, clearly confused. “Not defective. Just human.
”
Through the bond, she felt what that word meant to him. Lesser. “Oh, I see what this is,” Oruron sighed. “It’s about that peasant of yours, isn’t it?
Yes, I felt your desire for him through the bond. Pretty crass of you not to shield that from me better. ”
“Like how you shielded your many nights of passion with Lady Reva? ”
“I was doing my duty.
”
“And enjoying it a whole lot. ”
His composure cracked, then softened. “You’re right. I hurt you and I’m sorry for that.
Truly sorry. Consider Reva gone. I’ll dismiss her from court immediately. You get rid of your human pet and we’ll never speak of this again.
”
Your human pet. Spoken with the same casual dismissal he used when telling her to be grateful to Reva. “Will you come home with me? ” Oruron asked.
Cersei stared at his outstretched hand. Safety, certainly. Love of a sort. A return to the life she had known.
All she had to do was take it. “Yes,” she said. “I’ll come home. But not for the reasons you think.
I’m coming back to finalize our divorce and the severance of our bond before the great council. ”
The cottage had never felt smaller than it did in that moment, with two small bodies pressed against Cersei’s sides. “Don’t go, Mama! ” Roslin sobbed.
“Please don’t go. ”
“It’s not forever,” Cersei whispered. “We’ll see each other again. ”
At the horses, Lionus’s face was carefully neutral.
He hadn’t asked her to stay. She was done chasing after men who didn’t want her enough to fight for her. “Your Highness,” he said with a brief nod. “Lionus.
”
He extended his hand to help her mount. “Have a safe trip. ”
“Yes, peasant,” Oruron said. “Thank you for your services to your queen.
”
Anger flickered in Lionus’s eyes. “Oh, it was my pleasure, your highness. ”
Cersei’s pulse quickened. “Was it?
”
Lionus met her gaze directly for the first time since she had announced her departure. “Absolutely,” he breathed, and it sounded like a confession. “One does have to go home at some point,” Oruron muttered. “I’m still her mate after all.
Not that a human would understand what that means. ”
“Perhaps not,” Lionus conceded. “In fact, a human would have to wonder how one could just decide to go behind his mate’s back to conceive a child with another, and then flaunt it as an accomplishment in his mate’s face. ”
“This really isn’t any of your business,” Cersei snapped, though the words came out more wounded than angry.
Lionus’s expression hardened. “No, I suppose not. You’re the queen after all. You’re free to do as you please.
”
“One just has to wonder, your highness,” he added, “how someone as extraordinary, loving, and brave as you could choose to return to a man who never understood the privilege he’s had to be loved by you. ”
Cersei gaped at him. “Oh, so it’s a privilege, is it? ”
“Yes,” Lionus said simply.
“You really think so? ”
Before he could answer, Oruron snapped, “Oh, for crying out loud. She’s not coming back to me out of love, peasant. She’s coming back to finalize our divorce and the severance of our bond before the great council.
”
Lionus blinked. “Sorry, what? ”
“Yes,” Cersei confirmed, her heart racing. “I’m the queen.
I can’t just run off without legally ending our union. Also, a mating bond between royals must be severed before competent witnesses. So even though I already rejected our bond, it’s my royal duty to present my case to the court before I can be free to… well…”
She trailed off, suddenly shy under the intensity of Lionus’s gaze. “You’re coming back?
” he asked finally, his voice low and careful. “Well, of course I’m coming back. I wouldn’t just abandon the children. I plan to visit them.
”
Relief spread across his features, so profound it was almost painful to witness. “The children would love to have you. Visit as often as you want, for as long as you want. ”
“Stay forever,” Bronn interjected.
Cersei smiled despite the tears that threatened to spill over. Before she could finish the thought, Lionus was there, reaching up to help her down from her horse. His hands closed around her waist, and suddenly she was sliding down into his arms. “I thought you regretted what happened between us,” she murmured.
“Only because I thought I’d overstepped, that you didn’t want…”
“Shut up, Papa. You’ll ruin it,” Bronn’s voice cut across. “Yes, kiss her, Papa. Kiss her,” Roslin added.
Both Cersei and Lionus laughed. When the laughter faded, they were still standing there in each other’s arms. Slowly, giving her every chance to pull away, he cupped her face in his work-roughened hands. “Cerse.
”
And then they were kissing, soft and sweet, and full of all the words they hadn’t been able to say. “I’ll come back,” she promised, her forehead pressed against his. “I’ll come back to you. ”
“I’ll wait,” he said simply.
“We’ll all be here, waiting for you to come home. ”
Home. The word settled in her chest like a blessing. She kissed him again, quick and fierce, trying to memorize the taste of him to carry with her on her journey.
At the end of it all, she would be free to come back to this place, to her family who loved her for exactly who she was.
