She returned to the Palace late that night, tired but happy. Exploring new places always made her feel like herself, and the mountainous dragon settlement was a delightful place to wander. She’d even managed to introduce herself to a few of her subjects, though she had a feeling it was going to take a little while for them to warm up to her—half of the dragons she’d met had been so stiffly formal it had felt like talking to the furniture. But Lana had always liked a challenge, especially a social one. If anyone could make friends here, it was her.
Odd, the way that familiar itch to move on seemed to have subsided. She couldn’t remember the last time that had happened, that she’d changed her mind about needing to leave a place. Was it that she’d decided to accept her royal destiny, that she’d embraced the prospect of being Queen, at least for the time being? Or could it have something to do with the handsome wolf who’d shared her bed last night?
Speak of the devil. She was wolfing down a plate of leftovers she’d found in one of the various kitchens that were scattered seemingly at random through the palace when she felt a shadow fall across her. Sure enough, Seth was standing in the doorway. She’d worried he might be annoyed with her, after their rather awkward parting that morning… but the smile on his lips reassured her. She swallowed her mouthful of food hastily, feeling a blush rise to her cheeks.
“Is this how royalty dines, then?”
“You caught me.” Lana grinned. “How was your day?”
“Spent most of it searching for Josef. They decided it’d be a good idea to play hide and seek, and … well, he won.” He tilted his head. “Didn’t see you.”
“I went out.” She found herself fidgeting with the fabric of her dress, an uncharacteristic nervousness in her fingertips. “Thought I should look around a bit, get to know the place I’m going to be Queen of.”
“Right.” The silence grew weighty. “I hope you didn’t feel like you needed to… avoid me.” Her heart sped up. Were they talking about this? “After last night, that is.” They were talking about this. She swallowed hard, her mouth suddenly dry. What was going on? She was good at talking to people, damnit. This was the one thing she knew she was good at.
“I wasn’t hiding,” she said, and her voice sounded weak in her ears. “I—had a nice time. I mean, a good time. I mean…”
“So did I.” His silver eyes were watchful. It was incredible how still he could be when he tried. She was intently aware of the distance between them, the careful way he was staying back from her.
“Good,” she managed, folding her arms across her chest. “That’s—good. I was worried… I don’t want to make things more complicated for you.” The wry smile that spread across his face made her sigh. “Though I suppose the damage is done.”
“Indeed.” The silence that stretched out between them was thick enough to choke her. “Which means…”
Lana looked up sharply. He was moving closer, irresistible as the tides, his silver eyes trained on her face. “Which means,” she said slowly, her heart drumming in her chest so loud she was certain he must be able to hear it, “that we can’t exactly make it any worse, right?”
Terrible idea, she thought faintly, melting into his embrace again as though it had been years and not mere hours since they’d touched each other. This was a truly terrible idea. But as he lifted her in his arms again and carried her to bed, she simply couldn’t find the strength to resist.
Chapter 12 - Seth
The days that followed were some of the strangest of Seth’s life. He spent days feeling uneasy, wading through dead-end diplomatic meetings in which he and an ever-rotating panel of stony-faced dragons found dozens of different ways of saying the same thing… that they didn’t trust each other, and they didn’t know how to start. When he wasn’t in meetings, he was with his wolves, trying to keep their morale up as they grew increasingly more stir-crazy in the strange, luxurious, empty heart of the dragon palace. As their anxiety grew, they resorted more and more to childish games… chasing each other through the long, winding corridors, playing round after round of hide and seek, discovering new parts of the palace every time they played. It really did feel like the place went on forever.
If they suspected something was going on between him and Lana, none of them had said anything. Their quarters were so far apart that none of them had even realized he had spent that first night in her room. That made it all the easier to slip into her bed again the next night, and the next, and the next… and before he knew it, a full week had passed, the two of them falling into a strangely comfortable routine. He always forgot his anxiety and discomfort when he was with her. In Lana’s bed, the palace felt like home. It was only in the morning, when she had to leave for her monarch’s duties, that he remembered where he was… and felt again the twisting, gnawing worry that he was betraying his packmates, his family, his entire species.
But if what he was doing with Lana was so wrong, why did it feel so right? Every minute he spent with her seemed to glow. She fascinated him, challenged him, made him laugh, made him think. She was just… she was magnificent. Every day, she grew more confident with the language, more confident in herself as Queen… and every day, he found himself falling for her more and more. If it wasn’t for the fact that she was a dragon, he’d be certain that he’d found his soulmate. As it was… well. It was what it was. And he was trying not to think about what it would mean when it came to an end, because that thought threatened to spoil the bliss of the time he had with her… and that would have been a terrible shame.
“Day ten,” Elza informed him when he padded into the communal living room the pack had settled on as a kind of unofficial meeting room. She’d appointed herself as their timekeeper, unsettled by the way the light in the cavern seemed to have replaced the natural cycle of day and night. Seth had asked a few dragons about how the cavern was lit, but they’d been characteristically evasive about the magical secrets of their home… all he could gather was that it had something to do with an enchantment that had been laid on the stone itself.
“What’s the plan today? Meetings? Exploring?” Josef, sitting cross-legged on a low stone couch. He’d gotten lost in the palace half a dozen times now, but his exploratory ambitions remained undaunted—he was growing obsessed with the idea of finding the end of the palace’s living quarters, and Seth didn’t have the heart to discourage him.
“No meetings,” Seth said, grimacing a little at the memory of the most recent attempt at diplomacy. “Not today, anyway. Lana thinks we’ll make more progress once the coronation is done. People are distracted.”
“Yeah, who cares about people going missing when there’s a big stupid party to throw, right?” Elza was pacing, again. Seth was certain that when they left this place, she’d have worn her tracks right into the floor here.
“I know it’s frustrating. But we’re making progress here, as much as it might not feel that way. I wouldn’t have sent word home if I didn’t think that was the case.”
“I miss Xanthe,” Elza muttered. A few days ago, Xanthe had been flown out of the cavern and back down to the Plateau by one of the palace staff, after a series of meetings in which the subject of the wolves’ continued presence in the cavern had been raised. Xanthe had been sent home with a message for the pack, reassuring them not only that their Alpha and his patrol of wolves were safe and well, but that important diplomatic work with the dragons was ongoing. After she’d gone, Seth had felt the added pressure settle on him like a shroud. They had to make some kind of breakthrough, here—had to come to some kind of agreement he could bring home to his pack. At the very least, he was hoping that the dragons would give them some concrete information about their own disappearances. Maybe with enough information, they could figure out how to prevent any more losses.
“At least we know they’ll let us out if we ask,” Victor pointed out.
“Sure,” Elza scoffed. “Wonder what would’ve happened if we’d all asked to go?”
“We’re guests, not hostages,” Seth said sharply. “I’m tired of reminding you of that.”
“Sorry.” Elza stopped pacing for a moment, and he could tell the apology was genuine. “I’m just… I’m on edge. It’s frustrating, how slow all this is moving.”
“I know.” Seth exhaled. “But if we want them to trust us, we have to show that we trust them. And that means holding the line a little longer. Okay?”
The group nodded. Not for the first time, Seth felt his chest swell with love for them—for the brave, clever, strong wolves who trusted him to lead them, to take care of them, to make the right choices for them. “Now, I believe Josef had a new discovery to share with us?”