Chapter 12


    12. Daja w


    “Look at us! We are even sharing clothes now!” Savvy said, pulling on the sweatshirt he gave her. “And


    here I thought that I wasn’t special to you!”


    “Savannah…” He groaned, and she imagined that the king of the North was angry with her. He had to


    be since she was just a nuisance to him.


    “Excuse me, Your Majesty,” she giggled. “Don’t be offended. I know very well that I am just one of the


    twenty or so contenders. Oops. Pardon me, twelve. Twelve contenders. We don’t count those poor girls


    who came in the wrong colour dresses, right? Theymitted such a serious offence!”


    “Are you done?” Kai growled, waiting for her impatiently.


    “Oh, I am far from being done!” the princess snorted when she realised that the sweatshirt was barely


    covering her bottom. However, she had to admit that it was better than nothing, and she would have to


    be content with having just this on her. It was better than the two of them staying naked together.


    Nothing good coulde out of that. “In fact, I could go on about all this for hours!”


    “That’s not what I am asking,” Kai cut her off, “Are you dressed?”


    “If one can call this short hoodie a dress, then yes….” The girl muttered and didn’t even get to finish her


    sentence when the lycan’s strong hand grasped her forearm, pulling her out of the bushes into the


    moonlight.


    “Good,” he said calmly and pushed her against the tree where just a few minutes ago, the bear was


    holding her hostage.


    Déjà vu.


    “And now tell me who the man you were with a few minutes ago was.”


    He tucked his nose into the crook of her neck, taking a deep breath of her scent mixed with the


    intruder’s, and his elongated ws sliced the tree bark right next to her.


    “Damn, Kai,” she chuckled, demonstrating that he wasn’t intimidating to her at all. “If I didn’t know any


    better, I’d say you are jealous!”


    He pulled away from her quickly. Way too quickly.


    Their eyes met, and he quickly averted her gaze, making her blush at the realisation that there might


    have been some truth to her joke.


    The king cleared his throat. “Don’t change the subject. It’s absolutely uneptable that my… one of


    the contenders is sneaking out with some guy in the woods!”


    “Imagine my surprise when I thought I wasing here to get married and found my groom-to-be with


    twenty other women!” She didn’t hold back a smirk that curled her lips, and he finally locked his eyes


    with hers. They stared at each other as if it was apetition, and Savvy experienced a wave of


    triumph when he sighed heavily and looked away.


    “I didn’t know, okay?” Kai ran his hand over his hair. “L’


    M


    a sked for my hand in marriage when you really did not want anything to do with me. And then asked


    your sister to handle it for you,” she said coldly, and he felt respect for her. Herposure was


    admirable. After all, he was the one clearly at fault here. “And then you decided to humiliate me more


    and…”


    “No,” he stopped her right there. “Savannah, I didn’t. I didn’t know it was you.”


    “How could you not know?” She wanted to walk away, but he didn’t let her, pressing himself harder into


    her. So, she ced a hand between the two of them, and her touch did something to him that he


    couldn’t exin.


    “You didn’t know that it was me either,” he chuckled, leaning lower. “Because of your ridiculous beard!”


    the princess pointed out. “I thought you liked it better that way.” The man scoffed, and she rolled her


    eyes at him. “Back then, I thought you were a simple gardener….” She pointed out with a raised brow.


    He wanted to tell her a lot of things, but instead, he asked, “Does it change anything?”


    “It changes everything.” The woman in front of him didn’t hesitate with her answer, and he knew that


    she was right. The moment he stopped being a gardener and she stopped being his little maid, it was


    over.


    It wasn’t supposed to start in the first ce, and he couldn’t believe that the one time he allowed


    himself to enjoy life at least a little bit, he got into that mess with one of the Stormholds.


    The North would never ept her, and she would never bend herself to make them ept her. The


    rivalry and animosity with the West was in their roots. This was what they lived and breathed. There


    were too many wars in the past, and his people did not forget or forgive easily. If she was his mate or


    came with a particr piece ofnd, it would be different. But that wasn’t the case…


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    “For what it’s worth, I am sorry it turned out like this.” Kai found himself apologising to her. He owed her


    that much.


    “Thank you.” Savannah nodded and looked him straight in the eye, still trying to push him away slightly


    and meeting resistance. She could have pushed harder. He could have stepped back. Yet here they


    both were, in the darkest shadows of the night forest. Where no one would be able to see them. Alone


    and oh so close…


    “So, where do we go from here since you are sorry and all that?” Savvy snapped out of it first. She had


    enough men ying with her in one lifetime. She had had enough of those. Unfortunately, even if he


    apologised, he was still one of them. She was literally a participant in the game he hosted.


    “…” He stumbled to give her an answer.


    “All right.” She let out an annoyed breath and furrowed her brows. She had to be the reasonable one,


    and this was her moment. “Sign the alliance agreement with Gideon, and I will be


    gone the very same day.”


    Her words hit him like a p, and he tried scanning her face for any kind of emotions. Yet the Western


    Princess only raised her chin higher, proud and stubborn, just as her brother.


    Kai knew that she was serious. All he had to do was sign the paper confirming that alliance


    that didn’t even look that bad now since he knew there was a looming threat from the white bear packs.


    Gideon was a prick, but that white monster…


    One signature and Savannah would go back to her kingdom forever. She would find her mate. or her


    brother would arrange another marriage for her… She wouldn’t be his problem anymore.


    “Don’t!” Asgard growled inside of his mind. That fellow wasn’t talkative, but now he was surfacing more


    often than ever.


    “Why?” “You know why!” The wolf insisted. “We want her.” “She is not our mate. Just forget it.” Kai tried


    to reason with his partner.


    “No, she is not. But I will not forget it, and neither will you.” He had to shut him off, but deep inside, he


    knew that Asgard was right. Letting Savannah go felt wrong, and he was used to trusting his instincts.


    “So?” she tapped her bare foot on the grass impatiently. “No,” he said firmly, and she gaped at him.


    “No?” Her whole body got tense hearing his words. “No.” He repeated himself, still not taking a single


    step back.


    “Okay,” Savannah let the air out through her nostrils angrily, “I am afraid I will need an exnation to go


    with that. Care to borate? Why the hell not?”


    “First of all, I don’t trust your brother too much, and I need to investigate the situation more,” he replied


    calmly and heard her teeth gritting. For some strange reason, he enjoyed that more than he should


    have.


    “You had months for that!” Savvy reminded him, appalled by his arrogance.


    “Exactly. So, waiting a few more weeks wouldn’t make a big difference.” Kai chuckled, and the princess


    clenched her fists.


    “Just wait until I am done, and then maybe I will agree to that alliance.” He couldn’t even hide his smirk


    when he dered this. The thoughts of her not wearing anything under that sweatshirt raced in his


    head. His eyes lowered to her chest, which was rising and falling in a sharp rhythm.


    “Well, that’s ignorant!” She squeezed both her hands in between them to fold them simply to


    demonstrate to him how unimpressed she was. “After all, you probably need this alliance more than we


    do from the looks of it. We got rid of the foxes and the bears on our territories while they roam freely on


    yours.”


    “What’s that supposed to mean?” Kai’s smile dropped.


    “It means exactly what it means.” The girl finally managed to push him away and get out of his grasp.


    “You have a fox and a werebear in thepetition, and I just met a bear who felt as if he was at home


    here. Not to mention that your sister even found a witch somewhere. I really want to know where she


    managed to get her! A part of me wants to see her win the Trials. I bet your face would be priceless!”


    “Ha-ha, very funny!” The king shook his head, chuckling. “Just when I thought that you could be


    serious. No bears can enter mynd. Even that girl Brigit arrived without other werebears. She


    was provided with a few werewolves to help her instead.”


    “Maybe this is what you think.” Savvy shrugged her shoulders. This conversation was just a waste of


    time, and she wanted to get back to her room sooner. “But I am telling you, that male you


    smelled on me just a few minutes ago was a huge haughty white werebear with a nice body covered in


    weird scars and one eye missing.”


    The moment these words left her mouth, it was as if a lightning bolt had struck him. Kai instantly knew


    who she was talking about, and he couldn’t believe that this was the truth.


    He couldn’t get here. He wasn’t supposed to be here.


    Kai was personally hunting him for thest month, and his trusted sources fed him the information that


    the bear in question was either dead or gone to a different continent. The information proved to be not


    true by the snarky western princess. He considered, of course, that she could be lying about that


    encounter, yet he didn’t sense anythinging out of her. No worry, no agitation of any kind. She was


    annoyed and slightly bored. Which only led him to the conclusion that she had no idea who she had


    just met.


    No one met Darius Bjorn and stayed alive. No one. Except for Savannah Stormhold.


    “Did he touch you?” Kai shifted back to her, trying to take in and check every inch of the stubborn girl


    who had no idea that she had just avoided death.


    “You see,” she pped his hand that was about to contact with her skin, “if we were engaged, you


    could have asked me that question. But as of now, the answer is: It’s none of your business.”


    “Savannah!” the king growled, grasping both of her shoulders. “Did he do anything to you?!”


    However, he knew the answer. He knew it the moment he smelled the male’s scent on her. Bjorn


    touched her. He was so close that Kai could still smell one of his fake scents on her skin.


    Savannah couldn’t smell like anyone else! He hated it. He hated it so much that he was ready to do


    anything to ensure it was gone from her.


    On an instinct, he dipped his head into her neck, brushing his lips and tongue over it – the fastest way


    to scent her. And also the most desirable.


    “He definitely allowed himself less than you ” She kicked him on the leg. Not hard, but enough for him


    to feel it.


    Without thinking, he threw her over his shoulder and started walking.


    “Seriously, Kai, what do you think you are doing?” she demanded, scratching his naked back and not


    realising that the sensation wasn’t unpleasant for him.


    “You can’t get back to the castle smelling like another man, Savannah,” he briefly informed her. “We are


    going to fix this.”


    And with that, he ced a resounding p on her bottom..


    NOTE: We are still voting for chapter length in Marissa Gilbert’s Reading Circle group. Join if you want


    to have your say. For now, I see that longer chapters and their prices do not bother you


    much.


    Remember that the new schedule is Tuesday-Thursday-Saturday. I usually post right before midnight


    London time, but hups happen. The schedule is to be used as a guide only.


    P.S. Please, do not worry about the notes, I will clear them when the book will go to ptr. I don’t know


    when this will happen, it’s not signed yet, so it’s too early to think about it anyway.