His heartbeat was slow. Hers was not.
For three full seconds, neither of them moved. She could feel his chest rising against hers, steady as a drum she didn't recognize.
He removed the hand covering her mouth and signaled for her to be quiet.
Keeping one arm around her waist, he gently led her into a cave she would've missed completely because it was tucked behind boulders and looked like a dead end.
When they were fully inside, his other arm went around her too.
She was freezing, and in no position to say 'who the fuck are you'. The bar of decency was rock bottom low. A wet silk slip over lace undergarments did absolutely nothing and the man's arms were the only reason she had any cover at all.
Her entire body shook, shivering, and his arms tightened around her.
Voices came from outside the cave. They were close. Too close.
"If you're found on these lands, they will kill you."
He blinked down at her, opened his mouth, then shut it. She wasn't sure if he were human or had a wolf, but either way, he'd be outnumbered.
The voice grew closer. It was no longer a matter of if, but when they would be discovered. Her heart beat furiously under her chest.
Math: let a stranger die who was trying to help her, or go be a problem outside. She was getting alarmingly comfortable with making decisions that looked insane on paper.
"Don't leave this cave until you hear them gone," she whispered, pulling out of his arms.
She moved at full speed in a blur out of the cave.
Just in time to stop Cassian's wolf who was already there. He shifted back to human form. The man had a gift for being exactly where she did not want him.
"Well, well. Looks like the golden child has a little secret father will be interested in."
He said golden child the way other people said taxaudit.
"Lovely to see you, Cassian. I don't know what you're referring to." Her voice was calm.
"Don't play coy. Though I heard you played hero yesterday. This will cancel that out."
Behind him, Tyler Draven approached, shifting back into human form. The Beta's son had always been nice to her. "She is a white wolf. I'll be damned."
"I don't know what you're referring to."
"You've always been a terrible liar, Gwen," Tyler said, smirking. "Too many people saw you."
Stupid. Considering she had lied about her wolf for five years since her first shift, and not one of them had caught it. The fact that the streak ended tonight was a budget issue, not a skill issue.
More wolves approached, fully surrounding them, shifting back to human form.
"Bind her in rope," Cassian ordered with no warmth in his voice. "If you try to run, it will be silver."
"Riveting dialogue, Cassian. How many times did you practice that one in the mirror? Be honest."
Snickers erupted behind him. Whoops. Usually they didn't laugh.
His eyes flared gold, and he didn't hesitate, backhanding her hard enough that she stumbled and tasted copper.
The laughter died.
"Cassian," Tyler clipped. "She is just surprised you are threatening silver on her."
Rope went around her wrists, which were already raw and bloodied. She was vaguely aware her entire body was shivering.
"Why are you wet and half dressed?" Cassian demanded.
"I decided to go for a swim for fun in middle of winter, Cassian." Her voice was dry as sand.
Cassian's brows knit. He seemed to not understand if she was serious or not.
"Careful not to think too hard. You'll hurt yourself."
More snickers came. Again, not what she intended. They never laughed at her jokes. This was new.
He moved to back hand her again, but Tyler stepped in between, eyes on her face. Either he was pretending not to notice or just oblivious. She wasn't sure.
He touched her hair, which was frozen. She blinked at him in surprise. He'd never touched her before.
Then he sniffed.
"Who touched you."
Her stomach dropped. The whole point of her stepping out was so the hiding caveman wouldn't be brutally slaughtered.
"You're going to have to be more specific. The part before or after I traded myself to save three-hundred people in a throne room."
Cassian gave a dark, unimpressed laugh. "Father was preparing to send an army to retrieve you. He'll be disappointed that his little prized jewel has been keeping a secret. Won't he now?"
She opened her mouth to respond, but a cough came instead. Followed by a wave of dizziness. Maybe hypothermia was catching up, or it was sheer exhaustion. All she knew was the ground came up to meet her.
The last thing she heard was Tyler and Cassian's muffled voices.
✦✦✦
She woke up in a warm bed. Her bed. An omega waking her. Not chains. Not rope. Civilization. She had missed it.
"Princess, your father requested to see you as soon as you are awake. And to wear this," the omega said.
A white dress with gold accents. It was beautiful, and expensive.
That meant her father needed her for something or to impress someone. The 'I have a daughter and I love her very much, please notice' starter pack.
Maybe she wouldn't be punished after all.
She ate quickly, and drank a health tonic. It tasted like grass clippings. She drank the whole thing.
Her standards were still on the floor.
Then she guzzled water. She'd never felt more parched in her life. Her hands were shaking, energy shot.
The bath was hot enough to sting. Mary worked oil into her hair with hands that had been doing this since Gwen was twelve. The slow drag of the comb. The warm steam. The smell of her own skin coming back to her after twelve hours of cold and silver and forest.
She was being prepared, and she knew it. The preparation was extensive, and detailed, and unmistakable. Her father had ordered her to be made beautiful in a very specific way, and she did not want to know yet why.
Mary curled her hair, and put it half way up. Specific instructions from her father.
There was a knock on her door, and a crown was delivered to her. She raised her eyebrows. Whoever was downstairs was important enough for the full costume.
She glanced at the omega who was watching her.
Mary was wearing the face of a woman with bad news she had been told not to share. "What you did in that throne room for us… I just want you to know that it was the bravest thing I've ever seen. And we support you."
Guinevere blinked, momentarily stunned by her words. Mary had always been kind, but people usually distanced themselves from her.
"Thank you, Mary," she finally managed to say. Mary's expression didn't look like she was content. It looked concerned.
"How worried should I be?" she asked, then flashed a grin. "On a scale from one to should-I-escape-through-the-window, what are we working with here?"
Marry laughed at that, then lowered her voice. "I don't think he'll harm you, Princess. But there are visitors here and I'm not sure of the nature."
"Visitors?" Plural. Always worse when it was plural.
"Yes princess. You've been out for twelve hours."
Her stomach dropped. Twelve hours wasn't a nap. That was a coma with branding. It also explained why she willingly drank grass-clippings.
Mary placed the crown.
She glanced at herself in the mirror and didn't recognize her reflection. The girl staring back was beautiful and much more composed than she felt.