“These are really good.” I popped another chocolate bon bon in my mouth and savored the rich sweetness. Picking another one out of their bag, I handed it to Ayen, who rode on his horse beside mine. “Are you sure you don’t want one?”

He crinkled his nose. “No. I don’t like sweets that much. And definitely not chocolate.”

“That is inhuman. Chocolate is the best thing ever.”

He chuckled and shook his head. “You’re going to make yourself sick if you eat any more of them.”

I waved him off and ate another. I did close the bag and placed it back in the sack my aunt gave us for our journey to Kregon. Ahead lay the gates to the kingdom and my heart pounded. At the same time a wave of dizziness hit me and my vision blurred.

Maybe Ayen was right about eating all that chocolate.

“Hey,” Ayen said as he reached for me. “You okay?”

I nodded. “Yeah, just dizzy. Most be the traveling making me tired.”

He directed his horse closer to mine. “Almost there. Are you going to be sick?”

I rolled my eyes. “No.”

Although I might pass out. I didn’t dare tell him that. Taking a deep breath, I focused on my surroundings, which made me sad. The once beautiful town of Kregon had changed. The streets were dirty and smelled. Buildings were in desperate need of repairs.

“What happened?”

Ayen grunted and spoke through clenched teeth. “My father. We tried to help them but the more we tried, the more DD would punish them.”

A sob stuck in my throat. It wasn’t fair. The sadness turned to anger. The people of Kregon didn’t deserve to live like that.

“There it is.” Ayen pointed straight ahead to a modest cottage two streets from where we were. It was nestled between two other homes slightly smaller.

I wondered how safe this house would be since it was in the center of town. I didn’t question it. The guys had their reasons. I’d find those out the next time I talked to Conell.

Another wave of dizziness slammed into me. A moment later, I felt myself slide off my horse. My vision blacked out the moment before someone wrapped their arms around me and cradled me to his chest.

“What the hell happened?” Jonah. Was he holding me?

I tried to push him away. He’d kill me. He worked for the king. Panic rose up. Why couldn’t I see? I tried to speak but no words formed.

I struggled. Jonah cursed. “Easy, princess, I’m going to drop you.”

A growl sounded, then I heard Kieran. “Give her to me.”

When I was passed off to him, I clung to his shirt. His spicy scent calmed me. “What happened?”

“I don’t know. She was fine until a few minutes ago.” Ayen’s tone was urgent.

Kieran started to move and I heard the others follow him. “Did she eat anything recently?”

“Just some chocolates that were in with the food Martha packed.” It was Ayen again, his voice a little higher than before. “Why?”

“She’s been poisoned.”

The last thing I remembered was Kieran announcing that I’d been poisoned. I still couldn’t wrap my thoughts around the possibility. My aunt would never… It had to be someone on her staff. Someone found out who I was.

That last thought stirred a whole new panic through my system.

I shot up in bed, fighting to catch my breath.

Jonah rushed to my side. “What do you need?”

I shook my head and pushed at him to go away. He was the last person I wanted to see. “Go—”

“Stop fighting me. Breathe in slowly.”

No. I went to move and only fell to my side, unable to move my legs. Tears filled my eyes. “Why…aren’t…my legs moving?”

“It’s the poison. The herbs are helping to flush it out of your system.”

I avoided looking at him. “Where is Kieran?”

“He and the others went to find out who poisoned you.”

Laying on my side, I closed my eyes. Maybe if I ignored him he’d go away. He pushed me off a damned cliff!

He sighed, then the bed shifted, drawing my eyes open. Perched against one of the posts at the foot of the bed, he stared off at the wall behind me. “My wolf refuses to shift. It’s way of punishing me for what I did to you. He doesn’t care of the reasons.”

I didn’t respond. I wasn’t sure I understood what he was talking about.

“It physically hurts to not shift on a regular basis.”

Huh. Served him right. I was beginning to like the wolf a lot more than the man.

“It also makes me weaker. Most would go insane, rogue even.” He paused for a long moment. “I’m sorry you don’t trust me. It was the only thing I could do. The Hounds were closing in on you. If they caught you…their orders were to kill you.”

A gasp burst from me and I stared at Jonah. He stared back, his eyes shiny. “I couldn’t let them have you. I panicked.”

Fucking crap on a cracker. My own stubbornness and bitterness hardened my heart. The truth in his words softened the walls. I pushed my upper body up so I sat. “I hit my head on a rock and passed out. I could have drowned.”

I wasn’t sure how I survived.

He inched closer to me. When I didn’t flitch away, he dropped his shoulders and closed the space between us.

His arms were warm and surprisingly comforting as they snaked around me. “I pulled you out and brought you to a friend. I’m sorry.”

I didn’t remember much of the few days I stayed with the elderly woman who claimed to find me on the river bank. She’d been nice and for that reason I knew I had to move on before the king discovered me and hurt her.

“A little warning would had been nice.”

He hugged me tighter and buried his nose into my neck. I held him. Words failed me. If he’d continued to keep me at arm’s length and just watched me from across the room, I could handle it. Ignore him. Yell at him.

But this…him breaking down and apologizing…I wasn’t sure what to do.

After a long while he lifted his head. He drew his brows together. “What do you need?”

My first reaction was to tell him I didn’t need people waiting on me, that I wasn’t helpless. Only at the moment, I was helpless. My legs still didn’t want to get with the game. And I felt icky.

But a bath would have to wait until after I regained the use of my legs. “How long until the poison wears off?”

His features hardened as if the mention of someone wanting to hurt me made him angry. It angered me as well. “Chester says it depends on how long it takes your body to get rid of it. It wasn’t a lethal amount and we believe whoever did it just wanted to warn you, or us.”

A spike of fear burned in my chest. “The king knows.”

Jonah framed my face in his hands. “We don’t know that. But if he does, he’s being careful or he’s just not sure.” He leaned in until our faces were inches apart. “That asshat will never touch you again.”

The truth of his words touched my soul. I realized something about him. Jonah chose whom he was loyal to and his wolf hated the king. “I’m sorry for not hearing you out.”

Shaking his head, he said, “You don’t get to apologize. You did nothing wrong.” Slowly, he pressed his lips to mine. The wildfire of desire flared to life, starting in my core and spreading until it consumed me.

Jonah broke the kiss too soon and I wanted to grab him, pull him back in. In my hesitation, he withdrew to his corner on the bed. Was it his way of giving me space?

I tried to move my legs again but the message from the brain just wasn’t getting through. However, my bladder worked just fine and screamed to be emptied. “I um…need to use the restroom.”