I wiped away his tear, just as he had done with mine. “You will tell him yourself. I have to believe that you will be able to tell him.”
He closed his eyes. “Promise me.” He swallowed again, and I saw his magic swirling in his cheek bones.“Please.”
The way his voice had shattered around the wordpleasehad me caving. I wrapped myself into his arms, holding on with everything I had. “I promise, Krew. I promise.”
Krew had once told me that after he got to know me, he raged against time because he had feelings for me that were at odds with his ultimate goal and plan. I don’t think I truly understood those words until The Six stamped a one-month deadline onto that goal.
Now I raged against time. I wanted to bottle every moment and run it to a place where the king didn’t exist. Where time itself couldn’t reach us.
Fate.
Time.
I loathed them both.
CHAPTER32
“You have a meeting this morning with your designer for your wedding gown,” Owen reminded me as we took the stairs back to Krew’s wing after my morning run with the wolves.
“Can’t wait.” My sarcasm was palpable, doubly so because I was panting. “But I liked the other dress just fine.” I had to pause to breathe as I sped up another few stairs. How Owen could just carry on casual conversation while running stairs was beyond me. “Why can’t I just wear that one?”
Owen glared at me as we turned to head up another set. “Why are you asking me these questions? You know I wouldn’t care. You could wear whatever you wanted to. But royal weddings do not just happen every day around here. So I suppose there is the exorbitant standards of that to live up to.”
I groaned and grabbed my knees at the top of the stairs. “Stop talking before I gouge your eyes out.”
Owen grinned. “And here I thought running with the wolves had made you less belligerent in the mornings.”
I rolled my eyes. “You thought wrong. Do not mistake my fondness for Rafe and the other wolf as fondness for you.”
“Can we give him a name?” Owen asked as we headed for Krew’s door. “I hate calling him the ‘other wolf.’”
My lips twitched.
“What?” Owen asked.
I pressed my lips together. “It’s just fitting you would feel drawn to him. The first time I saw them both, the way the scarred wolf protected Rafe, I thought he was Rafe’s second. Like you are to Krew. That black wolf is tough and strong. And he may not lead the pack, but he is the one who keeps order. The one who keeps the pack healthy.”
Owen snapped his head toward me. “Is that a compliment?”
I laughed as I pulled open the door. “Of course it is, you brute.”
“Well, now we really have to name him,” Owen muttered as we entered Krew’s wing.
I knew Krew was there, sitting at the table in the adjoining room before I could see him. I headed for our bedroom though, knowing I needed to shower before this meeting.
But first things first. “We cannot name him Scar. He should not be labeled for a mere blemish when he is far more.” As it turned out, I had a personal vendetta against scars.
“And not Blackie?”
I snorted a laugh. “Gods no. That powerful wolf with a name like Blackie?”
Owen put his hands out in a shrug. “I have never even had a pet before.”
I giggled. “Remind me to check in with you before your first child is born.”
“That one is easy,” he offered. “Owen Junior.”
I snorted. “And if it is a girl?”
