Chapter 2 - The King in Her Cabin
Sophia had never wanted a king in her kitchen.
Kings belonged on coins.
In stories.
At military ceremonies people attended because attendance was technically voluntary and socially mandatory.
They did not belong barefoot beside a crooked wooden table eating the last of someone’s blackberry bread.
Yet Caleb Whitmore sat in Sophia’s cabin the following morning doing exactly that.
“You’re eating too much.”
Caleb looked down at the bread.
“You gave it to me.”
“When you were a wolf.”
“Does bread allocation change based on species?”
“Yes.”
He took another bite.
Sophia glared.
Ronan stood by the window attempting not to react.
He failed.
Sophia saw.
“You can laugh.”
Ronan immediately looked serious.
“I would never.”
Caleb stared.
“Coward.”
Ronan coughed.
Sophia folded her arms.
The shock of the previous night had not disappeared.
It had simply become anger because anger was easier to carry.
Caleb was a king.
A cursed king.
His uncle had apparently stolen his throne.
Sophia might belong to an extinct magical bloodline.
Somebody had used blood from both families to create the curse.
And somehow, Caleb’s wolf had ended up wounded within walking distance of her home.
Nothing about that was coincidence.
Sophia hated coincidences anyway.
They were just mysteries refusing to introduce themselves properly.
Ronan unrolled a map across the table.
“We cannot take the main road.”
Caleb nodded.
“Alaric controls the western checkpoints?”
“Yes.”
“Northern?”
“Mostly loyalists, but communication is compromised.”
Sophia leaned closer.
Blackwood Forest sat between two mountain routes.
Caleb pointed toward a narrow trail.
“We go through Ashen Pass.”
Ronan frowned.
“Winter damage.”
“We’re wolves.”
Sophia looked at him.
“You are.”
Caleb’s eyes lifted.
“You’re coming.”
“No.”
He stared.
Sophia smiled.
“That was satisfying.”
Caleb straightened.
“You cannot remain here.”
“I have lived here three years.”
“Before assassins knew your blood might break royal curses.”
She hated when he had useful information.
Ronan quietly studied the map.
Sophia looked at Caleb.
“You don’t know I’m a Moonkeeper.”
“No.”
“You barely know what happened.”
“Yes.”
“You don’t know whether your uncle knows I exist.”
“No.”
“Then why am I suddenly your responsibility?”
Caleb’s face tightened.
“You aren’t.”
“Good.”
“You are, however, connected to what happened to me.”
“That does not make me luggage.”
“I never said—”
“You said I’m coming.”
Ronan’s mouth twitched again.
Caleb glanced at him.
Ronan became fascinated by a mountain symbol.
Sophia continued.
“I make my own decisions.”
Caleb’s silver eyes sharpened.
His Alpha presence filled the cabin.
Not intentionally.
Still powerful.
Sophia felt pressure.
A strange instinct whispered lower your gaze.
She did the opposite.
Caleb noticed.
His expression shifted.
Most Omegas responded strongly to Alpha command.
Sophia did not.
Another mystery.
Caleb deliberately softened his aura.
“My enemies know this location now.”
Sophia said nothing.
“The hunter last night may have reported seeing my wolf.”
“Maybe.”
“The curse breaking would create magical backlash detectable by anyone who helped cast it.”
“You don’t know that.”
“I know enough magic to be worried.”
“Do kings study magic?”
“Kings study whatever might kill them.”
Fair.
Sophia looked around the cabin.
Home.
Small.
Imperfect.
Hers.
Leaving felt like allowing strangers to steal it.
Caleb saw her expression.
“You can return.”
“When?”
“When it’s safe.”
Sophia laughed.
“You say that as if kingdoms become safe.”
His face changed.
“Not often.”
There was more honesty in that than she expected.
Ronan tapped the map.
“We should leave before noon.”
Sophia looked at Caleb.
“If I come, I’m not your prisoner.”
“No.”
“Not your servant.”
“No.”
“Not one of your subjects.”
Technically she was, but Caleb wisely said, “No.”
“And you don’t get to order me unless something is literally trying to kill us.”
He considered.
“Define literally.”
She stared.
Caleb sighed.
“Fine.”
Ronan looked impressed.
“Anything else?” Caleb asked.
“Yes.”
Sophia pointed at him.
“No using the Alpha voice to win arguments.”
His brows rose.
“I do not—”
“You did it last night.”
“There were wolves approaching.”
“That was literally trying to kill us territory. Allowed.”
Caleb stared.
“This is becoming contract law.”
“You’re a king. Keep up.”
Ronan turned away completely.
Caleb’s mouth finally curved.
Sophia noticed.
It transformed him.
As a wolf, he had always looked severe.
As a man, he looked dangerous even when relaxed.
But smiling made him younger.
Less like the stone-faced Alpha King painted on ceremonial banners.
More like the creature who stole half her blanket near the fire.
Sophia immediately disliked the effect.
“Stop that.”
“Stop what?”
“Looking pleased.”
“I am not allowed?”
“Not when I’m arguing.”
“Noted.”
They left before noon.
Sophia packed quickly.
Clothes.
Her mother’s journal.
Her father’s old knife.
A dried herb bundle.
Food.
One silver pendant shaped like a crescent moon.
Caleb noticed it.
“Where did you get that?”
Sophia closed her fist.
“My mother.”
“May I see?”
“No.”
He accepted that.
That surprised her.
Caleb shifted first.
The transformation was fast.
Silver light.
Black fur.
Enormous wolf.
Sophia stared.
“Still strange.”
The wolf huffed.
Ronan laughed.
Then shifted into a dark gray wolf.
Two guards followed.
Sophia looked at Caleb.
“I’m walking.”
He lowered himself.
She stared.
“No.”
Caleb remained.
“You expect me to ride you?”
The black wolf looked over his shoulder.
Sophia folded her arms.
“Absolutely not.”
Ronan’s wolf made a coughing sound that suspiciously resembled laughter.
Caleb growled at him.
Sophia sighed.
“Fine.”
She climbed onto Caleb’s back.
His fur was warm.
Thicker than she remembered.
Her hands settled around his shoulders.
His entire body tensed.
Sophia noticed.
“Are you okay?”
A low sound.
“Yes, apparently.”
He started moving.
Within moments, the forest became blur.
Sophia had ridden horses.
This was nothing like a horse.
Caleb moved silently over terrain that should have slowed any animal.
Powerful.
Controlled.
Each leap smooth.
Sophia held tighter.
His wolf reacted.
Too much.
The scent of her against his fur sent every instinct into chaos.
Mate.
Caleb pushed harder.
No.
Mine.
She is not property.
Protect.
Yes.
Claim.
Absolutely not.
Sophia leaned closer against his neck as they cleared a fallen tree.
Caleb nearly ran into another one.
Ronan’s wolf glanced over.
Caleb growled.
Hours passed.
They stopped near a frozen stream.
Caleb shifted back wearing magically restored clothing.
Sophia had many questions about why royal shifting magic preserved trousers.
She decided some mysteries could survive.
Ronan searched the perimeter.
Sophia drank from her canteen.
Caleb stood beside the water.
“You’re quiet.”
“You complain when I talk.”
“I have never complained.”
“You once left the cabin because I explained bread prices for twenty minutes.”
“I was hunting.”
“You were avoiding me.”
Caleb looked almost guilty.
Sophia smiled.
“King or wolf, terrible liar.”
His expression softened.
Then he noticed her rubbing one ankle.
“You’re hurt.”
“No.”
“You’re limping.”
“Barely.”
Caleb crouched.
Sophia stepped back.
“What are you doing?”
“Looking.”
“You do not need to inspect my ankle.”
“Why?”
“Because.”
“Excellent medical reasoning.”
She glared.
He almost smiled.
Sophia sat reluctantly.
Caleb removed her boot carefully.
A red mark circled the ankle.
“Riding friction.”
“I’ll survive.”
His fingers moved lightly over the skin.
Warm.
Sophia inhaled.
Caleb froze.
Their eyes met.
Something passed between them.
Not magic exactly.
Heat.
Awareness.
His wolf surged.
Mate.
Caleb stood abruptly.
Sophia blinked.
“Did I do something?”
“No.”
“You look angry.”
“I’m not.”
“You’re doing the jaw thing.”
“What jaw thing?”
“The thing where you look like you want to arrest your own thoughts.”
Ronan walked into the clearing.
“We have company.”
Caleb’s softness vanished.
“How many?”
“Six.”
“Alaric?”
“Royal hunters.”
Sophia pulled on her boot.
Caleb looked at her.
“Stay behind me.”
“That is allowed under the literal danger clause.”
He almost laughed.
The hunters entered moments later.
Six wolves.
Royal armor after shifting.
Their captain bowed.
“My King.”
Caleb did not relax.
“Name.”
“Captain Elias Marr.”
“I know Elias Marr.”
The man looked confused.
Caleb continued.
“He has a scar across his right palm.”
The captain’s face changed.
Ronan drew his blade.
Imposter.
The man attacked.
Chaos erupted.
Caleb shifted mid-lunge.
Black wolf collided with him.
Ronan fought two others.
Sophia backed toward a tree.
A soldier came for her.
She drew her father’s knife.
He smiled.
“Omega.”
Bad decision.
Sophia kicked his knee.
He stumbled.
She drove the knife through his sleeve into the tree beside his arm.
Pinned.
He stared.
Sophia leaned close.
“Omega.”
Then head-butted him.
He dropped.
Another attacker shifted into wolf form.
Sophia froze.
Too fast.
The wolf lunged.
Something inside her snapped.
Not fear.
Power.
Her crescent pendant burned against her chest.
Sophia threw up one hand.
Silver light exploded outward.
The wolf flew backward twenty feet.
Everything stopped.
Even Caleb.
Sophia stared at her hand.
“What…”
Silver markings glowed beneath her skin.
Moon-shaped lines up her wrist.
Ronan whispered, “Moonkeeper.”
The surviving attackers panicked.
One shouted, “She’s alive!”
Caleb’s head snapped toward him.
“Who told you she was dead?”
The man ran.
Caleb caught him in three strides.
He shifted back.
Pinned the soldier against the ground.
“Who sent you?”
The soldier laughed despite blood at his mouth.
“You’re already too late.”
Caleb’s face hardened.
“For what?”
“The crowning.”
“My uncle?”
The soldier smiled.
“No.”
Caleb froze.
“Then who?”
The man looked directly at Sophia.
“The Queen.”
Silence.
Sophia stepped closer.
“What queen?”
The soldier laughed again.
“The Moon Queen.”
Sophia felt cold.
“There is no Moon Queen.”
The soldier’s smile widened.
“There will be.”
Then his body convulsed.
Black veins spread across his throat.
Poison.
Caleb grabbed him.
“Who?”
Too late.
The man died.
Silence returned.
Sophia stared at her glowing wrist.
Caleb stood.
“You knew?”
“No.”
“Your mother?”
“She never told me this could happen.”
Ronan looked afraid.
That bothered Sophia.
“What?”
Ronan lowered his voice.
“Moonkeepers did not throw wolves through the air.”
Sophia stared.
“Then what am I?”
No one answered.
Caleb stepped closer.
His expression had changed from king to wolf.
Protective.
Focused.
But something else underneath.
Recognition.
The curse.
Her touch.
Her power.
The dead soldier calling her Queen.
Caleb whispered, “Sophia.”
She looked at him.
“I think whoever cursed me wasn’t trying to keep me away from my throne.”
His eyes turned silver.
May you like
“I think they were trying to lead me to you.”
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