Careful Footsteps

The King laughed. "You can't blame a man for noticing beauty," he said. "And you should be thanking me for finding you such a stunning human this time."

This time.

"Now, Prince Erebus," he said, gathering his composure once more. "Kiss your wife, and let the party begin!"

I could still feel the King's lips on my skin. I couldn't do it again. I couldn't let them defile me this way.

But Prince Erebus was my husband now. This kiss was going to be the least of my worries. Erebus stepped forward, coming just inches from my face. I prepared myself for the worst, but felt relieved when he simply placed a quick, featherlight kiss on my lips.

I supposed it was better than the King's kiss, but I could still feel my cheeks flushing pink.

Cheers of applause erupted in the room. I had completely forgotten about the hundreds of Werewolves witnessing the ceremony. Certainly, they were all here for the food and booze the Werewolves were rumored to indulge in.

Erebus placed a hand on my lower back. "Stay by my side," he whispered close to my ear, loud enough for only me to hear. I gave him a small nod of acknowledgement and let him guide me back down the aisle I had just come from.

Except now, I was not just a human girl in the Werewolves world.

I was the wife to Caliphate's Dark Prince.

Had the other wives survived this long? Or was this when they all were killed?

It didn't matter. There was nothing I could do here with hundreds of Werewolves surrounding me. I held my chin high and kept a straight, emotionless face as Erebus led us through the crowd and out the giant doors. As the large doors were closing, I heard the King make a muffled announcement, which cued a loud chorus of music and even more cheers from the crowd.

The doors boomed shut behind us.

We were alone in the hallway.

He dropped his hand from my back and paced to the large window near us, running his hands through his dark hair.

I assessed the situation.

The knife was still strapped to my thigh. If I aimed perfectly, I had a chance at stabbing his heart.

But would it kill him?

I doubted it. And it wasn't worth the risk. I had to survive the night, and then I would make my escape.

But what of our empire? Our deal would be broken if I ran away. She could starve if I didn't make it home alive.

No. There was only one way to survive this. And it was to be the damned human Princess of the Caliphate.

"Erebus," I said, breaking the silence. He spun around to face me, leaning against the window ledge. Do not be afraid, I told myself. "You came to see me yesterday. Why? Why didn't you tell me who you were?"

His eyes scanned my body, pausing at the busted lip Amanda had poorly attempted to conceal. "What happened?" he asked. The fierceness in his voice almost made me step back. I fought the urge to cover my lip.

"Nothing," I said, touching a finger to the painful area. I wasn't about to unload what happened within my room last night. I had larger issues here.

His eyes squinted like he was about to

Heat creeped up my neck at the way he stared at me.

"I assumed you wouldn't care much either way," I said. I hated how weak it sounded, but I stood my ground anyway. If I was going to die tonight, I wanted to dig up as much information as possible. "Your wives have never lived that long anyway, right? How long until you tire of me, too?"

His eyes grew dark and he pushed himself off the window ledge, coming so close I could feel his breath on my cheek. It was the same dominance I saw from him in the forest yesterday against the wolves.

"Let me get one thing straight here, princess. My other wives have been killed, yes, but not by me."

My eyes widened.

"Shocked?" He asked. Yes. "Surprised that the deadly, feral Prince of the Dark is not killing each of his wives after they are wed?" a low, evil laugh rumbled in his chest. "You have a lot to learn, Eve. And we're about to spend the evening with hundreds of drunk, idiotic Werewolves who haven't seen a human in decades."

If he was trying to scare me, it was working.

"So do yourself a favor and stay by my side. Don't trust any of them, and hold onto that little toy strapped to your leg," he said, eyes flickering down my dress once more. "You're not safe here, princess. But I'm not losing another wife. I don't care how many Werewolves assholes it costs me."

He stopped talking but didn't back away. I stood there, staring into his dark, passionate eyes. "That's good to know," I admitted after a few awkward seconds. I couldn't believe he was talking about the other Werewolves–his family–this way. From what I could tell, he despised them. Especially his brothers.

Erebus broke our gaze first, walking back to the massive doors of the ballroom. When he held his hand out to me, I took it. "A bit of advice," he said, "don't drink anything."

I didn't have time to ask for an explanation. Erebus pushed the large doors open once more, and we were greeted with the same group of Werewolves.

Except things had certainly gotten rowdy in the few minutes we were out of the room.

Music flowed through the massive ballroom, echoing off the stone walls. The reserved audience from earlier was now standing, dancing, and drinking away. Never-ending tables of food lined the perimeter of the room, and servants walked around with trays of drinks for every guest.

Erebus navigated us through the crowd. The others had a large level of respect for him, bowing their heads as he passed. Part of me wondered if they were just as afraid of him as the humans were.

What had he done to get his reputation? How many people had he killed? Tortured? Tormented?

I shook my head. None of that mattered now. What mattered was getting out of here alive, and Erebus was my best chance at that.

I squeezed his hand tighter, hoping he didn't realize how nervous I was. I was the only human in this entire room, perhaps even this entire compound.

I was going to find out just how much Werewolves hated humans, after all.