Maddox Drakencrest had been prepared to double the gold.

Seven hundred and fifty million was the number that made a room full of Alpha Kings stop pretending they were still in the running. But he would have gone to one and a half billion without blinking, because the number was never the point. It was the girl for him. Only her.

The girl who was currently walking beside him through the Lunaris forest with perfect posture and a pulse he could hear hammering. Her fingers were intertwined in his, and she hadn’t said a word.

His men flanked them in formation. Ryker over his right shoulder, already radiating an energy that said he had opinions and was going to share them shortly. Sterling over his left. The remaining four guards held the perimeter without instruction.

He caught the scent and rustle in the leaves at the same moment she did. He knew wolf senses were stronger than human, but he wasn’t aware of the extent until now. Attractive. Potentially problematic.

A dagger flew so quickly it didn’t have shape.

To his surprise, she moved in front of him in a blur, catching it at a speed he’d never seen a wolf move in human form. He would have intercepted it. Dragons were faster than wolves. What froze him was, for the second time, this girl had put herself in between him and danger.

Adorable. She really had no clue what she was working with.

She dropped the dagger without a word and scanned.

Maddox snapped out of whatever daze she’d managed to put him in.

He pulled her against his chest and locked his arms around her, quicker than probably anything she’d seen. Which might have been a tactical error, because she jolted in his hold.

"You realize I’m a literal dragon, right?" His lips brushed her hair, mouth at her ear. "I’m the most dangerous thing in this forest. The second most dangerous thing in this forest is standing behind us in formation."

That was mostly true. His six guards had already moved. Anyone within a five-mile radius would be killed. No mercy in dragon law for an attack on the king. Thankfully they had the sense to kill silently, so there were no screams. Not the ideal first impression.

"New rule. Stop stepping in front of me. You are going to give my men an aneurysm."

She swallowed against him. "Understood."

At that moment, his dragon surged under his ribs. It had the self-regulation of a toddler with a match, and tonight it had found gasoline. The only reason her brother was left alive was because he didn’t want to start things off by killing her family. A low bar. But one he was committed to clearing. For now.

Sterling came back through the tree line and held up a strip of fabric Maddox did not recognize.

Guinevere stiffened immediately. He felt her heartbeat increase, and their matebond carried the rest into him like a confession he had not asked for.

An image. Brief. Half-formed. A throne room. Chains. A man’s knuckles under her chin.

His vision went white at the edges.

Maddox: Burn the bodies. Leave nothing for that pack of wolves to find.

Ryker: Copy.

"Rough day for them," Maddox said aloud lightly. "Six dragons, a king, and a princess who catches knives. Worst career decision since whoever taught Ryker to mindlink."

Ryker: I heard that.

Maddox turned his head into her hair and inhaled once, slow, the way a man does when he is reminding himself the woman in his arms is real and warm and breathing. His thumb stroked across her ribs through the silk on its own. It’d developed autonomy. This was new. This was also not stopping.

He felt her heartbeat calm, then sync with his. Something he had read about in scrolls but had not believed until right now.

"Clear, Your Highness," Ryker announced after a moment.

Clear. The forest was clear. Maddox’s head was definitely not.

He let go of the girl. At this point he would have preferred to just carry her and put a helmet on her while he was at it.

Sterling: Interesting wife you’ve selected, Maddox.

Maddox: I saw it.

Sterling: No. You saw the catch. I saw the rotation. She caught a thrown blade by the handle, between the second and third revolution. Even dragon high-bloods don’t do that.

Maddox: Correction. You’ve never seen a female do that.

Sterling’s silence after that correction was the loudest thing in the mindlink.

Ryker: I’d put coin down that the Lunaris court doesn’t know what they just handed over.

Sterling: Definitely not. We have a problem or an asset. I haven’t decided yet.

Maddox: She put herself in front of me twice now. That’s the only problem.

Mid-step, her emotions hit like a blade slipped between ribs.

Fear. Quiet, controlled, suffocating fear wrapped in so many layers of composure that anyone else would have missed it entirely. She was terrified and spending every ounce of energy she had, making sure it didn’t show.

He glanced at her. Spine straight. Chin level. Hands steady at her sides. If he couldn’t feel what was underneath, he would have believed the mask completely.

He took her hand, lacing his fingers with hers. She looked at him, expression neutral, but he could feel her surprise through their matebond.

Interesting. Affection surprises her. Noted.

Maddox: We’ll ride on you, Ryker.

Ryker: Copy that. Should I do a big dramatic roar?

Maddox: Absolutely not. Subtle. She’s had enough theater for one evening.

Ryker: Subtle. Got it. I’ll try to only be enormous.

Sterling’s gaze drifted to Guinevere. Analytical. The way he looked at everything, like the world was a series of variables he was solving for.

Maddox: Stop staring. You’re scaring her.

Sterling: She should be scared, but she’s not. That level of composure after her day means she’s either insane or broken.

Maddox: Neither. Calm under pressure is a skill. She’s been doing this her whole life. 𝙛𝒓𝓮𝙚𝔀𝒆𝒃𝓷𝒐𝓿𝙚𝓵.𝙘𝒐𝒎

That quieted his second and third in command. Briefly.

Ryker: I caught her looking surprised a few times tonight.

Sterling: I caught her trying to not laugh, too. Two expressions outside of this one. That’s what you have to work with.

She glanced down at their fingers and blinked. It was then that he realized his thumb had been stroking her hand on autopilot.

"You catch daggers but a thumb on your knuckle is the line."

Without breaking stride, he brought her hand to his lips and kissed it.

Through their matebond, he felt her blush bloom instantly, hot and sweet.

"And now you blush. You’ll make me think you like me."

She didn’t respond to that.

"You’re quiet."

"Is this how you normally court women?"

"You tell me. Is it working?"

"I don’t know. I was distracted by the auction."

"I won the auction."

Four words delivered with the confidence of a man who had brought an urn to a bidding war.

"I’m aware. I was there."

"You don’t seem sad about it."

He flashed a grin that usually worked like a charm. A ninety-eight percent success rate. She was the two percent. Naturally. She kept her gaze forward and face neutral.

Ryker’s commentary was coming. Maddox could feel it loading like a crossbow.

Ryker: Smooth.

Maddox: Right where I want her.

Ryker: I can see the love blooming from here.

Ahead of them, the tree line opened. What came next would make her scream or pass out. Every first-timer did one or the other. It was practically tradition.

He was betting on pass out. But then again, she’d been batting a thousand at proving him wrong.