“Dessert?” Startled, Braden rubbed the back of his neck. “I’m stuffed. I couldn’t possibly eat another—”
A light touch on his hand shocked him into silence.
“It’s his favorite.” The soft warning in Princess Alisa’s voice made his wolf even more restless. “You can at least have a taste, can’t you?”
His mouth had gone dry, so he nodded, hoping he successfully masked his expression. Unfortunately, as though sensing weakness, his internal wolf chose that moment to go on the offensive, fighting to be allowed to surface, to break free.
Damn. Braden did a quick mental calculation. How long had it been exactly since he’d last changed?
After a quick internal struggle, he wrestled his beast back under control, all the while keeping his head down so the Teslinko royal family wouldn’t know.
He usually was more careful. Changing often enough to keep his wolf satisfied. This level of discord had never happened to him before. His wolf felt nearly out of control. Why this furious need? Why now? Was it them? Or her? He suspected the latter, though it made no sense. Why would being around this woman affect his beast in such a visceral and urgent way?
As scientist, he desperately deduced that one reason had to be simply because being blind, he experienced everything more sharply in his lupine form. He didn’t miss his vision nearly as much as he did while human. With wolves, scent was the dominant sense. Scent told him almost everything, as much as vision did for humans.
And Princess Alisa smelled perfect. Feminine and flowers and vanilla, all in one.
Hellhounds, this wasn’t good. Counting back, he tried to calculate how long it had been since he’d changed. Ruefully, he acknowledged that too much time had passed. He’d been so occupied with his research and securing the permission of King Leo and Queen Ionna, and then traveling here and getting settled in, that he’d managed to completely ignore his own needs. His own wolf’s needs.
He needed to change. As soon as humanly possible. Perhaps, since he wasn’t going to work with the princess today, this afternoon would be a good time to find a secluded, wooded place to shape-shift and let his caged wolf run free.
Even thinking about this brought his wolf back, roaring to life. The beast inside him rushed the invisible barrier, testing the mental bounds Braden had imposed.
Finishing the fight, he raised his head, suddenly aware of the yawning silence. No doubt they were all staring at him, wondering if he’d completely lost his mind.
“Dr. Streib?” Queen Ionna asked gently. “Are you all right? You haven’t even touched your dessert.”
Forcing a shaky smile, he turned in the direction of her voice. “Yes, I am. My apologies. I was thinking of all that must be done. I am very eager to begin.”
On his other side, Princess Alisa made an odd noise in the back of her throat. “Try your cake,” she said, her tone perfectly level. “You do not wish to disrespect the king, now, do you?”
Put that way, what could he do? Fumbling for his fork, he finally located it and managed to scoop up some of the king’s favorite dessert. Not sure what to expect, he was surprised to find it melted on his tongue. In addition to chocolate, he tasted peanut butter and a hint of something else. Cinnamon. And a lot of sugar. A whole lot of sugar. So much that he felt vaguely queasy.
“Excellent,” he lied, taking a second bite and manfully choking it down.
“I told you.” King Leo sounded pleased. “There is a reason this is my number one sweet.”
Nodding, Braden continued to eat, shoveling the cake into his mouth as quickly as he could while still having some sort of table manners.
“Take it easy, dear,” Queen Ionna admonished. “You’ll choke if you continue to eat so fast.”
Polishing off what felt like the last bite, he swallowed, before taking a large gulp of his now lukewarm coffee. “Very good. I’m sorry if I seem to be rushing, but I have much to do to get ready to begin testing the princess tomorrow. If you’ll—”
“Our daughter is eager to begin as well,” King Leo interrupted before Braden could get out the words excuse me. “Isn’t that right, Alisa?”
“Of course,” she said, sounding about as sincere as he felt when forcing down the sickeningly sweet cake. “Where is your laboratory? I will meet you there in the morning.”
Braden took his time answering, figuring King Leo would interrupt and tell her the rest of it. Not only had the royal family allowed him the rare privilege of analyzing their youngest daughter, but they had set up a fully functional laboratory down the hall from his bedroom. This was on the same floor as hers, though in a completely different wing.
But neither the king nor the queen spoke. Apparently, they were leaving it to him to relay the news.
“Well?” she repeated, her rich voice curious and mildly exasperated, all at once. Once again, just the sound of her had the same effect on him, like a jolt of raw energy sending his wolf into a frenzy.
Again, damn it. Gritting his teeth, he battled back his other half. This had not happened since he’d been a teenager, full of raging hormones. It took him a moment to get his beast under control, luckily. Though this time, he lost more ground more quickly. If the beast kept fighting him, he’d have to do something quickly or there’d be a major embarrassing incident. He could only imagine that it’d be in extremely poor form to shape-shift in the palace while lunching with Pack royalty.
He had to get a grip on this thing, whatever it was. Taking a deep breath, he wondered how much longer he’d have to wait to manage to politely excuse himself.
“Your laboratory, Dr. Streib?” Princess Alisa repeated, speaking slowly as though she now thought him a simpleton. “I asked you where I might find it.”
Lifting his chin, Braden explained the situation in a few short sentences. “My understanding is that I am actually working on the same floor where you also reside.”
“At the opposite end,” King Leo put in. “This is a very large palace, Dr. Streib. Your living quarters and your laboratory are in the west wing. Princess Alisa occupies most of the east.”
Thankfully, the princess didn’t comment. Braden wasn’t sure he could take another assault of her voice on his wolf self. Now if he could just get out of there until he got his beast under control.
“I’m glad we got that settled,” King Leo said, amusement warring with preoccupation in his voice. “We have also provided you with an assistant, Dr. Streib. Katya will be there to help you first thing in the morning.”
“Thank you,” Braden said, pleasantly surprised.
“You are most welcome.” The king heaved a satisfied sigh. “Now, if you two will excuse us, the queen and I will leave you to finish your discussion. Come, my dear.”
Braden pushed to his feet as well, standing politely as the King and Queen of Teslinko exited the room. When he finally took his seat again, he sensed the princess studying him. He wanted nothing more than to bolt, but knew he had to do something to satisfy his wolf.
He had no choice but to enlist her help. He needed to change badly and he had no idea where to go.
The servers offered more coffee. They both accepted, waiting while the beverage was poured.
She sighed. “You are different than I would have expected.”
If she wanted to make polite small talk, he thought he could manage, as long as he kept a death grip on his wolf. “How so?”
“Well,” she mused, “despite your generally ruffled and disheveled appearance, you are actually a very attractive man.”
Heat