To the Edge and Back [The Royal Wolves] (Siren Publishing Allure) by Honor James Read Free Book Online Page A

was making it in his mind depending on what happened.
    “I was on the bus. I was on the way to the Laundromat, and one of them dressed in leather and pack colors leaned in and sniffed me. I think they were going to rob me, but he pulled back and said something like, ‘What the fuck?’” She winced at that word. “‘No, the boss needs to know that the youngest dickling prince has found a mate.’” She shrugged. “That was the last of what he said.”
    Janos straightened up and frowned. “He actually said ‘dickling’?” he asked. At her nod, he growled. “I’ll kill the bastard just for that.” The word was an offence to the Wolves. Dickling was a slang word that implied a small and flaccid cock. Pacing away, he pushed his hands through his hair before turning to face her once more. “You may want to sit down for this. I have a feeling you may fall down before I’m done.”
    She had a feeling that whatever he was about to tell her was something that she wasn’t quite ready for. Moving to the sofa, she sat. “All right, I’m sitting, and I think that I’m ready for whatever you have to tell me, I think.” She licked her lips as she pulled the throw pillow before her and shook her head. “I seriously think that whatever this is is going to change everything, isn’t it?”
    Looking at her, he nodded slowly. “Yeah,” he murmured softly before moving to sit in a chair across from her. Leaning forward, he rested his elbows on his knees and rubbed his hands together. “Okay, some of this is going to sound a little strange, but bear with me since I’ve never told anyone any of this, so I may be a little bit all over the map and erratic,” he requested, glancing up.
    She could only nod as she watched him. He was beautiful, but the barely leashed animal inside of him was oddly endearing, so she wanted to listen to him, needed to.
    At her nod, he dropped his gaze to his hands and decided to just start at the very beginning. “I was born in Hungary in 1814,” he said softly. “My parents were the Royals of the Wolf people.” He shot her a quick look before letting his gaze fall again. “Those guys on the bus were right, I am a prince, but I have never truly held that position since my parents and the rest of our family were all killed.”
    She wanted to reach out and touch him. She felt his pain radiating off of him and it hurt her to see him hurting. She finally did reach out, her fingertips lightly touching his knee, but otherwise remained silent, just listening.
    Rubbing his palms together again, he shifted. “In the late fall of 1818 the Palace was attacked during the night before my parents’ anniversary celebration. The rebels timed it perfectly since all our relatives were there to attend and celebrate with them. All our cousins, aunts, uncles, and everyone else were there,” he murmured softly. “They were all attacked before anyone knew what was going on. My brothers and I got lucky and a maid sneaked us out through the hidden tunnels that were built into the place for the Royal family’s security.”
    Shifting, he got to his feet and began to pace. “Laszlo, my oldest brother, snuck us away from her in the night with money she’d managed to retrieve from one of the many stashes my father had in the Palace. We went to England and, for about ten years, lived with a distant, distant cousin that had no claim on the Crown. After that time we moved to the States and took up residence in New York. Since then we’ve lived here. We’ve never let it be known we’re here. We haven’t hidden, but we haven’t put it out that we’re of the Royal line.”
    Stopping by the window, he stared out into the night and sighed. “I’m the youngest son. I’ll never have a claim on the Crown and I never wanted one. Laszlo was being groomed for the position as crown prince and, once he wed, king, upon my father abdicating the throne to him. He is the man for that position and not a one of us has ever