Free Daughter of the Red Dawn (The Lost Kingdom of Fallada) by Alicia Michaels Page A

narrowed gaze at Wil.
    The old man arched a silver brow and nodded. “You are.”
    “Then open that grate and bring me the tools. Keep your stupid gun handy if you feel threatened, bu t I am going to talk to him.”
    Jake chuckled. “Yes, y our Highness.”
    It didn’t take long for Wil to locate the tool—a strange-looking instrument that looked like a pair of forceps—and for the two brothers to lift the heavy metal grate and slide it aside. Selena thrust the gleaming forceps into her back pocket and threw her legs over the side of the square hole. It wasn’t too deep for her to jump down. Hopefully Titus wouldn’t eat her before she got the dart out of his leg. As if he’d read her mind, Wil stepped forward and thrust his silver pistol into her hand.
    “Do not hesitate to use it,” he said, his mouth a grim line.
    Selena nodded, thrusting the gun into the waistband of her jeans and covering it with her shirt. With one last look back at Jake and Wil, Selena vaulted over the edge and landed a few feet away from the wolf. His head came up as she dropped beside him and his eyes bored into hers, glowing with silent intensity. He did not move from his spot, but watched her closely as she stepped forward slowly. She retrieved the forceps from her pocket and held them out for Titus to see.
    “They didn’t want to let me come down here,” she said gently, hoping not to startle him by moving too quickly or speaking too forcibly. She wanted answers and Selena believed that there was more to Titus than met the eye. Something was motivating him, compelling him to do the things he’d done , and Selena had every intention of finding out what.
    “I told them that I had no reason to believe that you would harm me once you shifted back to your human form and I hope you won’t make a liar out of me.”
    Titus lowered h is head and Selena took that as a sigh of acquiescence. She closed the distance between them quickly and knelt beside him, inspecting the dart embedded in Titus’ thick pelt. Her fingers ran over his soft fur and she smiled.
    “You’re so beautiful,” she said gently, as her hands ran up over his mammoth shoulder and toward his head. He whimpered and thrust his head beneath her stroking hand. Selena giggled and ran a hand over his head and ears. In response, he licked her hand with his rough, hot tongue. Selena wrapped her arms around the wolf’s neck and pressed her face against his neck.
    “Don’t worry,” she whispered as she nuzzled the soft fur. If not for the fact that he was in pain, Selena could gladly curl up against him and sleep comfortably on his fuzzy pelt. “I’ll get you out of here. I don’t know how I know this, but I believe the best of you , Titus. I know that you didn’t really want to hurt me.”
    He lowered his head again, this time resting it in her lap. Selena forced her gaze away from his face and concentrated on the dart in his hip. It took a few minutes of poking and prodding, but eventually Selena had the dart removed. Once pulled from Titus’ fur and skin, the dart disintegrated into a silver powder right before Selena’s eyes.
    “Well?” she asked, staring into Titus’ red eyes. “What now?”
    Titus turned and began licking at the wound on his hip. Selena gasped, leaning forward on her hands and knees to watch as the injury disappeared right before her eyes ; leaving no evidence behind, save for a few drops of blood. Selena leaped to her feet and moved back against the wall behind her as the wolf rose to his feet.
    He lowered his head an d shuddered as his body began to contort and change shape. Fur melted away and long stretches of pale skin appeared as the wolf shrunk into the boy Selena remembered. She blushed and looked away when she realized that he was naked, but not before she caught a glimpse of a broad chest, slender waist , and abs ridged with lines and bulges of sinewy muscle.
    “Here , kid,” Wil grumbled as he tossed something into the hole. Selena