#13 The Dragon King and his Werewolf Princess

“Where are we going?” River asked as she followed me back through the castle.

“To your office.” He said and, sure enough, he led me right to the room across from his office.

“What are we doing here?” I asked, looking around the large, plain room.

“Well, if you’re going to become Queen soon, you need a proper office. You can decorate and furnish it however you’d like. Grier knows how to contact all the best people to get what you need,” I explained, pulling the dust cover off the desk, “You’ll want some chairs across your desk and a sofa to get comfortable on during long days working on paperwork. Although, I can think of some other uses for the sofa, too.” I winked, walking back up to River and taking her in my arms.

I tilted her chin up, craning her neck so I could have better access to her lips. She smiled against my kiss and put the palm of her hands against my chest, gently pushing me away so she could explore the office for herself.

“There’s copies of our realm and our monarch’s history, maps of the realm and all the regions, and ledgers of all the leaders of each region on the bookshelves.” I went on to say as she neared the bookshelves on the back wall.

She rang her finger along the spines, dragging dust along the way and rubbing it between her two fingers. Grier walked into the office then with a tablet, prepared to make orders for whatever River needed.

“I’ll leave you two, to it.” I said, but River wasn’t listening. I could see the plans forming in her mind already.

I clapped Grier on the back before leaving the room, shutting the door behind them and mental linking two of her guards to come stand watch at the door, just in case. Then, I went into my own office across the hall and sat behind the desk, determined to get some paperwork done.

Two hours later, I received a knock on my mental link from Magnor.

“What have you found?” I asked urgently.

“Revena’s guards, dead, on the edge of the Dark Forest,” Magnor reported, “She’s nowhere to be found.”

“Track her. Now.” I commanded.

“Already on it,” Magnor said, “She went into the forest.”

“Follow her and alert the entire region to a fugitive on the loose. Use whatever resources necessary to hunt her down, dead or alive.” I ordered.

“You got it,” Magnor agreed, “Whatever it takes. She’s a threat against our Queen, of that I’m sure.”

“Me too. Take her town.”

“On my honor, brother.” Magnor spoke powerfully before ending the link.

I gathered up the loose papers I was working on and stacked them together on the top of my desk before standing up. Pushing open the door,I saw Enar and Koll standing on either side of the office door which was wide open. Grier was sitting on the floor with a dazed look on his face and the tablet no longer in his hands. Instead, River was pacing around the office with the tablet.

I chuckled at the scene. Enar and Koll bowed their heads as I entered the office and leaned against the door jam.

“How’s it going in here?” I smirked.

Grier looked up at me with a helpless expression while River’s eyes didn’t leave the tablet screen.

“She’s taken control.” Grier said,

“Of course she has, she’s the werewolf princess and dragon Queen, I’d expect nothing less.” I grinned.

“Everything is so beautiful,” River said, tilting the tablet to the side so I could see the screen, “It’s all so well built and intricately handcrafted.”

She was looking at a new desk, a sturdy one with lots of drawers and a floral pattern on the trim.

“Everything is handmade by our people, Dragonhearted who have spent their lives learning the craft; usually for generations.” I said,

“That’s rare in the human realm, everything is factory made on an assembly line. The werewolf realm isn’t developed enough to have many artisans, so we import most of our things from the human realm.” River explained.

“Choose whatever you’d like.” I said, motioning towards the screen.

“This one.” River zoomed in on the desk with the floral trim.

“Done, order it.” I said simply.

She clicked a button and ordered the desk. Then, she showed me the other things she had picked out. A navy blue velvet sofa with two arm chairs to match, a hand woven circle rug in shades of blue to cover the floor, and a few knick knacks like landscape portraits, matching blue vases, and book ends that looked like flowers.

“It’ll look lovely, my dear,” I said, handing the tablet back to Grier and wrapping my arm around her waist, kissing her cheek and nuzzling my face against the top of her head, “I’m so glad you’re making this place your home.”

“It feels like home.” She whispered, leaning her head against my chest.

I kissed the top of her head,

“That’s because it is your home, mon p’tit bout,” I said, “If you want to make changes to our bedroom, you can. I know it’s quite masculine.”

She shook her head and looked up at me through her dark eyelashes,

“No, I love it the way it is. It’s the first place I felt safe here.” She declared, her eyes sparkling.

I felt myself falling at her feet, cupping her face in my too large hands and consuming her mouth with mine.

“Say it again,” I whispered against her lips, “Tell me you feel safe here.”

“Calix Dragonblood,” she began with a smile, “I feel safe here, in our home.”

“Goddess,” I gasped in a raspy voice, “I love you.”

I crashed into her lips and she collapsed into my chest, breathing life into me.

“Let’s break in my new office, shall we?” She smirked at me with mischief in her eyes, perching against her desk.

My eyes swirled with fire and hers with ice, and in that moment, the two opposites collided and created a work of art.