Arthur watched as Ryn transformed. Her figure stretched becoming taller, her muscles filling out her new frame as if it was always meant to be this way. A pair of Wolf ears swiveled on top of her head, turning toward Arthur. Her eyes shifted from blue to a bright, sharp green.
Her grey tail swished behind her like it had been waiting to get free. The moonlight caught her bronze skin, showing off muscle that had no business being that defined. Her once fitted clothes had not survived the transformation well. Her jeans were shredded being held together by just a thread letting her thighs be left little to the imagination.
Her thighs looked like they had been sculpted. Her ass had clearly benefited from the transformation just as much as everything else.
Arthur's face gave away a flash of surprise before he steeled himself. His expression settled. His thoughts, however, were a different matter.
'What? But all demi-humans have to be on official business or enrolled as students — so how is she working the front desk? Unless…'
"The Hand." Arthur crossed his arms and studied her reaction. "You're part of the Hand."
Ryn's expression shifted, the gloat drained out of it.
"How do you know that name?" It was not really a question. It was more like a demand.
"Growing up on the border teaches you a few things." Arthur kept it vague.
Ryn stared at him for a long moment, eyes sharp, like she was deciding whether to push it.
"If what you say is true, then you know why I'm here," she said.
"I have some theories. None I'd care to voice out loud. However, what you need to know is that keeping your secret is just as much in my interest as it is in yours."
Her eyes narrowed as if deciding if she can trust his words.
"One day I'll get to the bottom of how you know about the Hand," she said. "But I'm in agreement. It is beneficial for both of us to keep both of our secrets especially given what I came to tell you."
"Then by all means," Arthur said, "what information has my brother sent you that's valuable enough to blow your cover?"
Ryn let the question hang for a moment.
"The King of the Beast Kingdom is dead."
It landed like a dropped stone.
Arthur went still, though his mind moved in overdrive.
'The timing… if Alaric was sent on that mission and he… no. He wouldn't unless father… it can't be. Alaric, you fool.'
He looked up at Ryn, his face carrying questions he could not ask out loud.
He did not notice the small smile on his own face until the words were already out.
"Then brother succeeded."
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Amy's hand pressed hard against the bark.
She was barely close enough to hear him, but those words reached her clearly.
Then brother succeeded.
What did that mean? Was Arthur's brother the one who killed the King? Had he hired someone to do it? Was he leading the resistance inside the Beast Kingdom?
The questions floated through her head unanswered as she kept her chin pressed to the hollow of the trunk, curiosity pulling her in deeper.
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Arthur exhaled. Slow and measured.
"When did it happen?"
"Two months ago," Ryn said, matter-of-fact.
Arthur scoffed. "Two months and nothing has been announced. About what I'd expect from a kingdom that backwards." He shook his head.
"Then you understand why I showed you my form." Ryn smiled at him.
"I almost feel like I'm the one collecting all the benefits here. You're being very generous for someone who owes me nothing. I guess you owe my brother one hell of a debt."
"Oh, I wouldn't say I don't owe your brother," Ryn said, stepping closer. "But let's just say something he told me about you gave me reason to offer a little more."
"And what did he tell you?"
She closed the remaining distance and brought her lips to his ear.
"That your bloodline doesn't only help yourself."
"And let me guess," Arthur said, letting her press against him, "you need a way to grow stronger without the academy noticing."
"Perhaps."
Her tail curled around his hand and drew it to her waist, letting him feel the curve of her.
"I think we can work something out." He brought his mouth to hers and closed the gap between them.
They moved slowly at first, taking stock of each other. Her hands worked at his jacket, pulling it off clean, while Arthur traced the lines of her body and got a feel for it.
He ran his hands along her arms, her back, her waist feeling the muscle underneath. From her firm ass to her tone abs and the piston thighs that are pure muscle he takes them all in.
Her tail curled up against him, insistenting him to continue.
He smiled.
"What's funny?" Ryn asked, catching the look.
"Nothing," Arthur said. "Just that your tail seems a lot more honest than you are."
He reached the hem of her crop top and slid his hands underneath. Her modest chest filled his palms as he gave a slow, warm squeeze.
"Mmh."
Ryn tilted her head and pressed her lips to his neck.
Arthur's hands worked slowly, unhurried, like he had nowhere else to be.
Ryn's breath came out unsteady. Her tail curled tighter against his back, pulling him closer, and she tilted into him as his thumbs traced the underside of her chest.
He walked her back until the tree caught her, bark pressing into her shoulders. She didn't protest.
Her hands found his belt.
"Straight to the point," he said.
"I'm a wolf." Her green eyes caught the moonlight. "We don't do slow."
"Then we'll have to work on that."
He took her wrists and pinned them above her head.
She blinked, surprised. Then something in her expression shifted clearly not use to this treatment..
"Still think you're running this?" Arthur asked.
Ryn's tail swished once. Slow and deliberate.
"...No," she said.
He smiled. Then he kissed her again, deeper this time, and her wrists stopped pulling against his grip entirely.
—---------
Amy's hand flew to her mouth.
'What.'
She had still been processing the dead king. The Hand and whatever secret underground network Ryn was part of. That was the part that mattered. That was what she had followed him out here.
That was what she'd told herself.
But now Arthur had this woman, this demi woman, wolf ears swiveling, tail curling around him like she owned him pinned against a tree and kissing her like it was the most natural thing in the world.
Amy pressed herself flat against the far side of her oak.
They're— he's— they just—
Her mind scrambled to catch up. Ten minutes ago they were talking about kingdoms and dead kings and secret societies. Now Arthur had his hands all over her and Ryn's shredded jeans were somehow even more gone than before, showing the full length of those thighs—
Amy's face went hot.
Don't look.
She looked.
She couldn't help it, the moonlight made it worse as every detail was too clear. Ryn's head tilted back as Arthur's mouth moved to her neck, the soft hitch of sound that left her carrying easily through the quiet park.
Amy's breath came out in a slow, shaking exhale.
Oh no.
She knew this feeling. She hated that she knew this feeling.
Her back was pressed to the bark and the open air of the park was all around her. The thought of getting caught only add to the feeling making her turn more flush.
Her cheeks red and her breath getting faster, a heat growing in her.
What if I'm caught?
The thought sent a bolt straight through her chest.
What is wrong with me.
She should leave. She should have left ten minutes ago, before she knew any of this, before she'd heard anything about dead kings or secret organizations or — before this.
Her feet didn't move.
Ryn let out a sound. Low and surprised, like she hadn't expected to make it.
Amy's hand pressed harder over her mouth.
And if either of them had even halfway decent hearing—
She's a wolf.
Amy's eyes went wide.
She is literally a wolf. She could sniff me out. She could hear me right now.
Every muscle in her body locked up as her hand slowly lowered itself.
No. No, don't do it, Amy. You are going to get caught.
Amy, no matter what her mind told her, couldn't stop.
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