at him and say, “She’s not crying.”
“Of course she’s not. I’ve been taking care of her!” Reule rolls his eyes at me. He turns to smile at the girl and places his hand on her back, and my eyes narrow at the familiarity between them. “Guys, this is Isla. Isla, these are my brothers—Maalik, Caelan, and Audun.”
He points us out as he says our names, and I feel myself growing more defensive and confused. “How did she already know my name when I walked in? I thought you said she couldn’t speak our language.”
Is this some kind of trick? Did the King send a girl here, pretending to be weak and defenseless so we’d take her in and grow attached to her?
“She doesn’t.” Reule bares his teeth at me, obviously growing frustrated. “But she’s not stupid. I showed her your photograph so she’d know who you all were when you got home.”
Caelan finally shuts the door behind us and furrows his eyebrows at Isla. “What the hell is she wearing?”
My eyes return to the girl and my face warms again as I take in her outfit. It looks like she’s wearing one of Reule’s shirts and a pair of his socks. Nothing else! Her thighs are bare where the shirt falls, and the shirt is thin enough to show the outline of her breasts and the peaks of her hardened nipples.
Reule shrugs defensively and brushes a strand of her dark hair over her shoulder. She looks nervous as her eyes move between me and my brothers. Reule gestures at the crown on her head and says, “She likes it. She wanted to see what was in the crates that were delivered, and she found it in one of them.”
“Not the crown.” Caelan laughs. He walks closer to Isla and Reule and smiles down at her, and gestures at the indecent outfit she’s wearing. “The crown is cute, but I’m talking about this! Did you dress her, Reule?”
Caelan and Audun snicker at the look on Reule’s face, but I don’t find it very funny at all. Reule glares at our brothers and says, “I didn’t have anything else that would fit her!”
“Sure, pervert.” Caelan teases. His entire demeanor has changed since we left the castle a short while ago, and I know he’s entertaining the thought of making Isla our wife. He bends down so he’s eye-level with her and gives her a charming smile as he takes her hand. “It’s very nice to meet you, Isla.”
She giggles when he kisses her hand, and he looks extremely proud of himself. The sound of her laughter makes my heart race a little faster, and I realize with a bit of panic that the Beasts’ Moon might already be affecting me. Just being in Isla’s presence right now is dangerous, and if we spend much more time around her so close to nightfall, it might be too late to stop a bond being formed between us.
“Tell us everything,” I growl at Reule. The sooner we get Isla out of here, the better. I can’t very well kick her out in the snow with nowhere to go, and I need to know all the details of how she ended up here and what’s happened since.
“Yes, but first…” Caelan stands up, still holding Isla’s hand in his. I have to bite my tongue to keep myself from yelling at him to stop touching her. Cael grins and pats his stomach, and he mimes spooning something into his mouth. “Are you hungry, beautiful? Has Reule been feeding you?”
Reule crosses his arms petulantly. “Of course I have.”
Caelan smirks in bemusement and asks, “What did you make, then?”
“She had soup yesterday, and I made oatmeal this morning.”
“Good lord, tell me you’re joking!” Caelan exclaims, making an exaggerated face of disgust. Reule makes a rude hand gesture, and Audun barks out a laugh at their antics. As anxious as I feel, I can’t help cracking a smile too. Isla smiles back and forth between all of us, and then she giggles and says something incomprehensible to Caelan in her sweet, melodic voice.
His smile softens, and he gently pulls her toward the kitchen. She follows him, and I nearly have a heart attack when he picks her up and sets her on the counter.
“Are you insane?” I growl angrily. “She just met you, and we have no idea what this girl’s been through! What if she didn’t want you to touch her? You’re going to give her the wrong idea,