CHAPTER 3
Jakob
The Winter Ball had always been one of Jakob’s favorite annual events. It was a time for royalty, townspeople, tourists, and visitors to all come together at his castle as one.
He sat near the fireplace at the head of the long banquet table and watched.
His crown reflected in the firelight on one of the few events he wore the thing.
The great hall hummed with warmth while laughter bounced off the stone walls and goblets clinked in jolly toasts.
Chandeliers of iron and crystal glittered overhead and their light caught on silk gowns and polished dress boots.
Usually, he thrived in this chaos.
He knew how to smile just enough, how to raise his brow so women blushed, and how to make a single look feel like a promise to the receiver.
He had spent years perfecting the art of charm and normally collected flirtations the way others collected coins.
If he wanted company for the night, or even just the hour, he merely had to choose. They always came eagerly.
But tonight, it all felt unbearable. Every laugh grated his nerves. Every touch made his skin crawl.
A familiar female lounged at his right. He recognized her from prior trysts but couldn’t remember her name.
Her gown was cut daringly low and offered him quite a view while her fingers traced slow, confident paths along his sleeve.
“Your Majesty,” she murmured with breath heavy with wine, “you look tense. Perhaps I could help you relax.” She leaned closer. “Again.”
Jakob shifted away and his jaw tightened. Her perfume that he would normally find pleasant was clogging up his nose. Her voice was too practiced. His dragon stirred uneasily beneath his ribs, restless in a way Jakob had never felt before.
He yanked his arm away and avoided the way her eyes widened in surprise. “Not interested.”
A slight gasp and she tried to reach for him again. “But, Jakob, we have history.”
“That’s right,” he responded. “History. As in, the past. Now go.”
“Well, I never.” She hurried off in an indigent huff.
Where is she?
The thought struck him hard enough that he scrubbed a hand down his face. Ridiculous. Mallory was a human. A stranger he’d met by chance in the mountains. She should not be haunting his senses like this.
And yet, there she was in his head.
Another woman appeared as if summoned by the vacancy. She was heavily jeweled and radiant with confidence dripping from every movement. He recognized her as the wife of someone or another, but he couldn’t quite remember. It had never been a problem in the past.
“Your Majesty.”
Her fingers brushed his forearm. “You’re impossible to catch,” she purred. “I hoped for a dance.”
He offered a polite smile, distant and cold. “Tonight, I’m not in the mood to be caught.”
Her eyes widened and he could read her thoughts. Jakob Baldur never refused a willing partner. Pleasure usually lined up at his door.
But tonight, it all felt hollow.
Offense flashed across her features, but he didn’t stay to soothe her wounded pride. He pushed back from the table and strode from the hall while ignoring the sudden hush that followed his departure.
The balcony doors flew open as he pushed a little too hard.
Winter air crashed into him and through his clothes.
The biting cold was harsh and clean. Snow dusted the high stone balustrades and glittered beneath the torchlight.
Below, the castle grounds stretched out in white and silver.
Frozen fountains sparkled like diamonds and evergreen trees strung with lanterns glowed amber against the snow.
Banners of deep blue and silver draped the towers.
Garlands of pine and deep red roses rimmed in frost lined the walls.
The entire courtyard had been transformed for the Winter Ball.
Music drifted up from where townsfolk gathered beneath open tents, and the flames from the grove warmers sent subtle sparks into the night sky.
Jakob gripped the stone railing. The rock groaned and hairline cracks splintered beneath his palms. He released his hands before his dragon strength broke off a chunk of the bannister.
His dragon rumbled, insistent and low. Find her.
“I don’t even know if she’s still in the mountains,” Jakob muttered.
Find her.
He squeezed his eyes shut and tried to breathe through the pull in his chest. But memory betrayed him and all he could focus on was Mallory’s shaky laugh in the cold, the way she’d clutched his coat like she already trusted him, and her scent carried on mountain wind.
The doors behind him burst open again from the wind and he groaned. If he remained invisible much longer, someone would seek him out.
Fresh laughter assaulted his ears as he left the sanctity of the balcony. New arrivals entered the hall, their awe audible in every gasp and whisper. Jakob didn’t pay any attention.
Not until he heard a soft, startled intake of breath. He pivoted and found Mallory behind him.
For a heartbeat, he didn’t recognize her. But her scent gave her away. Maybe it hadn’t been a memory a moment before.
Gone were the sweater and leggings and practical layers meant for cold and climbing.
Tonight, she wore a gown the color of winter moonlight, simple in cut but elegant.
The fabric swirled softly around her like fresh snow.
The bodice fit her perfectly, modest but flattering, and a thin silver chain cinched her waist.
Her hair was swept up with loose curls escaping to frame her face. Someone had braided a thin ribbon through it that caught the light when she moved.
She looked breathtaking and wildly out of place.
Her eyes were wide and her lips parted as she stared at him. He saw the realization crash into her all at once.
“You,” she breathed.
Jakob forgot how to breathe at all.
Heat surged through him, sharp and possessive. His dragon rose and roared approval, and Jakob had to grip the table to keep himself steady.
Mallory’s cheeks flushed pink. She glanced back at her friends clustered uncertainly behind her, then back at him, clearly unsure whether to bow, curtsy, or flee.
He crossed the space between them before she decided.
Whispers erupted behind her.
When he stopped in front of her, Jakob softened his expression into something warm and familiar. “You made it down the mountain safely, then.”
She swallowed. “You’re… the king.” She said it like the title physically knocked the air from her lungs.
“Did the crown give it away?” He tapped the piece of metal on his head before he leaned closer, just enough that she had to tilt her head up to meet his gaze. “Does that change anything?”
“Um, ya think?” she squeaked.
“Mal…” one of the girls started. “Is this… I mean, did he…”
“He’s the freaking king!” the other girl exclaimed.
A quiet laugh slipped from him, low and rough. “It doesn’t have to. I’m still the man you met earlier.”
Her blush deepened and spread down her neck.
Mate, his dragon growled.
Jakob stiffened. “No,” he whispered under his breath.
He had shared beds with countless women. He enjoyed the mock chase, the pretend innocence, the attention, the ease of it all. But none of them had ever looked at him like she did. She stared like he was dangerous and kind and overwhelming all at once.
He forced his inner instinct down and buried it beneath discipline and duty. Gods, it was hard with her standing there, wrapped in candlelight and looking like she belonged somewhere she didn’t yet know how to claim.
“Relax, Mallory,” he murmured, letting her name curl intimately off his tongue. “No need to treat me any differently.”
He felt her breath hitch.
And for the first time ever, Jakob’s carefully controlled world tilted away from indulgence, away from ease, and toward something that felt far more dangerous.
Something that mattered. Jakob felt the fracture between his past and his future. And the cause stood right in front of him.
His heart had spent years gliding through nights like this, untouched and unclaimed. Desire had always been simple for him, fleeting, indulgent, and easily satisfied. He enjoyed the attention, the power of it, the knowledge that he could have any woman in the room with a glance and a smile.
But Mallory did not look at him like a prize.
She looked at him like a storm she’d wandered into without meaning to.
The music swelled inside the hall with the Winter Ball fully underway now. Jakob could feel the press of it and the eyes that watched with expectations that tightened like invisible chains. He was the king here. He always gave a speech about now.
And yet his gaze kept drifting back to Mallory. Her friends had caught the attention of some young townsmen and were otherwise preoccupied.
“You look like you’re planning an escape,” he said quietly.
“This isn’t really my thing.” She huffed a nervous laugh. “Is it that obvious?”
“Painfully.” He hesitated for only a moment. Speech be damned. He wasn’t about to let her disappear. “Walk with me.”
It wasn’t a question.
Before she had time to overthink it, Jakob turned and guided her past the balcony and down a narrow side corridor lit by wall sconces. The noise of the ball faded with every step until there was only the soft echo of their footsteps and the low hiss of distant wind.
They emerged into a small winter garden tucked between two towers. It was an old place that was rarely used. Snow blanketed the stone benches. Bare vines curled around trellises dusted white. Above them, the castle rose high and dark, its windows glowing gold like watchful eyes.
Mallory exhaled. “Oh. This is absolutely beautiful.”
Jakob watched her take it in until her shoulders finally relaxed. “I come here when the court becomes too loud.”
She glanced at him. “Does that happen often?”
“More than I let on.”
“What brings you to Oxynheim?” he asked. “Not a usual destination for a group of ladies.”
“I study medicine back home. I’ve heard some unique things about this area because of the cold that I want to check out for a paper.” She gave a little shrug. “And we’re on holiday while school is on winter break.”
Silence settled between them, weighted, but not awkward. Jakob became acutely aware of how close she stood and the faint warmth she carried in the cold air.
“This is usually the part,” he said slowly, “where I know exactly what to say.”
Mallory tilted her head. “And now?”
“And now I don’t.”
The admission tasted dangerous.
He had never struggled like this. Never felt the need to hold himself back. His dragon paced restlessly, sensing the shift and urging him forward. Claim, protect, choose.
Jakob clenched his jaw. “You should know,” he said in a low voice, “that I am not…uhhh, inexperienced when it comes to women.”
She blinked. “I gathered.”
A wry smile tugged at his mouth. “They have always been easy for me. Too easy.” He met her gaze, unflinching. “You are not.”
Her breath caught, just slightly.
“That frightens me,” he added.
Snow drifted lazily from the tower above and flakes settled into her hair. Without thinking, Jakob reached out and brushed a flake from a curl. His fingers lingered a heartbeat too long.
Mallory didn’t pull away.
The moment stretched. It was quiet, fragile, and charged with everything he refused to name.
Inside, his dragon stilled, watchful and waiting.
Jakob let his hand fall and stepped back before instinct could steal his control. “You should return to your friends,” he said gently. “Before the town decides to invent stories.”
She hesitated. “And you?”
He gave a faint, crooked smile. “I will survive one evening without conquest.”
Her answering smile was soft and entirely unlike any he’d ever earned before.
As she turned back toward the light and music, Jakob remained in the shadows with the snow melting slowly against his hands.
For the first time in his life, he felt his heart leave with her.