Chapter 2

Chapter 2

In her head, my sister had already fast-forwarded to her coronation―draped in silk and jewels, gazing down at the unconscious wild bird in her arms with tender devotion.

"Don't you worry. I'll take such good care of you."

Oh, she'd better take good care of him. She just shouldn't come crying when she ends up as the blood sacrifice.

She rushed Cassian back to our little cottage, gathered herbs for his wounds, and babied him exactly the way I had in my last life.

Me? I was still crouched in front of my bunny.

He was so tiny and so adorable that I couldn't spare a single thought for last lifetime's misery.

I poked his cheek again, sweetening my voice. "Are you out looking for food? I have plenty back home. Want some?"

His eyes lit up―until he caught the obvious scheming in mine, and he ducked his head. "Not a chance!"

"Really? I've got fresh-baked rolls. Sweet potatoes. Carrots, cabbage, pumpkin, apples..."

He gulped. His legs made the decision for him, latching onto my arm. "Fine. I'll come with you."

I laughed and scooped him up.

Back at the cottage, I laid out all the food in front of him.

The bunny went to town, stuffing his face.

When he reached for more, I caught his paw. "You're eating too much. Marry me, and you can keep eating like this."

His head snapped up. Right there, he shifted into a handsome young man―though his long bunny ears stayed put. He growled, flustered and furious. "You tricked me!"

I beamed at him. "You agreed all on your own."

Every one of those little tricks, I'd learned from Cassian himself.

"I―I..." He looked down at the food, then squirmed and glanced back at me, cheeks blazing. "It's just marriage, fine, I accept. Who knows―maybe you'll be the one begging for mercy..."

All bark, no bite. I held back my laugh and pushed the food toward him.

That's also how I got his name out of him―Whit Wells.

He tugged me down to sit beside him and started feeding me by hand. "You're my wife now. I can't hog all the food. You eat too."

All that eagerness left me a little dazed.

Cassian had wanted nothing to do with me at first. He hated that I was always around.

The meals I carefully made for him got dumped in the dirt. The herbs I nearly killed myself gathering went untouched―if he said he wouldn't drink them, he wouldn't.

I'd groveled like a servant just to please him.

By the time we finished eating, night had fallen.

I hesitated, then dragged out a quilt and spread it on the floor.

Whit squirmed, shy and awkward. "Since we're married now... shouldn't we sleep under the same blanket?"

I froze for a second.

"...Yes."

I thought I'd been moving fast.

Turned out even a shy little bunny like him could beat me to it.

Whit dove under the quilt to warm it up, then peeked at me over the edge, face half-buried. "It's warm now. You―you can come in."

I crawled in, nice and slow.

I thought I'd lie awake all night. Instead, I was asleep in minutes.

Half-dreaming, half-awake, I felt Whit tug the blanket toward me and wrap his arms around me for warmth.

He was murmuring to himself, unable to hide his joy. "She's my wife now, so I have to spoil her. Can't let her get cold. What if her body can't handle our wedding night later..."

Our slapdash cottage held in barely any heat. At night the wind cut right through the walls, cold enough to pierce the bone.

My sister and I had always been sickly girls. Years of that biting cold piled illness on top of illness, and our bodies gave out early.

In my last life, once I learned Cassian was a phoenix, I tried more than once to sneak into his quilt to warm up. He treated me like dirt. Even after he finally accepted me, the only time he let me share his bed was when he wanted my body.

But right now, all I felt was warm. Warm enough to thaw the heart that my last life had shattered.

When I stepped out to prepare food the next morning, Cassian woke.

"You're finally awake! I'm the one who saved you. Don't worry―I'm going to take such good care of you."

My sister, who had kept vigil all night, was thrilled. She leaned in to help him up, tender and doting, even filling her mouth with water to feed him lip to lip.

Cassian's face twisted in disgust. He slapped her away.

"Get off me!"

My sister crashed to the floor in a heap, choking on the mouthful of water, coughing over and over.