"Aurora?"I might see Evander. He could be here right now…"Aurora, I asked you a question."What will it even be like to see him? Do I want to see him? Does he want to see me? What if I start crying?A hand falls upon my shoulder, and I flinch, caught completely unaware. My heart racing from the overload of adrenaline, my eyes follow the length of that arm to find Prince Mykal at the end of it."Aurora, are you all right? You're very pale. Do you need to sit down?" His eyes go suddenly wide and he leans in closer. "Is it the baby?"He's so earnest in his regard, that I feel a little bad lying to him. "The baby, yes," I say, latching onto that excuse. "I…" You what? Think! "I felt a flutter.""A good flutter?" he asks, still concerned.I force a smile onto my face. "A very good flutter."He looks me over, then nods to himself, seemingly satisfied with what he sees. "Let me show you around," he says with a dazzling smile. "Out tents won't be ready for a while and there is much to see."
Aurora's POV"Evander." His name falls out of my mouth with a sigh. Of all the ways I thought I'd feel upon seeing him, this heart-wrenching tenderness wasn't one.And despite all the pain he caused, my heart still races for him. I can feel the magnetism radiating off him, the power of a true Werewolf Alpha. Arrogant, confident, dominating – his aura is so different from the prince's, so much more primal and real.Evander holds up his hands to me, ten fingers spread out wide. When I make no move, he takes a step closer to the water line.For the first time since I noticed him, he dropped his gaze, breaking our eye contact. His eyes roam down my body like a caress, and I freeze there, naked and powerless under the intensity of his regard.I can feel his hunger and it awakens the last, lingering whips of our mate bond within me. I want that connection again. I've missed it so much. All I have to do is…"This is too much," I pant, gasping for air. I take a step back, putting more distanc
Josephine and I return to our encampment, lost in our own thoughts."We should begin preparing for tonight," she says once we enter the tent.I have to agree. Tonight's ceremony is a formal affair. Evening gowns are required. It will take some time to get them put on properly.As he promised before we left, Mykal had a seamstress come to see me. Together we designed a dress made of spun silk and moonstones. Its empire waist completely hides my belly.Josephine chatters while we dress, but my mind is elsewhere – lost in thoughts of Evander.I could murder him.I want to hug him so badly."Aurora," Josephine says, obviously tired of being ignored. "Stop thinking about your ex."I let out a long sigh. "I can't.""You can," she says, taking hold of my arms. "You must. The purpose of having the ceremony here at the lake was to celebrate a tentative peace between our people. If either of those men decide they want to lose their minds over you, there is going to be trouble.""I understand,"
"Aurora," Evander says softly. "I've missed you."I look at him, my mouth agape. My emotions are a wreck, a tumultuous cyclone trapped within my chest.I meet his gaze and read a mixture of longing and regret deep in his eyes."Not one day has gone by that I have not thought of you," he says, taking a step closer to me. His voice is tender, sincere. "That is what I wanted to tell you by the lakeside. When you left, you took a piece of me with you.""When I 'left?'" I ask incredulously. "Is that what we're calling rejection and banishment now? Leaving?"His audacity irks me. I miss you, he says. I think of you, he says. I, I, I – every sentence revolves around him.And never once has he even attempted to say that he's sorry."I need to go," I say before he can whisper more sweet nothingness in my ear."Stay," he says. It's both a command and an invitation, cajoling and authoritative, and my body responds.Just like he knew it would."I feel it too," he tells me, even coming closer. "Ev
"Postpone the engagement?" Mykal asks, obviously devastated by the news. "Father, why?""We'll discuss it later," the king says, giving his son the stink eye.Lucky for him, Mykal sees it and drops the discussion for now."Come everyone," the King of the Lycans says. "It's time for the royal banquet to begin!"We all leave the lake and the altar behind and make our way back to the main encampment. It seems that while the ceremony was going on, the servants were hard at work. There is food and drink and musicians and bards."May I have this dance?" Mykal asks cheerfully.I'm not really in the mood to dance, my mind still full of all that happened during the ritual, but nevertheless, I take Mykal's hand and allow him to lead me to the dance floor.After the way his father crushed his moment, I feel like I owe him at least one dance.The music changes to a lively waltz and we glide gracefully across the floor. Mykal's movements are smooth and confident, but I can feel the tension in his
I rejoin the party so as not to arouse any suspicions. I allow Mykal another dance while I steal glances at Evander.To my disappointment, his eyes remain on Nalani.I tell myself this is for the best, because it is, but… I enjoyed his gaze."Let's mingle for a bit," I suggest to Mykal. If I can get him caught up in a conversation, I should be able to slip away unnoticed.It doesn't take long before another Lycan, a general from I can gather, approaches us and proceeds to dominate the prince's time. I quietly excuse myself while the man complains about supply lines. The prince absently acknowledges me – just as I hoped. Whoever this man is, he is important, and the prince is obligated to listen to him.I duck out of the encampment, and head off into the dark of night. I touch the folded paper in my bodice for courage and set off on the path outlined in the note. It's little more than a rabbit's trail, a faint line leading through the forest.Who will be waiting for me at the end of th
"Your questions are going to have to wait," Candra says. Her entire attention is focused on the outburst of mayhem coming from the direction of the main campground.Someone howls and roars of rage echo in response. Without another word, Candra takes off running toward the fray.I chase after her, no less urgently. Evander is in there somewhere. And the prince.Oh, merciful gods, I pray as I jog beside the priestess. Please don't let me find them at the center of this brouhaha.I burst through the trees and into the clearing at a dead run and almost stumble over a wounded Lycan guard."What happened?" I ask while examining him."Rouges!" he says, struggling for every breath. "Flee. Hide. Don't let them find you.""The lad is right," Candra says, taking hold of my arm.The three of us flinch as something explodes in the center of the camp. I smell blood, then fire."Evander!" I gasp, then swivel toward the mayhem. He's in there somewhere. One of those roars could have been his. He might
Teeth and claws. Snarls and fur. I can taste the copper from the blood of Evander's adversaries. He fights ferociously, viciously, tearing clothes and flesh, mindless of the howls.Chandra and I cling to one another while Evander fights for our lives. Thankfully, he is bigger, stronger, than these Rouges, but there are a lot of them. I worry for him even as I watch him defeat them one by one.Once the last of the Rogues is subdued, Evander shifts back into human form. He rushes over to Chandra and I, fire in his eyes."Are you all right?" he asks, walking straight up to me.He cups my face in his hands so gently I want to bury my cheek in his palm. He looks me over, checking for injuries."If they hurt you in any way, I will kill them.""I'm okay," I assure him, taking a step away from him and his touch. It makes me feel things for him that he doesn't deserve. If I stay too close to him, my resolve will falter.The second he's convinced himself that I'm not hurt, his expression change
"Evander, what are you doing!?"I can't believe what I'm seeing. Evander's malevolent grin is so far out of character for him, it's hard to believe this is the same man I married.My gaze shifts to my father who is struggling to regain consciousness after Evander knocked him out. My ex could be harsh at times, but I've never before felt such…evil."You're coming with me," my blood-soaked former mate tells me. He crosses the room in two great strides, then takes hold of my arm."We can't go anywhere!" I protest. "You're injured, all that blood, and my dad… What did you do to my father?"My brain is having a hard time keeping up with all that I'm witnessing. None of this makes any sense. Five minutes ago, I believed Evander to be on the brink of death, mortally wounded in an ambush that took him and the pack by surprise.But now, he seems as fit as ever despite all the blood on his tattered clothes.His grip on me tightens painfully. I look into his eyes, but instead of finding the man
Consciousness comes to me slowly. I drift into awareness from a cozy pink cloud of good dreams.I smile, reveling in the simplicity of my deepest desires. Evander was with me in the dream and he was my husband again. I felt his warmth, his care, and there was no doubt in my mind that as long as he was watching over me all would be well.The best part of the dream was that I felt loved. I have not felt that in quite a while.Stupid, silly, wish fulfillment fantasies of the lovelorn. If I ever write my memoirs, that'll definitely be a chapter in the book.There is a knock on my door and I relinquish the last remnants of my dream with a sigh.Real life always intrudes.There's only one person who would be knocking on my door at this hour of the morning. I call for my father to enter while I'm still rubbing the sleep out of my eyes.He enters my room and I know right away something is wrong."Aurora, we need to go. There are skirmishes happening in the woods all around us. It's not safe f
There is a lot on my mind as I walk back to the camp. Aurora, her mother, the price of her gift. Porter's face when he talked about the possibility of losing his little girl to an early grave. The way her skin shone in the moonlight – smooth and silken.I touch a finger to my lips. I can still feel the warmth of her forehead there. My lips burn to taste her kiss again, but first–Something stops me in my tracks, the hair on the nape of my neck rising. I sniff the air, but can't detect anything untoward. But someone or something is closing in.Every instinct I have is screaming for me to fight, to tear the menace to shreds.I move as quickly as I dare through the woods and back to the campsite. I hear the battle before I see it, the snarls and clashes of steel. Gunpowder now reaches my nose along with singed wood and copper blood.Using every bit of stealth I possess, I sneak up on one of the attackers and break his neck from behind. He drops to the ground without a sound.In the moonl
I follow the scent, so light and refreshing. My heart longs to breathe it in more fully, to bury my face in her hair while I hold her in my arms.Aurora.A quiver goes through me at the thought of seeing her at the end of this trail.I should be tracking the scout, trying to pick up his path, but my feet refuse to heed my brain's command and instead take the route my heart craves most.The scent leads me to a clearing in the woods, then finally a cabin. It's a modest structure, built from logs and slate. It's well below the means I am used to living in, but it appears sturdy.A man exits the cabin and I instinctively draw back behind a tree. By the moonlight I can see he's an older wolf, past his prime, but still strong. His head tilts, and there in the lines of his profile, I see Aurora's features made masculine and bold."I know you're out there," Aurora's father calls. I hear him pump the barrel on a shotgun, then see it when he brings it to his shoulder to take aim into the night.
The battle rages all around me. I can taste my own sweat. Blood is on the wind."Evander! This is the spot we scouted earlier." One of my lieutenants points to a clearing on the top of a rise. "We need to set up our operation before we lose the moonlight."I give him a nod, granting him leave to begin preparations. He doesn't make it ten feet before we hear a yelp from below. Someone got caught in a trap.I hope it was one of the Moonvalley pack.I breathe in the night, taking the measure of the woods. The forest is dark, but not entirely unfamiliar to me. The Amber Sky pack – Aurora's familial pack – has territory not many miles from where I'm standing.I can only hope that scant distance is enough to keep her safe.My warriors are ready to fine tune our plan of attack when I enter the clearing. I look at each of their faces before I speak, happy to find resolution in every single one."You know the plan," I tell them brusquely. "In the hour before dawn, we bypass the forest and atta
I pull open the cabin's front door and find Prince Mykal standing there."Hello, Aurora," he says, smiling so brightly his beauty is nearly blinding."I've only been gone three days!" I blurt out, too surprised to see him to self-edit. "Did you miss me that much?""I did," he replies charmingly.I'm not sure if he's joking or not."Who's there?" my father calls out from behind me, and I realize I've kept the prince standing outside this whole time."Come, in, Mykal," I say, stepping aside to allow him to enter.My father gabs at the royal Lycan now standing in his living room."Dad, I'd like you to meet Prince Mykal Boreal."My dad's jaw drops open and he fumbles to make some sort of bow. "Hello, um, Your Highness?""Please, sir," Mykal says affably. "There's no need for formalities. Call me Mykal.""What brings you here, Mykal?" I jump in, saving my father from his own awkwardness. "You've come a long way to see us.""I'll confess," the prince says, reaching out to take my hand. "I w
"What are you saying?!" I am beyond shocked. I'm so appalled, I'm sick to my stomach. "How could you even suggest such a thing?""I don't do it lightly," my father replies wearily. "But giving up that child might be the best thing for you.""No." I can't believe that. I won't."This child is everything to me. I will never abandon my baby.""Even though its father left you? Even knowing it will carry Lycan in its veins and never truly be accepted among Werewolf kind?""Even so." I will not argue about this with him. "I'm not going to change my mind.""Your mother was headstrong too," he says. He looks like he has the weight of the world on his shoulders."What are you not telling me, Dad?" I'm too tired to beg, too worn down from this life. "The time for secrets is over.""You have grown, Aurora," my father says. "I'm proud of you."I flush under his praise even though I don't want to. I feel like a little girl again.It's not a bad feeling at all."While your mother and I were on the
It took longer than I would have liked, but eventually, I set out for Werewolf lands, and my father's cabin beyond. The journey was long, but mostly boring, thank the gods. There were no problems at the border crossings.I stand now on the crest opposite the property, gazing upon the house from the outside. It's been years since I've been back. I approach the house cautiously, the memories flooding back with every step I take. The back porch where we all used to sit and watch the sunset. The giant boulder on the north side of the property – I used to climb to the top and pretend I was a princess trapped in a tower, waiting for my hero to come.As I walk around to the front door, I spot a familiar figure walking up the path.He stops in tracks when he sees me, both of us stuck dumb by the sight of the other.I always thought of my father as a mountain of man, and he is robust and powerful, but I see gray at his temples that was not here before, wrinkles at the corners of his eyes.My
Two guards haul me to my feet, my clothes in tatters, my back a bloody mess. My whole body wants to sway, then topple over, maybe even curl up in a ball on the ground.But just like I wouldn't give the King of Kings the satisfaction of my screams, I refuse to fall down now."You're so funny, Evander," King Tozen says, looking me over. "Anything for your cause, huh? I won't deny that you've impressed me. For that alone, I'm willing to entertain your plea."There was no 'plea.' I didn't beg him. But I'm in no position to argue the point right now. He can use whatever words he wants as long as he gives me what I need."Return to the throne room in an hour's time," the king commands. "Clean yourself up. You're in no state to present yourself to royalty."And who's fault is that? I wonder, even as I keep my mouth firmly shut.Having said all that he intended to say to me at the moment, King Tozen glides out the room, the train of his royal cloak once again following along behind him."Come