Once we’re finished eating, the Queen Mother speaks up.
“Are we to expect you to be late for your blood bonding?” Her eyes bore into me.
I blink once.
I will not show submission to anyone; I am an Alpha in my own right. Queen Mother or not, she will not disrespect me in front of others, even if they are her children.
“I will be there on time.” I managed to stop myself from snapping at her; it wouldn’t look good if I did.
“I should hope so. But what are we to expect from a savage?”
My eyes widen, and my nostrils flare.
She just called me a savage!
I am not a savage, and nor are the Bear shifters. I know what this bitch is tryi
After giving my mother a piece of my mind, she stormed out of the dining hall in a huff. I don’t have time for her dramas, but I do need her to respect Anja. If my mother doesn’t, then nor will my people. Everyone still looks up to their former Queen, and she still has much influence over the people.Everyone in my Kingdom needs to realise that my mate is here to stay. I am not afraid to kill anyone who dare even make comments that upset my mate.People will soon realise there will be consequences of the dire sort when it comes to Anja. I do not doubt her strength; she’s an Omerian, for Goddess sake. Anja doesn’t need me to be her knight on horseback, but she does need me by her side, and that’s where I intend to be for the rest of our lives.I’ve known Anja not even a day, and I know that I can’t live witho
Upon entering the courtyard, I see Jasper and Anja facing each other. Around them, in a vast circle, is most of the city’s residents. Thousands of people are watching and waiting to see how the challenge ends and with whose death.How the fuck did this get out so quickly?Anja looks nervous, and I can see that she doesn’t want to do this.I am beyond angry with everyone here.How dare they support this act of treason?Because that’s what this is – treason against their future Queen!Jasper maybe my cousin, meaning royalty, but he is below Anja. He has no power to challenge my Queen!“What the hell is the meaning of this?”The Royal guard
‘Anja, come back to me. Let Jasper go; you don’t want to do this. I know you’re angry, we can all feel it, but he’s a simple fool. Let him go, and come back to me,’Anja’s ever colour-changing eyes flick to me.‘I didn’t want this,’ She tells me without speaking. ‘I did nothing wrong, Orrin. Jasper challenged me simply because he didn’t like the look of me. I asked Jasper not to do this. I’m not this person. What’s happening to me, Orrin?’Anja sound
“What are you talking about?” Adrian asks, but I can’t answer him.From the moment Jasper’s mother walked through the door, the voice from earlier spoke to me. He told me that the wolf inside of Lysette was not dead, just dormant.Everything the poor woman had been through was not of her doing, and there is a way for me to put right what went wrong.All of those hideous scars on her once beautiful face, neck, and Goddess knows where else. I can see where the monster attempted to tear out Lysette’s throat. The poor woman can’t walk unaided, and she stands bent over slightly.Who or what could cause such damage?If it weren’t for the man standing by her side, I’m sure Lysette would have found a way to end her life.
“It’s time to wake up, Lucy.”I am acutely aware that the room is now silent. The use of Lysette’s wolf’s name from my lips has them all stunned. There’s no way I could have known who Lucy was; I hadn’t met Lysette until fifteen minutes ago.“It’s okay, Lucy, you can wake up now.”‘Leave me alone. Who the hell are you, and how are you talking to me?’I smile at the sweet yet authoritative voice that belongs to Lucy.‘I am your Queen, Lucy, and I’m here to help you.&rs
“How is she?” Mother asks when I return to the drawing-room. Everyone is still here, looking at me expectantly.When Anja passed out in my arms, I took her to our room to rest. It seemed using her power drained her of energy.I’m still shocked at what my mate did for my aunt and think everyone else is too.“She’s sleeping.” I drop down in my seat at the head of the table.The events of today have drained me, Goddess; I’ve never felt so exhausted.“What she did in this room,”“Was to help my aunt!” I snap at Elder Mathews.He nods his head. “Yes, we understand that. I meant that it was something I had never witnessed nor read about. None
I open my eyes to see Orrin sitting beside me on the bed. He smiles at me while stroking the back of his hand down my face.I pull myself into a sitting position and stretch my arms above my head.“How are you feeling?”I smile at my mate.“I’m okay. How long was I asleep?”“Four hours,” Orrin takes my hand in his own and kisses my knuckles. “I think you won over the people.” He chuckles.Somehow, I don’t believe him. Those people were terrified of me, and even though I helped Lysette, I doubt the elders were happy with me.“How did you do that?”I shrug.“I do
I reach up and cup Orrin’s face with a smile.Orrin’s breathing becomes harsh, and I can smell his lust, which makes me groan. I want him so badly that I can’t help pulling him down so that I can kiss him.While we kiss, my hands are all over him. I grab the hem of his shirt and pull.Orrin lifts away from me and tears his shirt from his body.“Orrin,” I groan his name, watching Orrin remove his clothes.I clamber out of bed and discard my clothes; all the while, our eyes are locked on each other.Orrin grabs me, one hand around the back of my head, the other around my waist. Then his lips hit mine, and I moan into his mouth.I slide my hand into his hair, pulling him closer. I&
Twenty-Five years later “Dad? You okay?” I turn away from my bedroom window and face my daughter with a smile. “Something I can help you with?” Lilly says nothing, just walks into my open arms. My daughter will one day take over the throne. My sons are strong Romarians, but Lillian is an Omerian, much more powerful than anyone predicted. It’s been many years since there was a crowned Queen of Zidiah. My daughter will be the first in two hundred years. My children have struggled with having Lorcan’s spirit share Luther’s body all their lives. The witch who stole him from us did the unthinkable. Killing the child as we thought was bad enough, but what she’d, in fact, done was force Luther and Lorcan to share one body. It took twenty-five years and Luther’s little mate to separate Luther and Lorcan. But Jenna did it, and Lorcan is now here in the physical. I love Lorcan, none could ever say that I don’t, but the boy is insane. All those years living inside his brother have left Lo
I gasp and stumble as blood falls from my mouth. The power of the Firsts rips from my body, flowing back into them.What the fuck just happened?I fall to my knees, gasping for air and clutching my chest. I feel as though I’m in another dimension, but, strangely, I feel like my old self once again.Thank the Goddess!However, I remember every vile thing I’ve done over the past weeks, and my heart is breaking.Tears fall from my eyes, and I sob. I’m a monster! There is no other word for it: I’m a monster and will never be anything more.“Anja?” I look at the man crouching in front of me. “My child,” Mythius cups my cheek. “You are free.”“I don’t know what happened,” I admit.“The blood of the Firsts corrupted your heart and mind. It almost stole your life force, but your mate saved you. How did he do this? No one knows.”“Orrin,” My eyes widen. “Where is he?”Mythius smiles sadly. “I’m sorry, young one.”“No,” I shake my head while clambering to my feet. “He’s not gone; I would feel i
“Are you sure this is the way?”“Yes, Freddy,” I mumble.Today is the day. I have but moments to save Anja, and I cannot fail. It’s taken days to find her hiding place, yet it shouldn’t have – not when we’ve followed the bodies along the way.So many shifters have been killed, too many to count. It seemed that no one was safe from my mate. Anja cared not for who she killed nor the land she destroyed.What has become of my mate?If I do manage to save her, will she ever be the same?Will she be my Anja or someone I don’t recognise?I feel sick with nerves as I approach the cave in which Anja is hiding. Liam, Adrian, and Freddy all insisted on coming with me. It didn’t matter how many times I protested; they wouldn’t listen. I also know the Firsts are following, hiding out of sight, but they’re there.They’ve come to the end of their tether, and no amount of me protesting would stop them from ending Anja. Onyx, the first dragon, almost angrily set fire to my pack!I’ll never know how th
“You need to sort this, Orrin!” I roll my eyes at Mythius. Fucking vampire prick is driving me nuts! I know that I need to sort things, but I’m at a loss for what to do here. “Your mate is out of control, and the Firsts have been talking. They want Anja neutralised before the week is out.” I know what that means; they want Anja put down. It won’t happen, but I don’t know how much longer I can hold them off. After what happened in the woods the other day, things have been slowly getting worse. Anja has killed more people than even I can count. Goddess knows I understand where Mythius and others are coming from. But I cannot stand back and allow anyone to hurt my mate. Our cubs need her; I need her! Four days ago, I was called to the forest, where I found my mate torturing rogues. Adrain, Liam, and I ran as fast as we could when Mythius called. Bodies were littering the ground, decapitated, deformed, and bent in unnatural ways. Dozens upon dozens of rogues were dead as the Firsts,
It’s dark, always so dark.My life was once filled with love and light, but that’s all gone now. All that is left behind is rage and darkness.I don’t want to be this way; it’s lonely where I am right now – locked inside my head. But I can’t deal with the pain of losing my son.Lorcan was cruelly snatched from me by a madwoman for no other reason than she could. I am one of if not the strongest person in our world. One witch should not have been able to curse me; I should have been able to take her voice and stop her.Why then couldn’t I?Why was I frozen and unable to speak?But I couldn’t speak, and I couldn’t stop that woman from taking my son from me. I still don’t understand her words, and I don’t even care to try. That bitch took something from me that I will never be able to get back.No one will ever understand what that witch did to me that day. I knew that I was out of control, hurting my own people because I couldn’t stop myself.But did I really deserve to lose my son beca
Some Months Later. . .Time is getting closer. I have around a week to save Anja, and I still haven’t worked out how to do that. She’s so out of control that the whole city is coming down around me.The Elders are on my case to contain Anja, while my people are terrified of what their Queen will do next. My pack will end in rack and ruin at this rate, and it won’t be long before my enemies swarm in.I have dozens wanting to take Anja from me. Many of whom would use her powers for their own ends, just as my cubs informed me.I am doing everything in my power to keep Anja safe, but it’s not easy. Anja fights me on everything, and just one person disagrees with her, and she ends their lives as if they were nothing.I feel as though I’m being pulled in ten different directions. The Elders, though they stay in hiding away from Anja, have been on my case to put her down. Like she’s a fucking dog!I know Anja is bringing around the destruction of our pack. But I can’t bring myself to hurt he
On the other hand, Amanda and Leopold felt the mate bond the moment they laid eyes on each other. They sparked in a way no other Kulumi bear ever has, and their love story is one that will last the ages. A woman out of her timeline with the face of another ended up being the King’s, destined mate. Nothing could have been more perfect.“Amanda,” Leopold wraps Amanda in his big arms, lifting her slightly because she’s a foot and half shorter than he is. “My love.”Though I knew Leopold loved Amanda, I never realised how much until this moment. The pale blue and lilac auras swimming around their heads as they kiss tenderly only provides more evidence that they belong together. They’re deeply in love, and nothing could take that away from them, not even death.I understand now why Leopold would never take another wife. He wasn’t and never would be over his true mate.Is it wrong to keep from the King his wife’s true identity?I don’t believe so.Why cause more pain when it won’t change an
I hadn’t heard Brody come into the room, but he’s certainly made his presence known since. “What have you done to my father?”“Brody, stand down,” Leopold waves his hand at his son.“Stand down? She was banished from Kulumi and ended up the damn Queen of Zidiah.”Leopold narrows his eyes, confused by what Brody just said about me being banished from Kulumi. But of course, he would be.“Does the King know she’s here? Or should we be expecting Orrin Dalgaard to bring war down on us?”I get to my feet.Brody is no threat to me, but I won’t have him stand over me, trying to intimidate me.“Orrin knows that I’m here, Brody. No, he wasn’t happy about it, but when I explained why I needed to come, he took a step back.”“Why are you here?” The man who used to be my best friend grinds between his teeth.I take a deep breath before using my vampiric ability to wipe Brody’s memories of who I was to him, just as I did with Leopold.I then explain everything to Brody. Every little thing I told Leo
“It is true, Leopold. But there’s more.” “What more could there be, Anja?” I know this is a lot for Leopold to take in, but he needs to know everything. So, I explain his sister-in-law’s plans to kill his child due to Amanda’s death. Leopold’s eyes widen in shock, and I see the bear within trying to break out. Not once did Leopold blame Dania for what happened. “I’ll kill her!” Leopold roars. ‘Why did you tell him that?!’ Asha screams inside my head. ‘You didn’t need to say anything. You planned to glamour the clan into forgetting who you were here and believing Amanda hadn’t even died. ‘Everything would have been as it always was, but you had to go and spill this shit to the King. Once you’d glamoured everyone, nobody would have wanted to kill Dania. What the hell is wrong with you?’ Crap! Asha is correct, but I wasn’t thinking. I am so overly tired, and I’ve used so much power today that I’m starting to slow down. ‘Wipe the memory, Anja! Amanda’s sister was acting due to gri