A cheer went up around the room as the various departments reported good talks."This is a victory for our city and our species," Charles said to the room. "I thank you all from the bottom of my heart. I'd love to publish a statement from the group, and if you're all willing, a signature showing your solidarity and intent to move forward strengthening Lustrum. It will go a long way to instill confidence with the people."Charles projected a picture of the document as it would appear in t
"When?" I asked, thrown a little at the consternation in his face. It was hard to fluster Charles, so this must be extraordinary."Tomorrow.""What?""There is a helicopter arriving on our roof helipad at 8:30 a.m. tomorrow morning to fly me to an 11:00 a.m. meeting."
"What are you talking about?" I said, anger rising in me. "There's no way you're going alone, especially not now when I hear what these leaders are like.""Elena," Charles' voice was deep rumble, as close to a growl I've ever heard him use with me and it made me wobble slightly inside. "You are not coming. And you'll do as I say."I could feel his displeasure like a weight pushing on me, his blue eyes boring into me. To displease an Alpha was one of the worst feelings any of us experienc
"I'm sorry to get you in here so early," Charles said to the small group gathered in his office. "But I want to be sure things are set up to go if for some reason I'm gone longer than anticipated."There is a small silence as this sank in."Surely you'll be back," Amy said, her eyes wide. "You're too high profile for anyone to mess with. It would cause an outcry."
The city of Lupinton was almost the same size as Lustrum, but it had housed the capitol buildings for the last for hundred years. Wide parks and city plazas were visible as we buzzed overhead.I'd determined that I would do my best to stay unaffected and sophisticated throughout this trip and not give Charles something to tease me over or be embarrassed by, but all that changed at the sight of the old towers and a few ancient monuments I'd only seen in schoolbooks.My face practically pr
Governor Kruck pasted a stiff smile on his face, twisted as if he didn’t use those muscles very often. “Oh yes, I know all about you, Elena,” he gritted from between the clenched teeth of his fake smile. “You are notorious around here. You managed to catch government corruption that we never could have imagined existed. It’s all thanks to you that we’re taking a very interested look at our own government here in Lupinton, as well as across the entire nation. Even our nation’s capital has taken notice of you.”I swear I caught Charles flinching at this.Governor Kruck fiddled with his tie like the silk choked him. “I’m sorry for the way I acted a moment ago. My aide in the back kindly presented me with the most updated materials we have on you. I took a moment to skim the information. I hope you don’t mind the interruption.” He laughed. “No, I don’t suppose you mind since you’re no longer in trouble.”I glanced at Charles and shrugged at Governor Kruck, unsure what to do with such an a
“In there,” Governor Kruck continued, explaining the paperwork, “Are the details of your new personal security team.”He heaved a huge sigh. “Rather extravagant for a reporter, but there it is.”He’d muttered this, but not too quietly for Elena to hear. Charles clearly heard as well because a fresh frown settled on his face.“Anyway,” Governor Kruck pressed on, his tone overbright and sticky sweet, “having you settled in the city of Lupinton will allow us to protect you like the asset you are.”I scowled at this barely veiled disrespect. How could he? Suddenly, facing him directly wasn’t the trouble I thought it might be. I straightened my back and glared at him with disapproval.What right did he have to talk about me like one might discuss a slug? If anyone was slimy, it was him. Yet, I managed to treat him with basic decency.“No,” Charles clipped across him.“No?” Governor Kruck echoed.“No,” Charles repeated more firmly.Governor Kruck shook his head. “Excuse me? I must have misu
“These four men are staying with us all the time? Don’t they have wives?” I asked, suddenly feeling naive as the words left my mouth.Governor Kruck gave me a patronizing smile. “Our agents are dedicated to no one but the state. This means that they can give their full attention to an assignment like babysit- uh, guarding you two.”“Oh,” I said, then clamped my mouth shut. What else was I supposed to say?An awkward silence stretched through the room, pulling tight and making me squirm. I really felt like I needed to fill the silence but had no idea what to fill it with. I glanced at Charles, who uncharacteristically looked as lost as I felt. Evidently, even he didn’t know what to say to the news that we were going to be living with four burly, no-nonsense security wolves.Governor Kruck clapped his hands together, almost gleefully. “Oh, good. If there are no complaints, comments, or what you feel are witty retorts, that will make this go so much faster. I don’t know about you two, bu
For one moment after I arrived in the garden, the sun blinded me, and then my eyes cleared. Before me spread an amazing event: the wedding of our country's princess.It still hadn't fully sunken that I was that princess.The guests sat in orderly rows of brilliantly white chairs festooned in lovely shades of blue and lavender. I had chosen them because they most reminded me of the moon, and I wanted to honor the goddess at this event, as well. Without her, I would not only not have been at this wedding, but I wouldn't have been alive. She had done so much for me. The least I could do was throw a little recognition her way.I clutched the bouquet in my hand, and Theo hooked his arm through my elbow. “Are you ready?” he asked.“I'm ready.”We took a step toward the altar on the red carpet spread out in front of me, and the music swelled. The quartet played a beautiful melody full of promise and love.I didn't see the people looking at me, specifically, only that all eyes were on me. My
I signed and kept my head tipped back, inviting him to kiss my neck. Charles obliged, working himself inside me with the magic he always seemed to conjure up, driving my excitement higher. My heels fumbled for a place to rest, and finally, I settled for wrapping my legs around him, gripping his hips with my thighs and locking us together.Charles groaned and pulled us as tightly together as possible. And I wouldn't let him go. This left his movements small but the pleasure intense.His rubbing quickly brought me to orgasm, and I tried not to make too much noise and call attention to what we were doing. I really didn't want to be held in contempt for defiling the judge's bench or some such.A moment later, Charles got his release. He stepped back and tided himself, allowing me to do the same.“Now,” he asked with a grin, “Are you ready to go outside and face your adoring public, my princess?”“As long as you're by my side, I can face anything,” I agreed, hopping off the judge's bench.
“Of course,” Queen Yarrow said, “details like training successors aren't left to chance. The king and I already had arrangements made for a royal tutor, assuming that I would get pregnant one day. I'll connect you both with him. Hopefully, you can get started right away.”“So?” I asked the judge. How exactly does this work? What do you mean? She asked, looking quizzically at me. “I mean, what do I do with myself? Where do I go from here? When does all of this happen now?”She said, “The king will be escorted out of Orlune. They're probably already helping him pack. From there, he'll be on the next flight off the vampire kingdom. You get to move straight into the castle if you wish. It's essentially your house now.”“There's no, there's no legal paperwork or anything like that?” I babbled. “It just seems so abrupt.”The judge grinned. “I'll have all of that taken care of taken care of for you. So you don't have to worry about it, your majesty.”“Come, my dear,” Queen Yarrow said, putti
By now, the king’s lawyer had a hand on his shoulder, whispering furiously in his ear. The king gripped the arms of his chair so hard his knuckles were white. And if he could have turned people to stone with a look like a gorgon, the judge and I would already be statues.Still, the judge spoke as if unafraid. “The former king will serve out his sentence off the shifter continent, in the vampire countries,” she announced.A murmur went up from everyone in the gallery at that, but the judge held up her hands. “I chose that location specifically. It has been a standing tradition for generations upon generations that vampires and werewolves do not get involved in one another's politics.”“I would imagine he will find it very difficult to sway anyone into doing his dirty work for him in a country that holds itself neutral. Thereby providing anyone in Orlune that the king feels has wronged him in the safest position that I am able to leave them in.”Further murmurs rose up from the crowd, a
I hadn't even caught my breath when Charles scooped me up in the hardest hug I'd ever gotten from him. It was so hard that it almost drove the remaining air from my lungs.The rest of that morning flew by as Charles and Gwen helped me to avoid questions I couldn't answer from the press while Theo, David, and the other four guards pushed a path through the paparazzi so we could navigate our way back to the safehouse.We decided it was better to stay there than go back to our apartment, yet, at least until we made sure that any of the king's remaining supporters were under control.Gwen wore a mysterious smile on her face for the rest of that night and into the following morning. But I couldn't get her to confess to what she was up to. We'd barely finished breakfast when someone knocked on the door.Gwen hurried to answer it and admitted two people who took my breath away. One of them was Cathy!Since I didn't know the other, I ran straight to Cathy, hugging her as tightly as I could. T
It took me a long time to fall asleep that night, plagued both by worry and growing apprehension over how the next day was going to play out. It could end up being the longest, most brutal day of my life, if I had to spend it waiting and wondering what the jury was going to decide.Worse, what if they took weeks? Months? I’d go crazy before I found myself free from this mess.When we woke in the morning, Charles distracted me by teasing me in every possible way before bringing me to yet another overwhelmingly intense orgasm. I would never have thought that pleasure and pain could be such close neighbors, but he managed. However Charles and I were connecting in bed right now, it was certainly coming very close to more than I could handle.Theo must have told the chef what my favorite foods were because when Charles and I left the bedroom, breakfast was waiting for us. And it was one of my favorites. Belgian waffles with lots of fresh strawberries and whipped cream.I sat down and ate r
I kissed Charles, and he pulled back, eyeing me. “Should we be careful or anything?” he asked. “You know, for the baby.”I shrugged. “It's not like I've been pregnant before, but I would guess not. The doctor didn't say anything about that.”“And you haven't even searched things like that online yet?”I shook my head. “How could I? I've been so busy, not to mention the fact that I'm trying to keep certain people from finding out.”“Then we'll go slow and be careful,” he said.His kisses came soft and gentle, and his caresses all over my body were the same. Keeping secrets from him had been a bad idea. Now that they were out in the open, just these small touches made the connection between us feel so much more real as if I had closed some invisible distance between the two of us.This drove me to smash our lips together, desperately seeking the rest of the connection that I hadn't even realized I'd been missing.He chuckled and pushed me back. “What happened to taking it easy?” he teas
All of a sudden, a whisper of a breeze rippled through the courtroom and around my head, whispering reassurance in my ear. This breeze wrapped itself around me and then swirled out into the courtroom, where it produced an answering wind of murmuring whispers. Suddenly, everyone was shaking their heads, turning toward one another. Members of the jury shook their heads as if trying to clear them.Again, I heard a whisper in my ear, and I recognized the voice of the moon goddess. “Don't fear,” was all she said. And then her presence was gone. But the entire courtroom, everybody in the gallery, the jury, the judge, the lawyers, and even the king had all relaxed.The judge brought her gavel down and dismissed the jury to go deliberate. But this time, I wasn't frightened. The goddess had never steered me wrong yet. And she told me not to fear, that I needed to trust her and the fate surrounding her and me.I scurried out of the witness stand and back to my spot beside Mr. Wilcox. “What was
When I exited the bathroom, the importance of the day hit me in full measure. Today I was going to court. What and God's name was I supposed to wear?Someone knocked on the door, and I wrapped my towel tighter. “In a few minutes,” I called.“Elena?” I recognized Gwen's voice. “I brought you a suit for today. May I come in?”“Yes,” I said.She opened the door and entered the bedroom.“I'm just fresh out of the shower.” I bit my lip, feeling foolish. As if she couldn't gather that by my wet hair. But I seem to need something to fill the silence.She held up a garment bag. “You'll want to look your best today,” she said.I let Gwen dress me, taking comfort in the fact that she knew her way around important functions as a luna. When she finished, she grabbed my face and gave my forehead a kiss.“Do exactly what the lawyers, Charles, and I tell you to,” she said. “I don't want you to leave my son a widower before he's even officially married.”I patted her hands, which still rested on my c