Gianna sighed as she sat through another meeting that her cousin Keres, excuse me, King Keres was holding. Ever since Keres took his father, King Victor’s, place last month after his very unexpected death, Keres had been forcing her to come to these meetings where he was basically trying to undo everything that her parents and uncle had worked so hard to put in place. After being at war on and off with different kingdoms for the past one hundred plus years, they were finally at peace and most everyone in the kingdom was content. Gianna’s step father and her mother, the former king and queen, had worked very hard brokering peace treaties with many of the other kingdoms. After the accident that took their lives a little over two years ago, her step father’s brother, Victor, had continued on in their place with trying to garner additional peace treaties. Listening to Keres and hearing his greed underlined in everything that he is doing, Giannna knew that it was only a matter of time bef
After another two hours of listening to Keres talk about himself and how great his plans are, the meeting was finally over. Everyone knew to remain seated until Keres had left. Once he was gone, everyone relaxed a little and they slowly began to rise and make their way out of the conference room. Gianna quickly got up with the others and offered a polite smile and nod as a form of goodby at the three advisors that glanced her way. She no longer tried to speak to anyone in the room once Keres was gone. The others had made it very obvious that none of them could or would talk to her. She had made that mistake just once a few weeks ago. Gianna had tried to carefully speak to a few advisors, council members, and generals that had once been very close to her parents. She had wanted to see why they were suddenly supporting all of the crazy proposals that Keres was issuing. The nice ones were the ones that blatantly told Gianna that they would not talk to her or completely avoided her att
Keres turned and slammed the door to his royal office after dismissing his guards. How dare Gianna not pay attention while he was presenting ideas to expand their future again. She never wants to pay him or his ideas any real attention. Why? Does she really think that little brat of a sister of hers can rule any better? Scoffing, Keres stalked over to the large fireplace that was centered on the wall to the right of his desk. Reaching the fireplace, he grabbed a decorative vase from the mantle that upon closer inspection he realized was rather crude. Turning the vase over to see who the maker was of something so pitiful, he saw Gianna engraved on the bottom.Seeing her name reminded him again of her questioning his ideas today in front of his advisors and generals, and his fist clenched around the vase. She was bolder today. Normally she keeps her thoughts to herself. Normally just the contempt shows on her face. With a frustrated yell Keres flung the vase into the fireplace shatteri
Nolan sighed as he checked the time on his phone, which he hoped was discreetly, for the fifteenth time. As the future alpha king surely, there were more important matters that he could be attending to. The she wolf in front of him was certainly attractive, but that was all he could say for her. What was her name again? April? Alice? Allison? Alyssa? Yes, that’s her name. Alyssa. She is the only child of Alpha Scott of the Harvest Moon Pack. Sighing, Nolan tried to contain his boredom as he listened to Alyssa drone on about herself, shopping, and the latest gossip from her pack. This date was slowly killing him. Nolan also had an issue with the way that she had spoken to the waitress several times that was serving them. He did not believe in talking down on or treating anyone as if they were not worthy of kindness or respect due to their position or job. Every job and position had a purpose within the kingdom to help keep everything working smoothly. Nolan had quickly seen that the s
Alyssa sat at the table that she had just been sharing with the future alpha king and watched him hurry out to his supposed meeting. She was not clueless like he thought. She had known that he had zoned out for half of their date together, and she was also well aware that he did not have a meeting scheduled for another few hours. How dare he treat her like this she fumed. All she had ever wanted was to be Nolan’s mate. She had made sure that her father had taken her on trips to the castle after she first saw Nolan. For the last ten years, she had faked interest in the workings of her pack and kingdom matters so that she could attend meetings at the castle and here as her father’s heir. Each time she had made sure that she presented herself well and to make sure that nolan and his parents saw her. Alyssa knew that his parents were supportive of a match between herself and Nolan. The queen herself was the one that approached Alyssa just two months ago after one of the many boring alph
Opening the door to their rooms, Gianna sighed as she was greeted by the sight of Sophia tracing patterns from one of the books that she had found for her. She had said that there were some things that she had found that she wanted to try the next time that they go out. As soon as she heard the door open, Sophia stopped what she was doing and hopped up to hug Gianna. “You were gone forever,” she said, wrapping her small arms around Gianna’s legs. “What took so long?”“Keres was telling us about another plan of his,” Gianna said, wrinkling her nose. “What are you drawing over there,” she asked, nodding toward the book and paper that Sophia had just abandoned. “I am practicing for when we go to the woods again. Can we go tonight,” Sophia asked hopefully.“Umm..I’m not sure it will safe tonight to try sneaking out. Let’s try tomorrow night. I think I made Keres very mad today, so he might try having us watched or something,” Gianna admitted softly. “I will look tonight, and if everythi
Gianna looked at the clock on the night table beside her bed and saw that it was almost 11:30 PM. Time to go see if Keres has anyone watching their rooms. Sophia should be asleep pretty deeply by now Gianna thought as she slowly slid out of her bed trying not to make too much noise. Tiptoeing over to her sister’s bed, Gianna was greeted by the sounds of her sister's soft snores. With a smile she pulled the blanket back up to Sophia’s shoulders and then slowly crept to the door of their bedroom to slip out into their living room. She pulled the door softly closed behind her and made her way over to the simple dress that she had worn earlier today. Normally, Gianna would have been happy to have worn leggings and t-shirt, but Keres did not allow casual clothing to be worn around him. Women had to wear dresses and men had to wear dress slacks and a button down shirt at minimum. Putting her dress back on from earlier could help her say that she had just accidentally stayed up too late wat
“Wake up,” a little voice pouted. “I’m hungry and we have to leave soon.”“Go away,” Gianna mumbled, snuggling deeper into her pillow. “I just need five more minutes.”“You have said that for the last hour,” the little voice said exasperated. “Get up now,” the voice demanded and Gianna swore she heard the stomp of a foot. “I will. Just give me five more minutes,” Gianna said tiredly. She almost smiled when she heard the sound of footsteps moving away from the bed. Success. Now I can sleep a little more, she thought just as what felt like a wave of ice cold water crashed down onto her soaker her and her bed. Gianna bolted upright with a screech. “What in h-, what in the world Sophia ,” she yelled catching herself as her teeth began to chatter. “Wh-why did y-you pour water on m-me,” she stammered as she got out of her sopping wet bed to stand on the flood dripping by her bed. Her teeth were chattering as she took the towel that Sophia was holding out in offering. “It is almost noon,
Okay. You can do this, Gianna told herself as she let her wolf come forward to help sharpen her senses. She hurried back the way that they had just come, following the rapidly fading scents. With her sharpened scenes Gianna was able to move quicker, and soon found herself back at the door the guard had led them through earlier. Holding her breath, Gianna listened to see if she heard any sounds on the other side of the hidden door. Not hearing anything, she carefully opened the door just a crack to make sure there was nothing to hear over the pounding of her own heart. Once she confirmed that the coast was indeed clear, Gianna pushed back her wolf and stepped quietly into the hallway. Making sure that the door was covered, she quickly made her way back to their rooms. Peaking around the last corner, Gianna was relieved to see that no one was in the hallway. Good, she thought to herself, they have not had a shift change yet. Gianna quickly sprinted to the door and closed it softly b
“We can just go somewhere else then,” Sophia pleaded one last time. “I have a feeling that if you go back, you won’t come back.” ““The shifter kingdom is our best bet. They do not like Keres, and maybe I can learn about my father there. There might even be family that will take us in for a while at least. I promise I’ll be back,” Gianna said as she pulled Sophia in for a quick hug. “Stay here,” she said as she slipped off her backpack and put it between a bush and a tree. With one last quick smile, Gianna hurried off, carefully making her way back to the cave that the guard had brought them through maybe fifteen minutes ago. “Please don’t go,” Sophia whispered as she watched Gianna quickly making her way along the rocks. Sophia watched her sister till she disappeared in the cave. Once Gianna was out of sight Sophia slid her backpack off and put it on the ground with Gianna’s. She pulled the rain jacket that Gianna had packed her out, and slipped it on to help block the wind. It wa
“Let’s go,” Gianna said with what she hoped was a reassuring smile, as they quickly made their way to the door. Gianna let her wolf come forward just enough to help heighten her senses, but not enough that her eyes would change. Opening the door, she was relieved to see just the guard there, and that he was carefully scanning up and down the hall. “Ready,” the guard whispered. “Yes. We have everything,” Gianna whispered back as she quietly stepped out into the hallway, keeping Sophia behind her. “Good. Follow me,” the guard whispered as he quickly turned and begane to make his way down the opposite way that Gianna had planned. “Why this way,” she whispered as they quickly caught up to him. “Trust me,” the guard said as he guided them up against the wall and motioned for them to be silent, as soon as they came to an intersection in the hallway. Gianna looked down so that she could hide her eyes, and let her wolf come forward a little more. The guard eased a little closer to t
Gianna hurried to the door as soon as she heard the knock. It was almost time. All they had to do was eat, pretend to go to sleep, and then make a run for it. She had checked over everything that she and Sophia planned to bring one last time to make sure that they had everything that she could think of that they might need. Opening the door, Gianna forced a relaxed smile, and hoped that the maid delivering their dinner took note that she was already dressed for bed. Gianna’s smile almost faltered when she saw a stern-faced guard holding the try with their dinner on it. “I’m so sorry,” Gianna said, recovering quickly. “Let me take that,” she said as she went to take the tray. “Let me carry it. The tray is right heavy,” the guard said, quickly stepping past Gianna, and easily kicking the door shut with his heavy booted foot as he easily carried the tray. “Thank you,” Gianna said as she hurried to move a few of Sophia’s school books off of the table in front of the sofa so that
The guard that had pretended to be asleep by the door made a show of stretching and yawning when Captain Dolion kicked his boot as he passed him on the way back in. “Get up sergeant. I have a job for you tonight.”“I don’t want a job tonight. I had to cover for Jackson this morning.”“Does this change your mind,” Dolion asked as he threw a couple of the bills that the advisor gave him. “What’s the job,” the sergeant asked as he picked up the money and began to count it. “Follow me,” Captain Dolion said and he motioned to two other guards as well. They followed him into another smaller side room. “Listen the King’s advisor wants to keep this hush hush. I know that I can trust all of you to keep your mouth shut, right?”Everyone around Captain Dolion nodded. “Good. All we have to do is make sure that no one leaves the princesses rooms tonight.”“What for,” one of the other guards asked.“I don’t know,” Captain Dolion said, “but we are getting paid enough extra not to care, right,”
Hurrying from King Keres’s office his advisor smiled as he remembered King Keres’s praise. He liked all of the plans that he had organized for his special day tomorrow. Surely if everything goes off perfectly tomorrow he might even be looking at a promotion or a raise the advisor thought happily to himself as he reached a heavy wooden door. Taking a deep breath to hide his happiness, the advisor quickly gave two short knocks on the door and opened it without waiting for a reply. Looking inside the room, he saw just the guard that he was looking for in the middle of a game of cards. “Captain Dolion, may I have a word with you,” the advisor said quickly as he saw all of the eyes in the room turn to him. None of them were friendly, but he also knew that they wouldn’t dare touch him due to his position. “What do you want,” Dolion asked after barely sparing the advisor a glance. “I need to speak to you out in the corridor, please,” the advisor said as he saw the looks some of the guar
Five hours later and Gianna was once again thanking Madame Fleur as they were finally leaving. She was exhausted. You wouldn’t think that just standing there and having someone fit you for a dress and making alterations would be so tiring. Making sure that the door was firmly shut as the last assistant carried out more fabric, Gianna slumped against the door. As soon as the door closed, Sophia opened the door to their bedroom. She quickly checked to make sure that they were alone before saying, “I thought they were going to be here all night.” “Tell me about it,” Gianna muttered, pushing herself off of the door and trying to stretch out sore muscles in her shoulders and back. “Are you done packing,” she asked quietly. “Yes,” Sophia nodded. “I put things that you might want on your bed to try to help.” “Thank you,” Gianna said as she made her way to their bedroom and her bed. “Did you pack underwear, leggings, dresses, a pair of jeans, a warm sweater, and a jacket?” “Yes,” Ol
“Yes. All of this looks great, “ Keres said as he looked over the plan for tomorrow. He had his most trusted advisor with him, looking over last minute changes for his big announcement tomorrow. “Thank you, your majesty,” the advisor said, inclining his head at the rare praise from the king. “I am happy that you are pleased with all of the changes.” “Yes, you did very good work,” Keres said, looking back over the plan again to make sure that nothing had been left out. “There is one more thing that I need you to do for me,” Keres said as he passed the papers back. “Of course, your majesty. Anything.” “Have our most trusted guards watch my cousins’ rooms tonight. I want to make sure that no one accidentally goes missing. Also, maybe have the guards bring up any dinner this evening and make sure to add a little something to make them sleep through the night to their tea as an added precaution.” “Of course,” the advisor agreed quickly. “We would not want to chance anyone missing t
“Why did you say that,” Gianna tried to scold Sophia quietly as they quickly made their way back to their rooms. “You sounded too old. Keres can’t realize that you are not a normal four year old.” “I’m almost five,” Sophia offered with a shrug. “You know that is not what I meant,” Gianna said with a stern look. “I know,” Sophia said looking down at the floor. “I’m sorry. I just got mad, and one of the voices told me I should say that,” she whispered softly. “It’s okay,” Gianna said, squeezing her sister’s hand and opening the door to their rooms. “I’m glad they at least didn’t tell you to say something else.” As soon as they were inside and saw that Madame Fleur had not arrived yet, Gianna hurried Sophia over to the sofa. “Okay, as soon as Madame Fleur and whoever is done, we need to start packing for tonight. Think about what you want to take. Anything that we take will need to fit within two backpacks. I am thinking that you can wear one on your front and one on your back