(Raya’s POV)I stop walking, carefully thinking of the words to say. Having met her already, I opted for honesty instead of flattery. “I was hopeful at first…but then you disappeared,” I respond cautiously. “Sylvana said you left. That perhaps you weren’t interested enough. I didn’t really know what to think anymore after that.” I take a deep breath, looking her straight in the eyes. “But when I saw you just now, I must admit to a little bit of hope again.”“Very diplomatic. I like it, just as I liked what I heard you tell the prince’s secretary. And I did tell Lady Sylvana to keep mum about my whereabouts. Who doesn’t enjoy a dramatic entrance…or in this case re-entry? You should have seen your face.” She chuckles and resumes the walk again. “If you must know, Your Highness, I went to the mainland to meet with someone. That email I told you about reached the right people, hence the numbers you see today. You are right to walk around a little, away from the prince’s side for a bit. I
(Kaan’s POV) A few minutes before the gong… I groan internally as I see the next guest standing before me, not because I don’t particularly like him but because I’m not really in the right mood—nor do I have enough focus right now—to tiptoe around someone of a rather delicate nature. Orthros, the only two-headed lycan in our history that actually survived to adulthood. He is in his human form now, which means…I need to guess who exactly I am talking to at the moment. As a human, he looks quite ordinary, head-wise. Physically, he only has one when he’s in this form. But it becomes a little bit more complicated when he opens his mouth because you never really know which one of his two personalities will be speaking to you. And it wouldn’t have been a problem, if not for the fact that his two personalities are polar opposites. Let’s just say that it’s a bit like playing Russian Roulette. One serves the King as a decorated and well-respected warrior, while the other… Well, with th
(Raya’s POV) An almost deafening silence has descended upon the whole island. The anticipation is palpable in the air as wisps of daylight linger, casting an ethereal glow over the landscape, as if nature itself is holding its breath as it bears witness to this spectacular cosmic show. I dare not blink lest I miss anything of this surreal experience. A thin veil of darkness nibbles at the brightness of the sun at first. As the moon’s silhouette softly approaches the solar canvas, things begin to change, the shadows becoming more defined and sharp. Slowly but surely, the gentle moon claims the mighty sun, descending upon its head like an invading celestial crown. I turn to look at Kaan and I see that just as everyone else, he is staring at the sky like a fanatic, utterly mesmerized and with bated breath. If I hadn’t looked down, I would have missed the moment when the guests started to take off their clothes, before shifting into their wolf or lycan form. My jaw drops as I realize
(Kaan’s POV)I stand alone near the helipad as the last guest’s helicopter flies away. Raya is feeling a little unwell so I told her to rest. She must be really exhausted or the stress must have finally caught up with her because she didn’t fight me on that one and went straight to our room.The moment the helicopter is out of sight, my cousin Sylvana appears right beside me, as if she’s been standing there all along. Perhaps she was.“Well?” I ask quietly. “What did you find out?”Sylvana scoffs. “The usual dirty laundry—literal and figurative—and whispered scandals brewing under the surface. I was almost bored out of my mind until…” her face darkens as she grits her teeth and hisses. “Those three old maggots. They mean trouble, and not the petty kind. They will never accept a human queen because—and I quote ‘It will sully the pure blood of the lycan kings and produce inferior half-breeds’. I wanted to throw up while I was in their tent. They feel entitled because their families have
(Raya’s POV)It has been two weeks since we have returned home to the States, after a week of being confined at The National Hospital of the Faroe Islands. We’re back in Kaan’s apartment and I’m bored out of my skull. He’s home with me most days, refusing to leave my side unless it’s something very important, but today there’s an important board meeting and he has to personally be there so now I’m here, reading a book on the couch, with Elijah typing away on his laptop on the breakfast table just a few yards away.Outside the apartment, two burly security guards stand. They’re probably shifters too, the way they growl at anyone daring to walk too close to our hallway.Kaan’s parents will be returning to their own home next week and have invited us to join them there, where there will be higher level of security given the threat the sons of Fenrir are posing but I asked Kaan if we can stay at our own place, where there will be less eyes who might report back to the old howlers, even in
(Raya’s POV)Orthros? Why is that name familiar?Wait, isn’t that…the two-headed lycan? I did meet him, very briefly, after the festival and he was courteous and kind, but I was not able to focus much during the conversation because of my pounding headache. He seems rather normal as a human and I had been too focused on Kaan during the festival to notice anyone else, really.I vaguely remember his human face. He looks to be just slightly older than Kaan. Slightly built, looks more like a dandy than a warrior, really, although Kaan told me Orthros is actually an important elite warrior under the King’s command. I tiptoe to see from behind Kaan’s shoulder and I see a tall, elegantly dressed man with dark brown hair and coffee-colored eyes. Kaan told me that as a child he was brought to King Wayan from a small island in Greece but I would have said he’s a perfect English gentleman from the way he dresses.Kaan and I stand up to greet him and he instinctively steps protectively in front
(Raya’s POV) When I next open my eyes, the first thing I see is the color green. That’s weird…I thought for sure heaven is blue with white clouds while hell is— Wait, did I really die!? The last thing I remember is the car spinning out of control and then a sharp thud…followed by… nothing. I blink several times as I try to feel my own body to make sure everything is in working order. I can definitely feel my fingers…so my hands seem ok. It takes me a few extra seconds to find my legs but I sigh with relief as soon as I am able to raise one knee, followed by the other. Nothing is painful, really but everything feels foreign, the sensations muted, as if in a dream. I turn my head to my left and I see more green. With a frown, I focus my eyes better to see that I am lying on a grassy field. I look up again and my blurry eyes take a little bit to adjust from the distance but the green things above appear to be…leaves of the branches of a tree I’m lying under. Where the heck am I!? S
The day before, at the office with Sir Orthros…(Kaan’s POV) “Sylvana is still MIA. I haven’t been able to contact her for days. What do you mean she told you to come to me? Where is she now?” Sir Orthros blinks. “I don’t know. She only came to me in a dream.” I rub my face with both my hands, trying to fight the dread spreading all over my spine. Did I send my cousin to her grave? I can’t ever forgive myself if I did. And I sure as hell will wreak havoc upon those who did her any harm. But let’s not get too hasty. Just because this man claims to have dreamed of her doesn’t mean she’s…damn it, I don’t even want to think about it! I clear my throat. “What exactly did you dream about, Sir Orthros?” The man frowns thoughtfully. “It was the festival. At first, I thought it was a memory, but my wolf Levi assured me that it is not. She intruded into my mind during the night and told me that you needed help. That your mate is no longer safe and you must take her away, far away. Where n
(Raya’s POV) I stare at the face of my little prince as he sleeps peacefully beside me. “You’re so beautiful, my darling boy,” I whisper as I caress his tiny hand planted possessively on my cheek. He likes sleeping this way. He looks just like Kaan in his baby pictures and I wonder if, as the years pass, will he look more like him or like me? Or something in between? Oh, I can’t wait to see! And yet I can’t bear for this wonderful version of him to be gone either! I’m so torn! I couldn’t help but kiss his cherubic face, the plump cheeks that drive me nuts. He’s so cute! I hear Kaan chuckle as he enters our room. “Are you obsessing over Alarick again?” He whispers. “I can’t help it, Teddy’s so freaking cute!” I whisper back. He rolls his eyes at the nickname Teddy I insist on using for our firstborn, whose name is Alarick Theodulf. He says it’s not very princely. I make a face. “Oh, and Kaan is?” I tease him. He grins. “I’ll have you know that Kaan means King of Kings. You
(Lila's POV) She sighs. “Go ahead…” “As mate of the king’s guard, you will be able to do more for your sister than being here, working yourself to exhaustion every single day. My position as the king’s guard opens doors that not even that Jack-ass she was mated to could ever dream of. You will be an honorary member of the royal family. Your sister’s future is as good as secured. And well, there’s the added bonus of having a good-looking mate who loves you as much as you love him.” He winks at her, making her smile despite herself. “Is that all?” She asks. “What about my shop? I have yet to finish saving up to pay for the capital that Alpha Seth and Luna Marie lent me.” He smiles sheepishly. “You owe them nothing. That was money I sent for you, so you will lack nothing ever.” He covers her lips with a finger when she starts to say something in protest and grins. “I know, I know…I shouldn’t have—but it was my allowance that I put aside from what was promised to my parents by the king
(Orthros POV)“May I ask why?”Lila takes a deep breath and stands up so he follows suit. She walks to the kitchen and offers him something to drink which he declines. “Lila—”She prepares a cup of tea for herself. “You wanted me to build a life with Maeve here. I did.” She frowns and turns to look at him. “I upended my life at the lycan court for you years ago, Orthros, because I believed we were going to be together. But you left me here and moved on. I made a life for myself and my sister now, we have set our roots and worked hard to get the shop going. Maeve is going to be big someday. She’s very talented and I know she’ll go the distance. So, forgive me but…I can’t and I won’t leave everything behind just because it’s convenient for you now.” She tells him tartly.He stares at her, torn between frustration and amazement. He is impressed by how level-headed she is, how firmly she is handling him and sending her message across in a very clear manner.Lila has changed. She is no lo
(Orthros POV) She stares at him as if she’d seen a ghost and inwardly he winces. He can’t really blame her for this reaction, it has been several years since they last saw each other and even though he kept tabs on them through Alpha Seth, he dared not establish direct communications with her or Maeve. It was difficult enough to stay away when he knew she would not be waiting for him. To find that she was still hoping for him to return, or even just to hear anything from her hinting that she needed him…it would have broken his concentration—and he would have come back running, to hell with the consequences that could ruin their lives. However, Alpha Seth assured him that Lila and Maeve were doing great, that they have been integrated well in the small town and were busy rebuilding their lives and setting up a home and a shop as dressmakers. I sent him money to ‘lend’ the two sisters so they will be able to have anything they need without being a burden to the pack, and asked Alpha
(Lila POV)It still hurts to remember that day, even though she’d put on a brave face, for the sake of her sister Maeve. She had cried herself to sleep many nights after that separation until there were no more tears to shed.But then, as always…life goes on and time waits for no one. She learned to wipe away her tears in the morning as if they were never there in the first place. And then, before she knew it, she stopped crying all together.As she became busier and busier building a new life with Maeve, she realized one important thing that made everything…a little better. The beautiful and poignant truth:He loved her too. For just as she was willing to break the fated bond—if they were indeed destined for each other—and let him find a better mate, Orthros chose the hard path to make sure she and Maeve will be safe… that they will live a better life.It only saddens her to think that Orthros might have been thinking that he was not worthy of being loved anymore, just because he ha
(Orthros POV) She stood there with a basket of berries, so beautiful she made his heart ache for he longed to touch her and kiss her strawberry red lips. It was his dream, to finally claim her as his, fated or not, for lycans have the gift of free will to choose their own mates. But how could he do that to her? How could he condemn her to a life of misery, of being shunned by everyone and laughed at for having a cursed mate? How could he risk giving her pups that might have the same affliction, punished with the same fate for daring to reach for the stars? “Orthros?” She whispered before rushing to embrace him. The moment their skins came in contact with each other, her thoughts came flooding in and his fears were confirmed. She loved him so much that she cared not about his terrible fate and was only too happy that he was meeting her eyes again. He closed his eyes as he hugged her back tightly, breathing in her lovely scent, and allowing himself to dream for a second longer, befo
(Lila POV)Lila watches her younger sister go, her heart aching for the pain she knows Maeve is currently going through. If only she has done more to make sure her sister had not given that jerk more than he deserved, perhaps Maeve wouldn’t be so…broken.Luna Marie sighs. “Poor girl…I wouldn’t want to be in her shoes right now—such pain she must be going through…so much that she cannot speak because words have failed her—but perhaps it’s for the best. I never liked that boy Jack. He would have only held her back from her potential and hidden away her brilliance under his barrel of self-worth.” She hooks her arms in Lila’s, gently pulling her away. “Your sister has something great in her future. Do not worry so much, Lila…she’ll heal, like many of us who went through something similar.”Lila glances at the luna of the pack that has accepted her and Maeve when they needed a home. Luna Marie has always been so kind and supportive, and loves the alpha so much that it’s hard to imagine any
(Orthros POV) “Don’t say no yet. The offer stands until the day before we leave.” Former King Wayan tells him jovially, slapping him amicably on the back. Since abdicating the throne in favor of his son Lakàn, the old king seems to have regained a little bit of his youth. His excitement over his incoming world tour and ‘second honeymoon’ with his mate has obviously done him wonders. “Thank you, Your Majesty.” Former Queen Freya smiles at him. “You have only two weeks to convince the girl. Best be on your way now, child. It'd be a shame to choose someone else less trusted to travel with us.” He bows. “I will try my best, Your Majesty.” As he walks away, he winces at the assault of thoughts that he can hear from the people around him. Ever since his extra wolf Lethe has left him, his wolf Levi is finally able to breathe and use his powers to its full extent. He has no idea how much the parasitic and incompatible bond between Levi and Lethe has been holding him back. He sighs as
(Kaan's POV)“I’m stepping down.”We are at my parents' mansion, currently enjoying a bountiful Christmas dinner when my father invited me to his office for a glass of whiskey.He said those three words right when I'm drinking and I almost choked. As it is, I started coughing and my eyes watered from the effort to clear my throat.“What the—what do you mean you’re stepping down!?”My father only chuckles and raises his glass, watching me turn pale as I realize he’s not joking.“Dad—”He turns his back on me and faces the window. “I want to travel the world without the weight of my people on my back. To really feel the sand under my feet when we go south or the cold breeze on my face as we head north… To dance with your mother while I still can.” He turns to look at me with raised brows. “I do believe you are ready now. And dear Raya will be there to help you.”“Dad, I…”“Kaan, I want to live before my time in this world is over.”What do I even say to that? How do I refuse when I know