Soon after I escaped outside, William ordered me to go in and get ready. Apparently, the cameras and news crews will be set up and waiting for me to join Kellan and Darius.Walking in, I get changed and walk down. Kellan is already in the room waiting, clearly using it to avoid me and William. I smile, feeling an arm wrap around my waist, my body pushing back in Darius'."Behave. I don't have the energy right now to fight you off.""Good." Turning, I smile, and he laughs. I will behave, though. "I think I upset Kellan." I just wanted to fix things, he glances through and looks at Kellan."William?" I nod at his words. "He's just hurt; he's not got his head around everything yet. I also know he fears that people will want him gone, his title removed. That isn't happening. I wouldn't ever do that."I will speak to him again later, without William this time then he might be calmer."We need to swap your ring." I look up, confused, and he smirks. His finger removes the remove Kellan had g
I woke alone, and May helped me find a suitable gown for today. I have spent a lot of today accepting gifts, well wishes, and congratulations from people.Sometimes, I have been with Kellan, other times with Darius, or both of them. Right now, I'm sitting with Darius; people have been coming up and wishing us luck in our marriage. It's nearly the end of today, which I'm grateful for; I've spent most of my time sitting in this chair.Many address me as Your Highness, which I hate, but I can't fight them on it. I can see Darius finds it hilarious. It's like before, but instead of asking for things, people offer their blessings and such.This time, Darius is smiling, laughing, and talking. The last time we were in this setting, he was cold and heartless. I've seen people from all walks of life, the children without parents, the servants of those big packs. I've seen the ones who have more money than they could possibly need.I shake the little girl's hand, and she bows to me before walki
DariusStanding with Kellan and Bailey, she chats away about why she had no choice in leaving. She says it like she was forced to leave, which is bullshit.At least, that is what I tell myself; now that I've found out everything, I don't blame her for disappearing after our father threatened her. Still, it makes no sense. Why did he want her gone?"Luna Bailey." Turning, she looks at someone."I need a minute." She smiles and walks towards her Beta."Do you believe her?" Kellan looks at me."After everything, I believe her more than I believe he wouldn't do it. I just don't understand why.""She's the Luna of her own pack. Maybe he saw her as a threat?" Kellan looks at me. "William said you ended the event early?""There was an issue; it was sorted." It's our fault. Had one of us been there, no one would have gotten that close to hurting Xenia."Uncle Grant keeps staring at you." I turn and look towards where he is standing with Dante and Dale."I've spoken to him briefly; anything el
Waking up, I get ready and walk down. "Sage and Lyra are busy this morning.""Thank you, Ash. That's fine." I smile at him and walk through the halls. I stop when I see Kellan and Darius sitting with Bailey and a small boy.Pushing it out of my mind, I walk past and go into the main room. Sitting, I eat, and their family talks to me. They seem nice enough, but I feel like I'm missing something. Soon after, Bailey walks in with the boy. I watch as she sits next to me.Smiling at her, I continue to eat."It's nice to officially meet you, Xenia." I turn to her and smile."You too, Bailey.""This is Quinn, my son." She smiles at me."Hello, Quinn." I give him a small wave and watch as the table clears, leaving me alone with her."I apologise if it seems like I'm taking up all the prince and king's time; we just have a lot to catch up on.""No apology needed." I smile at her."We ended things quickly, which I now understand was wrong." I nod but don't reply. "Kellan is such a sweetheart. H
I smile at Kellan. This time, we cooked without a food fight. There was far less mess this time than before. He’s standing, looking at me, amused. His body is pushing mine back against the side as he kisses me.“Ahm.” My head falls hearing William. “I’ve made excuse after excuse. You two need to split up.” Kellan pouts at me. “Kellan, after lunch, you were not meant to spend time with her until tomorrow.”“I didn’t get to see her at lunch or breakfast, though.” He grins at me.“Please listen. I get in trouble when you don’t.”We both laugh. “It’s fine. Go.” I know he can’t stay with me.“Fine, but if you have any issues, you should tell me straight away.” Kellan turns and looks at William.“You know I will.”“No, I mean it, William; if she says shit, tell me.”“Kellan, it’s fine. I won’t believe her, you explained.” Now that I know everything, I won’t be as affected by it. Sighing, he nods and walks out.Standing, I walk out.“That child isn’t theirs, Xenia.” William looks at me.“You
Darius is guiding me through the palace. Walking into a room, I see Kellan. He grins at me."And I got told off for breaking the rules.""Don't start. We should have the results soon." Darius looks at him turning I stare."How?""I'm sorry, I had to make it look like I accepted it, so she trusted me. I got a maid to do it while she was with you. I just didn't want to get you involved."I don't answer. I just move and sit next to Kellan. Darius sits on the other side of me."So now what?" I look at him and hear the door. I watch as Bailey walks in, followed by Grant. Why do I feel there is more to this?"Darius?" Kellan looks at him, so he doesn't know either."Sit, please," Darius speaks, and they move to sit down. "Right now, they will be bringing me the results back. Something does not add up. You defending her and bringing her here makes no sense." He looks at Grant and then turns to Bailey. "You refuse to take the test, a test that could prove you weren't lying. Then you are also
Standing, I look around myself. It's beautiful, everything is white. The snow, however, hasn't fallen for a few days. So I'm sure that very soon it will all disappear. I haven't seen the palace grounds without snow."How are you feeling?" William looks at me."Fine, I think.""You seem to be doing well at separating your feelings from Winters." He smiles, and I nod. I am; Winter gets jealous easily, but I don't. Winter also is far more protective than I am, almost in an excessive way."How are things with Kellan?" That I want to know. I watch as Lyra walks in with Yori. They are smiling, so does that mean he's stopped running?"We're talking. I agreed that him calling me dad may be a little weird. We came to an agreement. We stay how we were."Turning, I smile. "You were like a father to him anyway, William.""Those were his words. The king rarely took time to get to know them. It was myself who was there, who taught them football, he taught them to shift, how to control their wolves.
The wedding has gone amazing, and Kellan did well with keeping William distracted. I've noticed he hasn't had time to come back to watch me since Kellan introduced him to some people.My arms are wrapped around Darius's neck as I smile up at him."It's getting late, you need sleep." I laugh at Kellan as I feel him stop behind me. "Well, I tried behaving. That's the main thing." He laughs, and I nod.I don't want to sleep. Going to sleep means today ends, and despite the last few days, today was amazing. It was relaxed despite it being the wedding. I know soon after this, I will have to go back in front of the cameras and such.So, right now, I don't want today to end. Darius' finger pushes my chin up, so I face him. He's smiling at me, and I don't like it. "Should you not, I don't know. At least say hi to Sage and others alone. Without us?"I should, but I don't want to. "No, I will see them tomorrow in the real world."Kellan laughs behind me. "This is the real world.""No, this is p
Asher POVI look down at Katla. She's only a few days old. After speaking with Zyra, she decided that the space in the mountains would be a retreat—a place for us to escape to, somewhere Katla could get used to what it is like to live in the Dragon Kingdom.We have spent a few days there, but not many. Apparently, she wants to be in the palace close to the others. Part of me feels like that's because they were her support while I was hiding away.It's shown her what having a family around can do. We're close, minus Aurelia. She seems to be thriving with the Bears and keeping her distance. Other than returning that day when I was going crazy and needed help, she rarely came back. We've adjusted and got used to that, however.She wants her life away from here; she wants her own life, not one that is connected to us. She should have that if she wants it."Hey."Turning, I see Elijah walk to me.He laughs slightly and takes Katla from my arms. "You look exhausted; fun night?"It's only 4
Asher POVI walk out of the room and go to where I know they will be. As I step into the office, they turn to face me.Darius shakes his head. "You should be with Zyra.""I was, but considering this is brought on by the Dragons, I should be helping." I walk further in and look at the papers."Nothing to help with," my dad shrugs. "His son is clean, Seraphine can tell. Things were explained to him. He had no idea about the arranged marriage and, to be honest, was shocked, as he apparently had a mate."So the son won't be an issue. Is that what he's saying?"Look, both Eliphas and Durnalin are in the cells, away from each other. The son has gone. Apparently, he has a whole life with his mate. His dad told him the dragons had requested their presence at events." Darius explains.It makes no sense, though. "Why? Why would the dragons want the warlocks there?" How didn't his son question it?"Apparently, because Eliphas and his son are the strongest warlocks, they invited them to make a un
Asher POVI wait and watch."Prince Asher, soon to be King, tell me something." He walks to the bars and leans against them. "Where do Warlocks belong?"My head tilts; they belong wherever they want to. I don't understand his question."See, there is no answer as we don't belong anywhere. There is the werewolf kingdom, fae, dragons and everything else. Witches and warlocks are forced to live in one of those kingdoms, with no real power."So this was all about getting power? My body is pushed back, and my eyes widen as I see King Drakon reach through the bars—his hand clamps around Eliphas' neck.I guess he's fixed, and his curse is gone. My dad and Darius drag him away, and I watch Eliphas drop to the floor, clutching his neck. The blood runs down from where King Drakon's nails dug in."We need answers; killing him won't get them." My dad turns and faces Eliphas."Apparently, this was all for power." Which still makes no sense."It wasn't just for power. We wanted our own kingdom, our
Asher POVI'm anxious. It's been two days since the curse was lifted, and I'm glad to be back to normal. All that is at risk, though. Tonight, I have to be close to whoever is pretending to be King Drakon. That then risks it happening again, and if it does, will it start slow again or begin where it was removed?I've noticed Elijah, Storm, and Aurelia are quiet. Whatever was done has worn them out, which I didn't want."Are you ready?" Zyra hugs me, and I nod. I'm not. We need answers and to figure out who it is."Be careful, okay?" I don't like that I'm not going to be there."It's you who needs to be careful. You will be in a confined space with him. If anything goes wrong." She looks at me worriedly.Wrapping my arms around her, I smile. "I'll be fine; once he's in the cell, he can't do anything." I kissed her and gave her a final hug before walking away.Getting to the cells, I sit in one and wait. I'm hoping the plan works. If we can get him in the cell, then his magic and power
Asher POVI can see Zyra is struggling, and I don’t blame her either. She just found out her brother is missing.“Look, when Seraphine checked trying to find out the issue with him, she saw King Drakon, but it wasn’t him. Whoever it was is who we believe Cursed Asher.” My mum grasps her hands and smiles. “We’ve got people tracking down where your brother really is. There’s a reason for this, and it’s you, Zyra. Seraphine could sense the curses were put on Asher and Elijah to try and push you to return home.”Zyra looks around the room and seems increasingly worried. “What about Ryker? Is he okay? Does he know?” She waits, and I don’t know the answer to that.“I’m sorry, we don’t know. You need to stay here, Zyra. We have a plan, and we’re hoping Seraphine can uncover more when the person comes here.”She nods and sits, looking lost.“We are expecting Seraphine to return late tonight or early tomorrow. If they can’t fix the issue, then we will keep working to.” My mum smiles and hugs h
Asher POVAfter about an hour of sitting in the cell with Zyra, I ordered her to leave. I wanted to spend time with her, but she shouldn't have been sitting in the cells with me.So, I've been alone for hours, waiting to find out their plan. They hadn't thought this through. I need to leave the cell to go to the room. As soon as I step out of this cell, it will come back. Then what?I'm willing to agree to anything right now if it gets me out of this cell and back with Zyra. The footsteps have me standing, and I watch my dad and Darius walk towards me."What's your plan? How am I to do this?" They haven't thought it through."You need to shift." Darius looks at me.I laugh at him. Is that some kind of joke? "You want me to shift, so that what? I can kill people easier?"My dad sighs and steps forward. "Please do as you're told. You won't understand why we're saying you can shift, but shift. Into your wolf, not dragon."Of course, I won't understand; they haven't explained it to me. If
Elijah POVI sit in the office; Seraphine has left. She's meeting her family halfway in the hopes they have something that can help. Merfolk are powerful creatures with extraordinary abilities.Curses and such are something they specialise in."We're going to request that King Drakon attend a celebration for Zyra's pregnancy. It means we can get what we need and figure out who it is and what their aim is." My dad looks at me, and he makes it sound so simple. This isn't simple."He's going to ask why Asher isn't present, then what?" We can't lie and hide him. "It will look suspicious.""Not if Zyra invites him, she won't know, remember. She can invite him, and whoever is portraying King Drakon won't suspect anything. We're going to be honest and explain something is wrong with Asher, and he's not well."So we're not hiding the issue."He could be in the cell for weeks, so we've had things moved down there for him. The plan is later to test how he is with someone in the cell with him. T
Asher POVI watch as Elijah glares at everyone and backs up more."Elijah, we need to know." My mum steps towards him."I saw him once, just once! You all need to focus on Asher, not me! He's the one that is cursed, not me!" He shouts and steps back. He backs into my dad, and he grabs Elijah as Seraphine steps forward and grips his head.His screams echo around the cells, and it's all over just as quickly as it starts. His body falls to the floor, and he cradles his head."Well?" Darius looks at Seraphine."You're going to need a warlock, or I'll need to contact my family and see if they have something to clear the curses." Her words make me look towards Elijah. So, he is also cursed."Asher's curse is to make him push everyone out and make him think he has a mad wolf so that Zyra leaves. Elijah's was to hate Asher, likely to intensify it." Seraphine smiles slightly. "There's no mate, Elijah. The curse is what's stopping us from having a baby. There's no third mate." Her words have hi
Asher POVNo one speaks, likely because they know what I said is the truth. I need to die; there is nothing they can do to change that."Explain the process, what happened, how it started, when it happens." Darius pulls a chair over and sits outside the cell.I laugh. "Why do I need to talk? Why do I need to explain? You're proving you believe me by keeping me locked in here and being too afraid to come near your own son."Nothing I say can change that."Asher, I'm not opening the cell because I don't trust you to try and run. So explain it to me, tell me how it's progressed, and let's be sure that is what is happening." He waits, and I watch my mum, Elijah, and dad sit with him."It began with whispers. The words were barely audible, but I heard whispers in my ear. They got louder and began to sound like words. Whispers were one thing, but then I began to see people dead and my wolf above them." It was a warning to me to hide, to push them away, and not let them close to me."When do