StormI've been summoned. Apparently, Orion and I were going to be in the room with each family as we were there in the lab. I'm not sure what I can offer that they don't already know. Orion is looking anxious, but I've explained that it won't just be him. Princess Zyra, Seraphine, and Prince Arktos will be here.They did join us a few moments ago, easing some of Orion's worries, but it didn't eradicate all of them.Everyone expects one of the families to blame us and say we were part of it, which is crazy. Orion's hand is settled on my leg, and I try to keep myself calm, but in reality, I should be freaking out.The Bears are stronger than werewolves. We would need at least four werewolves to fight one bear. I'm not sure how many it would take to stop a royal one. Royal families are always the strongest bloodlines.I watch as the door opens, and William walks in."King Thorben and Queen Mishka," William speaks and moves out of the way. We stand and welcome them in. I see a younger wo
StormPrince Arktos looks at his family, and I wonder what he will say. Orion's story is entirely different to theirs. I've not had much chance to hear about their time there."I was told who I was from the start. They never hid my identity. They never tried to tell me I was someone I wasn't," he says and looks at Orion. "I knew we were taken and that they were using us to create a new strain of magic. For the first like ten years, I wasn't strapped down; I was allowed to wander around the cell. The drugs worked at holding back my bear. At that point, I had things that connected me to the family.""What things?" King Thorben looks at him."I had the baby clothes that I was wearing when taken, a few small trinkets from our people and pictures. I know why their attempt to create magic failed on anyone who isn't royalty," he announces, and we all look at him now.How can he possibly know?"Which is?" Darius looks at him."Seraphine, Zyra, and I were brought up with the knowledge of who w
StormI find Aurelia sitting alone. She turns when I approach her and seems to be glaring at me."You know, eventually, you will get the magic; maybe it's just delayed?" I suggest."Why are you here, Storm?" Her words have me stopping. Sighing, I sit down."I'm sorry. I know things were hard for the past year. I pushed you out and resented you for having your wolf and being able to shift. Don't do what I did," I say quietly, knowing exactly how she feels right now."Me out? Storm, you pushed all of us out, and it wasn't just this year. Since you met Julian, you pushed us out. Three years almost, Storm," she says while glaring towards me."Either way, as I said, don't do what I did." I know what will help and make her cheer up. "Want to make red velvet cupcakes?" I smirk, and she laughs."If you're cooking them," she stands, and I nod. Walking down with her, we go into the kitchen. As I cook them, she talks to me, and I realise just how distant I have become recently."Those smell perf
Orion/QuinnToday has been long, confusing and tiring. I left Storm for a bit as she needed to speak to Aurelia. As much as I didn't feel comfortable, I sat with Elijah and Asher.I had planned to go to my room and hide away, but I knew Storm would find out. Asher seemed different the entire time I was there as if he was making an effort not to be his usual self.Elijah spent some time talking to us and Arktos, but he was mostly on the phone with his mate, Rose. Asher raised his voice about that.From what I gathered, Rose was not happy about being banned from visiting the palace. She demanded Elijah put his foot down and step up to his parents as the future king.When I asked Asher why he didn't seem bothered by her statement, he explained he had no urge to be King and was more than happy to let Elijah take on that role.Throughout his conversation, Elijah looked like he wanted to give it up just to have peace from Rose. It wasn't until after their argument that he realised we all he
StormI go towards where Aurelia and I live, but Yori stops me."Aurelia is with the princes. Your parents are there now, explaining how things went and what happened," Yori says, and I nod. Walking through to my brother's part of the palace, I get there just as my parents are leaving."Where's Orion?" Darius glances behind me, clearly in shock that Orion has left me alone."I suggested he speak to his family; he seems to be avoiding them," I explain with a sigh. I know he is avoiding them, and I'm not sure if it's because he fears they will try to make him leave without me or because he's just not ready to give up the life he had before."Good, as this is going to get complicated. You four need to decide the way forward. Will you stay here or go? I told them the same." Darius' words made my eyes widen. What is he going on about?"Look, to assume all four of you will stay, and all four of them isn't right. They might want to return home, then what?" My mum looked at me, and I hadn't c
StormI walk into the room and expect to find Orion and me sitting away from the Fae. I'm shocked when I see Orion sitting beside his mother. A pace next to him for me, then my mother sits on the opposite side of the empty seat.I take my seat, apologising for being late. It wasn't entirely my fault; Raven had me on edge and made me feel like I needed to shift, which I couldn't do.Yet she's quiet. All I can feel is her urge to take over and protect me, but she won't explain her reasons for it. She seems to be obsessing and wanting to ensure everything is safe.My eyes stop when I see Elijah beside Seraphine. They are talking and truly look amazing together. I'm glad he's stopping running scared because of Rose."Storm," my mother's voice commands me to turn to face her. She tilts her head in a questioning look."Oh god, did my makeup run?" I ask, feeling my face despite knowing I can't tell by my fingers. I do remember throwing water on my face before leaving the room. She tilts her
OrionStorm had sent me to spend time with my family. I wanted to refuse, but I knew she needed time with her brothers and sister. A lot has happened, and I essentially took every moment of her time.While I am happy to spend all my time with her, I need to remember that she had her own life. Being with my family was strange. We spoke a lot. Adler and Adelina told me stories of them growing up.Both of them expressed how they had always known they had an older brother. To them, I existed even if I was never there. It was about halfway through our time together when one of the guards for Queen Nymeria suggested I shift into my Fae form, as it would help the bond to my family heal.He was right. I felt the bond more when in my Fae form and felt more relaxed. It's not ideal for me to constantly walk around shifted here. I learnt that back in the kingdom, most people stay shifted and only really return to their human form to sleep.I still don't know a lot about how things are done there
StormI watch Orion walk out, and my mum laughs."Why are you laughing?" I don't understand what is funny."I didn't know, but Queen Nymeria just explained something to me," she says as she sits on the bed. Fae males become increasingly more protective when their mate is pregnant."Oh, great, just what I need. "They also become more obsessed with looking after their mate, so you can guarantee he will try and send you to bed to rest, ask if you've eaten, and how much and everything else." Her words clear up the whole sleep thing.So now I'm faced with the reality of Orion asking me constantly what I've done and how I feel. I watch as my mum, dad, and Darius sit and look at me. Okay, so it was foolish. I didn't consider getting pregnant, but then again, I wouldn't want to actively stop myself either."Queen Nymeria is going to explain it to Orion, and try to make him realise he needs to not obsess so much. Not this early, but expect no freedom towards the end," my mum explains, and I si
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