Rowena“Everything looks good here. You’re all set to go.”I leaned back from my current patient, a brown-haired warrior with a tattoo of a tree on his arm. He was in perfectly healthy condition; his musculature was completely symmetrical, his eyesight was perfect, and his heart and lungs sounded strong and steady.
RowenaA soft sigh escaped my lips as I kicked off my shoes in the doorway of our mansion. It had been a long, but satisfying, day. I had new patients for my clinic, I was gaining more traction as a combat manager, and I had a date with Adrian planned.Everything finally felt like it was coming together. I couldn’t help but think that maybe, just maybe, I would finally be taken seriously at the warrior camp. Maybe now people would begin to respect me rather than treating me like an
Rowena & EricEricThe car was silent save for the revving of the engine as I sped down the winding roads. I didn’t even bother to turn on the radio like I normally did; I just gripped the steering wheel tightly until my small warrior camp-sanctioned cottage came into view.“I just don’t get it,” I muttered under my breath as I pulled into my parking spot. “What d
RowenaAdrian and I leaned closely over the candlelit table, our hands clasped together. His thumb stroked back and forth over my knuckles, each small touch sending a shiver through me.“You really do look gorgeous,” he said softly, reaching out to brush a strand of hair behind my ear. “Even prettier than the homecoming dance.”
Rowena“Here’s your ticket, Rowena.” Adrian held my ticket out to me with a smile on his face. I took it, still ignoring Eric’s looming presence beside me, and felt my heart leap a bit.It was a scary movie. It was actually a genre that I enjoyed, but the thought of leaping into my date’s arms during a scary scene with my overbearing older brother right next to me felt…Weird, to say the least.“Scary movie, eh?” Eric said as we made our way to the theater, popcorn bags in hand. “Rowena doesn’t like scary movies.”Adrian raised an eyebrow. “Oh, you don’t? I can—”“I do like scary movies,” I said, shooting Eric a warning glare. “He’s just messing with me.”“Oh.” Adrian looked back and forth between the two of us, but said nothing. The three of us made our way to our seats, and of course, I got stuck in the middle. Eric leaned over as the trailers began to play, whispering in my ear.“Sorry for crashing your date,” he murmured.I whipped my head around and glared at him. “Just sit there
Rowena“Eric, you asshole! You stood me up!”Eric and I both whipped our heads around at the sudden shrill voice that was breaking through the air. When I turned, I felt my heart sink.Heather.She stormed up to him and stopped just a few feet away, her face beet red with fury and her hands curled up into fists. For a few moments, it seemed as though she didn’t notice me standing there outside the movie theater.“Heather,” Eric said with a surprising amount of calmness for someone who was about to be chewed out on the street. “What are you talking about?”“What do you mean, ‘what am I talking about’?” Heather huffed. “I got all dressed up for our date, and you didn’t even think to tell me you weren’t coming?”Eric furrowed his brow. “I never agreed to a date.”“Yes, you did.” She folded her arms across her chest. “You said you would meet me at the club.”“No. I said I might be there tonight. I never said that I would meet you there.”There was a long, tense silence as Heather glared u
RowenaThe kitchen smelled like fresh coffee and pancakes as I sat at the counter, finishing up my breakfast. I yawned, scrolling through my phone as the latest news headlines popped up on the screen.Next to me, my father, a tall and elegant man with slightly graying hair and a neat beard, flipped through the newspaper, and beside him my mother sipped her coffee. It was a relaxing Saturday morning, especially with the sun streaming in through the window.“Hey, look at this,” I said, holding my phone up. “They released a list of potential suspects for that missing princess. I wonder who it could be.”“Likely someone not from around here,” my father said casually without looking up from his newspaper.As I scrolled through the list of names, though, my eyes widened upon seeing a familiar name. My name, to be exact. But it made no sense. “My name is on here.”My father slammed down his newspaper, and my mother nearly spilled her coffee. “What?” they both said in unison.“My name is on h
RowenaI pushed through the crowd that had formed around my brother and another warrior. They were circling each other as though they were about to fight, although just a few minutes ago Eric had been standing by the poolside.“What’s going on?” I asked, tapping a nearby warrior on his shoulder.“This guy just challenged Eric Griffith, of all people, to a spar,” the warrior replied. “He’s about to get his ass kicked.”I furrowed my brow. The warrior who had challenged Eric seemed younger, and judging from his posture and muscle definition, he wasn’t nearly as experienced with fighting as Eric was. But it was already too late for me to step in; the fight had already begun, and now I could only hope that Eric would take it easy on him.As I watched the fight begin, I felt my blood pressure slowly rising. The other warrior’s footwork was all off; he was too green of a fighter for this. I tapped on the warrior’s shoulder beside me again and leaned over.“Who is this guy?” I asked.“Oh, I
RowenaThe sun cast golden rays on the carpet as I stood in the middle of my bedroom, surveying the half-packed bag on my bed with a frown. Would this be enough for three months of training?Finally, after deciding that I wasn’t quite ready yet and stuffing in a few more shirts, I zipped it closed and slung the strap over my shoulder. A soft sniffle made me turn toward the doorway, and I felt my face drop slightly when I saw the sad faces staring back at me.My parents lingered there, my mom’s eyes red-rimmed and glistening with tears. She attempted a watery smile when she saw me looking, but I could see right through it. She didn’t want me to leave.“You’re really going, huh?” she murmured.Crossing the room with a sigh, I pulled my mom into a tight hug and shot my dad an apologetic look over her slender shoulder. “It’s only for a few months, Mom,” I reassured her. “I’ll be back before you know it.”“I know, I know.” She squeezed me tighter, her fingers digging into my back. “It’s ju
RowenaI stood in the hallway just outside the parlor, my heart pounding in my ears. The voices behind the door were hushed, but I could still make out every word through the thick wood.“Your Majesty, we can’t thank you enough for making this journey,” my father’s voice echoed softly. “I can assure you that, had circumstances been different, we would have liked to have met you much sooner.”There was a pause, and then a deeper, richer voice responded—one I didn’t recognize yet. “Please, call me Stefan. And the honor is all mine—you protected my daughter despite everything. Although a part of me still can’t believe my little girl is actually alive after all these years.”My heart leapt into my throat. My father—King Stefan from the Northern kingdom. I knew he was coming to visit, but to finally hear his voice… It was unreal.A trembling hand came up to rest against the door as I tried to conjure up any memory of my father, of my past life. But there was nothing, of course; I had been
RowenaMy heart felt like it was going to beat out of my chest as I watched Eric mouth those two simple words to me.“Kiss me.”His bright blue eyes bored endlessly into mine, and in those moments, time stopped. Kiss him? Kiss him? Now? In front of everyone?“C’mon, Ro,” Eric murmured, sensing my fear. “You promised.”I gulped, unsure of what to say; and at that second, I felt myself being thrust back to our childhood, back to one summer afternoon so many years ago when things were so much different…“Hey, Ro?” “Yeah?”“Do you ever wonder what it would be like if you were born in a different family?”I remembered that day clearly; Eric and I had been laying out in the grass beneath the big oak tree behind our house, watching as the leaves waved back and forth. I was nine, and he was going on twelve. Oddly enough, I remembered exactly what we were wearing: he had on a blue shirt, and I wore a pair of overalls. I think I remembered the shirt because it matched his eyes, and the color
EricI tightened the cloth wraps around my fists, feeling the familiar ache in my knuckles as I stared across the sandy expanse at Darius. With Adrian and Heather gone, it was just the two of us left.Darius grinned at me, his eyes crinkling at the corners. “Quite a show you and your girl put on back there,” he said, loud enough for just us to hear over the roaring crowd.I allowed myself a slight smirk, although my stomach still twisted painfully when I thought about how close I had just come to losing Rowena forever—all thanks to Adrian and some demented scheme to assassinate the Northern princess.“My girl?” I said, feigning ignorance.Darius smirked at me. “Oh, come on; everyone has suspected that she’s not actually a Griffith for months. And we both know what you two were doing the other day in her office.”The tips of my ears turned pink, but I couldn’t help but shake my head and laugh. Of course everyone had known. I hadn’t exactly put in the greatest effort to hide it since I
RowenaI could only stand there, frozen in place as Heather and Adrian were hauled away by the guards. Their hateful glares burned into me until the very last moment when they disappeared into the tunnels.And then they were gone. It was over… For now, at least.A sudden cacophony of sound slammed back into me all at once—the roaring of the crowd, shouts and exclamations from students and spectators alike. I flinched as hands grabbed at me from all sides, my parents’ frantic faces appearing like a lifeline through the throng of people.“Rowena! Oh god, are you alright?” My mother clutched at me desperately and drew me toward her, tears streaming down her cheeks as she looked me over for injuries. “We were so worried, we thought… We thought…”She trailed off, unable to put her worst fears into words as she smoothed my hair back from my ears, checking me over as if I were made of glass. My father wasn’t much better, one large hand cupping the side of my face while his eyes bored into me
RowenaEverything seemed to move in agonizingly slow motion as Adrian’s arrow sailed straight for my head. Time itself seemed to go still, the crowd’s roar fading into an eerie silence.In that endless moment, a thousand different thoughts raced through my mind. Eric’s handsome face, his last wink burned into my memory. The way his fingers had threaded through my hair just this morning as we had secretly made love under my sheets. My parents’ smiling faces from their seats up in the crowd, now twisted into masks of horror.So this was how it ended, then? Struck down by a coward’s arrow in front of thousands of spectators? My identity revealed to everyone, only for it to be snuffed out before I even had the chance to meet my biological family?There was no time to move, no time to even scream. All I could do was brace myself, my eyes squeezed shut as I awaited the impact. The embrace of death. I hoped it would be quick, if nothing else.But it never came. Instead, a sudden whistle of a
RowenaThe roar of the crowd was deafening as Emma and I made our way through the tunnels toward the main arena. I could feel the vibrations of thousands of stomping feet even from here, and it made my heart pound in anticipation.Inside of me, my wolf was practically roiling with excitement; I had grown used to her presence over the passing days, although it felt completely and utterly natural from the beginning.“Are you ready for this?” Emma asked with a grin, giving my arm an excited squeeze.I took a deep breath, squaring my shoulders. “As long as I’ve got you by my side,” I replied.When we finally emerged into the bright stadium lights, I had to blink a few times to adjust. The massive arena stretched out like a desert in front of us, the sandy pit already prepped for the combat rounds. Lining the walls were the colorful pavilions and banners for each warrior and manager pair.My gaze immediately found Eric, standing tall and proud beside his pavilion across the way. He caught
RowenaEric and I sprang apart at the sound of the doorknob turning, frantically smoothing our clothes down and covering ourselves just as a group of warriors walked into my office. I felt my cheeks flush hot as the apparent leader flicked on the light, blinking in confusion.“Rowena,” the warrior at the forefront said, glancing back and forth between Eric and me for a moment. “I wasn’t sure if you were in here. Why were the lights out?”Before I could answer, Eric stepped in. “I was just helping her change the lightbulb,” he said, gesturing to the light dangling from the ceiling. “You came just in time.”“Oh.” The warrior seemed to buy that, at least. Thank goodness.“What can I do for you?” I asked in a shockingly confident tone despite myself, tucking a stray lock of hair behind my ear and pushing my glasses up on my nose.“Well, we heard that you both made it on the list and we just wanted to wish you luck,” the lead warrior said easily, shoving his hands into his pockets. “As the
RowenaTaking a deep breath, Eric and I pushed our way through the crowd so we could see the results. As we approached, we received curious looks from the other students—no doubt word of what had happened at the party on Friday, or at least what people thought had happened, had spread like wildfire.Or…As I read the names on the list, I knew now why they were really staring.“Eric,” I gasped, gripping his arm with one hand while I pointed at the list with the other. “It’s you!”I couldn’t help but grin as I looked up at him. Even Eric was beaming from ear to ear; he was at the top of the list of the three warriors who would be competing in the tournament. Of course he was—he was the best warrior at this camp, after all. He had earned it, fair and square.“Congrats, Eric!” a nearby student called out. “I can’t wait to see you fight next week!”Eric’s smile grew. “And I can’t wait to win,” he quipped, eliciting giggles from a nearby gaggle of cheerleaders who were smiling and twirling