Enzo POVIt had become pretty darn clear that I was no longer welcomed at the Palace. No one had come out and said it outright, but between the back roads getting to the castle, and the convenient exclusions from certain guestlists, it was pretty obvious. A week passed since I had seen the woman my heart yearned to hold, and then another week went by. And still, I hadn’t even caught a glimpse of her. “I can’t believe they’re making you move out of the Palace,” Eli grumbled as he carried a box of miscellaneous things I had stored in my closet. “I’m not surprised. Despite King Mattias supporting my search for his niece, I never really believed that he ever wanted me to mate and marry her,” I grunted, lifting the last box of my belongings. “I'm not royal-worthy.”Eli snorted, “fucking royals. I hope they don't go and change Kat. I was starting to like her before she became a princess.”I didn’t respond, if I did I would have echoed his own fears and I didn't want to say those thoughts
Kat POVThe door to my bedroom swung open and I jumped up from where I'd been sitting on the sofa in fright as a woman barged in, followed closely by a rather apologetic looking Jurgen. “I'm sorry for the intrusion, Princess Katerina,” he began before the middle aged woman raised her hand in his direction and halted his apology.“I am Madam Zametovka and I've been hired my King Mattias to remind you of your princess training,” the woman spoke slowly, her words dripping with condescension. “We will start now. You can go, guard.”Jurgen looked at me for confirmation and I nodded, letting him walk away and close the door behind him.“A princess does not laze about like a sloth,” Madame Zametovka waved her hand in the direction of the sofa. “Oh, I was just…” I began to tell her that I was reading about the different ranks in my uncle's armies, only for her to frown and walk away.“Don't oppose me, girl,” she growled, flinging open my closet doors. “Now take off all your clothes.”I blin
Kat POVI closed my eyes and turned away, expecting to feel the teeth of the wolf pierce my skin. Only it didn’t come.I opened my eyes slowly, and watched as the black wolf seemed to grin at me before it padded off casually in the opposite direction from where it had come, its golden eyes gleaming. My heart hammered against my ribcage, the beating echoing in my ears as my fingers dug into the bark of the tree I leaned against for support. “What the hell are you doing out here alone?” I screamed and spun around, coming face to face with a furious Jurgen. “I was looking for Aurora,” I explained feebly, feeling rather stupid in retrospect. “I told you to wait for me, my Princess. You are vulnerable outside of the Palace walls, and even within, you are not entirely safe,” he scolded, arms folded across his chest. “Now come, you should return to the Palace before something bad happens out here.”I didn’t dare tell him that I had almost died. He would have been even more furious and h
Kat POV“Is Aurora going to be alright?” I asked the moment the doctor and I were alone. He smiled slightly, and yet it was a painfully fake smile - the type people plaster on their faces whenever they have bad news but don’t want to seem intimidating. “She will survive this attack, Your Highness,” he said confidently before his tone changed entirely. “However, the link between the wolf and you has been fractured - and has been for a long time. You are no longer connected in the way you should be, and this is why she has not been able to heal in the way she should.”I chewed on my lower lip, fighting the fear that something was terribly wrong. “It is not normal for a werewolf to be separated from their human counterpart - even for Royals like yourself. While I understand that she may have done so to save both of your lives at some point in the past, it is now hurting her and will lead to her death. I need your permission to be able to consult my colleagues about your case and find
Kat POV“What do you think you are doing?” The cold edge of Madame Zametovka’s voice was enough to freeze the blood in my veins, and I almost dropped the plate I held. “What do you mean?” I asked as casually as I could. She eyed me up and down, the condescension in her gaze enough to make me feel as insignificant as a fallen leaf in a forest. “Princesses do not get fat,” she responded, taking my plate from me and setting it on the table firmly. “And you are teetering close to that point.” I stared at her, my mouth hanging open slightly in shock that someone had really done something as crazy as refuse to let a person eat at dinner. But there she was, all five foot something of her dressed in an outfit better suited to mourning, and staring at me as if she were daring to defy her. Instead, I slapped on a strained smile, gritting my teeth as I brushed past her, desperate to escape her presence. “Don’t cry, don’t react, don’t cry, don’t react,” I chanted to myself under my breath a
Damian POVI watched her - my Katerina - disappear with her bodyguard into the ballroom before I returned to the darkness of the shadows. A chuckle escaped my lips as I processed what had happened. Being the elected King of the Lonewolves, there had always been a chance that I would be mated to a woman of a high ranking in the werewolf world, but it had never crossed my mind that she would be Princess Katerina. I chuckled again at the irony and pulled out a cigarette, lighting it as I leaned back against the balustrade. “This is going to be a challenge I am going to enjoy,” I murmured, taking a drag of my cigarette. I barely heard the footsteps behind me before I heard a surprised “Damian? Is that you?” Cassie stood behind me, a bright smile on her gorgeous face the moment she recognised me. “Of course it’s you,” she laughed, hugging me tightly. “Which other werewolf smokes? Apart from Otis, but even in the shadows I can tell the difference.” “Well, that’s a relief,” I muttered
Kat POV“Are you sure that you are going to be alright without me for a few days?” Jurgen asked, his eyes almost begging me to tell him that he needed to stay. “I can always tell King Mattias to choose another of his men to do this task.” I shook my head, “no. My uncle chose you for a reason, and I will be safe. There are other guards on the premises - you know that, right?”He smiled at my teasing edge before he took my hand and placed it on his arm, guiding me toward the wing where our rooms were. Jurgen seemed to walk extra slowly tonight, almost as if he were wanting to delay leaving. But he would leave. Uncle Mattias had ordered him to do a special task for him, and I knew my uncle well enough to know that he wouldn’t ask someone to do something without having a specific reason. He wasn’t the type of king to boss someone around just for the fun of it. “It shouldn’t take more than a week,” Jurgen said as my bedroom door came into view. I smiled at him and squeezed his arm sligh
Kat POVI should have known that Madame Zametovka’s son would be as deranged as she was, but instead of mentally preparing myself for what could be the worst gym session of my life, I was still stuck in dream-land with Damian. The man was like no one I had ever met before in my life, spending an hour drawing me to the edge of my release before pulling away entirely. When he did eventually let me fall into a blissful climax, I felt as if he had branded me with his touch.“Look who finally decided to join us,” drawled a man dressed in the black uniform depicting a commander in King Mattias’s army. “Perhaps we should club together and fund you an alarm clock so that you won’t be late in future.”Scores of well built, almost identical men stopped sparring and turned to look at me, jabbing one another as they smirked at their commander’s jibe. I ignored them, taking off my jacket and throwing it over a low hanging branch of a nearby tree. “Hi, I have been told to join you for your train
Enzo POVWatching as that barn burned to the ground evoked dark emotions in me - emotions I had spent the last few years pushing down into the depths of my soul. Emotions of hatred, guilt and despair which ran so deep within me that I had stopped recognising them. But as the flames engulfed that barn of horrors, memories filled my mind and I found myself grappling with the overwhelming emotions once again. “Are you alright, child?” I felt a small hand touch my arm and I looked down at the bruised face of a woman, her split lip and blood-streaked hair a blatant testament to the strength the tiny woman had displayed at the hands of her captors. I nodded, unable to trust my own voice as I turned back to the flames.“You’re lying to me, young man,” she chastised, her hand gripping my arm tighter preventing me from walking away from her.“And what if I am?” I asked boldly.She chuckled lightly, drawing my gaze to her and I almost stumbled backward when my eyes met hers. It was as if she
Jurgen POVWe watched in numb horror as the helicopter set off, only for another two helicopters to join it - each massive machines which could easily carry twelve people. “They’re evacuating!” Enzo shouted, anger turning his voice into a harsh bark. “They would rather run away than face us and fight! Fucking cowards!” Vasilios kicked the barn door, the sound echoing in the silence of the night as he swore under his breath. Luca was equally frustrated by the turn of events, but instead of lashing out like the other two, he stood in silence, his hands in fists by his side as he watched the now empty sky. I sighed inwardly as I shifted back into my human form, the snow crunching beneath my feet and the cool breeze tickling my skin. “Well, what now?” I asked, stretching my neck. Luca shrugged, turning to face the barn and the atrocities that had been committed in its dark interior. “I guess we need to find out how many of their victims are still alive. We need evidence that this was
Enzo POV“Fuuuuuuuck,” Vasilios drawled incredulously.Jurgen sat beside me, slack jawed in shock while I wasn’t entirely sure that I had heard correctly. “Anka’s pregnant?” I asked, leaning forward and gripping the back of Vasilios’s chair. Luca nodded and I let out a low whistle. “I thought she would be too old to have kids now,” I admitted. “Besides, she drinks alcohol like it’s an olympic sport. There’s no way that baby’s brains aren’t already pickled, and they’re making it the heir?”Jurgen shook his head. “No. I don't believe it. They’re up to something, and this is just a way to discredit Princess Katerina’s claim to the throne.”I saw Vasilios’s brows knit together to form one furry caterpillar above his eyes. “Are you suggesting what I think you’re suggesting?” he asked, leaving us guessing for a few seconds before he spoke his mind. “Are you thinking that Anka isn’t actually pregnant, and that this baby is some other woman’s all together?”Luca scratched his chin thoughtf
Enzo POV“Have you got everything?” Kat asked me for the hundredth time, concern shining in her eyes. I grabbed her and wrapped my arms around her, kissing the top of her head as she leaned into my embrace. “I have everything I need in my backpack,” I reassured her. “And I am sure that I haven’t forgotten anything.” Her arms snaked around my neck and she pulled my head down for a lingering kiss, her fingers playing with the hair at the nape of my neck. “You have to make sure that you are safe. I need you to come back to me,” she whispered, not trusting her voice anymore. “Are you sure that I can’t come with you? You might need me.”I chuckled and squeezed her sexy arse, “as much as I don’t doubt your usefulness, I think it would be better if you stayed out of danger. I wouldn’t be able to concentrate if you came with us. I’d be too busy worrying about your safety. Besides, I think Jurgen and Vasilios would have my head on a spike if I even thought about letting you.” She sighed l
Kat POVThe figure slipped the hood from her face and the urge to punch the woman beneath the cloak almost overwhelmed me. “Yvonne!” Cassie exclaimed, and I watched as she started to take a step toward the small Asian woman before she stopped herself, crossing her arms across her chest instead. “What are you doing here?”Yvonne’s gaze shifted nervously around the group, her hands gripped tightly in front of her as she stood there in silence. “Yvonne,” Enzo’s voice dropped an octave as he stepped toward her. “Cassandra asked you a question. Why are you here? How did you find us? And what the fuck do you want?” Yvonne flinched slightly as he spat out the swear word, his hatred of her plain for everyone to see. “I…” she began before she let out a deep sigh. “This was a mistake. I’m sorry, I should rather go.” Yvonne tugged the hood back up, turning back to her table and picking up the tatty looking suitcase from where it had been placed on the chair. It was weird, but her whole deme
Enzo POVSpain.When I was younger, I used to dream of running away to Spain. In all the TV programmes and magazines I had seen, it always seemed like a place where everything was perfect and people were always happy as they spent their days sipping margaritas on the beach while watching the sun set. There weren’t any depressed mothers, or sullen brothers – and best of all, there were no abusive fathers. Then came the knowledge that there was potentially a warehouse nestled in the Spanish countryside filled with men and women like me - caged and tortured at the will of a sadistic jailer - made me sick to my stomach. In a flash, Spain had lost its shine as the rose-tinted glasses were whipped away from me.“I don’t know why Guilia isn’t answering my calls,” I heard Kat sigh with frustration from the other side of our hotel room as she flung her cellphone onto the sofa. “It’s been days now, and still nothing.”The concern on her face was as clear as daylight, and I wondered if I should
Kat POVThey say that in the moments before you die, your life flashes before your eyes - and I guess in my case, it was partly true. Memories came flooding back in a way I could have never dreamed possible. Memories of my childhood, of my uncle singing Slovenian nursery rhymes to me, of my mother watching from the corner of the room with a wine glass in her hand. I remembered the hours I sat listening to my uncle speak of ruling our people.“Remember, Katerina,” he had said to me as we had watched from the balcony as Anka and Otis walked side by side in the garden below. “Keep your friends close, and your enemies closer. Know them so well that you can anticipate their moves before they make them.” At the time I had thought he was talking about Otis, but as Anka rushed at me with the letter opener, I had to wonder if he had actually meant the woman I had once called Mother. She screamed as I ducked under her arm, the scent of the ever-present alcohol on her breath suddenly overpower
Kat POVAnka took control in a way which left me suspecting that it had been her plan all along - hell, it had been the plan of the Council’s too. By noon, all of the flags and banners which had decorated the castle with King Mattias’s personal crest were replaced with the gaudy imitations which Anka claimed as her own. The commanders were called en masse to the castle and were ordered to swear allegiance to Anka. Those who refused were banished and their titles were stripped from them. I watched in muted horror as Vasilios refused to kneel before the crazed woman. She had stormed up to him and slapped him hard, the slap echoing across the courtyard. “I will not kneel before a usurper,” he declared boldly, meeting her eye. She slapped him again, anger flashing in her eyes as other commanders took his lead and stood, refusing to submit to her. “Banished! You’re all banished! Leave before I have you all thrown into the dungeon!” Anka’s voice quivered and she tried hard to maintain h
Kat POVEvery day before I visited my uncle, I prayed that there would be some sign that he was improving in some way or another. He wasn’t, but it was hard to grasp that I would be forced into the position of Queen when I had barely been on Slovenian soil for more than a couple of months. At least if Uncle Mattias spoke a few words I wouldn’t be forced to take the throne… surely. “Are you well, Katerina?” Councilman Otis asked over breakfast, his snowy white eyebrows knitted together making them look like one gigantic, fuzzy caterpillar. “You have barely touched your food for the past few days. Is there potentially a child on the way?” Enzo looked at me, almost hopefully and I forced a smile as I shook my head, “not that I am aware of, but you never know.” It was hard to miss the looks of horror which some of the councilmen struggled to hide - their contempt for the throne so blatant that the thought of adding an extra heir was borderline unthinkable. Anka chose that moment to be