Hello my lovelies, Any guesses as to who the black wolf might be? Hint: He is from a previous book. xxx
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
Kat POV“Amia…” Enzo breathed, his emotions unreadable as if he had slipped a cold mask in place. Without saying anything further, he strode to the small kitchen and filled a glass with water, grabbing a bottle of pills from the counter as he returned to me. I sat in silence, watching him.In just three short weeks, he had changed. He had always been muscular, but he seemed to have gained even more muscle now. The scars on his back and face also seemed more prominent, although I can’t really say why - maybe it was just because I was no longer used to seeing them. “Take these,” he commanded, tipping two round pills into my hand and handing me the water. “You’re an idiot if you thought you could keep up with Jackson’s men on your first day in the field.” “It’s not as if I had a choice,” I snapped at him before taking the tablets without even asking him what they were. Enzo leant over me, hitting the backrest of the sofa with his fist. “You always have a choice! You’re the fucking Pr
Kat POV“I received a complaint from Madame Zametovka that you are not dedicating yourself to your training,” Uncle Mattias told me as I sank into the leather armchair in his office, a stern look on his face.I blinked blankly at him for a few seconds, trying to process what the hell was happening. “Sorry? What?” I almost shouted, completely flabbergasted that the woman would even say something like that. “I have been working my arse off trying to please her!” He tapped his chin thoughtfully, but I could see the doubt in his eyes. He trusted her… “Coming back to Slovenia was a mistake,” I muttered, standing up and walking to the window to look over the gorgeous landscape. “You’re not happy here?” Uncle Mattias actually sounded surprised as he leaned back in his chair and ran his hand through his thinning hair. I took a moment, questioning if I should even say the words in my mind. But I had to - I owed it to him to be fully honest with him. “No, I’m not happy here. It’s nothing I
Kat POVHave you ever felt that feeling where nothing seems to be going your way and you just want to run until nothing and no one can find you? Well, that’s how I felt after leaving my uncle’s office. Deciding that I had enough of being trapped behind the castle walls, I threw caution to the wind and slipped out the back gate and into the forest. The scent of the trees immediately put my mind at ease and I felt as if I could actually breathe. I found myself walking to a rocky outcropping which lay just below the palace and looked out over the lake, a perfect lookout spot. Climbing onto the large boulder at the edge of the outcropping, I let out a long sigh and lay back against the cool stone, letting my mind go blank for just a few moments. “You shouldn’t be out here alone.” My eyes flew open as fright gripped at my heart, only to relax when I recognised the smiling face of Damian. “You scared me!” I laughed, clutching my chest. He winked at me and ran his finger across my lowe
Kat POVI sat next to my uncle’s bedside, holding his pale hand in my own as the doctor spoke with Jurgen outside the room. King Mattias, the great king of the werewolf nation, looked so fragile and weak in the gigantic bed, but not nearly as much as he had been when Jurgen and I had discovered him. A shudder coursed its way through my body as I remembered the image of my uncle lying beneath his desk, his eyes rolled back to show the bloodshot whites of his eyeballs as every breath he took resulted in foamy saliva bubbles forming at his mouth. I have never seen Jurgen move so fast as when I screamed. Within seconds, the tall man was by my side, his body poised and ready to protect me from whatever danger there was… only to quickly turn into my uncle’s rescuer as he launched into action. Within mere minutes, the doctor had been fetched and my uncle was stabilized in the middle of his office floor, curious eyes kept at bay by a rather fierce looking Vasilios. “Are you alright, Prince
Kat POVWaking up to Jurgen standing in the kitchen sipping a cup of coffee was certainly not what I had expected when I stepped out of the bedroom.“Jurgen!” I squeaked, pulling my dressing gown tighter around me to cover the fact that I was naked beneath it. He bowed his head slightly, but the faint blush on his cheeks told me that he had seen more than I had hoped he would. “Good morning, my Princess,” he said, turning to place his mug on the kitchen counter. “I hope you slept well.” “Very well, thank you,” I responded and glanced around the small home. “Where is Enzo?” Jurgen smiled slightly and nodded his head toward the door. “He’s out on the training fields. He has realised how unfit incarceration has made him, so he decided to put in a few extra hours into his training.” “Oh,” I replied, still trying to figure out what on earth Jurgen was doing in my kitchen at 7 o’clock in the morning. “I hope you’re already packed,” he said casually, and I blinked a few times as I tried
Enzo POVI bolted upright in bed, beads of sweat trickling down my forehead and my breathing harsh as my heart beat loudly against my chest. “It was a dream,” I whispered to myself, a vain attempt to convince myself that I hadn’t witnessed the secret meeting between Anka and the last person on earth I would have suspected to be in collaboration with the Council, and yet my eyes could not have deceived me. The warm hand which brushed against my back almost sent me bolting for the door, but Kat’s scent wafted toward me and I remembered where I was and who I was with. “Are you alright?” she asked sleepily as she sat up and wrapped her hand around my arm, kissing my shoulder gently. I nodded, stroking the back of my hand down her soft cheek. “It was just a bad dream,” I told her. “Go back to sleep.” She yawned as she grabbed her pillow and hugged it as she lay back down again, falling asleep almost as soon as her eyes closed. I watched her for a few moments, a strange sense that the
Enzo POVI sat on the sofa and stared at the glass of whiskey in my hand, watching the way the fading sun turned the amber liquid into fire. Soon, it would be time to go to sleep - and then the nightmares would start. It was always the same; me tied up and struggling to break free, blood dripping from my chafed wrists as men with hoods covering their faces took turns abusing Kat. When they had first started I hadn’t even known her, she was merely Princess Katerina, the woman I knew was my mate just by the connection I had felt through a computer screen. But now, she was my Kat, and the emotions which surged through me each time her screams rang out were what kept me awake. “There you are,” Kat grinned as she made herself comfortable on my lap. “I thought you might have slipped out for a run by yourself. I know I hold you back.” I chuckled and tucked a strand of her golden hair behind her ear. “Yes, you do,” I admitted with a wink, “but I still prefer running with you than running al
Kat POV“What’s wrong?” Enzo asked, taking my hand and guiding me to the empty chair before standing behind it. Everyone seemed to ignore his question; Eliana fiddling with the fold in her skirt, Luca preoccupied with something outside the window, Jurgen - who I was surprised to see in Vasilios’s home in the first place - was drinking some sort of fruit juice from one of Cassie’s ‘I heart NY’ tumblers, while Vasilios and Cassie seemed to be having a staring competition.Apparently the pair were actually having a silent argument as Cassie threw her hands in the air and sighed dramatically before she turned in her chair to face us. “Elle and I went to town today to get some party stuff for Theo’s birthday,” she paused, a strange expression flitting across her face before she continued. “We saw Damian there, and something is definitely not right with him. He completely forgot Theo and thought I had a daughter.” “That’s really strange,” Enzo agreed, and I could feel the tension through
Cassie POV“We’re not going to be long, I just have to get the party things and then will be right back,” I told Enota, the teenager who babysat Theo whenever I was desperate. “Are you sure you’ll manage with the two of them?” I looked from my tiny terror, who sat in the living room gnawing on the coffee table while Gianna, Elle’s sassy four year old, sat on the other side with her crayons and a colouring book. Enota laughed and patted my arm in a way which bordered on condescending. “You do know I’ve done this before, right?” Of course she had. She had been a life saver the night of Enzo’s trial. “Call me if there are any problems and we’ll come right back,” I said again, bending down to kiss the top of Theo’s head. Gia waved to me as she coloured in sweetly, an absolute angel - or so she seemed. I secretly would bet all I owned that she would manipulate Enota into doing something her mother refused to let her do. “All set?” Elle asked as she walked toward Gia for a goodbye hu
Kat POVI shivered as frigid tendrils wrapped themselves around my body, clinging to my skin. It took me a few moments to realise that I wasn’t dead, although the memory of the pain that I had endured was still at the forefront of my mind. Groaning, I forced myself to sit up as the cool wind seemed to seep into my damp pyjamas. I had no clue how I had got to the tiny island in the middle of the lake, but there I was, thankfully alive. “Of course you’re alive, silly,” I heard a voice and I jumped, looking around me. “Did you really think I would let you die in the place we first met?” Staggering slightly, I managed to stand even though my limbs felt as if they were on fire. I looked about, realising that the night didn’t seem as dark as it had been when I left Enzo’s house. “Hello? Who is there?” I called out, steeling myself for some old hag to jump from what seemed to be ruins… or maybe it was just a pile of rocks. But instead, laughter as clear as day echoed in my head. “Oh, yo
Kat POVIt was as though the darkness had awakened something in me, images flashing through my mind - horrible images which made me yearn for the darkness once again. Only, the darkness didn’t return and I was forced to painfully watch the images with no escape until it suddenly clicked in my mind that they weren’t just images, they were memories. Two men dragged my body as I pretended to be unconscious - at least if they thought I was unconscious they wouldn’t hurt me again. I was grateful for Aurora who took most of the pain into herself, but I could tell that the wolf was weakening and I didn’t know how much more she could take. “I thought she was meant to be stronger than the rest,” the one man snorted, his British accent standing out in my mind. “Castle said she was special, but I guess he didn’t mean stronger. He’s going to be disappointed though. He was hoping to have some fun with her when he gets here, but at this rate there won’t be much left,” the second man laughed, a f
Kat POVI stood in front of the mirror in Enzo’s bedroom and stared at the reflection illuminated by the pale moonlight which poured in through the open windows. I had thought that being marked would be something magical - fireworks and butterflies all rolled up into one. I had expected to be instantly reunited with Aurora as Enzo and my souls became linked. None of that happened.I turned slightly, inspecting the red mark on my shoulder which would soon fade to a muted silver. It had hurt when Enzo’s teeth pierced my skin, and Aurora’s howl filled the air before her ears pricked up and she darted through the courtyard, past the guards at the main gate and into the forest. “What’s wrong?” Enzo asked, coming up behind me and wrapping his arms around me. “I could feel your pain from outside.” He ran his fingertips against the mark, and sparks of electricity ran through my body at his touch while at the same time, the burning heat from the mark instantly cooled. “I’m not sure,” I said