Kat POVHe arrived at the palace a week later, and was welcomed with all pomp and ceremony as seemed fitting for my potential betrothed - Prince Dimitri, heir to the royal seat of the Werebears. “King Mattias is really throwing caution out the window, isn’t he?” Cassie muttered as we watched the procession from an empty bedroom. “Just a few years ago the werebears were our sworn enemies, and now look - he’s busy trading you to them like a prize cow.” I huffed and folded my arms, frustrated. “I just need to meet him and play nice, that is all. I have told my uncle that I will not be forced into a political marriage just because both he and my father were.” We could spy Anka (I refuse to call her “mom”) flirting outrageously with a man who seemed completely embarrassed by her attentions, skirting away from her as she tried to press herself against him Yep, there was no way I was going to risk heading into a disastrous marriage like the one my father unwittingly signed up for. “Besid
Kat POVI watched Madame Zametovka’s face light up with a smile the moment Prince Dimitri and his gang of muscle entered the dining hall. She stood, fanning her face as she watched him out of the corner of her eye - like some middle aged cougar. I half expected her to lick her lips or drool with the way she was staring at him. She could have him, for all I cared. As far as I was concerned, I wasn’t interested in being forced into a marriage with the man. Hell, I wasn’t interested in being forced into a relationship with any man. Dimitri and his men mingled in the room, taking glasses of wine from the passing attendees and downing the contents in a single gulp. Even I knew better than that! Maybe they were the savages Cassie thought they were. “Katerina,” I heard a low voice whisper in my ear and I jumped, whirling around to face Damian, his eyes almost begging me not to walk away from him. “I need to talk to you.” I shook my head, refusing to even acknowledge him as I strode towar
Enzo POVI should have torn the head off of that obnoxious bear. Every single cell in my body wanted to see his blood spilled, but I knew that I would be executed if I did - and what would it serve if I killed the man who was meant to marry Kat, only to join him in the afterlife shortly after. This political game made my head hurt, reminding me of why I had left Slovenia in the first place. Sure, I had wanted to serve my King as best as I could, but I kept finding myself stumbling in the politics which doused the Royal Court. When Luca had asked me to take over the business side of the family, I jumped at the opportunity. It had been an escape I hadn’t known I had needed. Returning was the last thing I had wanted to do - and yet if I had to choose between my freedom and being close to Kat, I would choose her every time. “Where the hell are your clothes?” I heard Cassie screech, covering her eyes as if my nakedness offended her. I shrugged, putting my hands on my hips in the taunti
Katerina POVI sighed loudly, closing my eyes as I collapsed on my bed, not even bothering to change out of the dress I had worn to dinner. After lingering in the garden for longer than was probably necessary, I felt eyes on me and looked up at the balcony to see Damian smoking in the darkness - at least I thought it was him, no other werewolf smoked as far as I knew. My back instantly straightened and I stormed back into the dining hall before he could think to corner me into an attempt to justify his actions. I wasn’t interested. So instead, I spent a tense evening watching Anka throw herself at the bears. By the time she left the room with three of the meanest looking brutes, I had had enough of playing the perfect princess. Luckily for me, the dinner party seemed to be dying down so I could easily slip back to the solace of my own room. I felt a wet nose nudge my hand and opened my eyes to see Aurora, her big pale blue eyes looking at me. “You would have hated it too, girl,”
Kat POVI clung to Enzo as he guided the bike down the dark, winding road toward the glinting lights in the distance, butterflies fluttering in my stomach as nervous energy built up in my body. I had no idea where we were going, and Enzo refused to tell me. His answer had simply been, “freedom.” So I had to accept that until we arrived, I was going to be kept in the dark. I was grateful for the warmth which radiated from his body, warming me as the cool air nipped at my exposed flesh. Winter was coming, and I was dreading the cold that it brought. I pulled myself closer to Enzo and felt his chest vibrate as he chuckled at my action, and probably loving it way more than he should. Time seemed to slow down as the town’s lights came closer, and it was only when Enzo pulled up outside what looked to be an abandoned building that I actually looked around me. The parking lot was desolated with not a person in sight, and only a few vehicles which looked as if they belonged in a scrap yard
Kat POV“How about to Freedom, and all that it represents,” I suggested and he smiled slightly as he clinked his glass against mine. I could tell that he had been disappointed that I hadn’t toasted to our relationship. Sure, I believed him about Amia, and I knew that he was the man that “Kat the thief” had fallen in love with… but there was so much that had changed and I would be an utter idiot if I believed that I was the same person I was back then. “To Freedom,” Enzo toasted, taking a sip of the champagne. A weird tension pulsed between us, and I was desperate to get the joking, happy Enzo back. I slid from the booth, tugging Enzo with me as I dragged him to the dance floor. “What are you doing?” he asked, suspicious of my actions. I laughed and winked at him, turning to face him as I wrapped my arms around his neck. “I want to dance, and just forget everything that has happened.” His face instantly brightened, and he put his hands on my hips, swaying with me as the music chan
Kat POV“Not who you were expecting?” Damian laughed harshly as he pushed his way into my room. I stood by the door, my mouth slightly agape in a mix of shock and horror. I toyed with the idea of leaving Damian in my room and running somewhere else, but the look of rage in the man’s eyes made me second guess that option. “What do you want, Damian?” I asked, gathering what little courage I had in the face of his raw masculinity. He smiled slightly as he walked to the window - the exact spot he had held me mere days ago, probably remembering the way his body had claimed mine. But I wasn’t his, and I never would be. “I saw you with Enzo Castello,” he grumbled through clenched teeth, the anger returning to his gaze. “What were you doing with him?”I shrugged casually, brushing off his fury with a flick of my hand. “What has my being with Enzo got to do with you? You do not own me,” I enunciated slowly.He moved so fast that I had barely any time to gasp before he had me pinned up again
Kat POVI lay in my bed staring at the ceiling for most of the night, my mind restless as Damian’s words repeated themselves again and again. If I were to be honest with myself, they actually scared me. He seemed to be the kind of man who’s threats were always promises, and who would stop at nothing to see his goals accomplished - even if it meant destroying me. When I eventually fell asleep, it was a fitful sleep, and I woke up more exhausted than I had been the whole evening. Aurora lay on her bed, her head on her paws as she watched me. “Good morning,” I yawned, trying to summon all the strength I could to get out of bed and failing miserably. The wolf got up, padding over to me and nudging my hand before she grabbed the corner of the duvet and pulled it off me, the cool air instantly making goosebumps spread across my legs. “That’s not fair,” I pouted, forcing myself to get out of bed since it was no longer a safe haven. She looked at me smugly - if you can even say that a wol
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