Dear readers, Turns out you know me too well ;) hope the end of this chapter at least was a bit of a surprise xx
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 POV“Who would dare to attack a guest in our home?” my uncle fumed, pacing back and forth to the point that I was sure that he would wear a groove in the floor of his office. Vasilios stood by the window, blocking most of the light and leaving a gigantic shadow on the floor. “I don’t know, Your Majesty. But it strikes me as strange that whoever attacked Prince Dimitri and his supporter did not kill either of them. In fact, it appears as if this was a deliberate ploy to stop the union between Princess Katerina and Prince Dimitri.” I chewed on my bottom lip, trying to keep myself from blurting out that there was no way in this universe that I would ever be forced into a relationship with that brute. I would honestly throw myself off the edge of the earth before I could ever find myself in bed with the monster. “Yes, I thought that was strange too,” my uncle mused, scratching his chin as he glanced at me out of the corner of his eye. I froze, wondering what my uncle was planning.
Kat POV“My man has been severely injured by one of your rabid dogs,” Dimitri spat out as soon as we entered the room. Just like that, all eyes were glued to my uncle and myself, waiting like vultures for the showdown they presumed would lead to bloodshed between our species. Otis and another elderly man from the council called Yanis, sat with rather smug expressions on their faces, as if they were enjoying every moment of it.“Come, Prince Dimitri,” my uncle tried to reason. “Let us talk about this in private where we do not have such an interested audience.” Dimitri snorted and grabbed the bottle of vodka from the table, taking a swig straight from the bottle which was half empty. “And let you trick me more than you already have? You promised me a union with your niece, but instead she is willing to spread her legs for every man beside me.”A gasp ran through the room as the accusation reached the spectators’ ears, and I’m pretty darn sure that the whole kingdom would be told that
Kat POVI hid out in my bedroom for the rest of the day, not able to summon up the courage to face the vultures which made up the Royal Court. I was also terrified to run into Damian, suspecting that the man was most likely behind the attack on the bears. And even if he wasn’t, he unsettled me. The sunlight faded quickly beyond the horizon, painting the sky with brilliant pink and golden hues which faded into the darkness of the night. Winter was well on its way, the night air cool even in the confines of my bedroom. I grabbed a blanket and wrapped it around me as I sat on my bed, wishing that I had someone to talk to about everything - wishing that Giulia was there. Her absence hadn’t felt as profound before that moment, even with everything that I had been going through in my brief time in Slovenia. “I do miss the days when I was just Kat,” I said aloud to no one in particular - Aurora had slipped out of the room hours ago, probably sick of my moping around. I sighed and lay down,
Kat POVThe sound of screaming pierced through my dreams and tore me from the peaceful sleep I had been enjoying. It was a tortured sound, as if someone was in true agony and panic filled me. I reached for Enzo subconsciously, only the side of the bed he had lain on was empty and cold - Enzo was long gone. The screaming seemed to be getting louder, joined by men’s angry voices and the stomping of boots along the hardwood flooring in the hallway. “What on earth is going on?” I whispered to myself, switching the bedside light on and looking around the dimly lit room. Aurora lay in her bed, her head on her paws as she watched me, obviously not as concerned with the commotion outside as I was. I clambered out of bed, grabbing my dressing gown as I made my way to the door to investigate, and had barely reached the door when it was flung open. My uncle stood, gripping the doorknob so hard that his knuckles had turned white, his jaw clenched and his face pale. “What’s wrong?” I asked in
Kat POVThe blood in my veins turned to ice as Damian uttered Enzo’s name, confidence oozing from him which made me feel sick to my stomach. “There is no fucking way that Enzo Castello killed Yanis,” Vasilios ground out through clenched teeth, a slight growl to his voice. “Yes. Enzo wouldn’t have attacked anyone,” I agreed, trying to sound more forceful than I felt. Damian casually circled me, like a bird of prey circling its next meal and waiting for the best opportunity to pounce on it. “If Enzo didn’t attack Yanis, then why did he sneak into the castle in the first place? And don’t try to tell everyone that he didn’t sneak in - I have evidence.”He held up his cellphone and waved it about, indicating that something on the device would incriminate Enzo. “Oh, come on Damian,” Vasilios grunted. “You know Enzo well enough to know that he’s just not like that. He had another reason to sneak into the castle, and it had nothing to do with killing anyone.”Damian shrugged, “then it is
Enzo POVDrip. Drip. Drip. I pried my eyes open, but it didn’t make any difference. The darkness around me was so thick that it seemed to swallow whatever light tried to enter its domain, and not even my werewolf senses could decipher where I was. I groaned as I struggled to sit up, my head throbbing as if someone had taken a hammer to my skull. “What the hell happened?” I moaned, rubbing the spot on the side of my head that seemed to be swollen. For the life of me, I couldn’t remember. The last thing I recalled was making myself some breakfast, a grin on my face after the wonderful night I had spent making love to Kat. “Fuck, what if that had been a dream?” I whispered, panic suddenly flooding my body as doubt made me question my memories. “Had it all been a dream?”The damp surface I was lying on seemed too familiar, but at least this time there were no chains. I double checked, rubbing my hands down my legs to my ankles and breathed a sigh of relief when I found that there was
Kat POV“You’ve got to eat something,” Cassie insisted as she pressed a sandwich into my hands. I met her red rimmed eyes and reminded myself that I wasn’t the only one who was affected by Enzo’s imprisonment. Cassie and Vasilios were equally distraught, and had backed me a hundred percent when I decided I could not live in the castle knowing that the man I loved was a few feet below me in some damp and dark prison cell. Cassie had been the one to suggest that I stay with them, and Vasilios supported the decision - even going up against my uncle when he tried to fight against the move. A door slammed shut as Vasilios entered the cottage, his face looking older than he had seemed just a few days ago. “Luca and Eliana will be here soon. Their plane has already landed, and they are just waiting for permission to enter the Royal lands,” he announced as he picked up the sandwich from the plate Cassie handed to him. I felt my stomach form a hard knot as nervous energy pulsed through me.
Kat POVThe dining hall was abuzz as Enzo and I followed Elijah into the crowded room. People immediately stepped aside and bowed to us as we passed, something I felt that I would never get used to. As the crowd parted, a sight I could have never even imagined had me stumbling, my feet refusing to cooperate with me. Giulia stood proudly in the middle of the room, her hair pulled back from her face and tied in a high ponytail which made her look rather fierce. She wore a pair of jeans and a halterneck top which revealed the scars on her arms from her months of torture at the hands of Fabio, and yet she wore them proudly, as if they were a sign of resilience which I guess they were. But that wasn’t the sight that had my stomach clenching. No, it was the sight of Sofia Milano - Mother in the flesh - kneeling before Guilia with her hands tied behind her back. The image was a far cry from the woman I had known back in Italy, her face bare of the bold makeup she had preferred and the pe
Kat POVI felt the icy fingers of fear wrap around my heart as Damian let out a deep growl, his eyes glued on me. He was going to kill me, of that I was sure, and my beloved Enzo was going to watch it all. “I guess you get to choose how you die,” Anka giggled, tapping her dagger on her chin. “My blade, or your lover’s hands.” Anka swung her blade out at me, catching me off guard and the sharp steel sank into my forearm. I let out a hiss in pain as I jumped backwards, my hip crashing into the cement balustrade of the balcony. “Kat!” I heard Enzo call out followed by a strange metallic sound. Damian launched himself forward, anger in his eyes as his heavy footsteps thudded on the stone flooring as he began to run at me. I gripped the banister, my body frozen in fear and dread. This was it. This was how I was going to meet my death. It was as if it all happened in slow motion as Damian’s body shifted ever so slightly as he ran, and I saw something flash in his eyes - almost as if he
Otis POV“Was it really necessary to lock ourselves in this room?” Henry grumbled from across the colossal dining table in the palace dining hall. “We could have stayed in our rooms, or left Slovenia entirely.”Gunter let out a deep sigh, “would you have liked Katerina’s rebels to twist the narrative to make it seem as if we were letting her take the throne? No. We stay put until Anka kills the little bitch, and then we announce the victory with pride.”Devon nodded enthusiastically before adding, “besides, it is best that we are together while the killing of Katerina takes place. No one would be able to say that we intervened in any way, even though Damian is there to make sure that the job is done. That was a clever idea, Otis. Well done old man.”A smile tugged on the corner of my mouth but I bit my cheek to stop it from escaping. I would be lying if I were not proud of my plan. Having one of Katerina’s mates be the instrument of her death while the other was forced to watch? That w
Kat POV“Damian.”I breathed his name, my voice failing me as I watched him confidently stand beside Anka, her personal bodyguard.“What the hell did they do to you?” Enzo shouted his way, but Damian didn’t even respond in the slightest… not even a twitch of a muscle or a blink.Vasilios gripped the bars beside my head even tighter, his fists turning white as his voice dropped to a mere whisper. “That is Damian, right? It isn’t Darius?”Jurgen nodded… well, I think he nodded because the next words out of Vasilios’s mouth were, “what the fuck did they do to him? He doesn’t even look like he recognises us!”I had honestly wondered why I hadn’t seen Damian on the battlefield, and a part of me had hoped that he had escaped – oh, how wrong I had been.“Ah, I see you haven’t forgotten my darling pet over here,” Anka purred, stroking Damian’s cheek lovingly. “When the council asked me to choose who I wanted to serve me, I could think of no one better than the King of the Rogues. Ha! King!”S
Enzo POV“It has to be a trap,” I grumbled as I stomped up the hill toward the castle with Kat by my side, her hand in mine. “Are you certain that you need to do this? None of us will blame you if you cancel and tell Anka that the fight should be on neutral ground.” She sighed and leaned against me as we walked, lifting our joined hands to kiss mine. “If I try to back out now, she will twist the situation and make it seem as if I have bowed down to her. Anka is a master manipulator, and I can’t take that chance.” I didn’t like it, not one bit. But Kat was determined to end this fight for the crown today, and nothing I could say or do would change her mind. She didn’t even let the rest of her guards follow us up to the castle - only Vasilios and myself had been allowed to accompany her, with Jurgen trailing behind like a beaten puppy. He was just mopey because his mate still hadn’t been returned to his side after being taken for medical treatment. She and the rest of the council’s
Kat POVAnka stood just on the edge of the parking lot, two of her bear bodyguards beside her with guns and a mean glint in their eyes. Okay, I might have been too far away to see their eyes, but I’m pretty sure that they looked as mean up close as they did from my distance away. “Oh, Katerina,” Anka laughed bitterly, “I wouldn’t have thought you would be so stupid to have come back to Slovenia, but I guess you couldn’t tell that you aren’t welcome. If you had a death wish, you should have just said so. I’m sure my men would be happy to oblige you.” Anka laughed at her own joke and the bears chimed in, causing the hair at the back of my neck to stand up. Aurora growled lowly and the men kneeling before me slowly stood up, creating a shield with their bodies against any attack. “Why should I be afraid of her?” I asked myself, shaking my head. I nudged Vasilios aside and stepped in front of him as Enzo tried to pull me back, but I shrugged off his hand and he came to stand beside m
Kat POVI had heard so much about the way adrenaline pumped through the body when you’re in battle that it’s like someone else takes over - and I guess they were right - but no one had ever told me the effects of coming down off of that adrenaline high. One look at the dead bodies strewn across the parking lot had my stomach churning, and I realised that I had actually killed someone. The nausea clawed its way up my throat, and I couldn’t hold back any longer, emptying whatever was in my stomach in a manner which certainly didn’t suit a princess. “Are you alright, Kat?” I heard my brother-in-law ask, concern evident in his voice. I nodded to Luca as I wiped my mouth on my sleeve, fighting the dry heaves which I knew were far from gone. “Of course she is alright, Castello,” Jurgen replied, his chest puffed out as if he had something to do with my composure. “She is Princess Katerina, the only royal woman to ever have joined in a battle.” I blinked hard as my voice found its own fr
Jurgen POVI had expected a tough battle - I think we all had - but some part of me had envisioned it happening on the hills of the Slovenian countryside and not in the parking lot of Enzo’s nightclub. The rogues rushed at us in waves, hoping to overpower us by their sheer numbers, but they were untrained and their fighting was sloppy. Perhaps that was why the Council decided to send in their brainwashed drones.The first soldier who attacked me took me by surprise, his strength and technique so vastly different to that of the rogues. I barely managed to drop him when another launched at me, and then another. I could hear my own heartbeat in my ears as I was confronted by three of the Council’s soldiers, and for a brief moment I doubted my abilities. “You are a blessed wolf, Jurgen,” I gave myself my go-to pep talk. “You were touched by the light of the moon, and you can get through this.” I guess it helped as my hands were soon coated with the blood of one of my attackers, the ot
Enzo POVIt happened so quickly that it was almost as if it had been practiced, like some choreographed scene in one of those cheesy action movies Luca loved. The whole room seemed to shake as the back wall of my club crumbled, and rogues covered in dust and building debris stormed in. I barely saw Jurgen and Vasilios exchange a glance, their unspoken commands to each other once again reminding me of why they were such a great team in battle. If it hadn’t been for the pair of them and their cohesive strength, I would probably have died back when I was being held prisoner by that band of sadistic humans. The sound of Vasilios’s battle cry yanked me from my memories, and I watched as he charged toward the sea of rogues, my brother close behind. “We have to get Kat to safety,” Jurgen shouted above the chaos, grabbing her around the shoulders and steering her back to the front door of the club. “If we can get her into the parking lot, we can hide her away in one of the cars.”Kat opene