~Jeanette's Point of View~
My mate carried me, holding me tight like he’d never let me go. But at the same time he held me like I was a delicate flower he didn’t want to crush or hurt. There were so many damn emotions, heavy thoughts in my brain all at once I didn’t know if I was coming or going.
*Coming, always,* Hannah said, snickering.
I rolled my eyes. Oh goddess, she’s bad enough! Now I got two new people to get figured out.
I seriously hope he’s not one of those macho assholes who expects his mate to be a virgin. Cause that dog won’t hunt. Shouldn’t he be happy I’ll know how to please him instead? Wait, so … was I admitting I would mate him? That I wanted to please him?
~Trixie’s Point of View~ KNOCK KNOCK KNOCK I drew a deep breath. Damien. Well heck, I had probably now been laying on the floor for an hour. And I was hungry again. “I’m coming in baby,” he said, the door gently pushed open. By now I had rolled myself a bit from the wall, but I hadn’t ever made it to the bed. Without a word he put his arms under me, effortlessly picking me up and laying me on the soft quilt covering the mattress. He quickly laid next to me and pulled me into his chest. “I don’t know what happened between you and Dawson but he’s … switched on. Is the best way I can say it. He’s running on all cylinders at a million miles a minute,
~Damien’s Point of View~ “What the hell is wrong with me,” Dawson snapped, smashing his fist into the desk. “Short list or long list,” I said, snorting. But this was no laughing matter. He ignored me anyhow. He quickly buried his hands in his hair, it was in desperate need of a cut and I knew that had to bother him. He always had his hair cut about every ten to twelve days exactly. He was coming up on a month and he’d probably lose it and get a razor soon. “You’re not always going to be able to control her, anymore than you can control me. You shouldn’t want to control her. She’s been nothing but leashed her entire life,” I said, knowing I had some blame in it too.
~Trixie’s Point of View~I was sitting and waiting for Brad to get out of the shower, apparently he had just woken up. Just another question I had for him about his life and lifestyle. No where important to be and apparently that was just fine by him. He’d shaven but he still really needed a haircut.My whole life it was ingrained into my brain, “if you have time to lean you have time to clean.” No rest for a servant, barely ever even time to pee. You had to sneak it in with lightning speed and act like it never even happened. If you got sick? You were tired from having to practically sleep with one eye open to make sure no one messed with you? Forget it, you sucked it up no matter what.“Sorry about that sweetheart, the night got away from me a
~Jeanette’s Point of View~ “Are you gonna go away, like ever at all,” I snapped, staring down at Draven who was sitting just outside my cabin door. He’d slept out there, in the dirt in front of my cabin door. All night. A prince of the ten kingdoms. At first I was just gonna see how long he’d stay, but then he didn’t leave. I finally fell asleep, feeling calm and relaxed, my wolf happy her mate was close. But she damn sure let me know she wasn’t happy he wasn’t in our bed keeping us warm. My bunkmates thought I was an idiot as well but I didn’t owe them a damned explanation. They just saw a hot guy and a meal ticket for life. He hadn’t been more than a couple steps away from me since we shifted back to human, he even waited outside the bathroom. Maybe he just cou
~Trixie’s Point of View~ My chat with Brad was just one revelation after another, and I shared a lot of things with him as well. Before I knew it, I was sobbing in his arms over my trust issues with my mates. He had some kind words but no real advice. I was left to wonder if he just didn’t want to meddle, or he flat out didn’t know what to say. I asked if he would come to the palace once we left camp and he said he would let me know. I left the medical cabin and just wandered. Oddly enough I found myself on the dock at the lake where Mallory had tried to drown me. Cause to her I was just a stupid Kingdom 10 whore that no one would miss, not even human. I sat on the edge and took off my shoe
~Trixie’s Point of View~ Obviously it was too soon to know if I was pregnant but I’d seen more than enough pregnant females to know how crazy their hormones get and right now mine were beyond control. I loved them, I hated them. I wanted to love them. I wanted to hate them. The whole flipping family! Ugh! I left the dock and ran toward the field where the helicopter would land. The moment I saw them both jump out, any rational thinking went out the window, down the hill and sank deep into a bottomless pit. My whole body heated up watching Damien’s hair in the wind from the blades moving. Damien was the one closest to me and as if he could sense it … and maybe he could, he took off running toward me. I ran as well until his big arms enveloped me, pulling me close. He wa
~Dawson’s Point of View~ Things finally seemed to be falling into place. Chaos and absolute mayhem had been ruling me for the past two days and it had to stop. I needed order, I needed structure or I was going to have a psychotic break. I didn’t do well when I wasn’t the one in control. Surely planning a wedding, and a coronation would put things back on track. I liked planning, because it means no surprises. It will be done as I see fit. I liked to know all the elements that went into pulling off an event and seeing it come to fruition. I set up a command center in the medical building since it wasn’t used very much. There was an area around the lake being set up for reporters to come in, where we would make our announcements and they could ask Trixie and Jeanet
~Jeanette’s Point of View~ I ran away from the stupid faced prince that thought too much of himself. I pitied Trixie immensely, as if she didn’t have enough on her plate she had to deal with that egotistical sack of crap. How could she stand him?! *Let’s run it off,* Hannah said, and I nodded. That was the ticket. I made my way to the far side of the lake and I saw dozens of press setting up cameras. They weren’t gonna pressure me into anything. I hadn’t even talked to my mama yet! I found a big tree and stripped then Hannah took over. I tried like all heck to be quiet so nobody would know what I was doing. I needed to think and that wasn’t going
~Two Years Later~ ~Willow’s Point of View~ “It’s so dang hard to believe isn’t it,” Jeanette said, as we watched our mates and pups swimming in the lake. We made a pact that every year, during our birth month we would come back to camp, if only for the day. You can do that kind of nonsense when you’re a royal with a helicopter at your disposal. Of course there were so many of us now the poor pilot had to make two trips. Maybe three depending on how many people wanted to come. “It really is,” I said, shifting my son Dylan in my arms. He was only a month old and certainly not ready for swimming. But we’d get him there. Thankfully he slept through anything and everything, and if he woke … well a boob in his fac
Ten Weeks Later ~Willow’s Point of View~ Trying to find a new normal when so many of us in the palace were still totally new to this life must be what it’s like for a first grade teacher. Kids that are somewhat eager to learn but mostly want to play with their friends and just have lunch and recess. Only us pregnant hippos loved our nap times. It seemed like all we did was have meetings and eat. I wasn’t complaining since I knew it was all important stuff. But it definitely seemed like we were all just making it up as we went. We had some “guidance” but no real adult to stand there and say ‘this is what you do’. Jeanette and I often joked that we were playing house and the real owners would be home soon. It
~Dawson’s Point of View~ The ladies had now been in mom’s room for nearly an hour. Watching them on the cameras made me absolutely sick. They also gossiped freely, truly believing no one was listening. They trashed mom, talked about how she didn’t appreciate her fine things. But oh, they would. They would take better care of her stuff. They were all far more deserving. They already had plans for certain gowns, for upcoming events. I hoped they truly enjoyed their last minutes of freedom and complete indulgence. I was ready to reign down absolute fire on these damn females. At least five pieces of jewelry had been pocketed. They did it without a second thought, and bragged about it. I had to leave the room several times because I got so pissed off. I just saw red. Befor
~Willow’s Point of View~ I absolutely felt this was an all hands on deck situation. I was currently standing in my mates’ office along with Draven, William, Victoria, Jeanette, Brad, Mom, Nicholas and some others that Dawson insisted were their top security people. He was confident they were absolutely trustworthy. I quickly told them my vision then my plan and everyone stared back at me in shock. “Those raggedy bitches,” Dawson said, slamming his fist into the desk and causing splinters to fly. He got one stuck in his hand and my mom quickly went to work getting it out. “I just had this feeling there was something more we were missing. Some
~Willow’s Point of View~ Draven arranged for Victoria, Jeanette and myself to meet with Delia’s girlfriends. I wasn’t sure exactly why it had to be us specifically but I supposed they felt it would grease their wheels. It would be easier to talk with three pregnant she-wolves than with four huge and intimidating lycans. Two that have big crowns on their heads whether they actually do at the moment or not. I supposed talking to anyone with the word ‘King’ in front of their name would be nerve wracking. Although I really enjoyed the talks I had with Dante. He was very easy to speak to, but maybe that was because I was mated to his son. He may not have been as warm and welcoming with everyone. Now, I would certainly treasure them. The tender moments we shared.
~Draven’s Point of View~ For three days now I’ve been an orphan. My entire life the big legacy of the Dubois Drexel families was drilled into my mind until I could recite our family tree by heart. In some regards I felt as if it was all slipping away. I looked at my brothers and our mates and knew that wasn’t true but it still seemed that way. You can take all the precautions in the world, have the finest security. Live in a damn palace and it doesn’t matter. Feeling safe is just that, a feeling. It’s not real. I put my head on Jeanette’s shoulder as the minister began to speak. Our family believed in cremation, at least half your ashes were to be carried by the wind. The rest could be buried or kept b
~Damien's Point of View~ By the time I got back to my mom’s room, dad had fallen asleep. His heartbeat was a bit slower than I liked and his color was off, but I didn’t see what we could do about it. I ordered another bed to be brought in and I didn’t know why I didn’t think of it sooner. It took my brother and I along with two male nurses to get him into the bed and situated. We pushed the beds together making one. Draven then joined their hands. Dad seemed just as lifeless. I wanted him to wake up and fight with me, argue with me about staying out all night. Tell me I wasn’t going to amount to anything. Just say something, have life behind his eyes. He looked nothing like the virile and strong King he was just a month ago. I knew Draven was having the same thoughts.
~Willow’s Point of View~ We literally had no way to get an unconscious Dawson out of the medical ward without anyone seeing. It was bad enough I just ran through like someone was dying, people would want to know why. I hated having to be so accountable to people, having to explain myself. It was quite a burden to shoulder. *Can’t just walk around naked huh? That sucks. Guess what I can do that,* Mila said. I nearly snorted. Like I didn’t know. Ever since the incident where she almost made me pee my pants during a rather important time, she’s been constantly reminding me of things she can get away with and do that I can’t. *What’s wrong with our mate,* she asked, as I stroked his hair.
~Dawson’s Point of View~ She couldn’t die, I wouldn’t accept that. For all her faults she was my mother, the only one I’d ever have. She gave her entire life to her children, to the crown. To the Drexel dynasty. Half the palace was gathered outside the medical ward, desperate for word. The word was, she was in a coma and it wasn’t likely she would wake. The staff loved mother, they were all highly devoted. When Willow brought to my attention that Maxwell could have potentially poisoned something in her room, we literally gutted it and sent all her products for testing. We were still waiting to get the results back, I’d just gotten off the phone with the lab and after some choice words they promised to have it all done today.