*Maddox*In my office, I sit by myself and ponder what to do. I have a few options, but mostly, I need to do whatever I can to shore up my defenses. It seems quite clear that I’m beginning to lose control of the kingdom.I can’t even keep people safe in my own fucking backyard.Finding one of the maids who was in Zabrina’s service shouldn’t be too hard. I believe she abandoned all of them when she left here. I know none of them left the castle with her, and I doubt that her mother would have taken many of the maids that serviced her daughter with her when she left since she had her own maids. And Zabrina’s friends. She had brought a couple of her cronies along. I’m pretty sure they left with their Luna.So… what would we have done with extra maids? I’m guessing they would probably have just been assigned to tasks within my household.I pick up the phone and call the number that goes to the head maid’s room. I have no fucking idea who it is now since Mrs. Whateverthefuckhernameis was f
*Maddox*“You’re the mastermind behind all of this?” I ask Luna Elaine.“That’s right,” she says, “and while you may have killed my daughter today, don’t think that it’s enough to stop me. If you want to keep your kingdom, you’re going to have to figure out who else is the enemy, Alpha King Maddox, and my revelation as the bad guy probably isn’t going to be the most shocking event related to this uprising.”Her words have me seething, and I wish I could reach through the phone and smack her in the face. “If you honestly think that you can bring me down, you’re wrong,” I tell her. “You’re not capable of it, Elaine.”She laughs, and it reminds me of her daughter’s witch’s cackle. Just when I thought I’d never hear that sound again, here it is, in my ear. “You are very confident, Maddox.” She says my name with a disrespectful lilt, and while I’m sure that’s because I’ve used her first name without her title, and she’s just trying to get me back, I don’t appreciate it.“I am confident,” I
Beginning of Book 3*Isla*Water laps at the boat as we glide across the water. The larger waves we encountered a couple of days ago, waves that made me question my decision to do this and think that there was a good chance I was going to end up in the ocean, have died down, and now, it’s just a calm, rolling motion that makes me want to fall asleep.But I can’t do that.I haven’t been able to sleep for days, weeks, not since I had decided that this was something I had to do, even when Maddox had forbidden me to leave the castle.Fighting with him absolutely breaks my heart, but I have my reasons for being here. He didn’t understand that. He didn’t want to listen to me.I’d taken advantage of the problems he was having, and now, I am here… even though he may never forgive me for what I’ve done.Rubbing my hand along my abdomen, I stare out at the ocean, pressing my aching back to the bench behind me. Traveling while so very pregnant is just as uncomfortable as Mystica had warned me th
*Isla*Six months earlier…I am two months pregnant, and I can tell when I look at my reflection in the full-length mirror.Poppy says I’m glowing. I’m not sure about that, but I think my hair looks a little thicker, and maybe my eyes are a little shinier. I swear my nose is beginning to change shape.And then there’s my abdomen. It’s not noticeable to anyone else, I don’t believe, but I can see a slight change. It’s kind of like when I’ve eaten too much, or I’m bloated. I smooth down the front of the sequined red dress I’m wearing and stare at it for a long moment. Yes, I can definitely see a change.I haven’t gained any weight yet. Mystica says that’s typical since I’ve been having a bit of morning sickness. Anything I eat or drink tends to come right back up. She gave me some medicine, and that helps, but I am leery of taking anything since I don’t know how the baby might be affected by the poison I was given when I was just barely pregnant with him.Satisfied that I look good, I t
*Maddox*I need to get up and get back to work, but I can’t. Lying here with Isla cradled against my chest, the smell of our lovemaking still heavy in the air, is soothing, and the rest of the world is cold and angry.Going back out there seems senseless. Why would I do that when I can simply stay here with her?“What is it, Maddox?” she asks, her voice heavy with sleep. “I know something is troubling you. More so than usual.”I can’t help the chuckle that escapes my lips. She knows me so well. “I was going to say, since when is there a time when something isn’t bothering me?”She turns her blue eyes on me, and I smile at her, brushing my thumb across her cheek. “Have you had any progress whatsoever?”A sigh slips out of my mouth, and I tell her, “Yes and no. It’s a slow process, baby. We have to go pack by pack, person by person, and convince them all that turning against me as the rightful king is a huge mistake.”“But there are so many packs that have been infiltrated in one way or
*Isla*Saying goodbye to Maddox is always impossibly difficult to do, and the more pregnant I become with our baby, the harder it becomes.A few days after he introduced me to Commander Pepelos, the amber-eyed man is walking just behind us as I escort Maddox to the vehicle that is waiting for him.“I’ll call you as soon as I can,” the Alpha King says, patting his pocket where he has a cell phone. They are not common among our people, as most of us prefer the old-fashioned ways of communication and don’t necessarily trust this new technology, but I insist that he have one to call me with when he’s out this far away, where the mind-link won’t work.“I will be waiting to hear from you.” Perhaps I should say something more comforting, like I understand he’ll be busy, and he should take his time, but I don’t. I want him to know that I will be expecting to hear from him because I am already feeling anxious just knowing he’ll likely be gone far longer this time.Not to mention, he’ll be nego
*Isla*“Lift the curse?”I can’t help but repeat the phrase Commander Pepelos has just said to me. Confusion washes over me, not for the first time. “What are you talking about?” I ask him. “How do you know all of this about Maatua?”He shakes his head. “I don’t think this is the right place to discuss this, Your Highness. Why don’t we go inside, into your private chambers, and we can discuss it there.”“My private chambers?” Nothing he has said makes the statement sound suggestive at all, but I am wondering what people will think if they find out I have some strange man in my room, not a half an hour after Maddox has left the castle to go find out what is happening with the war.“Or the library. Whatever room you think is most secure.” He walks to the exterior door and pulls it open, gesturing for me to walk inside first.I do and nod my thanks, and the two of us are relatively quiet as we walk down the hallway.I am leading him to my room. Not on purpose, but I’m considering everyth
*Maddox*The drive to Cliff’s Edge pack will take several hours. If so many of the packs between our territory and Alpha Charlton are hostile right now, it’s best if we take our troops around them. The last thing I want to do is give the impression that we might be moving in, planning an invasion, because some of these packs have been rumored to be aligned with Beach Front.As we meander through the countryside, my long convo of military vehicles following along in parade order, my mind goes back to the information I’ve gotten from my commanders in the field. Both Commander Vember and Commander Givens have supplied me with plenty of information. I need to make sure that my alliances are strong in the few packs that are closer to Beach Front that might still might be willing to help me.“We are expected by Alpha Charlton, but he is a bit leery of our arrival,” Seth says from his seat next to me in the second row in the SUV. “He’s afraid that the other packs in the area might decide to