“It’s a shame to leave while the barley’s still green,” I murmur, turning my horse at the top of the hill, dropping a kiss to the top of Niall’s head as he sits before me in the saddle. “It’s so beautiful late in the summer.”
“What color does it turn?” Niall asks, fascinated, looking out over the fields of rippling grain as the entire court progresses on behind us, in carriages and on horseback, guards and soldiers flanking us on every side.
All precautions, Mahl assured me. He has no true fear.
“Gold,” I say, sighing, remembering back to days when I walked with my friend in the fields, our hands brushing soft over the scratchy tufts. “The barley turns most beautiful burnished gold.”
My little boy stays quiet and, curious, I peek at his face, bursting into laughter when I see disappointment there. “You don’t want it to
BOOK TWO**Midwinter, Five and a Half Years Ago***I moan, wrapping my arms fast around Auden’s neck, sloshing what’s left of my whiskey over his shoulder as he kisses me in the empty guard shack where we’re all alone on Midwinter night. But he doesn’t notice the whiskey soaking his shirt – or if he does, he clearly doesn’t give a damn –Instead, he wraps one arm tight around me, his other hand pressing tight to my lower back, pulling me closer against him –I give into it with abandon, my wolf howling her head off with want, kissing this man – this stranger – for all that I’m worth –At some point our cups drop to the floor but neither of us notice – I honestly don’t think I can hear anything with the sound of my heartbeat pounding in my ears. Auden’s mouth on mine has me all frantic – my breath coming in short gasps, my lips opening for him, everything moving so fast – his tongue pressing hot against mine, my hand lost in his hair, twisting the dark strands of it around my fingers –
“Are you really going to get married?”I blink out of the memory of what was…one of the most complicated nights of my life as I look down at my daughter, riding ahead of me as we climb the steep final path up to the gates of the Winter Palace. Vivianna – a beautiful, golden-haired consequence of that very complicated night.But consequence is too hard a word. Surprise. Gift. Yes, my gift. I drop a kiss to the top of her head. “Yes, I’m getting married,” I murmur, hoping that it’s a lie and that I can find a way to explain it all to her later. “You know this. I’m going to marry the King.”Vivianna frowns up at me. “But you don’t even love him!”I burst out laughing, shaking my head at her. “Of course I do. He is our King and your grandfather. We all love him.”God, she’ll have to forgive me for that blat
Mahl leaves me at the Queen’s Chambers with another big sloppy kiss.I wipe my mouth on my sleeve as I push the door shut, wondering how on earth Angeline ever liked that. But then again, if you’re in love with someone – or even just attracted to them – it is different.I sigh, leaning back against the door, looking around this room in which I have spent so many hours in years past. The memories come flooding back, hitting me like a rip tide and dragging me under into some very real grief.Angeline and I were so…happy here. I look over at the bed with its plum-colored velvet hangings, where we were sleeping the morning Angeline woke up with a gasp, realizing that she was pregnant. God, she was so happy – so excited…I let my eyes fall shut, forcing the memory away, because where that pregnancy lead her…No. I can’t go there. I have to keep myself together.I exhale slowly, opening my eyes and letting my gaze travel around the room, looking for a good memory to replace the difficult on
“Nice room,” Margot says, turning in a small circle and nodding appreciatively. “Yes, I think I’m going to like it here!”“You haven’t been in here before?” I ask, pressing the door shut and waving my friend toward the bed as I move to a little cupboard built into the wall next to the fireplace. As I open it, a little table conveniently unfolds from within, creating just enough space to mix a cocktail while the shelves above hold a variety of wine glasses and space for more bottles.Margot gasps, delighted. “This is so cute!” she says, leaving the cheese plate on the bed and scurrying over to me as I pull out a corkscrew and take the bottle from her hands. “And no, of course I haven’t been here. I wasn’t at court in your days, and Beth was…disinclined towards those of my profession.”I grin at her, opening the bottle with a pop. &ldq
Auden keeps his eyes on his father, ignoring the Alphas, knowing that this is a briefing, not a discussion. The King bangs his fist twice on the table. What murmurs there are in the room fade to silence.“Our armies will move to the Western border with Venda,” Mahl growls, looking around at his Alphas. “We’ll draw our troops back from the Eastern allies to move in force. We will take our time with this, let the Vendans sweat, think we’re moving slowly because we’re bullying them and intend to call for talks at the last minute. But no talks. We will strike.”It’s Auden’s plan, not Mahl’s – one the Prince dwelled over for hours on the road while the children slept. But the way Mahl speaks it with such confidence, he probably does think that he came up with it by this point.“In the intervening months,” Mahl growls, still looking around at all of his men, “we will celebrate our Kingdom’s power and imminent victory. This celebration will culminate in my wedding.”He gestures over to Everl
I’m about to turn to him and plead to be let go when Margot turns her face to me from across the room and gives her head a subtle shake. I hesitate for just a moment and then pause, considering that she may have a better plan than me.Margot laughs at one final thing an Alpha says before she detaches herself from his arm and saunters over to us, the silk of her dress flowing gorgeously over her hips. Mahl and I watch her come, his arm tightening around me, slipping lower so that his hand grips my ass – probably pretending it’s hers.“Highness,” Margot says, dipping into a curtsy and giving Mahl a coy look. “Thank you so much for this fantastic party –““Of course, Margot. I’m so glad you’re enjoying yourself. Though, I can imagine some ways for you to enjoy yourself more…”Margot smirks at Mahl and turns to me next, murmuring “darling” and reaching for me, pulling me into a hug. As she presses a kiss to my cheek, she whispers, her words falling swiftly from her lips. “Just go – I’ll h
“Are you…are you serious,” I whisper, snatching the pamphlet up and holding it close to my face like getting a better look is going to change the words or something. “He’s…is this true!? Is he coming here!?”“Looks like it,” Margot says. I lower the pamphlet to see her grimacing a little. “I can take it that…you and your ex didn’t leave things on pleasant terms?”I groan, dropping the pamphlet and again burying my face against the blankets. Because…bad terms is not an adequate phrase to encapsulate what happened when I called off my engagement to Alpha Wood.Catastrophe would be better. Brink of war? Threats of eternal damnation and the destruction of my family? Each of those is…closer to the point.“Oh, baby,” Margot murmurs, patting me softly on the back. “What could it possibly matter? You’re going to be a Queen now, and you’ve got Mahl behind you. No one can say a word against you. No matter what Wood says or does, you’re coming out with the upper hand.”I take a deep breath, real
I grin, thinking that they very much would. And that I’d die of anxiety watching them hurl themselves around on it, worried about them falling and breaking their bones.“Does it really get cold enough to freeze it solid like that?” After all, Mahl and his court come south to this winter palace because it’s more temperate than the north.“Oh, I’ve got methods to help it along,” Margot says. I turn back to her and she gives a little wink. “I’m a poor little winter girl at heart. I’ve got my methods of having fun.”I tilt my head, smiling at her, betting that she’s right.“So!” Margot says, giving me a bright smile. “How are you feeling about the Night of the Stag?”I groan again and she laughs.“Honestly, Everleigh,” she murmurs. “Don’t you enjoy anything?”“I enjoy peace, quiet, and…predict
To my surprise, no summons to dinner and festivities comes from Mahl that evening. Instead, I’m brought a sensible little supper in my rooms alongside a note from the King saying that his war council is running late. I gleefully pack up the little dinner, taking it with me across the rooftop to the children’s suite where I cuddle Niall and Vivi in my lap and hear all about their trials and victories on their first day at school.The same happens the next night, and the night after – to the point where I’m starting to wonder if Mahl has gotten sick of me. I mean, a pleasant turn but…One which I’m not sure I fully believe. Margot has been coming to breakfast, after all, filling me in on her activities. Apparently, Mahl has been calling for her at midnight and beyond after long days in meetings – wanting someone willing in his bed, I suppose, instead of a reluctant bride whom he has to coax and seduce.She told me that their meetings have been consis
I stare up at Auden, because he can’t possibly mean that he wants me to come to him tonight -But he frowns a me, confused, and my wolf slumps to the ground of my soul with a wolfish little moan of mortification. Because yeah! He can’t possibly mean that! It’s just me, with my filthy dream-addled little mind that was thinking that he could have wanted that.I clench my teeth against a groan.“Are you all right?” Auden asks, stepping forward, reaching out a hand to support me.“I’m fine,” I sigh, stepping away and turning towards the center of the children’s room, walking unsteadily over to Vivianna’s little bookshelf and placing the tiara on top. I take the opportunity of my turned back to pull myself together, my wolf regaining her feet and shaking out her fur, newly determined not to be such a mess.“So…” Auden says. I turn to see him watching me, still leaning against the wall, expression bemused. “Are you com
“Mom won’t let me wear my tiara!” Viv shouts, stepping towards her papa, knowing he’s the easier mark. She lifts a hand to her head as she goes, holding the too-large diamond-encrusted headpiece on her blonde hair. I sigh as I watch, thinking that such an incredible piece of jewelry is far too fine for a little girl who is definitely going to drop it on the floor at any moment.Honestly, she should just give it to me. You know. For safekeeping.“Why on earth do you want to wear a tiara, Viv,” Auden murmurs, looking behind him and tossing the hand towel onto the table by his own room. “You’ll be playing and learning –““Because it is pretty!” she snaps. “And mine!”Auden grimaces, looking first at the clock and then at me, opening his mouth. I step forward, my jaw dropping, because I can see the concession on his lips.“Don’t you dare, Auden!” I snap, pointing a finger at him and glaring hard. “She ca
I blink awake, staring at the ceiling of my castle room in the dark, grief rushing through me alongside awe.Because that dream…it was so vivid. Like I was…there, feeling everything in the moment like it had been real. The feel of his skin against mine, god damn it, I felt it. It was like…a memory relived, more than a dream.I sigh, turning my face to the side, looking over at Margot’s good-dream cakes, wondering if the name is a lie. Because while the events of that dream were fairly fantastic and I have woken all limp and languid as if I really did just have the best sex of my life…God, but that’s cruel. To give me an experience that was so real, to which my actual life will never, ever live up. My wolf howls, wanting me to close my eyes so I can go back to that dream – but I shake my head, knowing that I can’t.How had the little cake
He snarls, pleased, a predator now as he thrusts himself hard into me, claiming me with every stroke. My entire body shakes as I gasp again and again, what’s left of my mind ringing with the truth of it – with how fucking good and right it feels to make myself his, to give myself completely to him, to his pleasure –I feel it, somehow, building in him as it builds in me. My breath is nothing but fervid little gasps as he pounds me harder, his hand wrapped in my hair, pain mingling with pleasure as I dig my nails into the flesh of his back, begging him for more. I curl against him, my entire body tensing with every stroke, and I feel him watching me – taking pleasure in my helpless gasps as he strokes again and again –He growls, a command as I come to the end of it and I moan – heavy and true, my eyes pressed shut, my teeth finding his shoulder as that tension winds so tight –His fingers press
**Midwinter, Five and a Half Years Ago**I move my hand slowly up and down Auden’s cock, reveling a little at the feel of it thick and heavy against my palm even has half of my attention is on his mouth, moving fervidly over mine. I moan – just a soft, throaty noise - completely overwhelmed by him. The size and sheer power of this Alpha –God damn it but I want him. Heat builds low in my body, a fluttering tension growing in my core.Auden’s hips flex, pressing himself tighter against my palm, stroking the length of that fantastic cock against my hand as he leverages himself above me, his weight held up on his forearms as he finishes kicking his pants off, leaving them in a heap at the other end of the couch.He pulls his mouth away from me for a moment, panting, looking down into my face. And I see him hesitate, even as I continue to stroke him. His eyes flutter shut for a moment as I move
Auden kiss Everleigh fiercely, intent as his hand moves over the bodice of her dress, feeling the shape of her beneath the fabric. His hand slips around to her back, fumbling with the laces there as Evie kisses him back, their tongues pressing against each other in a way that makes him…absolutely insane.All the thoughts slip from Auden mind as Everleigh shifts in his lap, sliding her thigh over his so that she’s again straddling his hips, her face leveled slightly above Auden’s so that his head tilts back just as she kisses him. Somehow his fingers fumble with the strings, pulling at them, feeling them loosen –But he’s not sure how his hands manage that – because all of his thoughts are entirely overwhelmed by the scent of her filling his nostrils, the need he has to touch her skin, to get these stupid clothes off her, to see her – his mate – bare for him –Naked, entire
**Midwinter, Five-and-a-Half Years Ago**Auden just stares at her for a long, long moment. The most beautiful girl he’s ever seen, without a doubt. Here, in his arms, looking up at him with her clear blue eyes.Then, to his shock, her hands keep moving. He looks around for the mask – where did she toss it? But it’s nowhere. He’s distracted by the thought as her hands move over her hair, his eyes going wide as –As the color leeches out of it –Auden’s jaw is hanging open by the time she lowers her hands to her lap, grimacing a little. “Blonde,” she says, glancing upwards like she can see it – all the lovely sunshine hair tumbling from her head, landing halfway down her back.“What…the hell…” Auden whispers, completely rigid with shock.She grimaces. “You don’t like blondes?&
He shakes his head. “I don’t even know Angeline. She seems very nice – and fun. I think I will like her, I just…I can’t believe they’re having a kid.” He exhales, running a hand through his hair, staring off into the distance as he processes it.“Your first sibling,” I murmur, my brows rising as I sip the last of my whiskey and put the cup on the floor. “Do you want a brother or a sister?”He smirks and turns his eyes back to me. “I want you to stop distracting me.”I grin, caught. “But it’s such a fun distraction.”He laughs, leaning towards me and reaching out, wrapping his wide hand around one of my ankles. “Fun for you. I’m still tortured.”“Oh, come on,” I say, shaking my head and letting my red hair fall around my face. “We can discuss baby names. They could name your new sibling after