MAEVE POV I needed a break. Just a little bit of time to myself to calm down and fully process everything that had happened today. Tonight’s banquet had taken an unexpected toll on me. First with that whole debacle involving Nicholas, then Xaden’s subsequent jealous rage—which he adamantly denie
I found it impossible to refuse such a request. With a slow, pensive swallow, I nodded, bracing myself against the tub for whatever I was about to hear. Xaden pushed his free hand through his hair. “My father…” he trailed off, gathering himself, “I believe I told you before that he believes we s
THIRD PERSON POV Four days ago, before the battle on the border… “You wanted to see me, Father?” Lucas asked, standing a short distance away from Alpha King Arlan’s desk. Admittedly, the summons had come as a little bit of a surprise. It was not too long ago when they’d had their conference re
Months prior, when it had become dangerously apparent that tensions with the bear shifters were quickly escalating, he had begun treaty negotiations with the nearby Vixen-Shifter Kingdom. There were many things at stake with this treaty in motion, but with Xaden firmly out of commission, they were b
XADEN POV Back to the present day, the morning following the banquet… Morning had finally come, bringing an end to that ridiculously long banquet, and I wasted no time in hurrying over to the palace training room. My body thrummed with pent-up tension, threatening to burst if left unattended. It
To her credit, Isabelle knew better than to dig herself into an even deeper hole than she already was in. She would do nothing that directly incriminated her, so she seemed to think it best to keep silent, albeit begrudgingly. That, I thought, was the smartest move she had made thus far. “For your
XADEN POV Before my mind could comprehend what was happening, my body hurled itself out of Lucas’s path of attack on its own accord. It took a couple of seconds to catch my breath from the sudden motion, eyes wide as I gazed at my brother, who was now, by all accounts, adequately peeved. His cle
“No,” he said, cutting me off. “This is by far greater than anything I could want. I cannot afford to be selfish, not when our kingdom is at stake.” Now that sounded an awful lot like our father talking. However, Lucas was an alpha in his own right. He had always been firm about his beliefs for