Entering Madeline’s chambers, I immediately spot a familiar face. The handmaiden attending Madeline I recognize as Nina’s old handmaiden Molly. I suppose Nina acted alone in her treachery of me, but it still seems strange to see her handmaiden again, standing there smiling vaguely as if nothing happ
Madeline, Molly, and I all watch the growing hole on the floor until it finally stops hissing. As I place the now-empty teacup back on the table, I’m positively fuming. Molly looks pissed too, but I’m sure for different reasons. She likely wanted me dead. Madeline seems utterly indifferent to the wh
“Follow,” Caleb snaps at Harper’s handmaiden as he hops down from the stage. She nods, and immediately falls into step behind him. Granted, she has to take two steps for his every one.“King Caleb?” Tristan asks, likely wondering if he should follow as well. Caleb doesn’t need backup to punish his
Rage takes hold inside of Caleb, throbbing inside of his chest, then slowly pushes outward along his limbs.He tries to hold back his wolf, but the anger is so strong, so overwhelming, that his limbs start to elongate and his teeth sharpen. His fingers curl, sharpening into claws.That’s Harper’s fr
Caleb, half-shifted is a terrifying sight. He’s massive, practically hunched over to fit in this room. His clothes are torn, clinging to his body in rags. His hands are claw-like, his teeth sharp points, his eyes blood red.And there’s still a dagger in his back.“Help me stand,” I say to Bethany, w
Caleb stays through the night. The next morning, he showers in my bathroom, then returns to my chambers naked. I think he might want to have sex again, but his dick, though still impressive in its current state, doesn’t seem to be coming to attention.He’s simply walking around naked.I’m not as com
Caleb grunts. “I suppose it wouldn’t be terrible to keep a closer eye on the handmaidens. After all, it was only because of yours that I discovered you were missing.”“I thought Bethany might be responsible,” I say. “What did she do?”“Stormed straight into the Hall and requested my attention.”For
Soon, Caleb is called away and Bethany returns to the room to help me get changed. Surprising to me still, Caleb left the knife in my possession. I covered it with the jeweled sheath and hold it, even as I follow Bethany into the closet to pick out the day’s outfit.“I have news,” she says.“Oh?”“T
That’s… odd. I was expecting more fight from him. At the very least, I thought he might just storm off and leave me alone. But now he wants to… help? Maybe my words got through to him. Does he now see how important it is for us to work together to survive? Containing my pride, I return to my wor
For a brief moment, Caleb’s entire face goes slack with shock. In that instant, I feel vindicated, like maybe he’ll learn something now. However, in the next second, his face hardens instead. His words like ice, he says, “What did you just say to me?” Any other day, maybe I would have backed dow
My main worry is for Tristan and his safety on his dangerous mission. My second worry, however, is for myself, as I’m now alone with him in this farmhouse. There are no other slaves, or servants. No cooks. No cleaners. No other harem women to sate his needs – although that makes me more pleased than
Tristan and Caleb, talking lightly. I also notice that the clothes I left on the coffee table for Caleb are gone. Standing from the couch, I cross the room, closer to the door. “You can’t just go back storming through the gates,” Tristan says. “We don’t know the state of anything right now. Geor
Bethany keeps her head down, completing her work scrubbing the blood from the balcony while trying to not to panic about the very clearly bear soldiers still in the capital, posing as King’s guards. All the while, she waits for her chance to come forward and warn the Gamma about what she’s seeing.
Eventually, once the shooting and the screaming ends, Bethany crawls out from under her bed. There are so many safe rooms in the capital but each one she tried was taken with people of higher rank than her, unwilling to share their space with her. In the end, with nowhere else to go, she retreated b
Caleb pats his thigh like he wants me to come sit on his lap. He can’t be serious. The man could barely walk across the room on his own and now he wants to have sex? “We should wait,” I start to say. His eyes narrow. “You dare deny your king?” He adds a frown. “Or do you think your king incapabl
Caleb gently twists his body this way and that, feeling each poke of discomfort. “That explains why I feel like swiss cheese. Help me to the couch then, damn it.” Tristan and Harper both help Caleb to his feet and together they shuffle toward the floral-pattern couch against the wall. “A bed wou
Caleb’s vision is red as he closes his hands around the traitor’s throat. He has her up against the wall, her feet dangling, kicking wildly. She claws at Caleb’s hands with her dull human fingernails, as if that would ever be enough for him to not see justice done. “C-Caleb…” she gasps, the villai