ElizabethSurvival of the fittest. Wasn’t that the way things worked in our kingdom? My palms were sweaty as we walked into the ballroom and all eyes turned on me. My shoe hooked on something and I went flying through the air and all I could think about was how the tongues were going to wag after that! I didn’t have much time to think about it as I flew through the air and right into the arms of the one man I couldn’t stand! Jason Smith!“Careful!” He let go of me so fast that I almost tumbled over a second time! I mumbled a quick thank you and continued to the end of the aisle. Why did I have to fall right into his arms? Why couldn’t I just have held onto my father who was right there beside me?! We turned to look at the people while my father made his speech and I wished that the earth would just swallow me up!The people were snickering and whispering like they always did when I had one of my damn blunders! I knew what they were saying. I didn’t have to hear it. I’ve been hearing i
JasonHer scent was so intoxicating that I just wanted to bathe in it. I wanted more than anything to take her and make her mine. At that very first moment, I realized she was my mate, but now wasn’t the right time. She was the princess, which meant there were certain royal procedures that had to take place first before we could finally get to that last little part.Her title didn’t matter to me. The power of her title also didn’t matter. I was born into my position and have had the privileges that went with it since the day I was born. I was even relieved sometimes that I wasn’t a prince or the future heir to this throne. The royals didn’t know about all the threats against them most of the time, and it was my job to make sure they never found out.It was my job to make sure they felt safe. That they believed people loved them unconditionally … Blah, blah, blah. My father taught me all the rules from a very young age. He even told me at one point that he believed we were stronger tha
ElizabethSharing my room was the last thing on my mind when I woke up in the early hours of the morning drenched in sweat! I had been dreaming dirty things all damn night and, although I wasn’t a prude, I couldn’t believe that I could so suddenly be having these kinds of dreams! The mate bond really messed with your head! It was utterly infuriating!When I walked into the dining room for breakfast, I nearly peed myself! Jason and his family were there to have breakfast with us and each time I looked at him the memories of my dreams rushed forward instantly! It was as if my mind was trying to convince me that he wasn’t such a bad guy. I didn’t want to be this girl! The girl that could only gush about her mate and nothing else!Damn the mate bond! Damn the moon goddess and whoever came up with the idea that we were destined to love only one perfect person! I couldn’t for the life of me think of one reason why Jason was my perfect match! Okay, fine. He was the second-highest ranked male
JasonIf she was trying to scare me, it wasn’t working. If she was trying to show me that she didn’t believe in fairy tales? Challenge accepted. I would prove to the little princess that fairy tales could exist. First, I had to show her a part of my life. I needed to know that she would be able to fit in. I knew I would fit in her world. I have spent my entire life looking in. I knew how their politics worked and what to avoid.She returned dressed like a warrior princess! She looked so good that all I could think about was ripping the clothes from that perfect body of hers! This was going to be tougher than I thought it would be!ElizabethJason and I skipped lunch and went straight to the training grounds. I had to search for my clothes since I hadn’t worn them in years! The tightfitting shorts almost didn’t fit me anymore! I felt incredibly self-conscious! I usually wore dresses that didn’t show my legs, or very form-fitting dresses that showed my form. I haven’t spent much time on
ElizabethI rolled my eyes at my own thoughts. I wasn’t going to reject him. Deep down I knew that. It was time I stopped fooling myself. My sense of duty was too strong and, besides, he might be my only chance. Second chance mates never happened for Lycans. That much I also knew. It was scary to realize that if I didn’t accept him, I could spend the rest of my life alone. I didn’t want to be the princess who died a spinster!Jason walked me to my room where he softly kissed my cheek before saying goodnight. I smiled and as soon as I walked into my room, I realized that it was the first time since we found out that we were mates, that I didn’t have to fake my smile. I went to bed feeling hopeful. My dreams were once again filled with images of a naked Jason and when I woke up in the morning, I felt sticky with sweat and other things! I was a little surprised to find Jason alone in the dining room for breakfast, but I quickly found out why.“Now that we’ve set a date, the wheels on thi
Elizabeth“Jason, if this isn’t going to work for you, then I would prefer we call it quits now.” I was stunned at the sound of my own words! I sounded so cold! When did I become this girl?“No, that is not what I meant.” He sighed, pulling his fingers through his hair, but before he could finish what he was going to say, my brother arrived, and we had to sit down for dinner. I wasn’t spared by his mother, who had far too many questions about her future grandchildren and when we were planning on starting a family. I didn’t have answers since Jason and I hadn’t talked about it yet, which made things uncomfortable. What made me even more uncomfortable was that he didn’t stand up to his mother on my behalf!After dinner, the ladies went to the library for tea and Jason joined the men in my brother’s office. After sitting there trying to avoid his mother’s questions about grand-babies for over an hour, I was actually relieved when he appeared at the door and invited me to join him for a w
ElizabethIn the weeks leading up to the ceremony, I got over myself a little and made peace with the fact that Jason was my destined mate. My entire race believed that the moon goddess sent us the mate that was perfect for us. Why was I questioning it purely based on speculation? So, I gave Jason the benefit of the doubt like I wanted him to give me. I tried to get to know him and found he was actually a nice guy.We had a lot more in common than I realized in the beginning, and I quickly found out that although he was a physical person, he also liked to spend some time just hanging around and catching up on the latest news in the papers. I wouldn’t say that he loved reading as much as I did, but at least I could sit beside him and read my book while he read the papers.I grew more and more comfortable in his company. We went to read to the children every morning, and I was feeling my body grow stronger with each training session we had with the warriors in the afternoons. Time went
ElizabethWe quickly figured out who had been killed, and it was scary to realize that less than a quarter of our people were still alive. My fury grew the moment I realized that Jason and I hadn’t even had the chance to officially accept each other. We thought that we had all the time in the world. We didn’t. I thought we had time. If only I had known, then I would have done so many things differently!I had completely skipped denial and gone straight into anger! I was furious! I wanted to rip her eyeballs out of their sockets and feed them to her! I was angry at the ones who were supposed to see this coming. I was furious at my family for not making sure the vampires were completely gone! My father and brother huddled together, and I just knew they were working on some ridiculous plan to try and get us out of this.I also knew their plan probably wasn’t going to work. I had a feeling that bargaining was not on the table. From the little I had seen of the vampire female, she was here