Date: 2000-01-01 05:00:00+00:00
Keywords: Paranormal; Reverse Harem; Fantasy; Vampires; Shapeshifters; Romance; Wolves; Urban Fantasy; Paranormal Romance; Menage
Description: I was a blessed vampire queen until the day I decided to kill my king. Now I’m a captive of alpha wolves, rulers of the Luxa Pack, and it is no place for a vampire. They decide to keep me as a slave on this strange land across the sea, and no part of me ever wants to go back to my home. I ran from my world, from my people, and from everything I had ever known to a world much darker than I ever thought possible. I crave their blood, they crave my immortality. They also want my heart, and if they knew who I really was...they would want my throne. Dark Romance 18+ WARNING: Contains dark themes no
Publisher: Independently Published

Vampire Captive

The Alpha Brothers: Book Three

G. Bailey

Contents

Join Bailey’s Pack

Description

Chapter 1

Chapter 2

Chapter 3

Chapter 4

Chapter 5

Chapter 6

Chapter 7

Chapter 8

Chapter 9

Chapter 10

Chapter 11

Chapter 12

Chapter 13

Chapter 14

Chapter 15

Chapter 16

Chapter 17

Chapter 18

Chapter 19

Chapter 20

Chapter 21

Chapter 22

Chapter 23

Chapter 24

Epilogue

Note From The Author.

Stay in Touch

About the Author

More by G. Bailey…

Vampire Captive © 2019 G. Bailey

This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents either are the products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously.

Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, businesses, companies, events, or locales is entirely coincidental.

All Rights Reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or used in any manner without the express written permission of the publisher except for the use of brief quotations in a book review.

Edits by Serious Moonlight Editing.

Cover design by Daqri at Covers by Combs.

Created with Vellum

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I was a blessed vampire queen until the day I decided to kill my king.

Now I’m a captive of alpha wolves, rulers of the Luxa Pack, and it is no place for a vampire.

They decide to keep me as a slave on this strange land across the sea, and no part of me ever wants to go back to my home.

I ran from my world, from my people, and from everything I had ever known to a world much darker than I ever thought possible.

I crave their blood; they crave my immortality.

They also want my heart, and if they knew who I really was... they would want my throne.

18+ dark reverse harem romance based in the Alpha Brothers Series world.

Chapter 1

I watch in the shadows as my king roughly thrusts in and out of the woman under him, his grunts only briefly heard over the sounds of her loud moaning. I stare at his long, red hair that falls around his face, his toned and muscular body underneath it. My king is handsome. Though his face may be desirable, his heart is revolting. His hands dig into her hips as he finds his completion on a long groan and shouts out my name. My king pulls out of the woman, and she rolls over, looking up at him adoringly. I knew she liked him, and I warned her more than once what he is truly like, but she didn’t listen.

She leans up as he looks back down at her and slowly slides his hands into her hair. When he lowers his head, making her believe he is going to kiss her, my king slides his hands to her neck, and in one swift moment, breaks it. The sound of her neck cracking will be forever etched into my mind, like the sounds of many people’s deaths before her. After a while, I stopped feeling any shock at witnessing death. It’s now become a reminder that one day, my own soul will be free. Death is all that is promised to me now. Her soulless body falls back on the bed almost in slow motion as I watch, powerless to do a thing, like always. This woman was too young, too kind and now ruined.

“Did you enjoy the show? She was your friend, no?” my king asks me, turning and slowly walking over to my place in the shadows of the room. The coldness of my shackles just reminds me that I can’t show him any emotion as I look into his red eyes. She was my friend, in a way; a maid who I had grown to like because we could laugh together. Now she is dead, like every other person who got close to me, except for my king, the only one I wish were dead. “I asked you a question, my dear queen.”

“What answer do you wish for?” I ask him in an overly sarcastic tone as he stops right in front of me and lifts a hand, smacking me hard on the cheek. I fall to the floor, trying not to cry out.

“You know the answer I want. Lucky for you, she was a good fuck, and I don’t want you tonight. I will return for you tomorrow, sweet Arilee.” I don’t reply to his cold, deep voice as I watch him walk out the door, slamming it shut behind him.

Chapter 2

“The king wishes you to wear this, my queen,” a servant woman says, holding out a deep-red dress that leaves little to the imagination. I don’t know why I bother trying to hide anything from him anyway. After he killed my father, he married me and stole my kingdom. Once I conceive and birth an heir, he will get rid of me as well. I am no use to him after that. I pray every day for a second to escape before he gets what he wants. I nod to the maid, pulling my white nightdress off and stepping into the red dress. Over the next few hours, the new maid makes my waist-length, dark-red hair fall into curls down my back. My hair matches the dress, yet I’ve always hated the colour. It reminds me of death and losing my family. It reminds me of my king and his brutal nature.

The maid places the crown on my head, its yellow stones reflecting the firelight in the room in almost a beautiful way. If anything was beautiful and pure in this castle anymore, that is. I stand up and walk to the door, knocking twice for the guards to open the doors for me. Three guards wait outside, each holding their swords out in case I try to escape while I am not tied up for a night, though none of the guards will look at me because they remember my father, and their very existence means they betrayed their king. And their princess.

I walk in the middle of two guards and follow the one in front down the silent corridors of the castle. The castle used to be filled with laughter, children, and love. Now, it’s an echo of its former self. The land is cold, snow falls in what should be summer, and there is nothing left but a shell of the land I loved. I follow the guard into the dining room, seeing my king standing in front of the fireplace, his red hair straight down his back, and his stance rigid as he watches the fire.

“Leave us,” my king demands. The guards instantly bow and quickly walk out of the room. I stand still, knowing I can’t sit down or move until he says so, or he will punish me. The whip marks on my back are a painful reminder. “Come here.” I used to flinch when he demanded me to come close to him, but now I walk over and stop at his side. I place my hands behind my back, holding my own hand to comfort myself in a little way.

“Tell me something about yourself. Before I took you as my queen, that is,” he coaxes. I watch him closely, wondering exactly what game he is playing. When he first took my kingdom, he tried to pretend to be nice to me—until our wedding night, that is. That night, he forced me to feed on him as he stole my blood, my body, and darkened my soul.

“What would you like to hear?” I ask him.

“Anything. I want stories to tell our child one day of its mother,” he explains his reasoning, and I gulp down the sickness I suddenly feel. I know one day my king will realise I’ve been sneaking out herbs from the gardens in the day and making a tea that prevents pregnancy.

“My father taught me how to fight with daggers. My mother thought it was a terrible thing to teach a princess, but Father believed every man or woman should know how to protect themselves, even a princess,” I tell him.

“Daggers, you say?” he replies, resting a hand on one of the daggers clipped to his belt without thought, I guess.

“Yes. Also archery and some mild swordplay,” I reply. “He used to say a woman should always know how to protect herself.”

“Well, I should hope our child only inherits that from you. Come here,” he demands, and I walk to stand right in front of him. My king pulls his dagger out of his belt, and I flinch as he holds it to my neck. He carefully runs the sharp tip up my neck, over my jaw and stops at my cheek. He applies more pressure, and I wince as the dagger cuts in. I feel my blood pouring from the wound, the sweet scent filling the room and causing my fangs to slide out.

“You’re so attractive when you are like this. Weak. Desirable. Under my total control like you should be,” he remarks and grabs my arm with his spare hand, and lowers the hand with the dagger. My king pulls me against his body, his hand bruising my arm with how tight he holds me. “Are you scared of me?” he asks, and it’s only then I see the drunken gaze in his eyes and smell the strong stink coming off of him. I slowly place my hand on his chest and slide it down his stomach, keeping my eyes locked on his.

“You like me scared?” I ask, playing the innocent as he places his hand on the back of my neck and grins at me before pulling my lips to his. The kiss is brutal, unforgiving, and his teeth clash against mine as he demands more of me. When my hand finds his trousers, I slide my hand to the left a little and grab the sharp dagger, pulling it out of his hand and cutting my own hand by doing so. He stops kissing me, but it’s too late as I slam the dagger into his lower stomach, and I push up through his ribs, finding his heart. His hand tightens on the back of my neck, his lips parting in shock.

“You b-bitch…” he croaks out as I pull the dagger out and grin in a similar way he just did to me.

“That was for my family. This… well, this is because you’re a fucking bastard and you need to rot in hell,” I spit out before slamming the dagger into his neck. My king croaks, choking on his own blood as he falls to his knees. For a moment, I just enjoy watching him fall to the ground, but the thud of his body reminds me how much trouble I am actually in now. My king might be dead, but his stepsons will take the throne when they return because I don’t have an heir. There is only one thing to do: I need to run.

I pull the dagger out of the king’s neck, knowing I need to keep it in case I’m seen on my escape. I slide the dagger into a deep pocket in my dress before running to the window. I quickly undo the locks and push the window open, looking down at the harsh sea below. The castle lies on the very edge of the kingdom, and no one knows what is out there other than more seas. I pull myself up to stand on the edge, knowing that what is out there is a better death than my life in here. I look back once more at my dead king, and I smile. I’m free after this, either way.

“Goodbye,” I whisper, touching the side of the castle wall. I’m not saying goodbye to my king, but the home my parents brought me up in, the land I am going to run away from and never save. I jump out of the window, the harsh wind blowing against me as I fall and fall. I feel drops of water on my cheek before the cold sea swallows me whole, pulling me into its deadly, beautiful depths.

Chapter 3

“Who is she? Where did you find her?” a deeply seductive and somewhat cold voice asks me as the sounds of waves and birds calling fill my ears. I can smell nothing other than saltwater, sand, and something that reminds me of fox blood, but I can’t place it. What are these people? How far did the sea take me? My eyes feel stuck together as I try to open them, and I soon give up on that effort.

“Just here on the beach, Alpha Tiryn. I don’t know where she came from, but she doesn’t look like anyone I’ve seen before. Her skin is so pale, and her hair is blood red,” another man replies, though he doesn’t sound as attractive as the other man.

“Leave and tell no one about her. Do you understand? She is mine,” the man demands. An almost animalistic growl sounds nearby, and it sends shivers all over my skin.

“Yes, Alpha Tiryn,” the man shakily replies, and I hear someone running away. Large hands pick me up as the world starts to blur, and darkness tries to pull me back into sleep.

“Sleep, Red. I have you. Welcome to the Luxa Pack.”

* * *

A bird singing wakes me up, the sweet sound making me fully aware of the breeze of the air blowing into the room. I sit up on the bed I’m in, staring around at the plain room I do not know. The sheets are white, matching the white fabric curtains blowing in the wind. It’s late afternoon, judging by the sun setting in the distance over the sea. My hand flies to my mouth as hunger burns through my body, my teeth aching for blood. How long have I been sleeping? I don’t remember much after jumping into the sea and swimming for a long time, until I could swim no longer. I can’t be on the shores of Arlen; the sea is too blue and clear for that, and I would be waking up in chains if I was. I run my hands over the soft, thin dress I can feel I am wearing, and it is nothing like the red dress I did have on.

The red dress covered in my king’s blood.

I can’t ever return home.

I shakily stand up off the bed, pushing my wavy, red hair away from my face as I take in the scents of the room and see that the thin dress is white, revealing a lot of my body. It smells like a fox lives in here—the foxes we hunt and eat for our dinner to be exact—and my body smells of saltwater. Except something is different, more sensual, about this fox-like scent that immediately makes me want to know more. Another wave of hunger burns in stomach, stinging my throat, and a small cry escapes my lips. I have never been this hungry or gone this long without blood. Even when we were at war and the castle was locked down, we still had blood to drink. I have to find food. My eyes search around the room, seeing two doors in the room, and I’m moving toward them before I can blink. I open one and find a bathroom, much like the one I had back at my castle. I leave that door and go to the other, only to find it is locked as I turn the metal handle. No! I need to get out of here and find something to eat before I find someone to eat and make whoever saved me regret doing so. I go to snap the handle off the door when someone puts a key into the lock on the other side. I smell them way before they open the door, and their scent nearly makes me drop to my knees. I run backward until my back hits the wall, and I sink to the ground as a man walks into the room, his soft eyes finding me.

“You’re awake,” he points out, but that is a clear fact at this point.

“Yes,” I tell him, gulping down the pain in my throat. Praise to the vampire, it hurts.

“What’s your name?” the man asks, crouching down to really look at me as I hide in the corner. I keep my face hidden behind my pulled-up knees, knowing my fangs are loose. They have no clue who they just saved, and how much I want to bite them. I’m hungry—starving even—and my meal keeps staring at me, wanting to know my name.

“Arilee,” I mutter, pulling my head up so he can see my eyes. They must be revolting to him, the dark red color of them, but he does not look at me that way. If anything, I can smell his attraction to me. My mother always said deadly monsters are always the most beautiful creatures you will ever meet. Beauty can be the most seductive way to hide your demons; after all, I know this best. My beauty gave me a chance to kill my king.

“Why are you scared?” he asks, turning his head to the side and unwillingly revealing his neck. I gulp down the pain burning in my throat as I try to reply to him. “I know you’re not a wolf shifter, but I’m not sure what you are yet. Either way, you are a welcome guest.”

“I-it is y-you that should be scared,” I whisper to the handsome wolf shifter, who only laughs like I am telling him a funny joke. I don’t know what a wolf shifter is, but we have wolves on Arlen who hide in the cliffs.

“Well, I’m not, Ari. Look, my name is Jath, and my twin brother found you on the beach. We are not going to hurt you,” he firmly tells me, using a nickname that my mother used to call me. I love being called Ari, but there is no way he could have known that.

“It’s not you I’m worried about,” I say, shaking my head and trying to control the need to feed. I gasp when Jath places his hand on my shoulder, leaning over me, his neck so close to my face that I can hear the blood moving through his body. I can almost smell its seductive call. Everything from his waist-length, deep-brown hair, which is plaited away from his neck, to his muscular shoulders pressing through the thin, white shirt he has on is calling to me.

“Why don’t you get up, and we can find you some food,” he murmurs, keeping his dark-blue eyes locked onto my own.

“I’m sorry,” is all I can manage to whisper before I throw my arms around his shoulders and slam my teeth into his neck. He surprises me by not fighting me off as I drink from his neck, and I moan from the pure pleasure coursing through me. He groans, but it’s not a groan of pain, no it’s something else altogether. I rip at his shirt, and he pulls at my dress, pushing it over my hips. His hand tightens on my ass just as I pull his long cock out of his trousers, still latched onto his neck as his blood tastes so pure. So, addictive. He tugs me closer, and in one smooth motion, he slides into me. I moan louder around his neck, never releasing my teeth as he slams me onto the floor, thrusting in and out of me. An orgasm crashes into me seconds later just as he roars and fills me up with his seed. I unlatch my teeth, gasping as he looks down at me in shock for a second just before he passes out on top of me.

Chapter 4

I carefully push Jath off me, rolling him onto his back as I start to panic. I might have taken way too much blood, and he looks awfully pale. I turn his head to the side, seeing the bite marks closing thanks to his healing, and I hear his heart beating strong even with the loss of blood. I guess wolf shifters can heal themselves. I pull a blanket off the bed and cover him up, leaving his head out before standing up. He will survive this… but he might blame me and not understand when he wakes up. I get the sense he is important as much as he is handsome.

“What the fuck is going on?” a man roars, running into the room, and pushing me out of the way. This man glares at me as he protects his brother, a long growl leaving his lips that is hard not to be scared off. I’m not a brilliant fighter if I don’t have a weapon, and I have no idea how I could fight off a wolf. “If you have killed him, Red, I will destroy you for it.” I see the resemblance straight away between this man and Jath. They have too similar features to be counted as anything other than brothers. Maybe twins.

“He will live. I didn’t—"

“Were you sent here to seduce us and kill us? Is that your game?” he growls, stalking toward me, and I keep walking back until my back hits the wall; he presses me into it with his firm body. I feel his heart beating loud in his chest as his gaze runs over me. His hand goes to my neck, tightening enough to scare me and force me to struggle to breathe. He uses his other hand to run the pad of his thumb across my bottom lip, parting my lips slightly. I watch in slight fascination as he licks his thumb and tightens his hand on my neck. I keep my eyes locked onto his the entire time, having a sense that removing my gaze would be a very ill-advised decision. He has dark-blue eyes like his brother, and they have flecks of green in them that his brother doesn’t have.

“I ran from my home, that is all I am guilty of,” I tell him, and he watches me almost emotionlessly.

“My twin brother is on the floor unconscious and you two smell of each other. You slept with him, and his blood is on your lips. Why should a believe a word you say?” he asks me, tilting his head to the side and scowling. “What the fuck are you?”

“Is this how your mother taught you to treat a guest, and a woman at that?” I ask him, and his hand tightens further, making it harder to breathe for a second before he changes his mind and lets me go. He places his hands flat on the wall next to either side of my head; his muscular arms are all I can look at for a second. He is very tanned, which is so strange because my people all have very pale skin like mine. His hair looks like mud, though soft enough to touch. Another odd thing I am not sure what to make off. Wherever I am, the people are different and possibly more dangerous than where I left.

“My mother would have killed you by now for what you did to her son,” he tells me. “If my fathers hadn’t beaten her to it, that is. Family means everything, and you are no guest because you were not invited.”

“Lucky she isn’t here then, isn’t it?” I remark.

“You never answered my question; what are you?” he asks me again, and I get the impression he isn’t going to ask me a second time. The wolf looks inches away from breaking my neck, but I’m not going to tell him that wouldn’t kill me. I would wake up and snap it right back not long after.

“I’m a vampire,” I tell him, and he doesn’t react at all. It was a shock to me to hear there are other creatures than just vampires. It should surprise him a little, which makes me think he is very good at hiding his emotions. The problem is, I’m better at reading people’s true emotions than I am at most things in my life. I’ve spent years being not allowed to talk but made to stand at my king’s side, and I watched everyone until I understood their body language more than they did themselves.

“Explain to me what that is,” he says.

“I need blood to survive, I do not need to eat food, but I like to. I am also immortal,” I explain to him.

“Immortal? As in you can live forever?” he asks me.

“Yes, as long as nothing ever touches my heart. One hole in my heart, and I die a painful death,” I explain to him. “I have only lived twenty-five years, but many I have known have survived hundreds of years.” Much like my king, who celebrated his two hundredth birthday a week before I killed him.

“So, you fed off my brother after you seduced him?” he asks me, narrowing his eyes.

“It was the other way around,” I tell him, raising an eyebrow. I know I shouldn’t annoy the wolf anymore, but it is difficult not too.

“I don’t believe you,” he growls.

“I don’t really care if you do. I don’t know your name or care to know. So far, I think you are nothing more than a brute who likes to scare women,” I say. He glares at me, furious with what I said by the looks of it as he goes to brother and kneels next to him.

“Guards!” he shouts, and two men run up the stairs and stop at the door. The men have short, blond hair, brown-leather uniforms that cover their chests and leave their strong arms bare. They look confused as they look between Jath on the floor and toward us. “Arrest her, and take her to the holding cell. She has attacked one of your alphas.” I don’t fight them off as they grab my arms, and I lock eyes with this man I don’t even know the name of.

“It seems like all men are the same. They lock up what they don’t understand and judge before they know the truth. I’m glad to have learned now that you are exactly like what I ran from.”

He watches me with an unreadable expression as the guards force me to walk down the stairs. Somehow, I’ve traded one prison for another.

Chapter 5

I run my hand over the jagged piece of stone in the corner of the dungeon room the guards threw me in. The very wall I smacked into as I roll across the stone floor, and they growled at me as I cried out in pain. Every part of the stone walls, the stone ground below my feet is smooth, except for this one bit of wall. It isn't sharp enough to cut through my skin, but it hurts none the less. A little pain snaps me awake, reminds me I'm not quite lost to the world yet. The room is pitch-black, though it makes no difference to me. I can see perfectly well in both light and dark, but in moments like this, I wish I couldn't. I wish I couldn't see the bloodstained walls; I wish I couldn't smell the scent of death in each of the rooms, including the one I'm in now. The doors at the end of the stone corridor smack open hard enough to vibrate off of the wall it is slammed into just before I scent Jath walking toward my cage. He is holding some keys when he gets to me, and a guard behind him holds a lantern which gives off light. I carefully look over his loose, white shirt and brown trousers with heavy boots on his feet as he opens the cage door and looks over at me. Clearly, I’m not the only creature that can see well in the dark.

"Come on out. You do not belong in here, Ari," Jath says, holding a hand out for me to take. I hesitate, feeling like taking his hand is a sign of trust, and I do not trust these wolf shifters. For all I know, they are as evil as the men I've left. "I would rather we talk in the comfort of my home than the dungeons, Ari. It is your choice; if you would prefer here, I will sit down and talk here."

"Are you going to hurt me?" I ask him, and his eyes narrow ever so slightly.

"Did my brother hurt you?" he asks, a low growl vibrating in his neck.

"He wanted to," I reply.

"To answer your question, no, I will not hurt you. Neither will Tiryn," he tells me, still holding his hand out. "Please trust me. I am not someone you need to be scared of." I pause at his words, wondering if it could really be true. He could have hurt me when we had sex when I bit him and drank his blood. My king always hurt me during sex; it was a game—a mix of pain and pleasure, but never just pleasure. Drinking blood makes me feel the pleasure, but fear is the only emotion that can numb the pleasure out. My king loved fear. Despite my hesitation, I do slide my palm into his large, outstretched hand and let him lead me out of the cage. We walk in silence to the door, and up the stairs to a kitchen we passed through when the guards took me down here. This place is under a courtyard where there are three towers surrounding it. Jath takes me over to where two long couches are facing a lit fire, and there is a lovely smell, like chicken, in the room. Rows of spices hang on the wall by the counters, and overall, this place is similar to the kitchens in my old home.

"Leave us," Jath demands to the guards who followed us up.

"Alpha Jath, Alpha Tiryn was clear that you must not be left alone with—"

"Get out before I throw you out, understood?" Jath growls, and in this moment, he is a little terrifying. The guard looks completely shocked for a moment before he bows his head and scampers up the stone stairs on the other side of the kitchen, disappearing at the top.

"Would you like a drink?" Jath asks with a much calmer expression, and I watch him with wide eyes as he seems to remember what happened before.

"I have already had more than enough. I am sorry for what happened; I usually have much more control. Your blood is sweet and very tempting, even now, but before I was starved. I felt like a child with no control, and I am sorry for that," I explain to him.

"I wanted to apologize for taking things so much further without speaking to you first. I've never felt out of control like that either," he admits to me, and I can see it is clearly bothering him. He sits down on the sofa, and I sit next to him, resting back on the much more comfortable seat than the stone floors of the dungeon.

I don’t know why it is. I have been forced without bites many times, which was very painful, but what happened between Jath and me was wanted. At least by me, and I feel it was by him.

"Sex and blood exchanges are usually done together. It is very pleasurable for us both," I reply to him. “I should be the only one saying sorry.”

"I'm happy you enjoyed it as much as me," he tells me with a smile, which answers everything I was worried about. He has a nice smile, one that I could easily get used to looking at. "When will you next need a feed?" he asks me while resting back on the sofa, his arm sliding behind me. I tilt my head, sensing his desire for me burning high. Like it has every moment since we met. I've never felt like this for anyone, and it really is hard for me to understand.

See, I've never had anyone love me since my parents were killed many years ago.

I've only known pain and loss. There was never anything else. Every attempt at friendship ended in death and blood. My king made sure of that. He was always jealous and possessive.

"In a few days. I won't need as much, and I can find an animal," I reply.

"No, you won't. I would like you to feed on me. Just me," he tells me, reminding me of my king’s possessive nature for a second.

"Why?" I ask, but he ignores my question and changes the subject.

"Where are you from, Ari?" he asks me, leaning closer and picking up a strand of my hair. It’s strange how comfortable I am letting him touch me. "I've never seen someone with hair as red as yours. It is stunning."

"I'm from a place called Arlen, across the sea where the water turns green, and there is an island with tall, moss-covered cliffs," I explain to him.

"Why were you running from your home? It sounds as lovely as you," he asks me, and I look away. I can't tell him that, or he might think I'm dangerous. I killed a king, and I'm sure killing royals is illegal here just as much as it is back at home. Jath surprises me by standing up and offering me his hand once again. "I don't care about your past, not if it frightens you as much as I just saw it did. I would rather we got to know each other for the future we could have. It might be dark out, but I thought you would like to find a room and rest."

"On Arlen, we sleep in daylight, and we are awake at night," I explain to him, and he pushes his other hand through his hair.

"Is there a reason for that?" he asks me.

"Yes," I reply, sliding my hand into his and standing up. "Many of my people speak of the three deities that made the three islands on our world. Though we do not know the names of the other islands or have travelers from them to learn, it takes big ships to survive the cliffs of our island. We worship the deities before we sleep in the day. At night, it is said we are closer to the deities than any other time, and they bless us. Even those who have no interest in religion chose to stay awake at night because of how our land is most beautiful at night. The flowers open and light up in many colors; many animals come out of the forest and sea. The night is home for us there; it is where everything is the most alive."

"I've read old books on the deities as well; it seems we have the same history in some regards. Perhaps you will find yourself more at home here than you believe," he tells me, leading me to the steps. "Ari, I will protect you from what scares you so. You have my word as an alpha. You are one of my pack now." He opens the door to a courtyard and warm air blows against my skin. I step outside and close my eyes for a second; when I open my eyes, Jath is staring at me with a smile on his lips.

"You can't protect me from my past," I tell him. "I already did that for myself."

"Now you're free, right?" he asks me, and I nod. "Maybe one day you will trust me enough to tell me everything. I do understand why you don't want to yet. So, I bet you know nothing about wolf shifters. Would you like me to tell you?"

"Yes, I am very interested in understanding your race," I say, and he grins, holding a hand out for me again. He clearly likes to touch me constantly, and I believe I like it. My hand finds his as he walks us toward one of the towers and he tells me about his race.

For the rest of the walk toward one of the towers, it feels almost natural to be next to Jath, his hand resting on my back.

Maybe there is freedom to be found here after all.

Chapter 6

I'm leaning against the window when Jath comes into the room after knocking the door twice. The view from this bedroom over the sea is beautiful, and I find myself just wanting to stay and watch the sea, the birds flying over it, and the strange smooth animals jumping from the sea in the distance and going back under.

"Hello," Jath says as I pull my eyes to him, admiring the new clothes he is wearing and the way his hair is braided different than it was last night. We stayed downstairs for the rest of the night, quietly talking before I got too tired and Jath said I could sleep up here. I know this is his bedroom from the scents alone. Jath has a black shirt tucked into tight, brown trousers with a large thick belt. "Your dress is clean; I'm sorry Tiryn took it from you when he found you on the beach."

"Tiryn found me?" I ask, walking over to him. "And thank you. As much as I like this white dress, it is unsuitable for going out." Jath gulps as he runs his eyes over the dress, and my cheeks burn for a moment as I remember how see-through it is.

"I wondered if you want to come and have a look around the pack lands. I could show you where I usually live because this place is my second home. Though it is yours now, if you would like it," he says to me, snapping out of it.

"I can't accept your second home, but I would love to come to see the pack lands," I reply.

"Brilliant," Jath states and gently rest the dress on the bed as I nervously rub my arm. I don't know if I can trust him. He is too nice. Too soft for this world. Maybe all the badness went to his twin... but I don't think so. "It will give us more time to get to know each other."

"I would like to know more about your family," I say as he walks to the door.

"I will answer anything you like," he tells me, before closing the door, and I hear him walk down the stairs. I look down at the ruby-red dress, the one I was wearing when I killed my king. The sea must have washed all the bloodstains out of it, and any damages have been stitched back together. I lower the dress down my shoulders before letting it drop to the floor. I pick up my red dress, and that's when I hear something. I spin around, my eyes widening as fear pounds in my heart as Tiryn jumps over the window, only pausing when he sees I'm without clothes. I scent the desire for just a second before it fades into nothing but distaste.

"How did you get up there?" I ask, pulling the dress on as he keeps his eyes locked onto mine, never once looking down.

"I'm a good climber," he tells me, crossing his arms and leaning against the stone wall. "It used to drive my parents mad when I climbed up everything I could find as a kid. Seems I never lost the habit."

"Jath told me it was you who found me on the beach and took me back to your home," I say, holding my hands together in front of me and straightening my back. "Thank you."

"You are my prisoner, Arilee. Do not think yourself more than that," Tiryn warns me, clicking his tongue in disapproval.

"I have always been a prisoner of some sort. I find this prison is much nicer than the one I had before," I reply to him, smiling because I sense it annoys him. He can’t kill me because of Jath, and we both know it. The only problem is, he thinks I might hurt Jath, which I have no intention of doing.

"So, you were a dangerous person that needed locking up? Before you escaped and ran here, that is?" His questions aren’t anything I should answer, and I tilt my head, observing him for a moment which only serves to make him angry.

"I've never been the most dangerous person in the room. I get the feeling that has not changed," I reply. "Not with how you look at me now."

"How do I look at you, Arilee?" he asks, moving away from the wall and striding over to me with three big steps. I count each stomp of his feet on the stone right until he is in front of me, and I have no choice but to arch my neck to look him in the eye. Jath said Tiryn is the true alpha of the pack, and he chooses to share it with Jath, and he warned that I can never back down with an alpha. Their wolf would see it as a marking of its prey.

The last thing I want is to be hunted by Tiryn. At least, I think I don't want the alluring alpha to hunt me. Reality is, I don't understand how I'm feeling.

"Like you want to hurt me or fuck me. You just don't know which," I tell him, being brutally honest, and to my surprise, it makes him laugh. A deep, barreling laugh that I surprisingly like. It's pure, sensual, and it somehow makes me shiver.

"Women around here don't speak like you do, Red," he remarks, and he gently picks up a strand of my hair, staring at it intently for a moment, and the loss of eye contacts gives me a second to breathe. I only get a tiny second before he is looking at me once again.

"I used to hold my tongue, but then someone much eviler than you taught me there is no point. You might as well say what you want," I tell him, and Tiryn seems very interested once again. I’m getting to predict his words before he even asks them. He might be an alpha; he might be cold and brutal, but he is as predictable as most men. He reminds me of my king’s son, the nicer one of the two he has. Though he was cold and cruel, I saw moments of kindness when he thought I wasn’t watching. Or I was passed out.

Even the cruelest man in the world can be kind sometimes. It’s a trick, a way to make you think they are going to change when they never will.

"Is everything okay?" Jath tensely asks as he comes into the room and Tiryn just laughs, walking past his brother and patting his arm.

"We invited trouble into our pack by the looks of it. Keep an eye on her; she is our slave now," Tiryn tells him. “I never want her left alone, and if she is caught alone, she goes straight back in that dungeon.”

"I'm not your slave," I protest, crossing my arms. “I will leave if you see me as that.” I will not be a slave again. I was a queen in title but a slave in every other sense. This is my first chance at freedom, and I won’t give it up to these wolf shifters. I can run pretty fast if I need to, fast enough to escape them and try to make it alone.

"You are my slave until you tell us who you are," Tiryn growls at me. “And you are not free to leave. I will hunt you and drag you back here.”

"Ty—"

"Unless you want to challenge me, brother, my rule sticks. I found her, and it is my duty to protect the pack. You told me to “fucking have the pack,” remember?" Tiryn tells Jath, who keeps his eyes firmly fixed on Tiryn. Both of them shaking with anger.

"I remember," Jath tightly says, shoving his brother's hand off his arm and they both stare each other down for a long moment. I get worried they are going to fight when Jath looks away, and Tiryn looks back at me.

"I am the alpha. Be careful, Red," he warns me. In a matter of seconds, he goes blurry, his body soundlessly changing into a big black wolf. The wolf is extremely fluffy, larger than any I've ever seen, and he has a mouth full of sharp teeth. The wolf huffs at me before running down the stairs, and I take a deep breath.

"I'm sorry you had to see that. He is very like much like one of our dads, and he can't stand to be challenged over anything," Jath says with a long sigh, rubbing his face with his hands.

"One of your dads?" I ask, wanting to change the subject and learn more about these alpha wolves and their world.

"Come on; we can walk and talk," he says, offering me his hand.

"Before we go, can I ask why you gave up being alpha?" I ask.

"Tiryn has never shared anything in his life, and he wasn't about to share the pack we had both had been given by our parents. It was step down or lose my brother, and I didn't want him out of my life. I like the bastard, and it would have started a war that my parents would have ended," he tells me. "But I won't let him hurt you. You are not our slave, no matter what he says."

"Maybe the word captive would be better?" I say with a chuckle.

"I like the word free much more," he tells me, linking his fingers with mine and before I've over thought it, I lean up and softly press my lips to his, tasting Jath in the brief kiss. I don't look back at him to see his reaction before I walk out of the room. I can't answer any questions on why I did that either.

Maybe just because I wanted too; it's been a long time since I've done something, I've wanted... and it felt good.

Chapter 7

"My mother, Elodie Masters, was what the wolves used to call a no claim. They treated her like trash for her entire life until my fathers—her mates—invaded her pack. Mother doesn't talk much about those times, only once did she tell me she fell in love and it was all worth it in the end," Jath explains to me as we walk down the stone pathway toward the houses at the bottom. The houses are all made of stone like the footpaths, and there are trees everywhere, blocking the breeze from the trees.

"How many fathers do you have then?" I ask.

"Four, and three of them are brothers. The alpha brothers who founded this pack and found this island," he explains to me. “They actually grew up with my grandmother, Mary.”

"How does that work?" I ask, and he frowns at me in confusion. "I mean a relationship with five people."

"Three of them are brothers, so I guess that helps. Honestly, I know little of relationships to comment, but my parents are happy. That is all that is important, right?" he asks me.

"Right. I’m sorry, it’s just not the way of my people," I say, looking at the market we have walked into. Everyone seems to stop, staring wide-eyed at me, and it takes me a few seconds to realize how different I look to them all. My red hair is like blood on the sand here, surrounded by blond and brown-haired people. My skin isn't tanned like all of theirs because I've spent all my years being awake at night and the moonlight has kept me pale.

"Alpha Jatheod, I have new apples from the stock. Would you like one?" An older woman calls out from the stall nearest us. Jath tugs my hand and walks over the stall, smiling at the blond woman who wears a simple, white dress.

"Petera, this is Arilee, a new member of our pack," Jath introduces us, and Petera bows her head before smiling at me.

"Welcome, Arilee. I do love your hair; it is very beautiful and nearly as red as my apples. Would you like one?" she asks, lifting a shiny red apple and offering it to me. Only I don't see a sweet, older woman offering me an apple; instead, I only see my king on the first day we met.

"Would you like an apple sweet, little princess Arilee?" the brute of a man asks me, and I can't look him in the eye as I stare at the red apple. His hands are covered in blood, his fingers leaving bloody marks on the apple as he holds it.

My parents’ blood. I can't look over at their bodies on the floor by the throne, but I still hear their screams as they died trying to protect me. I hid behind the glass throne, wishing it wasn’t see-through so I couldn’t watch them die.

I always loved the color of my hair—my parents’ hair—until now. Red means only death.

All they wanted was to save me from the monster offering me an apple.

"No." I lift my head and meet his eyes as the single word leaves my lips. "I never want anything from a monster like you. You may wear my father's crown, but you are not my king. You will never be that."

The monster laughs as he chuckles the apple away, and I watch it roll across the wooden floor until it hits my mother’s blood, and it slows down until it is resting in the blood.

"I am your king. Don't worry sweet Arilee; you are going to be my queen." I focus on the apple as he grabs me and lifts me, slamming his teeth into my neck.

Pain was just the start, and my screams soon became so normal that I forgot anything else.

"Arilee, are you alright?" Jath asks, and I blink a few times, feeling tears falling down my cheeks.

"Yes, yes. I'm sorry, I just remembered something," I say, accepting the apple and tightly smiling at Petera. "Thank you very much." To my surprise, Petera comes around the stall and places her hand on my shoulder.

"I know that look, pain and fear are sometimes conditioned into us so deep, we feel we cannot escape it. That feeling is a lie because there is a way to escape it," she whispers as a man catches Jath’s attention, talking to him about the fishing docks repairs.

"How?" I whisper back, and she places her hands on my shoulders, hugging me ever so briefly.

"I realized the longer I let fear and pain control my life, the longer I would never be able to enjoy the freedom I earned. The way to be free is in your heart, Arilee," she tells me and lets go. "Whenever you need a friend or anything at all, I am here, and my house is near the beach. Number forty."

"Thank you and goodbye," I say, and Jath offers me his hand to take again before we walk away. I look back once more at Petera, who nods in encouragement. I feel like I've found a friend with her.

"We rescued Petera from her pack only five years ago. The packs are all united and had been for years until a group of rebels made their own pack in memory of their alpha who my mother killed because she challenged her for pack alpha. They are called the Dark Paw pack, and they have a small island like this one off the other side of the main island," he pauses to wave at two women who seem excited to see him until they see me, and their gazes become less friendly. We head through a gap between two houses and come out on a long path with trees lining the path on each side. "It was our first real fight, and we soon realized it would be a long fight. Eventually, Mother made a deal with the alpha, letting them keep the island but they had to make a truce with us and let anyone who didn't want to be in their pack, leave. Petera was one of the people that left with us."

"So alpha is like a king here? And your mother is the queen?" I ask.

"Is that what you have back home? A king and queen?" he asks as the footpath turns to sand under our feet. I look forward, seeing the sea waves as they brush against the soft sand.

"Yes..." I say, not wanting to talk about this anymore. “But can we not talk about my home?”

"Of course. Actually, talking of home, there is something else I wanted to tell you—" Jath starts to say as we come out of the tree line and see the giant ship being built on the sand.

"A ship!" I say with wide eyes, interrupting what Jath was going to tell me.

"Yes, it's mine. It's nearly done, but this is where I live," he explains to me, smiling as I grin back.

"My father used to take us on his ship often, and I would run around it with my mother," I tell him. My fondest memories were on the royal ship, the only ship ever made in Arlen. It is massive with many floors and five sails, so it flies through the sea quicker than any ship could do.

"You speak as if they are gone," he gently says.

"They are," I quietly say, feeling the sadness that comes with admitting that. “I miss them dearly.”

"I'm so sorry for your loss. Is that the pain you need to overcome? The fear of dying?" he asks, clearly speaking of mine and Petera’s conversation. I want to tell him the truth of how dying is never something I feared; it was something I prayed for on many occasions.

"Yes, but I'd rather not speak about it. Can I see the inside of the ship?" I ask, and he smiles, nodding his head. We head over to the ship and climb up the wooden steps onto the deck, which is half built on the one side, with a box of tools resting in the middle, next to the pole for the sail. Jath nods his head over to the double doors, and he goes over, pulling a key out of his trousers and unlocking the doors. He pulls them open and walks down the steps on the other side. I eye the blue sail on the floor; the color is a dark, deep blue and there is some stitching on it, but I can't see the shape from here. I walk past the door, running my hands over the wood before heading down the steps into a small bedroom. There is a big, blue stained glass window, which shines blue light into the room, where there is a large bookcase on the wall and a big double bed with white sheets on the other side. A brown fur rug is on the ground, and Jath is sitting on the edge of the bed as I look around. I walk to the glass, placing my hand on it and feeling how warm it is.

"This might be my favorite place in the entire world, and I've never let anyone in here. What is it about you, Arilee?" Jath asks, standing up off the bed and walking over to me as I turn around, pressing my back against the glass. Jath doesn't touch me, but it feels like his eyes are caressing every inch of my body as he looks down at me. "I feel like you stole my heart, my soul, and my mind when you first looked at me."

"I didn't... but you did the same to me. I've never felt like this for anyone, for anything. Love was too forbidden, too dangerous," I reply, and I know I’m making him more confused.

"Nothing about this is going to be easy, but there is a chance for love. I will fight for that chance," Jath tells me. “I’ve never wanted anyone like I do you.”

"I'm not who you think I am," I warn him.

"I know that. You have secrets, and I've not told you everything either. We are two messed up strangers who can't stay away from each other. I don't want to stay away from you, Ari," he gently tells me, brushing his soft lips against my jaw.

"I don't want you to either," I reply to him.

"Prove it," he dares, and I move an inch closer, so my breasts press against his chest, and his eyes get a tiny bit larger. I lift my hands, placing them on his shoulders and keeping my eyes locked onto his as I lean up and brush my lips across his. My teeth naturally ache from the close contact to him, and they sharpen as he kisses me back, taking full control. His hands grab my ass, lifting me and pressing me harder into the glass. The kiss is brutal, all-consuming, and unforgettable. I sink into him as he gently bites into my lip and sets my feet on the floor. I feel confused as he lowers himself to his knees, pushes my dress up, and widens my legs. I moan as his hot tongue swirls around my clit, teasing me and feeling incredible. I hold onto his shoulders as he moves his tongue quicker and slowly inches a finger inside of me. All too soon, I'm crashing into an orgasm as my eyes open and lock onto Tiryn who is leaning against the wall of the stairs, his arms crossed tightly and his eyes widely fixed onto my face as Jath stands up, and I look away with red cheeks for more than one reason. Jath kisses me and picks me up once more, carrying me to the bed, and when I open my eyes, Tiryn is gone. He was as silent as a ghost.

"Are you okay?" Jath asks.

"Yes, I've just never had anyone do that to me before," I decide to answer, keeping Tiryn my secret for now.

I don't know why he was watching, but a secret part of me liked it.

“Good. It won’t be the last time I do that if I get my way.” I grin at Jath’s comment, liking that idea a lot. Jath kisses me as we rip each other's clothes off and he slides inside me, groaning into my ear. He thrusts in and out of me, our moans filling the room. I grab his shoulders and roll us over, surprising him.

"You're stronger than you look," he comments, though I can tell he likes it.

"Vampire strength," I smile as I roll my hips, and he groans louder, digging his nails into my hips.

"Be a vampire then. Bite me," he asks me. Demanding almost.

"Are you sure?" I ask, feeling my teeth lengthening already. I’m not strong enough to ignore how much I want to taste him once again.

"Fuck, yes, I am. I want all of you, and I fucking loved it last time," he replies with a growl.

"Even the nearly-dying part?" I reply.

"Even that," he says, groaning as I lean down and lifting my hips, letting him take control, thrusting in and out of me hard. I kiss his neck once, just gently, before slamming my teeth into his neck and drawing out his blood. The sweet taste explodes into my mouth as an orgasm bursts through me, and I feel Jath thrust a few more times before filling me up with his hot seed. I unlatch my teeth and rest my head on his chest, listening to his fast heartbeat. Jath rolls us over and kisses me before leaning back. He parts my legs with his thighs and smiles at me as he starts kissing a line down my chest, pausing between my breasts to look up.

"I hope you're hungry because we are doing that again. And again," I don't get a chance to reply as he lowers himself down the bed and does that thing with his tongue once again.

Again, and again never sounded so good.

Chapter 8

"I will be fine with her while you meet with the council. You haven't told her the truth yet, have you?" I hear a voice say as I slowly wake up, stretching my body out in the smooth sheets, feeling the warm sun shining onto my legs from the stained glass window.

"Hurt her, and I will never forgive you, brother. Don't you fucking tell her either. I will find a way to later," Jath says as I become more aware, he isn’t in the room with me anymore.

"Later sounds like a long fucking way off at this rate," I hear Tiryn say, becoming aware it is him that is speaking. I hear a loud thump a second later and someone walking off the ship. I pull my dress back on and go to the bathroom, using it quickly before walking up the stairs and onto the deck, covering my eyes from the blinding sun. I feel like I should still be sleeping, but then it might be more than a week before I will get used to being awake in the daylight. I keep waiting for everything to go wrong, for my blissful happiness I have found with Jath to be destroyed into nothing but blood and pain.

But it doesn't happen. For seven days, we have stayed on the ship and the beaches around it, loving each other and enjoying the peacefulness that can be found here.

"Jath?" I ask, looking around for him and finding someone else instead. Tiryn. He leans against the banister on the other side of the deck, the salty breeze of the sea blowing against his hair which is loosely tied at the back of his neck.

"My brother had things to attend in the village," Tiryn explains to me. "Seems we need to get to know each other a little better now you are staying to fuck my brother. I had planned to send you to my parents with a note about how you attacked Jath."

"I thought you had made your mind up about me, so what is there to learn?" I remark, walking across the deck and resting against the banister at his side, watching the ocean waves.

"No, I couldn't figure you out, and I do not like that. I have come to the conclusion that the only way to understand you is to spend time with you," Tiryn remarks. “Even if I do not wish to do that.”

"I'm easy to understand, Tiryn. I just want somewhere to be free," I reply to him. “Just like you.”

"Was your old life truly that bad?" he asks me. “You are pretty, so surely you could find a decent mate and happily live.”

"You think you are cruel and cold. You believe you are evil," I say, and he narrows his eyes.

"I do not—"

"But you are not but a shadow of my past. You are almost innocent in the light of it," I explain to him.

"Do you have family, at least any still alive?" he asks. “Where we could send you back too?”

"How do you know any are dead?" I ask, wondering if Jath has told him everything I’ve said so far.

"I see it in your eyes. They are dead," he replies. “You are too lonely to have parents alive, and I know they aren’t why you are running.”

"All my family is dead, yes," I answer him. "What about you? Any other siblings other than Jath?"

"One sister, who is a teenager and thinks she knows best. She is very much like my mother," he replies to me.

"This pack is your escape from your family," I remark, figuring him out.

"No, and yes. My family can be too much, too protective, and we all needed our own space. It doesn't mean I don't care for them, but we can't live together," he explains to me.

"You're not all that bad, are you, Tiryn?" I say with a smile on my lips.

"Don't confuse my honestly with kindness, Red," he warns me, stepping closer to me and placing his arms either side of the banister, boxing me in. "I am not Jath."

"I know you aren't," I reply, and he grins, leaning ever so closer. "As for feeding on my brother like your personal slave, that has to stop."

"Why?" I ask him. "Is it because you're jealous it isn't you I am drinking from? It isn't you I am enjoying?"

"Careful," he growls, grabbing my throat, his attempt to remind me where my place is, but it doesn't scare me as it should.

"I didn't know what it was that I saw when you were on the steps that day, but I know now. It was jealousy," I tell him, and he growls low, the sound making me shiver as he lifts his hand from my neck and runs the pad of his thumb over my bottom lip, before inching it into my mouth. He grazes his finger across my sharp teeth, and he hisses as it cuts his thumb. His sweet blood drops into my mouth, and I slowly suck his thumb for a second, hearing his sexy grumble. Noise from a bird snaps us both out of wherever we went, and he rapidly pulls away from me.

"When you want to face up to how much you want me, we should talk," I say to him. “Built-up tension isn’t good for anyone. I don’t want you to hurt Jath with how you feel.”

"I do not want you," he growls.

"Tiryn, I see you. You are fearful of me, and if there is one thing I recognize, it is fear," I reply.

"I am alpha of the Luxa pack, and you are nothing. You do not get to question me," he growls, and walks to the steps, looking back once with a face full of fury. "When you find out the truth, I bet you will run."

"What truth?" I ask him, remembering the bit of the conversation I heard when I woke up.

"See you around, Arilee," he replies with a wolf-like grin, before shifting into his black wolf and running off down the beach. I don't do anything but watch, knowing whatever secrets are on this island can't be as bad as the secret I've been keeping from them all.

Chapter 9

"Green really is your color," Jath comments as I finish tying the black lace rope around the corset part of the dress, holding it up. The green silk material falls to the floor, and Jath is right, it does suit me. Jath has plaited all my hair in a complicated way, so it rests against my back, stopping at my waist. I stare at myself in the mirror, trying to remember the last time I was allowed to wear a dress that my king didn't choose for me.

It's been a very long time. "Why are you sad? Do you not like it?"

"No, I love it. I've just not chosen my own dress to wear in a very long time," I admit to him, knowing I shouldn't have told him that. I see the anger and the pity all mixed into the emotions in his eyes. At some point in the last couple of weeks on the island, I've noticed more than just affection for me from Jath.

I've felt more than simple affection for him as well.

"Who chose for you?" he carefully asks, treating me like a bird that is inches away from flying away if you scare it. He isn't wrong.

"I—"

"You're not ready to talk about it. It's alright," Jath says, offering me his hand to take. "We have a long time to get to know each other and for you to open up to me. It doesn't have to happen overnight."

"It's nothing to do with how I feel for you, or how much I trust you. I'm scared if I tell you the truth, you will be the one running away," I reply to him.

"Nothing you could tell me would make me run," he tells me.

"If you don't run, you might want something else that I won't give you," I say, meaning the throne. Everyone I've ever known has wanted the throne, to be the most powerful king in the world. The shifters don't have what we do, their castle isn't made of gold, and they aren't immortal.

Who would give up the chance to be an immortal king? If they were to live off my blood, I wonder if it would make them immortal?

"I don't want anything other than your time, Arilee," Jath tells me and sighs, rubbing the back of his neck before offering me his hand. "We have a celebration to attend."

"You didn't tell me what the celebration is actually about," I reply.

"Do you have dead horses on Arlen?" he asks, and I frown at him for a moment as I look back as we head down the stone stairs of the tower. We left the ship for one night so we could be here for the celebration and not too far away. I haven't seen Tiryn in a few days, but I always feel like he is watching me. I sense him near even when he is doing a good job of hiding from my sight.

"We have night horses, which are silver like the moon and stars. Very beautiful and extremely difficult to train," I explain to him as we walk out of the courtyard and down the pathway toward the village. "My parents thought I was mad when I found a foal in the forest. Though she liked to bite my hand many a time, I brought her up, and she was a great horse. She died of an unknown illness when I was thirteen, and she was only five."

"I'm sorry to hear she passed on; what was her name?" he asks.

"Vaelie," I tell him as he squeezes my hand.

"Beautiful name," he replies. "The dead horses are born in death, and they do not trust many. We breed them here on the island, and in the mountains where my parents live."

"What is the celebration tonight about?" I ask.

"You'll have to wait and see, won't you?" he replies, winking once at me, and I laugh. Something about him makes me laugh far more than I thought he could. We don't speak more as we head into the village, which has been transformed since the last time I saw it. Now horse-shaped posters and banners are hanging from all the stalls, and the stalls have candles all over them. There are lines of candles leading a path to the middle of the town, where there is a big clock tower covered in candles pinned the wall, a small wooden stage in front of it where Tiryn is standing, looking around until he finds us. "I will be right back."

"A drink, my lady?" a boy who can't be more than eleven asks, holding a silver tray full of small cups.

"Thank you," I reply, taking one of the cups, and he soon moves on to ask the people around me. I blend into the people as Tiryn claps his hands a few times, and the crowd goes silent. There is only the sound of the waves lapping against the shore in the distance and the gush of wind that blows around us.

"Welcome everyone to the ten-year dead horse celebration ceremony. We gather today to honor the past, the memory of those who have left us. For who knows more about death than the dead horses themselves," Tiryn says.

"Thank you, brother. Death is never the end, and many of us understand that on a deeper level. We are here to not only remember those that have moved on but to celebrate new life being created. Life is something we should always celebrate and embrace because of it perfectly beautiful." As Jath talks, both him and his brother seem to be fixed on my face.

"May you drink long and live even longer. To the beach!" Tiryn shouts and the people cheer and howl, their joy hard to miss as they start running down a lit-up pathway toward the beach. I sip on my drink, walking with the people and down toward the beach. I stop with everyone else when I see what they are looking at. There must be at least thirty horses in two pens, a great distance between them. The horses have fur as black as the night and eyes as red as blood. They are complete opposites to the horses we had back in Arlen, but they are just as beautiful. Tiryn and Jath walk to each pen, and the people start counting down from ten. I start shouting with them as I meet Jath's eyes, and he smiles at me with nothing but happiness in his eyes.

Tiryn is right, he is too kind, and I actually love that about him.

With Jath, there is no game, no lies, and nothing about him is cold and empty. He is full of life, love, and pure happiness.

He reminds me of what people should be like.

The countdown gets to one, and Tiryn and Jath open the pen doors at the same time before running back to the crowd. The horses jolt out and run into the water, pairing up as they swim and disappear under the water, coming back up occasionally and it's clear they are mating. It's a mating celebration. The people cheer and laugh before someone starts playing music, and someone else starts to sing. Arms wrap around my waist from behind, and I relax into Jath's arms as he sways us from side to side. The people around us dance with each other and laugh, and I can't help but feel happy with them.

This is the life I should have always had. For the first time in so long, I close my eyes and rest my head back on Jath's shoulders as I forget the past, forget the future and focus on the now.

Chapter 10

Jath

My wolf lets me know Tiryn is on the ship, long before I actually hear him, and he walks down the steps after silently opening the doors. My brother smells of ale, and I’m sure he has drunk more than he needed to by the smell of him. I know it’s his way of dealing with his feelings for Arilee. God knows he wouldn’t do what most people do, and deal with their emotions in a normal way.

"We need to talk," Tiryn says before walking out of the room as I stroke Ari's back, pushing her soft locks of hair off her back. The white sheet gathers around her waist, and I lift it, tucking her into the bed, and she makes a sweet sound of happiness. I slide out of bed and pull my trousers on before walking out of the room and out to the deck, where Tiryn is leaning against the banister, looking up at the moon.

"How do you get into a room without being heard?" I ask him as I walk over. “You could teach me how to do it.”

"It's all those years of hiding from our parents," he replies to me, smiling for a second as I lean against the banister.

"You only hid because you did something bad, and you knew they would tell you off. I never needed to hide," I remind him. We were like night and day as kids, and that really hasn’t changed much over the years. Tiryn uses passion and quick emotions to control his life and work out what he wants. When something real comes along, he can’t handle it. I’ve never seen him spend more than one night with a woman, and he always pretended like they don’t exist afterward. That’s why he is so lost with his new feelings for Arilee.

"A rider came from the mainland. The time has come; we have to leave in two days," Tiryn tells me, and I pause, not expecting the rider to have come so soon. Something must have changed for our parents to have called the pack and us back this soon. We had another year of freedom left, another year to make the right choices.

"What about Arilee?" I say, turning away from my brother and watching the sea move. This sea brought her here to us, and I never want to let her go. It’s more than an obsession; it’s more than lust. I’m in love with everything little part of her, and I find myself not being able to go a day without seeing her.

"What about her? We promised mother—"

"I know what we promised," I snap, and for a second, Tiryn looks sympathetic. Like he can understand what this must mean to me. He knows how I feel for Arilee, and I would bet he feels a lot of the same. "But everything has changed now. I no longer want to keep my promise." There is a long pause between us as I finally admit that out loud. I’ve never broken a promise in my entire life, especially not one that means so much to my family. There will be hell to pay if everything is lost.

"I can try to keep it for us both," Tiryn states.

"You know that wouldn't work. I'm a challenger to you, and it has to be us both or nothing," I remind him why we both made the deal in the first place.

"Tell Red the truth before someone else does," Tiryn warns me.

"Like you?" I ask, and he frowns.

"I will not tell her for you if that is what you are asking," he replies, fully turning to look at me now. "That isn't what you are asking, though, is it?"

"You can lie to yourself all you want, but I know how you feel about her," I tell him. “At first, I was jealous and furious. You were always the spoiled child, taking anything I wanted and destroying it. Then I realized it was worse than that because you actually feel something for her. I’m still on the fence about whether you are going to destroy her or not yet.”

"And how do I feel about her?" he challenges. “Considering you apparently have this all figured out.”

"You want to be with her, when you figure that out for yourself," I tell him.

"And you wouldn't hate that?" he asks. “Or try to fight me for her?”

"It works for our parents... somehow," I reply, rubbing my face a few times and straightening up. "The only thing I would hate you for is betraying us."

"I wouldn't make that mistake," he tells me, but I'm not too sure. I watch as he walks across the ship and to the steps down. "I'm going to leave men here to get this ship in the water. We can't make Arilee stay with us, and we must give her an option to leave if she wants. This ship will do that."

"Now you are interested in her leaving?" I ask.

"I've never been interested in her leaving, but I want her to make the choice to stay. If she takes the ship, we both know she isn't going to fight for us," Tiryn doesn't wait before leaving and heading down the steps. I rest my head back for a moment, looking up at the night stars. My family will tell Arilee the truth, and Tiryn knows as well as I do that there is a good chance she will run from me. The only problem is, I don't want her to ever be out of my life. We have had just three weeks together, and I know in my heart she is meant to stay here with me. I have to pray she feels the same way. I head back down the steps to our room and pause as I watch her sleep almost silently in the bed. Her dark-red hair adds color to the white sheets and her pale skin, the contrast hard to look away from. Everything about her is hard to look away from. I walk over and sit on the bed, watching as she slowly blinks her eyes open, her long eyelashes making her eyes even more beautiful.

"Is everything okay? Can you not sleep?" she asks.

"Tiryn came to see me with some news," I tell her, sliding my hand into hers. "My parents have called the pack and us back to the mountains for a few weeks. I would love for you to come and meet them."

"I would love to come," she says with a big smile. "You've told me so much about Elodie and your fathers I feel like I know them already."

"They will love you," I tell her, though the truth is, they will hate my relationship with her. It threatens us all. I lean down and kiss her, forgetting the world and the responsibilites that come with it as I hold Arilee.

The world and my parents can wait.

Chapter 11

I finish clipping my heavy cloak buttons up before looking over at the two massive horses that Tiryn and Jath are strapping in the saddles on, fixing them to make sure they don’t fall off and aren’t too tight. I gulp as I admire their thick, black fur, and how imposing they are, and the fact I have to ride one of them for hours very soon. I’m not sure I’m ready for that, but it doesn’t seem like I have much of a choice.

"Arilee, are you ready to leave?" Jath calls over, and I move my heavy, boot-covered feet toward him, pausing to place my gloved hand on the horse’s neck. It neighs loudly, and I jump backward, cursing myself as Tiryn chuckles. Jath shakes his head at Tiryn as he takes my hands in his, almost in a comforting way. I didn’t think Tiryn knew how to be comforting, but here we are.

"They won't hurt you, but you have to ride on your own," Jath explains to me as Tiryn lets my hands go, looking confused about why he even did that. “They sense fear, so try not to be scared. It will make a better ride for you.

"Why? Where will you be?" I ask Jath. I assumed he was riding with me.

"I'm leading the pack through the forest to our middle camp before swapping with Tiryn the following morning," he explains to me, and points ahead of us at the massive pack of brown, black, and golden wolves that are lining the bridge that leads to the mainland. "They need someone to lead them, and I know this route better than Tiryn does. You and Tiryn will be behind the pack, keeping an eye out."

"Alright. Be safe," I caution, and Jath grins as he kisses me and steps back. Jath pulls his shirt over his head before kicking his boots and trousers off, leaving him completely naked in front of Tiryn and me.

"Make sure to pack my clothes. Or not if you don't want me to wear any," Jath says and winks before he disappears into a haze, and a massive white wolf appears in his place. The white wolf walks past me, brushing its soft fur against my side before jolting off toward the wolves.

"Time to ride," Tiryn says, and I watch as he effortlessly climbs onto the horse and grabs the reins before raising an eyebrow at me. I gulp and look back at the horse, wondering how in the vampire I'm meant to climb on her. The horses I had back home were half the size of this horse, and even then, I haven't ridden a horse for five years or more. I grab the saddle and tug myself up, only to miss the stirrup for my foot and fall straight into the ground.

"Can you ride?" Tiryn asks, and I can hear him trying not to laugh as he gets off his horse and I stand up, brushing leaves off my cloak as I try not to show how embarrassed I am. I have no doubt he would just laugh more.

"Yes, I can ride normal-sized horses, not a horse like this," I say with a huff, and he only chuckles more.

"Give me a second," Tiryn says and walks off, tugging his horse with him. I silently watch the pack on the bridge and how they gather together, only moving aside as a large white wolf walks through them. "Right then, we are riding together."

"Wait, that's not—"

"I can't risk you slowing us down. Our job is to watch out at the back of the pack, and I can't do that if I'm worried about you," he interrupts me and somehow doesn’t make me feel much better.

"Still I don't think we should—"

"Stop worrying so much, Red," he says with a cheeky smile, interrupting me again. As he rests his hands on my hips, I feel like his hands are burning through my clothes, leaving marks to show he touched me. It also has the added effect of making all words disappear from my head. "That's my job." Tiryn moves me aside and jumps onto the horse, before holding an arm down for me to take.

"I can walk," I protest, crossing my arms and keeping my eyes on Tiryn and the knowing smile on his lips.

"Look, it's clear you are causing a lot of trouble in my pack, and I've wanted you gone from the first day we met. That changed when Jath explained how he is keeping you around, Red. Let me help you," he suggests.

"You won't drop me off this giant horse?" I ask because I do not trust Tiryn all that much.

"Never. I'm a bit of an asshole, but I'm not cruel. I'm not what you said I was," he replies, and for the first time since we met, Tiryn is being honest with me. Really honest. I slide my arm into his, gripping his elbow as he effortlessly pulls me, and I swing my leg around the horse. He wraps an arm around my waist, pressing my body back into his as he turns the horse, and we set off toward the pack. We pass through the tree line onto the beach, and I look back to see wooden planks being pushed into the water by the ship by a few men.

"Are they not coming with us?" I ask over the wind whipping past our ears.

"No, they are staying because their mates are pregnant, or their mates have very young children. Others are staying to protect the pack lands in our absence," he explains to me.

"Then what are they doing with the ship?" I ask.

"Putting the ship in the water and it will stay there for you. It’s yours,” he tells me.

"Why?" I ask him, looking back for a second.

"If you want to run away, then there is your exit. You are clearly good at running, Arilee, and I don't trust you won't do it again," he tells me. It almost hurts he thinks I’m going to run away, and he speaks like it’s something I always do. I don’t run ever, not unless there is nothing but death waiting for me. I couldn’t have stayed and fought for Arlen and its people, no matter how much a part of me wanted too. It wasn’t their fault they had an evil king—and it wasn’t mine

"I don't want to run," I reply.

"Not yet, you don't. You haven’t met our family yet," Tiryn says, and I rest back into his chest as he speeds up down the bridge, and a long howl fills the air, followed by the sounds of dozens of wolves howling.

The pack is leaving to go home, and I couldn’t be more nervous. Tiryn is wrong though, I’m not going to run.

I’ve finally found some peace and a home.

Chapter 12

"How long until we stop?" I ask Tiryn as I look at the setting sun in the sky, and I try not to yawn too loud. The trees all look the same at this point, and I’m clueless how anyone is finding the right way through this thick forest.

"Very soon. There is a midway point we always stop at with many camps set up," he replies to me, his gravelly voice making me shiver as he speaks so close to my ear. We have been riding for a full two days, only briefly stopping to let the older children change wolves to ride on and to have food. Jath rode with me yesterday for a change of pace, and he explained we would stop for a day rest somewhere tomorrow. I run my fingers through the dead horse’s mane, looking around at the pack running in front of us. They move swiftly through the trees, almost like shadows that can’t be seen. They follow Jath perfectly, and I only get to see him sometimes, a white flash here and there. I know he is close, though; I can feel it.

"Is that it?" I ask, pointing at the ruins of houses in a clearing through the trees. As we get closer, I see that the pack is separating and running around the ruins, some shifting back into their human forms, and I look away. That’s a whole lot of naked.

"Yes," he says, his cheek brushing against mine and making me gulp as he speeds us up and rides us into the middle of the camp where Jath is shifting back. He gets his clothes out of the bag on the horse as Tiryn jumps off and reaches up, grabbing my waist and lifting me down, sliding me down his body as he does. I can’t help but notice how good it feels to be pressed against him and how soon I miss the contact when it is gone.

"I'm going to help set up," Tiryn says, stepping away from me, looking confused about something for a second.

"You alright on your own for a bit? I need to help the pack," Jath asks, coming around the horse and smiling at me as he places his hands on my shoulders.

"Yes, I'm going to find somewhere to sit for a bit," I say, and Jath kisses my forehead before walking off into the crowd. I look over at some large stone pieces that are destroyed, and green vines have grown all over it, seeing no one is sitting there. I walk over and step over a small piece of stone, pausing as I hear a little cry. I look around, seeing something white bundled up in the vines and it is crying its little heart out. I rush over, seeing the creature has pure white fur and a long face, with an even longer tail. It hisses at me as I try to move some of the vines off it and I sigh, sitting down next to the creature.

"I'm not going to hurt you, but you can't bite me because I can't help you then," I tell the fox, who seems so distressed it can't calm down anyways. Against my better instincts, I grab the vines and spend a long time undoing them and snapping the ones which are too tight to move. The fox bites into my hand, and I grit my teeth from the pain as I snap the final branch, and slowly pull the baby fox out of the vines. It lets go of my hand when I put it down, and to my surprise, it doesn't run away. The little fox sits and looks at me with its clear, white eyes. I reach into my pocket and pull out some jerky I have folded up in cloth. I break a little piece off and chuck it to the fox, who sniffs it before slowly eating the jerky. I stay very still when the fox finishes its food and comes closer to me. It climbs onto my lap and curls up, closing its eyes as I shakily lie my hand on its back, stroking it as it makes a purring noise.

"Seems you found a friend," Tiryn says, looking over the rock. He jumps over, his movement silent to my ears. The baby fox doesn't look up as it sleeps happily in my lap, and Tiryn moves to sit next to me.

"What is its name?" he asks, but I don’t have a clue.

"Why would I name a fox?" I ask.

"Because clearly it has chosen to trust you, and you are now it's family," he says, resting his head back on the stone and looking at me strangely. "You have that effect, Red. You walk into people's lives, and then they never want to let you go."

"Are you talking about Jath?" I ask as Tiryn stands back up, going to leave but my question makes him pause for a second.

"No, Red. I wasn't talking about my brother." I don't get to ask him what he means as he jumps over the stone wall and he is gone in the next moment. I look down at the white fox who is as white as snow. Sounds like a suitable name for her—Snow.

Chapter 13

"This place is big," I say, gaping at the town in the mountains we have just gotten too. The town is massive, stretching all the way up the mountain to where there is a forest at the top. A large waterfall falls down the side of the mountain, a mixture of snow and ice falling into it. The houses all have a light sprinkle of snow on them, making them blend into the snowy mountain. The town is surrounded by a tall, stone wall and several watchtowers; many guards are in the towers and walking across the wall. "Are your parents at war? Why is it so protected?"

"I will tell you everything tonight. I promise," Jath explains to me. It makes me nervous, but then, any secrets will have that effect on me at the moment.

"There's more to know?" I ask.

"A lot more," Jath tells me, rushing around the wolves and running to the front of the pack next to Tiryns’s wolf. I tuck Snow further into my cloak, making sure she is secure as the stone gates open and we head into the town. It doesn't matter any; all Snow does is sleep and eat. She also won't let Tiryn or Jath touch her, much to their annoyance.

They haven't passed the bite test like I did, I suspect.

People line the streets, cheering and throwing rose petals onto us as we walk up the pathway, straight toward the top of the mountain. It reminds me of home, where the people would throw glowing leaves onto the pathway anytime the royal family came out. The last time they did that was when my king wanted to show the people how he had claimed me. It was all a lie. I may have been wife by marriage, but we were never truly mated. Vampires can only mate when they love the one they choose. It's something that does not work with fear; the magic words have no effect. My king made sure to test that rumor many a time, and he made me lie that we had mated. The air gets thicker the higher we ride up the mountain, distracting me from my memories and making it easier to remember I'm safer here than I am looking into my past. We get to another pair of gates, which again are opened for us as we get to them, and we head through them to a pathway through a forest. I look back to see only Tiryn comes through the gates, the rest of the pack has gone into the town. Tiryns’s black wolf runs by our side as we head through the long pathway through the trees until we come up to a castle in the mountain. It's huge with tall pillars that stretch into the sky and big open balconies. It reminds me so much of my home that it hurts my chest a little.

"Don't be nervous," Jath gently tells me as we get into the courtyard in front of the castle, and I look at the very imposing people standing on near the doors. A woman is in the middle, who I believe is Elodie, the alpha of the packs. Her long, brown hair blows around in the wind, her blue dress is extremely beautiful, flowing out around her legs and tight at the top, with lacy sleeves. I briefly glance at the four men standing at her side, who are all just as handsome as Jath and Tiryn, but they are nothing but scary at this moment. The tallest one has hair just like Jath and braided in a similar way, but he is too frightening to look at for long. I turn my gaze to the more playful two men who are smiling in a friendly way, looking like brothers. The other guy who holds Elodie's hand, and only looks at her is a little different than the three others who must be the alpha brothers Jath told me about, so that makes him River. Jath stops the horse right in front of them and climbs off before helping me down. As soon as my feet meet the ground, Tiryn rubs against my side as he walks to Elodie, who kneels and hugs the wolf tightly.

"I missed you," Elodie says, and Tiryn bows his head, stepping back. He growls at the brothers, who laugh. The biggest of the brothers shifts into a white wolf very similar to Jath, and they growl at each other before running off into the trees.

"Letric, Alaric, you should shift and go with Alpha and Tiryn for a run," Elodie suggests, and they each kiss her before shifting into wolves and heading into the trees.

"Nothing ever changes. We will see you later, Jath, and whoever your friend is," River comments, patting Jath on the shoulder as he passes us, and he shifts before running into the forest.

"Doesn't your mother get a hug?" Elodie asks, opening her arms for Jath, who happily hugs his mother and swings her around as she laughs. "You look different somehow. I can't quite place why that is."

"I have better company for one," Jath says, letting his mother go, and he holds his hand out to me. I take his hand as I nervously walk to his side and Elodie clearly tracks the movement without saying anything. "Mother, this is Arilee. Arilee, this is my mother."

"Hello, Jath has told me so much about you," I say, holding out a hand, and Elodie pauses before taking it.

"What are you?" she asks, dropping my hand like it’s on fire.

"Mother—"

"No, it's okay to be curious," I stop Jath, placing my hand on his chest, and he looks down at me before letting me speak. "I'm a vampire from a land called Arlen, which is across the sea."

"Arlen? Vampire?" Elodie says, placing her hands on her hips. "Strange words I've not heard before. I am going to need more details before I let you in my home."

"The only thing you need to know is that I trust Arilee," Jath says before I can say anything to explain myself. I look up at Jath, feeling warm from his words and the trust behind them. He loves his family, and he trusts me around them. I don’t even know if I deserve his trust. Elodie keeps her eyes fixed on me before she takes a deep breath.

"My Jatheod doesn't trust easy, and neither would Tiryn leave me alone with you if he thought you were a threat," Elodie says and crosses her arms just as a girl comes running down the stairs. She looks about thirteen, with long, blond hair and big eyes that look almost black. She throws herself into Jath's arms, and he laughs as he hugs her back.

"Faye, do you have to be late for everything? And covered in mud? What have you been doing?" Elodie asks with a huff.

"I was with the horses, and then I fell over. Sorry," she sheepishly says, and Jath laughs as Faye looks to me. "Who is she?"

"I'm Arilee. It's lovely to meet you," I say with a smile.

"You speak like a queen or something," Faye says, and I know she is only being playful, but it shocks me either way. I can only nod and look away, making the situation more than a little awkward.

"You okay?" Jath quietly asks, resting his hands on my upper arms. He leans down and kisses me softly before resting back. The simple movement soothes me for a long moment.

"Why don't we show you to your rooms, Arilee. Faye, as you already are covered in mud, you can take Jath's horse to the stables. Jath, you can go and find your brother. I want you both in the throne room for a long talk. Now," Elodie states, before walking up the steps. It's very clear who is in charge here.

"I will catch up with you later. Enjoy my home," Jath says, smiling tensely before running off into the forest, shifting with a long jump.

"Arilee, are you coming?" Elodie asks, and I'm quick to walk up the steps, knowing she will not ask again. I get the feeling I've not made the best impression, and I doubt I ever could have done.

Chapter 14

I walk silently at Elodie’s side, well aware of the glances she gives me every so often as we head around corridor after corridor and up a pair of steps. I pause, looking out of the window on the stairs, seeing the snow-covered town. It is really stunning from this height, and the waterfall is my favorite part, and the river that flows off it out of the town. It’s sheltered well from the mountain here and so inbuilt into the mountain that it must look like nothing but dots from a distance.

“Do you have snow where you are from?” Elodie asks me, and I watch the tiny flecks of snow falling from the cloudy sky as I answer.

“Arlen, and yes. It is unusual, though. Arlen is warm, though hotter in the summer months most of the time,” I explain to her. I don’t want to explain that snow only fell from the sky since the royal family was killed and I was taken.

“Interesting. I’m sure you liked it on the island then,” she muses. “A home away from home.”

“Yes, I did. Jath told me you and your mates once lived there,” I reply, remembering the conversation.

“A long time ago, yes, we did. I miss the warmer months,” she explains to me. “But my home is here.”

“I understand,” I say, and she steps down to look at me, and I have no choice but to stay still as she runs her eyes over me. She is difficult to read, which I’m starting to realize most of her family is. They keep their emotions hidden well, and they do not show many them at all.

“Are you a threat to my sons?” she asks, turning her head to the side but keeping her eyes firmly fixed onto my mine, waiting to see the answer.

“No, I’m not,” I tell her, and she watches me, silently, for a long pause.

“Okay then,” she replies and straightens up. We both pause when we hear a little noise, and I pull Snow out of my cloak, smiling at as she wakes.

“A snow fox, where did you find her, and how are you holding her?” Elodie asks, stepping back. “They grow as big as dogs and like to attack wolves, but they are so rare.”

“I found her tangled up in vines and now she seems to trust me,” I answer.

“We should go to the kitchens and find her some food. I bet she hasn’t eaten well yet,” Elodie says, carefully walking past me, and I follow her down a few more corridors until we go down a long turning staircase which leads into a large kitchen

“Alpha Elodie!” A woman shouts in happiness and comes over.

“Arabella, this is Arilee, and she has a little friend who needs something suitable to eat,” Elodie introduces me. “Arilee, this is Arabella, my sons’ aunt and head cook with her mate.”

“Hello!”

“I’m afraid fox food is something I’m clueless on, but I will make something. We can test different foods until we find what she likes. What’s her name?”

“Snow,” I answer and Arabella smiles at me. Snow wriggles in my arms, and I put her down. She runs over to the counter and sits under it before licking her paws. Arabella bows her head at Elodie and smiles at me before going to a man near the stove and kissing his cheek before talking to him.

“Tell me about yourself, Arilee,” Elodie asks, waving a hand at the table in the room. I sit down and open my mouth to say anything, but stumble. I don’t know what to tell her about me. “I can see you like animals, but I can’t see much else.”

“There isn’t much else to tell. I am what you see,” I reply.

“I doubt that. We all have our secrets, and I’m sure you are not being honest about everything,” she replies, leaning back in her seat.

“I keep my secrets, yes, but only to protect those I love,” I tell her.

“Like my sons?” she asks, and I almost freeze as I answer her. I haven’t told them how I feel yet, and I’m not sure telling their mother first is the best idea. But I don’t want her to think I’m using her sons when I’m not. What we have is real.

“Yes,” I reply after a pause. Elodie stands up in one smooth movement and comes to stand next to me, looking down with a low growl escaping her throat that almost scares me.

“You don’t frighten easily, and that makes me think someone has done worse things to you than I can imagine. I see a victim and a fighter; I was one once. Now I have peace,” she says, straightening up and holding a hand out for me to take. As I slide my hand into hers and she helps me stand, she squeezes tight. “But make sure your past isn’t going to risk the lives of my sons, or I will hold you accountable.”

“I can’t promise that,” I whisper, feeling tears stinging the edges of my eyes.

“Then figure something else out,” she firmly tells me. “Now let’s go and find you a room. I’m sure Arabella will bring Snow to you later.” I have no doubt Elodie will kill me in the blink of an eye if my past hurts her sons. Maybe this was the reality I needed to realize how selfish I am being by being in their lives.

I will never be free.

Chapter 15

Tiryn

"I guess mother knows you love the vampire then?" I say to Jath as I pull on my shirt as we head down the corridor toward the throne room. The corridor has new tiles, the shiny blue stone that matches the color of the walls and the white flower designed to look like it is growing down the wall. The flowers remind me of the million scents of home in this place and how much I love it here. It was fun to run with my fathers and work off some of the energy my wolf has been building up. My wolf missed them as much as me. It was clear they missed me as well.

"I haven't even told Arilee that yet, so how could she know?" Jath asks, and I raise an eyebrow at him, trying not to laugh. As if it wasn't written all over his face every time he looks at Arilee, or you mention her.

"Because she isn't stupid," I reply, and he opens his mouth to say something when our grandmother comes around the corner, resting on her cane.

"Come and give your grandmother Mary a hug then. It's been far too long," she says, and I can't help but smile at her. I hug her before Jath does, and I smirk as she hits him on the arm with her cane.

"What was that for?" he asks, and I growl as she hits me on the arm too. "Have you gone crazy in your old age?"

"That is for not coming back sooner and for bringing a woman back without telling your family you had met one. Have you not heard of letters, boys? I did teach you to write so you should know how to write at least," she says, and I sigh.

"Mother is waiting for us, can we say sorry later?" I ask her.

"Go on," she says with a little smile on her lips. "I expect to see you later with some cake as an apology. You both know I can't walk down those stairs to the kitchens anymore to get my own."

"Weren't you banned because you kept scaring the cooks by telling them they were doing it wrong?" Jath asks while jumping out the way of her swinging cane. We laugh as we walk down the rest of the corridor and past the guards outside the throne room doors. I shut the doors behind us as Mother stands up off the throne and places her hands on her hips, doing that look which lets you know you're in trouble. The throne is made of silver, swirled around to look like wolf curled around a chair. The throne room itself has wolves painted across the ceilings, and the glass windows have been recently replaced with new stained glass, showing wolves running through a forest. I like the changes.

"Have you told that poor girl the truth?" Mother asks. "Or is it even worse than that. Are you changing your minds? When did you plan to tell me?"

"We haven't changed our minds," I say before Jath can put his foot in it. "We wouldn't do that to you. I know how important—"

"Stop with the bullshit. I am your mother; you do not fool me. You are both in love with that girl, and she is clueless that you are engaged to marry the Dark Paw heir in a few weeks," Mother says. Straight to the point, like she always is. I wouldn’t expect anything less from our mother. I told Jath more than once to tell Arilee the truth before it blew up in his face.

"I am going to tell her; I just haven't found the right moment to yet," Jath explains. “I know it will hurt her, and I don’t want to hurt her. I never expected to meet someone like Arilee and fall for her like I did.”

"That's a lie. He has no intention of telling the woman he is in love with that he is engaged to someone else. Can't I just marry this heir and Jath can be with Arilee then?" I ask, crossing my arms. I could move away, never having to see Arilee, and then I wouldn’t have to deal with my desire for her. I could do it. For my family, for my brother.

"No, she wants both the male heirs to my throne so that any child born will be the true alpha one day. If you mate with Arilee, your child would be a contender to be alpha," Mother explains to us. It’s what Jath thought she would say as well.

"Then what do we do?" I ask.

"Is she worth it? Worth starting a war that will see hundreds die. Is this more than a crush and lust?" Mother asks Jath, but her eyes stay on me as she comes to stand in front of us. "If you love her, then we will figure out another way to make peace."

"There isn't another way, that is why we are engaged to the heir in the first place," I point out. When the war first started, they had a meeting with the alphas of the Dark Paw pack, and it was the only thing they would accept to stop the fight. At the time, we didn’t mind it. The Dark Paw’s heir is beautiful, but we have only seen her from a distance. I’m sure she is just as fucked-up as her parents, and my wolf wanted nothing to do with her.

Not like Arilee. My wolf always wants to be close to her.

"The heir is here, and there is a meal tonight. We can ask her, but you have to let me know by tonight what you choose. There will be no going back if you choose Arilee, but I will side with you both," Mother says, looking like she knows everything as usual.

"Both? Arilee—"

"Don't lie to your mother, Tiryn. I can always tell when you try," Mother says, before smiling at me for a second and then looking back at Jath. She picks up his hand and holds it tightly in hers. "Either way, you should tell her the truth before she finds out by accident."

"The truth is going to destroy her," Jath quietly replies.

"If she loves you, then she will move on from it," Mother says and sighs. "Are you sure she doesn't have her own secrets?"

"We have no clue why she ran away from her land, and I suspect there is more she isn't telling us," Jath admits. I hate that we don’t know everything like we should do by this point. Arilee keeps quiet about her home at a time when we really need to know more.

"Secrets destroy relationships," Mother warns us before sighing. "I'm going to find the dressmaker and send her to Arilee. She will need a perfect dress for tonight."

"Thank you," Jath says, and she leans up, kissing his cheek. She does the same to me, whispering low.

"Tell the poor girl how you feel before it's too late, and she thinks you are nothing more than her friend." Mother pulls back, and I nod, my eyes drifting up to Jath who clearly heard our mother’s words. Letric walks to the entrance of the throne room, shortly followed by Alaric and River. They stop Mother to speak to her about something quietly, and her laugh fills the throne room.

“We tell Arilee tonight. No more secrets between us all,” Jath says, patting my shoulder before stepping away and walking to some of our family. Mother is right; secrets do destroy relationships. We just have to hope Arilee can forgive us for not telling her the truth.

Chapter 16

I turn around on the stand, looking down at the dress and the way the silky green dress fits all my curves perfectly. The back of my dress is open with gold waves of string falling down it. The bottom of the dress brushes against the ground and around the flat, black shoes I've been given. The dressmaker claps and smiles at me as I step down, feeling more than nervous as Elodie walks into the room.

"Wow, that looks perfect on you," she says, and I can't help but admire the fitted, silk, dark-blue dress she has on, and the way her brown hair is tightly wrapped into a bun with braids curled around it. My hair is done very similar with a few strands of my hair falling in curls around my face.

"Thank you very much," I say, and she smiles at me, clearly thinking of something. The moment she goes to talk, someone knocks on the door.

"Come in," Elodie calls, and the door opens with Alaric walking in. He doesn't see anyone but her as he walks up to Elodie and kisses her like they are alone. I pull my eyes away, feeling my cheeks burn red until they stop kissing and Elodie chuckles.

"Alaric, have you met Arilee?" Elodie asks, and I walk over, bowing before holding my hand out. He shakes my hand before smiling kindly.

"I've heard enough about you from our sons to feel like we have met already," Alaric says with a smile. "As much as I’d love to get to know you more, we are late for the meal."

"Who is going to be at the meal?" I ask as we walk to the door. "Jath and Tiryn were very good at avoiding the question today."

"There is another pack living on an island just outside of our lands. Their alpha was a contender to my claim as alpha, so we fought, and I killed her to win. She did kill my mother first and would have no doubt killed many more if I hadn’t stopped her,” Elodie explains.

“You do not need to justify yourself about killing that wolf,” Alaric gently tells Elodie, who smiles up at him.

“I know,” she softly replies and then looks to me. “I didn’t know she had two children—twins—before her death. The twins were bought up by their three fathers as they gathered a large pack. They soon suggested war to make their children alpha, but we have made a deal with them. Tonight, the twins will be at the meal, and they are guests for the next few days.”

“What was the deal?” I ask.

“Ah, can you smell that?” Alaric says as we go around another corner. I don’t miss the sharp change of the subject, but I get distracted myself when I see Jath and Tiryn waiting outside a pair of double doors. They both have perfect black clothes, tightly fitted to show off their builds, and they have long cloaks attached to their shoulders. They look like princes in this moment. Wolf princes. When I get closer, Tiryn takes my hand as Jath just stares, looking in shock. Tiryn presses the back of my hand to his lips, almost briefly, before lowering my hand.

“Arilee, Mother. You both look beautiful,” Tiryn says and winks at me, making me grin.

“My son, always the charming one with the right words,” Elodie tells me with a smile. I look back for a second to see Alpha, Letric, and River walking toward us down the corridor, and Elodie turns to them.

“You really do look beautiful,” Jath says as the double doors open, and we both look toward the dining room on the other side, where two people are already sitting down. They are clearly twins; both have curly black hair that is as dark as the night sky and bright green eyes. They are about my age, wearing matching green clothes. The man has a green cloak, much like the same clothes Jath and Tiryn are wearing, whereas the woman has a silky, green dress that is like mine, but hers leaves nothing to the imagination as it is cut in many places. The woman stands up, placing her hand on her brother’s shoulder as she smiles at us through her painted red lips.

“I’ve been looking forward to meeting my fiancés for a long time,” she says with a foreign accent I don’t recognize, but it is lovely to my ears. Her eyes fixed on Jath and Tiryn as my heart starts beating loud in my ear.

“Please tell me you have told her today,” I hear Elodie harshly whisper.

“You are both engaged?” I ask, spinning around and facing them. “To her?” I ask, pointing back at the woman.

“Yes, but—" I only need to hear the one word before I push past them both, and Jath grabs my arm. I slam my hand into his chest, and he flies backward into the room, crashing into the table.

“You forget I am not a wolf,” I say as his parents growl at me, and Tiryn steps in front of them. “I will not be held down ever again. You lied to me; you used me. Was any of it real, or was I just a toy for you to use until your marriage? Would I have been the other woman then?”

“No, it wasn’t like that!” Jath says, climbing up off the table.

“Stay away from me,” I tell him, trying to hold my tears in as I turn around and run down the corridor, kicking my shoes off as I go so I run faster. I don’t look where I’m going as I keep running and running until I find my room and pull the door open. I slam it shut and scream. I just scream as I collapse onto the floor, pain smashing into my heart and feeling like I am being cut open. Why didn’t they just tell me? Did they want to hurt me? These questions run around and around in my head a million times, but I never once get the answer. The door swings open behind me, and I look back to see Tiryn shutting the door.

“Get out,” I tell him, and he shakes his head as he walks to me. “I said get out,” I say more firmly this time, wanting him to get the message as I stand up. I do not want him here anymore. They lied. He walks right up to me, and before I can say a word, he kisses me. The kiss tastes salty from all my tears, but neither of us notice anything but each other as he devours my lips and holds me close.

“Did that feel fake?” he asks, staring into my eyes.

“I—” He swallows my words, making me forget to ask anything else as he kisses me. Tiryn picks me up and carries me to the bed, never pausing as he kisses me. For the love of vampires, Tiryn can kiss. He drops me on the bed and stands over me, unclipping his cloak. The cloak falls to the ground, followed by his shirt and trousers until Tiryn is standing in front of me with no clothes on at all. I sit up, and slowly push my dress up my thighs, revealing my lack of underwear.

“Nothing about us is fake. We didn’t tell you the truth, and that was wrong. I should have told you. Jath should have, but it is what it is. The truth is, I’m falling hard for you Arilee, and I need to know if you’re going to run from us?” he asks me, and he is more vulnerable in this moment than I’ve ever known him. I can see how nervous he is, how much he doesn’t want to talk about real things like feelings with me.

“Kiss me,” I command.

“No. Tell me,” he demands, gently grabbing my neck and pushing me down onto the bed, covering my body with his. “Tell me if you are going to run.”

“No. I’m in love with you so, how could I?” I admit, and he smiles, a big smile like I just said what he always wanted to hear. He kisses me, sliding his hand down my body and pulling my dress out of the way. He kisses down my chest, ripping the dress down and taking his time to kiss and lick my nipples. I moan, wriggling against him, and he goes onto his knees before grabbing my legs and flipping me over onto my knees. Tiryn kneels behind me and parts my thighs before lining himself up. He reaches a hand around my hip, his thumb going to my clit, and he rubs it perfectly as he slowly slides his hard cock deep inside me. I cry out as an orgasm shakes through my body, and Tiryn grabs my hips, slamming into me again and again.

“Tiryn, oh, god. Please don’t stop,” I say, digging my hands into the bedsheets as he thrusts harder and harder, chasing his orgasm.

“Fuck, Arilee,” he groans as he comes inside me, holding me tightly to him before pulling out. He wraps his arms around me as we lie down, and I rest my head on his chest, hearing his fast beating heartbeat as I control my breathing. “Please don’t run. We fucked up, but we love you.”

“You love me?” I ask him, and he looks down at me before pressing a kiss to my forehead.

“Yes,” he tells me and rolls onto his side. “I wouldn’t risk my family going to war for no one.”

“War?” I whisper.

“Jath is trying to make a different deal with the Dark Paw twins, but we made it clear marriage is no longer an option,” he tells me and kisses me once more. “It’s been a long day; we should sleep, and we can talk more in the morning. Don’t worry. Everything will be fine.” I cuddle up to Tiryn, wishing he was right.

But the truth is, I can’t let them go to war for me.

Chapter 17

I stare at the white-painted ceiling and the tiny lump of paint which isn’t smooth like the rest of the ceiling, and the more I stare, the more I start to wonder if I am like that lump in this place. Different. Unwanted by many and really shouldn’t be here. I roll over onto my side and stare at Tiryn as he sleeps, completely at ease with the world. He almost looks happy in his sleep, but there is always that touch of darkness about Tiryn. I feel he was born with it, and yet I really like that side of him

I love him.

I love Jath... and if I stay here, I'm going to destroy their world. My mother always said if you love something, you have to let it go. I never understood why you would let something you love to go, but I finally do now. It's selfish to stay here and keep them both, love them both. The Dark Paw twins will go home and tell their family to start a war, and hundreds will die to save our love. I also know my king's sons will come looking for me one day, and if the brothers protect me, which I know they would, it would mean another war.

Our love brings nothing but pain and destruction. I know a way to stop it, but it would hurt us all so very much.

I lift my head, feeling hot tears falling down my cheeks as I slide out of the bed and pull my dress on, and slide my feet into my shoes. I glance over at Snow, sleeping happily on the little bed in the corner of the room. She will be better without me too.

Everyone will be. My king told me time and time again how worthless I was, and how I only caused trouble for everyone. For years I tried to ignore him and pretend he was just lying to me to try and make me feel bad, but what if he was right? What if I am this monster that does nothing but destroys everything around me? I don’t want to be that to anyone, but how can I stay when it means nothing but war for the men I love and their family? I know their family will support our love, and that means war—people dying for me when they really don’t need to do.

I wipe my cheeks and grab my cloak resting on a chair by the door before opening the door. I don't look back at Tiryn, knowing I can't risk seeing him once more and feeling like I have to say goodbye. If I said goodbye, he would never let me leave. Neither would Jath, and I hate that the last time I saw him would be that meal and how I threw him across the room. I shouldn’t have done that. I run down the corridor, using my senses to find the direction of the horses. It takes me a few wrong turns and hiding from a few more guards before I get outside near the stables, but I'm not alone.

"This horse is quick and young. It will last you a good few years. The guards have been instructed to let you pass through the town and out of the open gates," Alpha states, coming out of the shadows with a saddled horse, a normal one and not a dead horse. I see where Tiryn gets his sneakiness from. I’m glad this horse is one I can actually ride, and it is silver, much like the horse I once had as a girl. I learned more about riding on my way here anyway.

"You want me to leave?" I ask, gulping as he comes closer to me and towers over me. He hands me the reins with a frown.

"I want my sons at peace. They will never be that with you around," he points out. “It is nothing personal.”

"I don't want to hurt them," I admit, tightening my hands in the reins as I look back up at the castle.

"I know that. I would have killed you if I thought you planned to hurt them," he tells me, and I don’t doubt it. “My mate has taught me to try other methods than breaking necks to deal with issues. You may thank her if you ever see her again.”

"Do you think I should leave?" I ask him, trying to ignore the very creepy statement about Elodie.

"While you still hold many secrets and refuse to tell us all the truth, then yes," he replies, stepping around me. "If can you tell them the truth, tell them you will fight your demons and theirs together, then you should stay."

"If I tell them what I did, they—"

"Arilee, my sons love you. We both know you will not tell them because it's dangerous," Alpha replies. "Love changed my life, but it was not without cost. I gave up much for it, and I have never regretted doing so, but if I thought for a second that my love for Elodie was going to get her killed, I would have left. I would never risk her."

"My past is going to come for me one day, and they should mate with the Dark Paw leader to save your pack," I reply gulping down the bitter taste in my mouth at the idea of either of them mating with anyone else.

"Life is cruel at times," Alpha states, before nodding once at me and walking away into the shadows of the castle without even a goodbye. I grip the reins tightly in my hand. Alpha is right, life is cruel, but it doesn't have to be the end for Jath and Tiryn.

I remember what Tiryn said about the ship being in the water, just as a white bundle runs out of the shadows of the castle, and I smile as I pick up Snow from the ground. I know I should send her back but as I look into her eyes, I know I can’t send her away.

"Do you want to see a ship, Snow? We can go somewhere else, and hopefully it will only be my heart that is broken." Of course, Snow doesn't reply, she simply purrs in happiness ,and I turn around, opening the bag on the saddle and slide her inside and see the food, water, and other things I will need in the bags. I carefully pull myself up on the horse and take a deep breath.

I've run once before from everything I've ever known, but this time it hurts so much more to leave.

Chapter 18

Jath

"Is Arilee here? Or Snow?" Tiryn asks as he comes into the dining room as we sit around having an awkward breakfast with the Dark Paw twins, who I can never remember the names of, and our parents. I know she was with Tiryn last night, so I don't understand why he would be asking me where she is. I hoped he would have talked enough to her so that when I see her today, she won’t throw me across the room. I deserved it, but I would like to be able to talk to her normally. I love her, and this is just a hiccup in the road.

"You spent the night with her, you tell me?" I ask with a frown.

"Arilee left late last night," Alpha says, and I sharply turn my head to him, dropping my fork and knife as I stand up. “I made sure she had enough supplies and was let out safety.”

"Why the fuck didn't you stop her or come to get us?" Tiryn asks before I can say anything and he sounds furious. If I wasn't sure my brother was in love with Arilee, I know it now.

"He didn't because I told him not to," Mother says, standing up and walking around the table to stand in the middle of us.

"This got a little more interesting," the Dark Paw woman says, and I ignore her as she laughs with her brother.

"How could you do that?" I ask my mother, feeling more than betrayed. We spent last night talking in the dining room, and I told her how much I loved Arilee and wanted a future with her. A real one, much like what my mother has. Their love wasn’t easy, not from the stories I’ve heard, so how could she send away Arilee?

"Arilee is not strong enough to be your mate, and she is not a wolf. Even despite that, you both know nothing about her. You don't know where she came from, why she ran away, and what scares her. She is a closed book; how could you truly love her?" Mother asks me, her hands on her hips. “For all we know, she killed a million people, and she was banished from her home. We do not know her, and you two were in love with her beauty, nothing more.”

"That wasn't your choice to make. I do love her, and her past means nothing to me," I shout, smacking my fist on the table. “I know her heart, and she is good. She is a good person who was treated like shit. I may not know the details, but I trust her.”

"You can’t know that. She hasn’t told you the truth," Alaric points out, and I can see all my parents are on the same side on this.

"Arilee is not weak. Whatever she ran from, scares her deeply, and I know she has had a life of nothing but pain. Much like you did as a no claim, Mother. I wanted to give her time to relax and know she is safe before asking her to tell us her past," Tiryn points out, and I see guilt in my mother’s eyes for a second.

"Jath," Mother tries to grab my arm, but I push her away and walk to Tiryn, who nods once at me. We don't need to discuss what we are going to do next.

"If she is hurt or gone too far that we can never get her back, it will be you we blame," Tiryn growls at Mother, who starts to cry as he storms out. I take a deep breath, trying to calm how panicked I am before looking at her.

"I know you were trying to protect us, but all you did was hurt us with this," I explain to her. “You know what it is like to find someone you can’t live without. Arilee is that for us, there is no one else.”

"I didn't mean to," she says, but I look at the Dark Paw twins, who seem very amused.

"Make a new demand because the alpha brothers are taken. If you start a war, your heads will be removed and thrown at your parents’ feet before the war is over. Be careful of your demands." The moment I finish talking, two of their guards run at me, shifting in moments. I jump over them, grabbing the one around the neck and snapping it easily as the other jumps at me. As its teeth bite into my arm, I shift, and in seconds, my teeth are ripping into his neck, hot blood pouring into my mouth as he dies. The woman screams, and her brother moves in front to protect her from me.

"We will deal with this. Go," Mother says, lifting her head high and nodding at me as I drop the dead wolf on the floor.

My wolf lifts its head high and howls before turning and running out of the castle, joining Tiryn as we leave the town, following Arilee's scent. We have to find her because if we don't, we won't ever stop.

Arilee belongs with us, and under all the fear, she knows it too.

Chapter 19

My legs ache as I finally get through the forest and come out on a beach, seeing the island in the distance. I must have fallen asleep when I was riding as one moment there was snow falling from the sky, and the next it was warm. I believe it's been a day since I woke up and stopped to feed Snow and let her have a walk around. The horse happily canters all the way to the island, its shiny silver fur reflecting off the sunlight. As I get to the bridge, I see the tips of the sail over the side of the island and frown because I don't remember the ship having that tall of a pole. I get more nervous when I notice there isn't anyone guarding the bridge and the town is silent as we get closer. I turn my horse down the side path toward the beach, only to stop dead in my tracks when I see not one but two ships in the water. The second ship makes me feel sick from the pure fear as I see the red flags with a black crown on them.

It's the royal ship.

I scream when I see the lines of dead men on the beach, some in wolf form and others not, but each of their throats is cut open. There are no children or women in the pile, which doesn't make sense. There are three small boats on the beach, pulled up on the sand and their black painted wood standing out. Everything in me freezes as three hooded figures walk out of the pathway in the distance, and they just stop, staring at me. Waiting. I gulp and slide off the horse, going into my bag and pulling out Snow. I place her on the ground and pull my eyes from the hooded figures who I know who they are.

"Go and find food, Snow. You have to go." Snow does as I ask, running into the trees like she can understand me. I highly doubt she can, but at least she is gone. I hold my head high as I walk up to the hooded figures, only to pause when I'm a few feet away, scenting someone I shouldn't.

"Did you miss me, my sweet queen?" my king says, pushing his hood down, and I shake my head in denial, stepping back as he grins at me.

"You-u a-are dead!" I shout, thick tears streaming down my cheeks. His sons push down their cloaks, revealing their dark eyes like their father and their dark red hair.

"Come here, my queen," my king asks, holding a hand out. "Don't make me force you."

"You forced me into everything else in my life, and somehow you made me think it was right. It was normal, but it wasn't. You are a truly evil monster who couldn't possibly know how to love anyone. I found love, I found something real, and I will never go back to the life you forced me into before!" I shout at him, standing up tall even as my hands shake. This man caused me so much pain, so much anger, and I know I cannot let him do that to me anymore. I turn and start running away, only to not get far before someone slams into me and knocks me onto the floor, banging my chin hard. I scream and try to fight my king as he holds me down and places his head next to mine.

"I love when you struggle, when you fight me. Shame about all the death surrounding us or I would have you right here," he pushes his hard cock into me to make a point, and I scream again, trying to fight him off me, but he is too heavy. He leans back and roughly turns me over, before sitting up on his knees, looking down at me with his crystal red crown on his head—my father's crown.

"I will never be yours again. You—" I don't get to finish my sentence as he lifts his massive fist and punches me hard in the face, making the world turn into nothing but pain and darkness.

Chapter 20

"Time to wake up, Arilee. I want you to watch your small island home disappear as I take back to where you belong, my queen," I hear his voice whisper into my ear, his lips brushing against them, and it makes me feel sick. I ignore him, keeping my eyes shut and focusing in on the pain in my cheek, the pain all over my body from where he has beaten me. I make the mistake of crying out as he lifts me up by my hair, and I open my eyes to see the island in the distance. The three boats are gone, the bodies line the shore, and the towers stand so tall. I will miss this place, but I will miss them more.

"Did you love the men you let fuck you, my queen?" my king asks me, turning me to look at him.

"Yes," I answer, truthfully. “But it was love. Something you know nothing off.”

"Then you deserve everything I have planned to do to you. I'm going to make you suffer for everything you did," he tells me, leaning in close. "Shame you didn't point that dagger a little bit higher, and then I would be dead. You just stunned me before, and I will never give you a chance to do that again." He moves his other hand and slides it down my body, and I shake with disgust.

"Fuck you," I say before spitting at him, and he drops me onto the floor. I hide my head in my arms as he lifts his big booted foot and goes to kick me just as two wolves, soaking wet, jump onto the ship from the other side. One black and one white wolf, side by side, and their growls directed at one person—my king. I smile with relief as I look at them, but then I feel nothing but worry as my king laughs.

"You've been sleeping with dogs? How pathetic, my queen," he says, still laughing as he pulls out his sword and looks to Tiryn and Jath. "Come on then, pups. Let's see what you can do." Jath attacks first, slamming into my king and knocking him to the ground with his pure strength, sending my king's sword flying away across the deck. I try to pull myself up as Jath bites hard on my king's arm, and in a moment, he rips his arm off his shoulder. Blood sprays everywhere as my king screams. With his other hand, slams a dagger straight into Jath's side as Jath drops the arm on the deck. The world seems to freeze as Jath shifts back into his human form, still with the dagger sticking out of his chest.

"NO!" I cry out, pulling myself up as Jath falls to the deck, his eyes fixed on me as they lose the light in them. No, no, no, no. I can’t let him die. I hear Tiryn's roar as I crawl to Jath, placing my hand on his cheek. I look up to see Tiryn being cornered by my king's sons, who look more than happy to kill him. I eye my king on the floor, grabbing what is left of his arm as blood pours from his shoulder as it tries to heal itself and how he doesn't look my way at all.

"Run, Arilee! Don't you dare let him die for nothing!" Tiryn screams at me, and I look at him to see he has shifted back and is fighting the sons with the sword my king dropped. Only he is being backed toward the edge of the ship with every swing.

I can't run, and I can't let Jath die. There is only one thing that might work, but it's a big risk. I pull Jath's head onto my lap, and bite into my wrist, wincing at the pain. I open Jath's mouth and hold my wrist over it, letting him drink my blood as I place my other hand on his forehead.

"I shall hold you through the eternal night. I shall embrace your soul as mine. For now, and forever, we are entwined." As the final mating words leave my lips, I feel the connection burn into my soul, changing just about everything even though Jath is still.

He will awake as my mate and our lives linked forever. I hope. I don't know how shifters fair with being turned into a vampire. I cry out as my king grabs me by my hair and throws me out of the way. I roll across the deck, and everything hurts as I watch him drag Jath's body the gap in the deck and hold him over the edge.

"Stop, sons," my king demands, and his sons do stop. Tiryn pauses and looks at me, holding the sword at his side. "You have a choice, pup. You can jump into the sea after your brother's dead body, or you fight for Arilee and die. She is my queen, and I will not let her ever leave me."

"You're a queen?" Tiryn asks me, and I can't do anything but stare as tears fall down my cheeks. I mouth the word jump to him, making sure he knows what I want him to do. He must go after Jath and leave. He can’t fight all these vampires on his own.

"She is a liar and a terrible person. Trust me, you do not want to fight for her," my king says. "Now make your choice." My king throws Jath overboard, and I can't do anything. I couldn't swim if I tried. In the blink of an eye, Tiryn throws the sword down and doesn't look back at me as he jumps in the sea after Jath.

They will have each other at least. It could be like I never even existed in their lives, and I can remember what real love was like to get me through the cold nights.

"Take her to her room and make sure it's locked. We have a long journey ahead of us." I keep my eyes closed as his sons pick me up and carry me into the ship.

At least when I close my eyes, I can remember.

I can remember what it was like to be in love.

Chapter 21

Jath

A light humming noise wakes me up, it's so quiet and far away that I don't know why it would, and there is the sound of crashing waves not far away too. As soon as I realise I'm awake, every single noise and smell floods into my mind so quickly that I find it hard to focus on any single one of them. That is until one of them stands out far more than the others do. The sweet scent of something near, and it's different than anything I've smelled before. Everything is so different. I feel hungry, a hunger that burns my throat, and my wolf is howling in my mind like something is so wrong.

"Jath?" Tiryn asks, leaning over me on the bed and looking down at me. I don't see my brother, though, I see only his neck. His pulse. I run my tongue over my teeth as they ache, and I feel two sharp points. "Here. I saw the fangs yesterday, so I found you blood just in case." Tiryn holds up a metal bottle and pops the lid open. Before I say a word, I snatch the bottle out of his hand and drink it all as fast as I can. Tiryn offers me another bottle, and then another and on the fourth bottle, I finally feel like I can breathe without the hunger.

"What happened?" I groggily ask, wiping a hand across my mouth, and it surprises me to see the blood smear on the back of my hand.

"What do you remember?" he asks me, resting back in the seat he was sitting on. I glance around my bedroom of the ship, which rocks in the sea. Are we at sea? I see Arilee's red dress hanging on the back of a chair as everything comes back to me. We followed her and found her on a ship with a man beating her up. I got stabbed. I push the white sheet down and look at my pale skin on my stomach, where there is no mark. "That healed within two days and yesterday your fangs came up. I guess you are a vampire wolf mix now. Confusing huh?"

"Did Arilee save me?" I ask, knowing it must have been something to do with her. I remember the blood and bruise on her cheek and the pain in her eyes. That was the past she didn’t want us to know about, and I’ve never seen her so scared. That king was abusing her, and I could see she hated him.

"I saw her lean over you, but I was distracted and didn't see everything that happened. Either way, we know she did something big because you're not dead, and you drink blood now," he points out.

"Where is she?" I ask, needing to know.

"He took her. I had no chance of fighting all three of them without back up, and your body was sinking into the sea," Tiryn explains to me.

"You left her," I growl, sitting up and sliding off the bed, only to sway a little as the room gets blurry. Tiryn pushes me back onto the bed and picks up another bottle of blood, handing it to me. I take it, despite how angry I am with him. Tiryn sits on the chair, placing his head in his hands and I really look at him this time. He is tired, pale, and looks like a broken man.

"It killed me to leave her," he admits to me. "They took all the children and women in the pack we left behind and killed all the men, draining them of their blood. We failed her; we failed to protect our mate and our pack.”

“What are we doing about it then?” I ask, knowing there is no point dwelling on the facts if there is no plan of what to do in the future. If I’ve been sleeping three days, that is three days Arilee and some of our pack are in the hands of that king. Arilee is a queen, a royal, and I want to find out more about why she would leave her people.

"Hear that?" Tiryn asks, meaning the water splashing against the window.

"The sea?" I ask. “How far out are we?”

"Yes, the sea. We are following the direction the ship went in. We are saving Arilee and our people, even if it's the last thing we do," he tells me, and I get off the bed, following him up the stairs to the deck. There are five men on board, who bow to me before getting back on with their jobs. Seawater splashes against my face as I look out over the sea.

"Where did you get these men from?" I shout to Tiryn over the sound of the storms.

"They were out hunting when the pack was attacked. They want their families back and revenge," he explains to me. I look around at them, and I follow the lights to the front of the ship, where something big is in the water, and we are heading straight toward it. It looks like cliffs.

"What is that?" I ask, pointing at the large rock formation in the distance. Tiryn looks panicked as I feel when he looks back at me and around the ship.

"Fuck. Turn the ship!" Tiryn shouts, running up to the top of the and grabbing the wheel. I jog to his side as Tiryn tries to turn the ship but has no luck. The water is pushing us straight toward it, and it's too strong to turn the ship. Lightning flashed across the sky, lighting it all up as I look at my brother. We have come here to die. Arilee won’t ever know.

"I don't say it much, but I do love you, brother," I tell Tiryn as the rocks come closer and closer like death itself running into us.

"We aren't dying, so don't say stupid fucking last words," Tiryn replies, grabbing my arm and leading me to the end of the ship. "We are going to jump and swim." Tiryn starts shouting to the other men to jump off the ship, and they are quick to do as they are asked, all of us knowing we don’t have much time left.

"After three?" I ask and Tiryn smirks.

"I prefer to just jump." Tiryn jumps at the same time as me, both of us crashing into the cold water as the ship is smashed into pieces behind us.

Chapter 22

"Are you ready to apologize and do as I say, my queen?" my king asks me again, seconds pass where I do nothing but whimper. Even my whimpers aren't really me; they are a reaction to the pain.

The endless pain.

Three leather straps belt against my back, and I scream, wriggling against the wooden plank I am being held on, digging into the cuts that are trying to heal there. It's been three days without blood and any blood I did have has dripped onto the floor of the throne room, drying up. He beats and whips me in the day, and at night, he makes me lie on his bedroom floor as he fucks random women.

I don't know why he hasn't used me for sex. I'm glad he hasn’t, and I'm scared he will. I believe he wants me to apologize first. He needs to hear me beg for my life.

"I will never apologize. Kill me and get it over with," I tell him, opening my tear-filled eyes as he walks up behind me. He grabs the back of my throat, forcing me to turn my head to look up at him.

"I want you to beg," he spits out at me.

"Why are you like this? Why do you need me to suffer so much?" I ask him because I’ve never understood it and he has never told me. I know he is harsh, but sometimes it feels so much more than just being cruel.

"You have everything I ever wanted just given to you," he explains to me. “Everything.”

"I don't understand," I cry out as he tightens his hand on my chin, his long nails cutting into my skin to the point of hurting.

"I met you as a child; I was a servant’s son that your father allowed to stay in the castle. I picked up a toy off the floor for you, and you said thank you. You were six, or around that," he tells me, and I don’t remember it. There were a lot of children around the castle, their parents working there but I know they weren’t meant to talk to me. I mostly played by myself, and later on, I realized it was because my parents didn’t want me to be close to the staff.

"Why would you hate me for that?" I ask.

"The cook saw me talking to you, and the next day, my father was fired, and we were kicked out. Talking to you cost me everything. My father died from an illness not long after, and I had no one," he tells me, and I want to feel sympathy for him. I just don’t.

"I'm sorry they did that. You have to see it had nothing to do with me," I plead with him, feeling so tired and in pain that it’s a struggle to keep my eyes open. I need blood; I’m too hungry to do this. To argue with him.

"But your parents loved you. How horrified they must be to see me hurt their daughter. To make her scream as I fuck her," he says, moving behind me and ripping my dress. “Their princess who was always fucking better than anyone else.”

"Please. Please don't," I beg him.

"I like hearing you beg. I prefer the screaming though," he says, pushing my legs apart. I close my eyes and try to pretend I'm somewhere else as I have him undoing his trousers, the sound of his belt hitting the floor. I wait and wait until I feel my king slam into my back, taking the air from my lungs. He slides off my back and onto the floor, and I gasp as I look down to see him dead on the floor. Really dead this time. There is a hole in chest where his heart should be, and as I look back, his son drops the heart onto the floor.

"Now the I'm king," the son says, and I struggle to remember his name as I arch my neck back to look at him. He isn't focused on me at all, no, he is looking at his dead father. I eye his blood-covered clothes, the long cut down his cheek, and how he looks like he had a fight. Maybe he killed his brother and all the guards, leaving just him for the throne.

"Please let me go, and I will never come back," I ask him, my voice sounding so loud in the dead silent room. The only other noise is the sound of my blood dripping from my back onto the throne room floor. The son doesn't say a word as he unties my bindings and turns me around to face him. He looks like his father, the same eyes, but he isn't the same man.

"My name is King Halyard, second of my name," he tells me with a big smile. “I’ve waited so many years to kill the bastard.”

"You were kind once to me. Kinder than your father and brother," I point out. He was the nice one of the two, but that’s not saying much.

"Both of who are dead. I am sorry for their treatment of you," he tells me. I’m surprised to hear him say that and it gives me hope he will let me go.

"Then let me go," I gently ask.

"See, I cannot do that. You are a royal, and the people will always cry out for you to rule. I need your dead body to make sure they follow me," he states with a sad smile, and he reaches up, wiping a tear off my cheek. "Surely death is kinder than life with all those terrible memories?"

"I want to live," I whisper with a sob.

"And I can't rule with you alive," he sadly replies.

"We have another offer," a voice I think I'm imagining speaks, and I look toward the door. I turn to the voice, almost like it was calling for me. Jath and Tiryn stand side by side, holding swords, and l know they are here for me. They came for me. Their clothes are guards’ uniforms, and they must have killed some guards to get them. They look tired but alive. And here in Arlen for me. I run my eyes over Jath, knowing our mating must have worked because he is alive. We are bonded for life now, and he can’t die without me dying. That means I can’t die here, not without taking him with me. I have to live. Jath smells almost like a vampire now, but with a hint of wolf still. I think I like the mix.

"My, my. How the game gets more interesting," Halyard says with a laugh, grabbing me and trying to pull me closer. With all the strength I have, I kick him in the balls, and he lets go as he gasps, giving me time to run across the room and collapse into Tiryns’s arms as he is closer. He picks me up, and holds me close, pressing his lips to my forehead.

"That was surprising from you, Arilee," he admits, though he turns me around and looks at my back, a low growl leaving his lips.

"Did he hurt you?" Jath asks in pure anger, seeing my back. He unclips his cloak and covers me up in Tyrin’s arms.

"No, not yet anyway," I explain. “I don’t think he wants to harm me like…”

"I do not wish to harm Arilee. I do not like to see women suffer as my father did. I want the throne," Halyard states, and I actually believe him. He could have easily joined his father and brother in torturing and raping me. They both did that, but never him. He would always leave the room.

"And we will leave you with the throne," Jath suggests. “But we need a ship to get home.”

"No, Arilee is a royal and the people will never forget her. Do you know how many guards, servants, and random people my father had to kill over the years who tried to save her? It was too many,” he says with a chuckle, though it fills my heart with hope that people tried to save me, just as dozens of guards come running in, surrounding us and looking confused what do next.

“Challenge him for the throne. I will fight him tomorrow for it,” I whisper to them both, and they look at me like I’m mad. “He can’t kill you if you challenge him. As my mates, you have the right to.”

"We, Arilee’s chosen mates, challenge you for the throne, and for Arilee. The fight will be tomorrow, with witnesses, and it's a fight to the death," Tiryn states, and Jath nods once at me in agreement. I see Halyard jaw tick in annoyance, but he crosses his arm, leaning against the wooden panel I was just tied to, his boots standing in a puddle of his father’s blood.

"Very well. Two against one isn't fair though. I will bring my favorite soldier to aid me," Halyard replies.

"Agreed. We will be staying in the castle for the night. If you harm us—"

"I am a man of honor. I also love a good fight. You are safe to stay here for tonight," Halyard states. "With guards outside your rooms of course. I don't want you running away again, Arilee."

"I am not running anywhere, Halyard," I reply. He smirks at me as Tiryn turns around and carries me out of the room, my eyes drifting to Jath.

"You came for me," I say, not knowing which of them I'm speaking to.

"It's forever for us, Arilee," Jath replies, and I slowly drift off into darkness, knowing my wolves came and saved me.

Chapter 23

"Careful, Red. You need to let the healing lotion work," Tiryn tells me as I feel him place another strip of cold, wet material on my back. The moment it touches my cuts, I grit my teeth from the pain, and then it disappears into nothing. "A healer came in,;she said this will heal within an hour from this gel."

"It's a glowing plant seed, all mushed up. I've had them heal me many times with it," I say, turning my head as Jath comes back from the bathroom, and closes the door behind him. He smiles at me as he comes back to the bed, sitting down at my other side and taking my hand. The guards helped me to this guest room on the one side of the castle, which is very beautiful with a large bed and red sheets all set up. There is a bathroom with a deep bathtub and a balcony overlooking the town. I did always love this side of the castle and the views it has. My parents had rooms just above this one, and I had a room just around the corridor, which looks over the forest instead of the town.

“When did you choose to come for me? How did you get here?” I quietly ask, holding Jath’s hand tightly like they might disappear any moment, and this is all a dream.

“I pulled Jath out of the sea, and then shoved him on the ship. I had to trust you saved him somehow,” Tiryn explains to me. “We had a few men, and the ship got us here, but it crashed into rocks.”

“The rocks of the cliff are impossible to avoid; they pull the sea in somehow. The royal ship was built so big so it could fight against the currents under the water and actually get to the dock on the other side. My father said his father made twenty ships, and none of them survived the cliffs until the last one,” I explain to them.

“Makes sense. We jumped in and washed up on some rocks. We then climbed up until we hit the castle and found an open balcony door. We knocked some guards out and dressed up as them to get to you,” Jath softly explains. “Seeing you in so much pain… I’m just sorry you had to go through that.”

“It’s nothing that hasn’t been done before, and I’m here. I’m alive,” I say, wanting to change the subject when I sense how angry that makes them. "Is Snow alright? I left her on the island, so my king didn't see her. I don’t know if you saw her before you left. Please don’t say she was on that ship and drowned."

"Yes, I did see her, and I left her with a woman who hid on the island. She is alive. Do you know where our pack women and children are?" Tiryn asks me.

"In the dungeons, I suspect. Until tomorrow when we take power back, we can't free them. They will be considered not much more than food," I say, wishing it was different but knowing it won't be. “But they will be alive. Wolf blood is so nice; I think they would want to keep them alive.” An awkward pause feels the room, and I rest, relieved that the pain is slowly disappearing.

"I know it must be difficult, but we would really like to know everything about Queen Arilee," Jath asks me as Tiryn moves across the bed and sits by his brother.

"I was scared to tell you, but I didn't want to lie," I admit to them.

"I can see why you would be scared. Tell us about how this all started," he requests.

"My family has been kings and queens of Arlen for thousands of years and built this entire island from nothing. My parents were good people, good royals who did a lot to help, but they made mistakes. One of the mistakes meant that my king killed them and took me as his queen. He forced me to be his, beat me when I wouldn't do as he asked, and controlled me with fear. He was always careful to keep me in chains or tied up, never letting me free until one night. I managed to stab him, thinking I had finally killed the monster, but he wasn't dead. I didn't know that until he turned up on the island," I explain. I thought I was free, and then it was so cruelly taken from me. I’m free now though.

"I'm glad the bastard is dead," Jath states as I sit up and looking at my back in the mirror across the room. I've fully healed already, possibly because the cuts weren't all that deep. I peel the cloth off the last of the cut and place it on the side, before getting off the bed. I walk to the balcony, opening the door to the outside and the view over Arlen. The moon hangs high in the sky, shining a light down across the silver slated houses and the millions of different color plants glowing like little stars in a night sky. The sea around the island is harsh, crashing against cliffs of the island and it's like the sea is angry about the murders and pain happening in this castle. The balcony is lit up by five purple flowers resting on the banister, and they gently let out little sparks of light. I didn't know how much I missed my island until now. Even though this place has been a pit of pain for me for many years, it wasn't always that. It was where I was brought up and had a loving family. I was trained to be queen, to rule fair and make sure my people were happy. He took all of that from me, and now I finally have a chance to get it all back. Jath and Tiryn come outside, standing either side of me and overlooking the town with us. I wonder what they think of this place, and how very different it is to where they are from.

"So am I, but it was his son who did what I couldn't do—kill him. I don’t expect you to fight for me tomorrow, but I am going to fight for Arlen and my people. It’s what my family would have wanted me to do,” I firmly say, holding my head high as my hair brushes around my shoulders in the wind.

“We stand by you because we love you, Arilee. No one in this world could be who you are to us. Queen or not, you are ours. We will fight for us because we are a team now,” Tiryn tells me, filling my heart with hope. I love hearing him say he loves me.

“You saved my life, Arilee,” Jath starts to say.

“I mated with you, and it clearly had an effect. I’m sorry you didn’t get a choice… I just couldn't let you die," I explain to him. “It means we are linked now. If I die, so will you. If you die, so will I.”

"I would have said yes anyway, and it is an honor to be your mate," he explains to me and kisses me softly before stepping back.

“Would you take another mate?” Tiryn asks as he slowly pushes my dress off my shoulders, letting it drop to the ground as I stand naked between them both.

“Yes,” I gasp as Tiryn hands run down my chest, cupping my breasts and his thumb rubbing against my nipples. I keep my eyes on Jath, seeing the desire burning in them.

"I want you as my mate, Arilee. Will you mate with me?" Tiryn asks me, whispering in my ear as Jath kneels down in front of me. I gasp as Jath parts my legs, his mouth hovering above my core.

“Yes,” I gasp, and at the same time, Jath’s tongue dives into me, licking and sucking until I’m losing my mind and all control over my orgasm. I crash into my orgasm that makes my whole body shake and my legs feel weak. Tiryn picks me up as Jath kneels back, and he kisses me as he carries me to the bed, sitting us down on it. I lift my wrist and wince as I bite into it, before offering it to Tiryn. He doesn’t pause as he takes my wrist and presses it against his lips, his eyes shutting as I moan.

"I shall hold you through the eternal night. I shall embrace your soul as mine. For now, and forever, we are entwined.” The same as before, the moment the last word leaves my lips, the bond burns into us both. Tiryn removes his mouth and lies me down on the bed as he unbuckles his trousers and quickly slides inside me. I lean up and slam my teeth into his neck, hearing his loud groan into my ear as Jath comes to kneel next to me. I wrap my hand around his cock as his hand moves to my breast, flicking it as Tiryn slams in and out of me. I moan louder as another orgasm slams into me, and I let go of Tiryn’s neck as he finishes deep inside me. I move my head to the side and suck Jath’s cock into my mouth, and a few thrusts later, he pulls out and comes over my chest. We all collapse onto the bed, sucking deep breathes in, and I link my fingers with both Tiryn and Jath’s hands.

“We win tomorrow, and then we have forever.”

“Forever.” Both Jath and Tiryn echo the word. Forever is worth the fight. So is the throne.

Chapter 24

I keep my head high as I stare up at the large, gold-plated doors of the throne room and the detailed symbols of the crown on it. Red jewels, ones that match the crown we are fighting for lie pressed into the gold crown design on the door. Five guards, all wearing red, shining armor stand waiting in front of the doors. My dress is red, and I chose it because I'm done blaming the color for my past. It's the color of my people, and it will be the color of Halyard’s blood as we win the throne. I have my mates now; I have a family to fight for, and today I will make my parents and mates proud.

I am done running.

This is my home.

"I should fight with you," I say to Tiryn and Jath, who have shifted into their wolves, standing at my sides. "I can fight." Of course, they don't reply to me, but they do look up into my eyes, and I nod at them, understanding what they want to say. They want to try to fight without including me. They don’t want me hurt, and I will be a distraction for them. I stare at their red eyes, a change from the vampire blood and knowing they are stronger than they have ever been. There is no way I'm going to let them get hurt if they struggle to kill Halyard. I can't let them die for this or me. It's my war and my past we are fighting. The sounds of heavy drums being banged fill my ears as the guards push the doors open, and we walk slowly into the throne room. The room is filled around the edges with important people holding lanterns on their laps, the lanterns glowing red. They are the red watchers, people who will watch and remember this fight, no matter the outcome. I remember a lot of the people here, ones who supported my parents and others who supported my king. Though not one of them stood up to my king as he abused me for years and drained the people of Arlen dry of all their money and strength. He never put the people first and the rich in here never stopped him. They won too. Halyard stands in the middle of the throne room, just where I was last night, but the blood is cleaned away, and it's almost like it never happened. He certainly doesn't look like he just killed his father on this spot, just after killing his brother. That must have done something to his mind to do something like that, and that will not make him a good king. I look around, seeing how shocked people are to see us, and I almost forget that wolves this size are a shock to them.

"Wolves are very interesting, and I look forward to this fight. This is my partner for the challenge," Halyard says as we stop a distance away and a massive man walks out of the crowd. He looks like he eats rocks for dinner, and every part of his body is huge from what I can see under his black armor. He isn't going to be easy to beat.

"For years, Arlen has been ruled by cruelty and a king who wanted nothing more than to destroy Arlen. He nearly did. He nearly destroyed me, but I rose from the ashes and became what I am today. I am the rightful queen, and my wolves are my rightful kings. This man is just a pretender and he will die today." Halyard’s face foes a little red as my words echo around the room, and some of them cheer. I sink my hands into Jath's and Tiryn’s fur before I step back and keeping walking backward until I'm standing between two guards near the doorway. I have to trust my wolves. Halyard is quick on the attack, swinging his sword toward Jath, who dodges out of the way and jumps onto his back. Halyard knocks him off, and he flies across the floor, before growling and standing tall. I move my gaze to Tiryn as he bites the massive guy’s arm, and the guy grabs him by the neck, holding him up in the air before throwing him across the room. Tiryn's wolf cries out as he smacks into a pillar, and my heart pounds in my chest.

"Give me your sword," I tell the guard next to me, who looks at me in surprise. "That's an order from your queen. Now!" The guard nervously pulls his sword out and hands it to me, bowing his head as he does. As Tiryn gets up, I run to Halyard and slide right in front of Jath and Halyard. I can do this. My father didn’t spend all those years teaching me to fight for nothing, and this is the moment I have to prove I’m powerful enough to do this.

"Pretty queen wants to play then?" Halyard asks me, and I nod, looking back at Jath.

"Help Tiryn, and I will deal with Halyard. I can do this," I tell him, and his red eyes stare into mine for a moment before he turns away and runs to Tiryn. I turn back to Halyard and hold my sword up. Halyard isn't a talker and he goes straight into the attack, swinging his sword at me, and I block it as I spin to the side. I swing back and clash against his sword time and time again before I finally see a chance. I pretend to go for the left attack, only to duck and slide past him and swing my sword straight into his neck. The force of my blow makes my sword cut straight through his neck, sending his head rolling across the shiny floor. His body slams to the floor with a loud thud, and I lift my sword once more before slamming it into his heart. I heavily suck in breathes as I look up to see Tiryn and Jath ripping the massive man to pieces, blood covering their fur.

"May the queen rule true!" the people shout and cheer. The bells ring in the distance as my wolves come to my side, and I leave the sword in Halyard body on the ground to sink to my knees, wrapping my arms around them.

Now there is nothing to fear. We have our peace.

Epilogue

Many years later…

My daughter’s red hair brushes against my cheek as the wind blows against us, and we watch as the royal ship comes into the dock near the cliffs. The deep-red sails with a black wolf in the middle, the royal symbol of our home. We have been waiting many days for the ship to come in, following the joyful marriage of Faye to one the Dark Paw’s twins, creating peace. It turns out they fell in love after they took Faye prisoner a few years back and nearly started a war, though that is a story for another time.

“Nanna?” Lailah asks me, and I nod, loving how my daughter is the perfect mix of all three of her parents, and I see it every time I just look at her. We are clueless who her biological father is. We do not care either way, she has two fathers. Lailah’s red hair is mine, though she looks like Tiryn, and she has Jath’s eyes. She is named after my mother, and there are times I see my mother in her eyes. Even though my parents aren’t here, it feels like they are in every part of this castle. We restored peace to Arlen, going back to the ways my parents set up, but I’ve made it clear we allow our children to play and speak to any other child in the castle. I want to be known as a queen and my mates want the same thought of them. So, we try our best to be that. Tiryn and Jath miss the island and struggle to stay awake all night as is our custom, but after a few years, they both said they would never want to leave.

“Cadriel, come here! The royal ship has docked!” I call my son, who just turned six yesterday, and he was our blessing, created on our first night together as mates. The time has gone too quickly. Jath and Tiryn walks out with Cadriel, who runs to the corner of the balcony to see the ship come in.

“We should go and greet our parents and sister,” Tiryn says, taking Lailah off me and swinging her in the air as she giggles. Jath kisses my cheek, and I hold a hand out for Cadriel to take as he runs over with a big smile on his face. He looks just like his grandfather Alaric, with the same cheeky nature.

“We could tell them about the surprise pregnancy too,” I say and Cadriel places his hand on my small bump which is growing by the day.

“I can’t wait to meet my brother,” he tells me, and my heart feels like it is going to burst as he kisses my bump and whispers something to it.

“It’s a boy, is it?” Jath asks.

“Yes! I don’t want another sister,” he replies with a cute pout, and I laugh.

“Boy or girl, you will love them. Now run ahead and get the gates open,” Jath says, and Cadriel excitedly runs off down the pathway. I lean my head against Jath’s shoulder as we listen to Tiryn talking to Lailah.

I wish my parents were here to see this, to see how happy we all are. I look up at a painting of them as we pass it in the corridor and pause, looking into their eyes.

“You miss them, especially on days like this,” Tiryn asks, coming back to me with Lailah on his shoulder. He kisses my cheek. “They would be proud, and they are watching us from somewhere.”

“Somewhere,” I reply, resting my head on Jath’s shoulder. “We will meet somewhere. We all will.” Jath doesn’t say a word, kissing my forehead as we carry on walking down the corridor toward the open doors. Until somewhere, we have forever.

Thank you for reading Vampire Captive, ending the Alpha Brothers world.

Just thank you! I have the best job in the world due to everyone of you that pick up my books to read.

My readers mean the world to me.

A big thank you to my family, Denise, Mad’s, Cora and to everyone else that support me!

A special thank you goes to Mad’s for her ongoing support.

Thank you to my wonderful Pack Leaders for everything. <3

Once again, thank you readers for your continued support! You’re all amazing and I couldn’t do this without you guys.

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About the Author

G. Bailey is a USA Today bestselling author of books that are filled with everything from dragons to pirates. Plus, fantasy worlds and breath-taking adventures. Oh, and some swoon-worthy men that no girl could forget. G. Bailey is from the very rainy U.K. where she lives with her husband, two children and three cheeky dogs. And, of course, the characters in her head that never really leave her, even as she writes them down for the world to read!

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Seven towns. Seven seas. The seven council. The seven words every person lives by.

The sea is lost, pirates are death.

Cassandra should have been killed at birth, like all the other children who have powers like her. The changed ones.

The ones who started the war, lost the seas, and killed millions with their gifts.

Lucky for Cassandra, her father is on the council. One of the seven rulers of her large town and has kept her hidden her entire life.

When she is seen for the first time, she has no choice but to run, and the only place she can go is to the sea.

To the pirates and a certain death.

At least, that is what she thinks. When she meets six handsome pirates and they take her on board their ship, she learns about a whole new world.

If only she can protect her heart when they all desire to own it.

This is a reverse harem trilogy.

Find Escape The Sea here…