*Blanca*
I almost made it to my room.
When Nessa Winters steps out of the shadows near the last turn that takes me to my chambers, I leap backward, not out of fear but out of surprise. I hate it when she does that. Recently, she’s been doing it more and more. I’m not sure why. Maybe the fact that we are all twenty-one now and our wolves are more active has something to do with it. I don’t know, but I don’t like it.
“Well, well, well, if it isn’t the nasty bitch who calls herself a princess,” Nessa says, stepping closer to me. Out of other nearby shadows two of her friends appear. I’m outnumbered. That’s not unusual. Not that I ever fight back anyway. If I did, I’d get it worse from my parents.
Nessa’s father is an ambassador from an allied pack. They’ve been staying in the castle for years now, negotiating treaties or something like that. I don’t know why she’s here. I just know that she hates me.
“Leave me alone, please,” I say. “I’m just trying to go to my room.”
“Oh, is that what you’re doing?” Nessa’s dark eyes widen, and she shakes her head as she presses her lips together in a mocking fashion. In her best impersonation of my voice she says, “Just trying to go to your room?”
I take another step back and run into a wall. “That’s right.” I see one of the castle cats standing over in the distance, licking its paws beneath a table, and wish I could switch places with her. If I were a cat, all I’d have to do is sit around and eat scraps the cooks drop or maybe chase mice.
I wouldn’t be the one who is constantly being chased.
“Well, I’m afraid if you want to get to your room, you’ll have to get through us first, you fucking bitch!” Nessa swings her hand in a semi-closed fist so that her fingernails connect with my cheek.
My head snaps to the side, and my arms go up instinctively. I can’t hurt her, but I really don’t want to be hit anymore. “Stop!” I shout at her. “I mean it.”
“Stop!” She uses that mocking voice as her friends laugh, and she hits me again. I wish I could do something to protect myself that didn’t involve hurting her back, but the last time I hit her, my mother beat me so badly, I could hardly walk the next day.
I can’t take another beating like that. Not this close to the Haze. If I can find my mate, maybe I can get out of here.
As she hits me another time, I press myself against the wall and wish, for an instant, that the cat across the hall was a wolf or a bear, that it would attack her, sort of like that bird trying to peck Kieran’s eye out.
“Stop!” I say again, but before the word is even fully out of my mouth, I see a blur of gray fur and hear a hiss, and Nessa is no longer hitting me.
Instead, she’s falling to the floor, screaming so loudly, my ears ache. I cover my ears and plaster myself to the wall as her two friends begin to scream as well. Neither of them are trying to help her, though. I wish with all my might that that cat would stop attacking her. I know that I will get in trouble for this, even though I had nothing to do with it.
Did I?
I remember what happened with the bird and how Mr. Blake said he didn’t do that. Now, this cat has done something similar. Could I…?
No, there’s no way.
But just in case, I make that sound I heard Mr. Blake make in the back of his throat, the best I can, and wish that the cat would stop.
It doesn’t.
I reach down and grab the cat just as I hear my brother’s voice shouting down the hallway. “What in the world is going on?”
I fully expect the cat to rip my hands to shreds. Instead, as I hold it, it begins to purr. I set it down on the floor, and it runs away, just as Kieran arrives.
“You–you psychotic bitch!” Nessa shouts at me, wiping blood on the back of her hand as she scoots across the floor away from me on her ass. “You witch!”
“What the fuck happened?” Kieran asks as he looks from Nessa to me and then back again.
“It was a cat.” I wipe my own blood off my face on the back of my hand. Nessa hit me hard enough with her claws to draw blood from a few places. “It came at her, the same way the bird attacked you.”
Kieran’s eyes are practically glowing, he’s so mad. I know Nessa has a thing for him, but I always thought she wasn’t good enough for him. Now, I am beginning to wonder if maybe he likes her, too. “Go to your room right now, bitch. When father hears what you’ve done–”
Out of nowhere, the cat is back. I hadn’t wished for it to happen this time, but it jumps on Kieran’s back and sinks its claws in.
He shouts and reaches around to grab the cat. I scream, thinking he’ll kill it, but the kitty sinks its claws into his hands, and he shouts and lets it go.
I watch in shock for a moment before I decide not to press my luck any more. If Kieran thinks I did that, too, he’ll do more than slap me a few times. I rush between the girls and head toward my room, praying I can get there before he catches me.
I’m almost to my door when I feel his hand clamp down around my arm. He spins me to face him, pressing me up against the wall right next to my room. His eyes narrow as he lifts a hand and presses it against my neck.
It’s been a long time since Kieran hit me. He usually just calls me names and leaves the dirty work to someone else. But I can feel his wrath coursing through his veins as he seethes, his lips twitching with words of damnation he has yet to spew in my direction.
He’s so close to me, I can see the tiny flecks of blood on his nose that must’ve splattered there from the bird attack. He squeezes my throat, and I go completely still, staring into his icy eyes.
He leans in so that his nose is practically touching mine, and I know he’s either going to choke me out or punch me so hard I’ll crumple to the ground.
But he doesn’t do either of those things. He just stares at me. as if he’s in a trance of some sort.
Electricity prickles deep inside of me, my lower abdomen clutching in a way it never has before. My heart thrums in my chest. I can hear the blood whooshing through my ears.
Something strange is happening; I’ve never felt like this before–especially not when I was looking at my brother, but the wolf inside me stirs in a way she never does.
He must feel it too.
And as quickly as it comes, it goes–at least for me. I grab his arm trying to push him back, and even though he is much stronger than me, it works, in a way.
He releases me with a cry of anguish. “What the fuck? You little bitch! Have you been studying magic down there with that wretched Blake?”
Grasping my throat with both hands, I rasp out, “No! I didn’t do any of it. I don’t have any powers.” My legs feel weak beneath me, but I fight to stay upright.
“Whatever the fuck it is you’re doing to me, knock it off! I know how badly you want the throne. Father told me you’ve been scheming. Well, it won’t happen!” He turns his back to me, leaving me leaning against the wall wondering what the hell he’s talking about.
I want the throne? Why would I possibly think I could ever get the throne?
“Stay away from Nessa!” He turns around and glares at me. “Touch her again, and I’ll break your hand.”
I don’t wait around to see if he means it. Instead, I dart for my room, lock the door, even though I know he has a key, and sink to the floor. With my arms around my knees, I begin to sob. I have no idea what’s going on, but something strange is in the air.
I cry for several minutes before I remind myself that I have to be strong enough to survive this, to get out of here. Lifting my head, I look out the small window across my tiny room–and that’s when I see it for the first time.
A fine, light, misty cloud–of Haze.
*Kieran*I can still feel the sharp rips in the skin of my back where that fucking cat sunk it’s claws in, and my hands ache from the scratches that forced me to let it go before I ripped it in half. I don’t know what the fuck is happening in this place, but something is wrong, and I don’t like it.I rush past Nessa and her cronies where they still stand in the hall. One of them calls out to me, but I wave a dismissive hand. I don’t give a fuck if Nessa Winters is bleeding to death all over the Goddessdamn marble floor. What I do care about is my stupid sister getting herself into trouble again. How many times does she have to be told to stop fucking with Nessa? Last time, I thought Mother was going to break her legs. She came pretty damn close. Mother and her fucking fireplace poker. Thank the Goddess she never turned that on me or any of my other siblings.Why is it okay that she beats the living shit out of Blanca then?I don’t have an answer for that. It’s just always been that wa
*Blanca*It’s been five days since the incident in the dungeon, which was followed by the incident with Nessa–and then the incident with my brother.I’ve hardly left my room since then. I have chores I must do every day, like muck the royal stables and scrub the toilets in my parents’ bathrooms. I’ve done those things and then swung by the kitchen to take a little food. The chef there is nice to me. She never scolds me for plucking an apple or even a turkey leg.That’s it, though. The rest of the time I’ve spent sitting on the edge of my thin mattress staring out the window at the disappearing landscape. The misty fog has continued to roll in, its thick fingers moving mysteriously to intertwine around every building, every tree, every creature that dares to step out into it. It’s not a normal fog. The first time I went out to make my way to the barns and encountered it, I could feel it wrapping around me, the energy inside of it pulsating, moving. Breathing. I had to close my eyes f
*Blanca*I rush down the hallway, my bare feet slapping on the stone that makes up the floors in this dreary part of the castle. I don’t dare look behind me as I hurry toward the closest exit before someone discovers I’ve left my room.Someone locked me in there. Someone who wanted me to miss the Haze. Someone who wanted me to miss my only chance at escape.I can’t think about that right now, though. I have to find him.I need to find my mate.Pushing through the closest exterior door, I step outside and into another world. The Haze pulsates around me. No longer the milky white shade it has been the last few days, it is a shimmering silvery mass that engulfs me immediately. I can’t see anything, and with every breath, it sinks into my soul.My wolf cries for freedom, letting out an excited, primeval howl as I leap into the unknown. My clothes shred, my bones pop, my skin disappears into my body as black fur takes its place all over me. It doesn’t hurt; in fact, it feels incredible, li
*Kieran*I can smell her. I don’t open my eyes yet as flashes of memories from the night before wash over me. I haven’t seen her yet, but it doesn’t matter. I feel her warm body pressed against me, her flat stomach beneath my palm, her small hips situated so that her perfect, round ass cradles my hardening cock.She tasted like strawberries, like a warm summer’s day. The way she’d moved beneath me was perfection, even though I quickly discovered I was her first. This makes me smile because I never want anyone else to claim her. She’s mine.My mate.In a moment, I’ll open my eyes and look upon her beautiful face, maybe for the first time. I wonder who she is. Maybe a princess from a distant land or the daughter of a noble. I’m the Crown Prince of Dun’s Crossing, so she must be someone majestic. Someone important.It doesn’t matter, though. She could be the lowest scullery maid, and I would protect her to my last breath.I feel her stirring beneath me, breaking me from my reverie. I ima
*Blanca*Vomit rises up my throat as I wait as patiently as possible for Kieran to leave the tent. I can’t allow myself to think about what happened last night–what we did. If I do, I’m likely to throw up everywhere.Tears sting my eyes for so many reasons, I couldn’t possibly name them all. Here I was thinking the Haze would be my ticket out of this hellhole, that I’d meet my mate, and he’d sweep me away.Instead, the Moon Goddess made me the butt of Her own sick, twisted joke. What the hell will our parents do to us if they find out about this? They’ll kill me. Like Kieran, they’ll assume I’ve learned some sort of magic that would make this possible.I truly don’t think there’s any magic in the world that would make this happen, but nothing makes sense at the moment. I need to do some research.I turn around to look at the unzipped tent, wondering if Kieran is gone. I see his legs through the flap and then hear another voice.“Oh, Goddess no!” I whisper. I never would’ve thought tha
*Kieran*“Wh-what?” my father stammars as he stares at me standing in front of his desk, holding Nessa’s hand in mine. “Nessa is your… mate?” His face is ashen, his jaw slack, and in his eyes I see the disdain I feel in my heart–along with a great deal of uncertainty.I, too, know how that feels. Another shudder goes down my spine at the thought of what happened last night, but I can’t let my father see that. He has to think I’m happy about this. I cannot, under any circumstances, let Nessa have a reason to tell anyone what she stumbled upon.Or was she stalking me?“Well…” Mother, who is standing behind Father’s chair, one hand on his shoulder, clears her throat and makes a little face like she’s swallowing down her own vomit. “Isn’t that… lovely.” She doesn’t mean a word of it, I know. Nessa is the most annoying girl any of us has ever met. Even more annoying than my fucking sister.Oh, Goddess. I’d better stop using those two words in the same sentence!“Have you told your father
*Blanca*I awake sometime in the middle of the night. When I first got back to my room, I took a long shower and scrubbed my flesh raw. Then, I got dressed in as many layers as I could and fell into bed, exhausted. My mind had gone crazy, even in my dreams, trying to sort out everything that had happened.I’d lied to my parents.Father asked me if I’d found my mate, and I’d said no. Even as I’d spoken the words, the mark Kieran had left in my flesh began to throb. My wolf, my soul, seemed to want to claim him, even though it made absolutely no sense.Curled up on my bed, I stare out the window, trying to ascertain what time it is. Judging by the placement of the stars, I guess it’s around 2:00 in the morning, which means I essentially slept for sixteen hours. I don’t want to get out of bed. I just want to go back to sleep and will this all away.None of it makes sense to me, and lying here isn’t going to fix that. I have to figure out how this happened.When I consider who might be ab
*Kieran*The library smells like binding glue and old paper. I have no idea why anyone would ever want to spend more than a few moments here. When I was younger, our governess used to herd all of us in here–Anwen, Candace, Finn, Ingrid, and me. We’d sit next to her and listen to her read from storybooks. Every once in a while, I’d see two big black eyes staring at us from the doorway. Why Blanca was so keen to join us, I never could figure out. It was just a damn book, nothing to get excited about.As I approach the section of the library designated for books about magic and wizardry, it occurs to me for the first time that it probably wasn’t the book Blanca was so interested in. I swear under my breath. How am I so stupid? Of course, she likes books. I know that. She has a dozen of them in her room, the ones Mother will allow. But she didn’t want to listen to the story.She wanted to be included.She wanted to be part of the family.I let out a breath and pull out the first book that