**Leonardo POVI looked outside of the window again, not seeing one of my soldiers in sight. We had been completely overrun in the surprise attack. Now, the most I could hope for now was to give Amber and Maia enough time to get far away from the compound.The howls from battle seemed to die down and the whole atmosphere became eerily quiet. I looked over at Dylan who shook his head at me. He didn't know what to expect either.Then, suddenly, a door at the end of the hall burst open and August waltzed in with a smug smile plastered across his face as he walked towards us. I noticed that he didn't have a spec of blood on him. No wounds, no tears in his clothes. I doubted he'd done any of the fighting up until this point. He always left the dirty work for someone else."Is this what you imagined for your wedding night?" August asked snidely, confirming my suspicions about his plans to interrupt it all along. I glared back at him without responding. I was sick and tired of that
**Leonardo POVDylan informed me via mindlink that Amber and Maia were safe. His message relieved the angst that was coursing through me. Now, it was just between me and my pathetic half brother."I thought you wanted to kill me. Here's your chance," I taunted, pointing around to show there was no one in his way.August licked his lips. "Ready when you are," he announced and shifted. I hadn't seen his all white wolf form in years since he never had the need to fight. I followed suit and shifted. Immediately, like the cocky a*shole he was, he jumped forward and tried to slice at my snout. He failed miserably. I stood firmly in place and swiped at his abdomen, deciding to take it easy on him for the time being.August reeled back, his paws sliding around on the hardwood floor. He was unable to gain sure footing, but I waited for him to come to me. All his talk about how he'd kill me the moment I refused to hand over Amber, and now that he had the chance, he couldn't do i
**Amber's POVLeo checked us all in at a hotel across the Redrime border and luckily there weren't any roadblocks, figuratively or literally, along the way. We had cleaned ourselves up at a rest stop during our travels to look presentable in the case we were stopped, but we never were.Leo had caught up to us a few miles outside the compound, and at that point Leo decided that we ditch the Porsche and rented a large SUV that we could all fit in. Leo wasn't bothered by losing his personal car in the process if it meant we'd all be safe.I was beyond relieved that he was alive and had found us, and thankfully our mate bond helped keep me abreast regarding his condition the whole time. The point I worried most was when it seemed he would have killed August had I not reached out to stop him from losing control.Placing my hand on my stomach, I realized that it wasn't just me that needed Leo anymore. Our future child did too.I sat down on the edge of one of the beds in our hot
**Amber's POVI watched Leo training in our newly landscaped garden. We'd purchased a nice estate in the Redrime countryside adjacent to the lake and it was so nice spending time in the peace and quiet of our own property. He'd put a punching bag up in a huge oak tree. I smiled, wrapping my arms around my barely swollen belly. It was so hot out, and pregnancy hormones weren't helping, so most days I just wore a flowing skirt and an oversized t-shirt.I'd told Leo, once the baby was born, that punching bag would have to be replaced with a tire swing. "Hey, you two! I'm ready!" Maia shouted out the back door. I cringed slightly at her shrill voice. The house was supposed to be for Leo, me, and the baby but Maia didn't want to go back to her father or August. I mean, I couldn't exactly blame her for that. I wouldn't want to go back either. It was hard finding privacy with her always hanging around. Not that I minded too much. It was nice to have a "little sister" by my sid
The smell of blood filled the air of the bedroom. I felt the warmth seeping through my socks before I looked down to see that the crimson warm liquid had permeated the thin walls of my maid's shoes.In the long, oppressive silence, her face was still smeared with the gore and her long nails dripped red. I was so terrified and shocked by the scene that I couldn't even tremble. "Now," the Luna Queen tilted her head slightly toward me, "Is that enough to convince you to marry the prince?" ***"It's definitely a peace treaty by marriage!" "That's why we were asked to dry clean this. Princess Iris is meeting Hoarfrost's Prince August tonight for the first time. She needs to charm him!" Connie, the longest-tenured maid amongst us, and the unofficial gossip queen exclaimed, holding up Princess Iris' golden evening gown."So, what does that mean for us maids?" Chelsea, a recent hire at the palace, asked in a timid voice.Nothing, absolutely nothing, I thought. As the prince
I had no other option. "My sister. I can't leave her. She's in Sablestone." I rushed my words hoping to get them all out before she could refute.She released her hold from my chin and exhaled, "Why didn't you just say so, my dear? We can make sure she's amply taken care of. After all, you'd be a princess and a princess' family should be pampered as well."It was an intriguing premise....my sister and I could trade the servant's life for one of nobility. However, my father had always instructed me: 'don't take what's not yours.'I knelt, my forehead touching the ground and I pleaded. "Please forgive me, your Majesty. My sister's still young…"Once again the cackling emitted from the queen's mouth as she bellowed, "You don't need to apologize to me, my dear, but I'm sure these young ladies will want one after I'm done with them.The Luna Queen shifted into her wolf form, the shade of dark charcoal. Her emerald eyes bore through the slits of her eyelids. She pivoted her head an
He looked around and immediately identified the empty seat next to me. I swallowed as he started moving my way. Now that he was in the room, I could see him clearly. His hair was midnight black and wavy and his eyebrows dark like charcoal. A muted scar ran from the peak of his right eyebrow and ran through his perfectly shaped nose.His jawline was rigid with a five-o-clock shadow. Then I caught myself staring at his lips—they were plump and elegantly shaped, however, what drew my attention was their color. Like garnet, I thought.He was absolutely handsome, however, for reasons I didn't know, all I could feel was fear.As he walked toward me, every step he took made my heart thump louder. This was Prince August, the prince charming of every girl in the land, and my future husband.It just didn't seem possible. None of it did. The dead maids, me in this dress, or even the fact I was dining with the royals for the first time in my life. And now, I was going to mar
And with that, the peace treaty was surely over.Everyone at the table gasped as Prince Leonardo strode out of the dining hall, but nobody, not even Queen Regina, dared to stop the prince in his tracks. The man I presumed to be the prince's Beta ran out after him in a frenzy.The queen's venomous green eyes pierced directly at me. I tried to avoid her eye contact, but I felt her gaze puncture my forehead.Someone would need to pay the price for ruining the dinner and I had no doubt that someone would be me.My heart sank and I couldn't breathe.I was useless to the queen, and I might have also become the reason that resulted in the end of my sister's life. I sat there stunned and I couldn't even pay attention to people murmuring around me.Why did he reject me? Did he know I wasn't the real princess? Was I not elegant enough for his liking? What did I do wrong?I couldn't understand this whirlwind of emotions, this chaos of anxiety.I was scared of the prince, but wh