Chapter 1: Yes, your bride-to-be is gone.

The knocking on the door of his private quarters had been soft and respectful, but it was getting annoying. Prince Nikolai, who couldn’t slept at all, opened one eye and glared at the time display on the wall. When he saw how early it is he couldn’t help but silently curse his fate.

It was way too early for any of his servants to be disturbing him unless there was some dire emergency. And since somebody was bothering him after so little sleep, there had damn well better be.

This house provided for them by the Humans were surprisingly divided into two parts—a business/military base of operations and an adjacent luxury hotel for visiting guests and dignitaries.

Prince Nikolai and his faction had been assigned an entire floor for the duration of their stay, so Nikolai figured whoever was knocking was one of his own people. The guards would surely have stopped anyone else.

“Enter!” he said, as he sat up and leaned back against the headboard of his bed.

“Enter, I said! For the gods’ sake, what are you waiting for?”

The door opened and Beatrice, his mother the Queen, strolled through the door, fastidiously pulling down the sleeve of her robe. She was human, and quite good looking, and even though Nikolai hadn’t inherited any of her genetic material, he was still proud of his bearer’s appearance.

Beatrice gave Nikolai a stern, reproachful look. “Give me a chance to open the door, Niko, and stop all that rude yelling. Use your inside voice, please,” she said sternly.

Nikolai yawned and sat up, feeling grumpy and out of sorts. Damn it, he was exhausted, and he still had to face an ordeal in the morning. He huffed out an impatient breath and Beatrice gave him a long look, practically daring him to be rude again.

“Are you listening to me, Niko?”

He had no idea why his mother insisted on shortening his name. Nikolai wished she would just call him by the name he’d been given at birth, instead of calling him silly baby names. Niko was what Beatrice had actually named him when he was born, and even though, thank the gods, Nikolai's father had intervened to make the name more mature, Beatrice refused to call him anything else.

He certainly couldn’t yell at his mother, though, not if he wanted to keep breathing. All the more reason to frown ferociously and make loud huffing noises to show his displeasure, as he swung his feet over the side of the bed and sat up.

“And stop all your huffing and puffing, Niko. You know that means less than nothing to me. I swear, you grow more and more like your father every day. What if your face froze with that expression? Now mind your manners and invite me to sit down.”

Nikolai chuckled despite himself, gesturing grandly to the chair by his bed. “My Esteemed and Beloved Mother, would you please do me the honor of taking a seat?”

“Thank you, dear,” Beatrice said with a flourish and settled herself on the chair, arranging her robes to her satisfaction before looking up at Nikolai.

“How are you feeling, son?”

Nikolai sighed heavily, rolling his eyes. “Mother, I know you didn’t just wake me up in the middle of the night to find out how I was feeling.”

“Don’t be impudent; I’m getting around to it. I know I taught you better manners than that. Courtesy, son. It goes a long way.”

This beloved human woman definitely wasn’t frightened of him in the least, despite Nikolai's fierce reputation as the Werewolf Crown Prince, nor should he be. Nikolai adored his mother and always had, even if she could be a tad bit irritating at times—like now, in the middle of the night when Nikolai was trying to sleep.

Most days Beatrice treated him like he was a bad-tempered six-year-old, and this encounter was proving to be no exception. Nikolai sighed and tried his answer again.

“Yes, Mother, I’m sorry if I was disrespectful. I…uh…I’m feeling tired. I feel like I’m suffocating. I’ll be glad to get back home.”

“Yes, so will I, Niko. Your father is so impatient he’s been on the phone with me constantly. Romanus can be so demanding.” He sighed heavily. “Unfortunately, it actually looks like our departure might be sooner than we thought.”

Nikolai lifted one eyebrow. “Oh? Don’t tell me the Earth woman has changed her mind about marrying me.” Nikolai frowned again, folding his arms across his chest, but it was all for show. Actually, nothing would have made him happier than to learn she’d backed out of the marriage.

Nikolai had met his intended bride the day before and had been unimpressed. So had she, actually. She was bad tempered and spoiled, in Nikolai's opinion, and Nikolai didn’t like her type anyway. Just imagining himself married to someone like her was already torturous enough. How would he survive staying married to a woman like her?!

But still, Nikolai stood ready to do his duty and marry this female to forge a treaty between the humans and werewolves. And besides, his father, King Romanus, had insisted on it. In fact, he had made this agreement with the consul of the Eldèrs for a year now, in an effort to stop the interminable war between them. It had taken Romanus until now to convince Nikolai to go through with it.

Treaties had been drawn up and were being studied by the respective parties. This godsforsaken marriage between Prince Nikolai and the human female named Allison Kingston, who was the daughter of the President of the Human Alliance, was supposed to be a symbolic act of good faith that would seal the treaty between them. The king and the President would meet shortly after the marriage to sign the peace agreements if all went as planned.

But now if the marriage was off, that meant that Nikolai could go home and celebrate his narrow escape. That idea brightened him considerably. Of course, it would also probably mean a continuation of hostilities for both race, but hey, atleast the werewolves had upheld its end of the bargain.

If this stupid female and the treacherous humans had not—oh well, then. Nikolai couldn’t be blamed.

His father would be furious, but Nikolai would be off the hook. Beatrice stared at him and pursed her small lips, clearly discerning what was going on inside his head and not one bit happy with him. She as human were always longing for peace of both races and she's not happy that his son who would be the key to her long lost dream would give up just like that without actually doing something about it in the first place.

“Don’t look at me like that, mother. At least my father got to marry the woman he loved.” Nikolai said, folding his arms over his chest. “He wasn’t forced into anything.”

Beatrice, who had once been a lieutenant captured from a human military troop during an attack years ago, frowned at him. Then she lifted her eyebrow and smirked.

“Your father might not have been forced, but I certainly was. Well, at first, anyway.”

Nikolai raised his eyebrows in surprise and Beatrice shrugged. “You know the story of how your father took me. I was cursing and threatening to fight every werewolf I saw, despite the fact that I was only five foot six and weighed less than he did when he was ten years old. Back then it was at the height of the hostilities. Captured human prisoners were given a chance to defend themselves in the ring against one of the young men and women of his kind. If the captive managed to stay alive and showed some courage, they might be allowed to live. It wasn’t a sure thing, you understand? And if they survived, the werewolves gave them the ‘supreme honor’ of becoming the love slave of the gladiator they had faced in the ring.”

“‘Supreme honor’? That’s sarcasm, right?” Werewolves didn’t use irony, and therefore didn’t completely understand it. Nikolai was no exception, though since he’d lived with his mother all his life, he should have been used to it. His mother just smiled at him and patted his arm.

“Yes, dear. That was sarcasm. Your father arranged to fight me in the ring, thinking he would easily win. He did, of course, but I made it more difficult than he thought it would be. He didn’t want to hurt me, and I actually got in a few blows on him. I stomped his foot so hard he limped for days afterward. Still, he defeated me easily and took me home with him to be his love slave. Eventually he made me his Queen. ”

“So you had a rocky start.”

“Yes, but we prevailed even through all the misunderstandings, and even the body altering. Your father is more crazy about me today than he was even back then, if I do say so myself. It’s often that way with you, dear. Love at first sight is not at all uncommon on werewolves, as you know. And it’s the real thing. Make no mistake about it. Werewolves are very unlike humans in that regard. We, however, needed a little more time.”

Nikolai nodded, understanding that humans didn’t always fall in love so quickly. It wasn’t just lust. One of his best friends had fallen hard only a few months ago and he had truly suffered until he was able to convince his chosen one to belong to him. No, the affection they felt for each other was a real and tangible thing, even if it was hard for humans like Beatrice to understand, despite all his years living and mated with one.

Romanus once told Nikolai that he’d been the youngest ever Battle Commander and Alpha Chief of the King’s council. He said he’d taken Beatrice to his private home after they met in the ring, and while no one knew exactly what happened next, Romanus later spoke of those first days as being “extremely trying.” Yet he would not allow Beatrice to be imprisoned or traded away with the other captives. In fact, he arranged for their marriage contract to be drawn up, much to the horror of the other elder council members.

Romanus had become king after the death of his uncle, the king. Since the only other heirs had been killed in the war, Romanus was crowned the new king, and he had made Beatrice his royal consort. He always said that he had worked long and hard to win her love and admiration, not to mention her obedience—well, he wouldn’t mention her obedience, because Romanus still didn’t believe he had it, even after all their years together.

Nikolai knew the story by heart, of course, but still loved to hear it. Like most men, he didn’t dwell on his future mate, of course, but if asked, he would have had to say he hoped for a love story like his parents had. His father, however, had made other plans for him.

One day Nikolai would be king of all The Werewolves, and he needed a strong consort at his side, someone like his mother Beatrice, who took no prisoners and was strong enough to stand up to the king and not let him get away with a thing, while still loving him fiercely and always having his back. He also needed heirs.

Would this human female even be willing to have his child? Would he be expected to live with her? He had so many questions, but so far she hadn’t been willing to meet with him to discuss the marriage and what came afterward. He’d hoped that they could at least have become friends, but she had asked for more time before even meeting him. And now, it looked as if they might be out of time.

“Niko,” Beatrice remonstrated with him. “We don’t have time for these old stories, so stop getting me sidetracked.”

Nikolai decided not to remind her that it was he who first talked the old stories, not him.

“Yes, your bride-to-be is gone,” Beatrice said, her voice tight with anger and maybe a little bit of disappointment. “She ran away— eloped last evening shortly after we all retired for the night.” She frowned and made a sound of outrage. “With her boyfriend apparently who is a lieutenant in the Army! Or should I say a former lieutenant? I should hope he’ll be court-martialed after pulling this stunt.”

Beatrice blew out an irritated breath and glanced back over at her son. “Stop smiling. This is a bad thing.”

“Not to me. Oh, come on, mother, don’t be that way. You didn’t like it either when she refused to meet me. I saw your face.”

“Well,” Beatrice said, straightening her robe. “It’s not my place to like or dislike her…but I will say she wasn’t properly appreciative of how lucky she was to have someone like you. You’re very good-looking, you know, and intelligent and brave, just like your father. She would have been very lucky to have you for a husband.”

“Thank you, mother. I love you too.” Nikolai smiled at Beatrice and lay back down on the bed. “So when do we leave? Do you think we can get back in time for the games this week? I’ve placed a few bets.”

“Not so fast, son. The girl’s father, President Martin Kingston, wants to meet with us in an hour. I told him we’d be there.”

Nikolai growled and his mother raised both of her shapely eyebrows. “Don’t show your temper to me, young man. I realize that the full moon is close, but that kind of behavior has never gotten your father anywhere in the past, and it won’t get you anywhere either. Get bathed and dressed, and I’ll see you in my room in fifteen minutes.”

His mother was right—the full moon was in only a few days. And when the moon was full, each werewolf male past puberty transformed into a beast, that hunted prey and prowled through the forests all night. There was never a conscious memory of the transformation once it began, but more like sensory impressions of being in a strong, sinuous and completely alien body.

Still it was a time that their males both dreaded and longed for in almost equal measures. It was a wild and dangerous time, and every other being had to be locked away for their safety.

Beatrice rose and swept regally from the room, pausing at the door to look back at his son over her shoulder. “Your father sent us here to forge an alliance, and I’m not leaving unless they give us major concessions to make up for this outrage or else find you a suitable replacement.”

Closing the door behind him with an audible thump, Beatrice showed Nikolai just how upset she actually was. And once his mother had made up her mind, there really wasn’t any other way around things. With one last, longing glance at the bed, Nikolai sighed, got to his feet and headed to take his long needed bath.

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