LOGINA growl rolled through the hallway, and both of us froze. It certainly hadn't come from me. Another growl followed the first. This was deeper and closer than before. This time, Cassandra's breathing caught in my throat.
I looked towards the far end of the hallway. Three men stood there. I had only caug
Stephanie's Point of ViewA growl rolled through the hallway, and both of us froze. It certainly hadn't come from me. Another growl followed the first. This was deeper and closer than before. This time, Cassandra's breathing caught in my throat.I looked towards the far end of the hallway. Three men stood there. I had only caught one glimpse of the Royal Princes through the window, but I knew exactly who they were. Their photographs appeared often enough in newspapers and online that most people in the Kingdom would have recognised them. They seemed considerably larger in person.Lucian stood in the centre, dark-haired and broad-shouldered, with the composed expression I recognised from official photographs. Kieran was slightly leaner, his dark hair falling a
Stephanie's Point of ViewCassandra found me after midnight, when I had finally escaped the cellar after one of the kitchen staff heard me banging on the door. Beta Marcus had promised three hours. His ability to tell time seemed to disappear whenever Alpha Geoff gave him an unpleasant order.By the time someone found me, the welcome dinner had finished. The Royal Family had gone upstairs, most of the packhouse had settled for the night, and the kitchen staff were dealing with the destruction left behind by a Royal meal. I could have gone to bed. Instead, Luna Mirella had left instructions that the dining linens needed to be collected, sorted and taken to the laundry before morning.I carried a basket of tablecloths and napkins against my hip as I made my way along the servants' hallway. My
Ronan's Point of ViewWhile Lucian kept Cassandra talking, I concentrated on the room around us. I had already counted three entrances into the dining room. The main doors behind Father were the obvious route, while the servants used the smaller entrance leading towards the kitchen. A third door near the far wall opened into a hallway that eventually connected with the front hall.Six Royal Guards were positioned throughout this part of the packhouse. Two outside the dining room, two near the main entrance and another pair covering the rear of the building. There were another six, supposedly resting, preparing to take over at shift change. Alpha Geoff's own warriors remained outside, although I had seen several moving through the grounds during dinner. I knew where every one of them was supposed to be.I also knew how quickly I could get Mother and Father out of the room if something went wrong. The windows presented the weakest point. Too many of them, all facing the grounds, with en
Lucian's Point of ViewCassandra Rath had touched my arm eleven times. Kieran had counted. He sat across the table, trying to hide his amusement behind his wineglass. I was totally disgusted. The Moon Goddess decreed that we only accept our Goddess-given mates. This was a decree that countless Kings and Queens had followed for centuries. Even though we weren't Royal by blood, we still followed it, and the thought of taking a chosen mate was repulsive.Anyone looking at the three of us could see we weren't related by blood. I had black hair, olive skin and the fine features people often associated with the southern packs. Ronan's complexion was a shade deeper than mine, his black hair kept shorter due to his work with the Royal Guard, and years of training had left him broader in the shoulders and chest. Kieran was leaner, with dark brown hair and features that made every expression easy to read, especially when he was trying to hide a laugh.The one feature we shared was our silvery-g
Stephanie's Point of ViewThe Royal Family was staying for three days, which meant the entire packhouse had to survive three days of Luna Mirella behaving as though a misplaced spoon could bring down the monarchy.I ate in the kitchen, trying to stay as far away from the Royal Family as possible. I might push my lack of respect for the Alpha family at times, but I really didn't like being whipped. That said, I had been whipped before for minor infractions or because Cassandra had decided I deserved it.Eating in the kitchen suited me until Beta Marcus entered, and I knew something was wrong before he spoke. He was a solid man in his late forties, with greying brown hair and the heavy build of a wolf who had spent most of his life training beside pack warriors. Beta Marcus had served as Alpha Geoff's Beta for longer than I had been alive. He was usually easy to read because he rarely bothered hiding what he thought. If he was irritated, everyone knew. If he thought one of Geoff's order
Queen Helena's Point of ViewMy mate and I knew our daughter lived, despite people having spent almost eighteen years telling Evander and me to grieve. We refused.A Royal bloodline carried a life tether between the parents and child. Ours had weakened after our Sierra disappeared, stretched by distance and whatever had been done to hide her, but it had never broken.My daughter breathed somewhere, and that knowledge had kept me moving through seventeen years of false sightings, lies and empty searches. The moment I stepped onto Rath territory, the tether changed. A change that struck hard enough to cause my next step to falter.For almost eighteen years, the tether had been little more than a faint warmth beneath my heart. I had learned to live with it there, stretched across whatever distance separated me from my daughter.I remembered how it had felt when Sierra was a baby. Strong. Warm. I could walk into the nursery and know she was there before I saw her. If she cried in another







