She was trained to be his destruction. Fate made her his mate. Crown Prince Knox never expected his new royal guard to be the same woman who tried to infiltrate his court two years ago. He certainly never expected her to be his destined mate. But Aubrey Houston is both—and she hates him almost as much as he wants to resist her. Aubrey has one mission: get close to the crown prince. It should be simple. After all, she's been trained for this since the night Jax, the king's illegitimate son, saved her from the thieves who murdered her family. She owes him everything. What she never counted on was the overwhelming pull she feels toward the prince she's meant to destroy, w But the longer she stays at court, the more her carefully locked memories begin to unravel. And as the truth about that bloody night emerges, Aubrey must choose between the man who molded her and the mate destiny chose for her. In a court where magic seals secrets and mate bonds can be twisted by lies, love might be the deadliest weapon of all.
View MoreThe warm liquid splashes across my face, thick and metallic. Time slows to a cruel crawl as my brother's blood paints my skin crimson. My emerald silk gown – the one he'd teased me about just hours ago – drinks in his blood. I want to scream, to tear the world apart with my voice, to wrench my body into action, but horror has turned my muscles to stone. The late afternoon sun beats down mercilessly, making the bloodshed before me all too vivid.
I can only watch, trapped in this moment, as the rogue plunges his blade into my brother again and again. The silver ceremonial crown we'd placed on his head this morning falls into the trampled grass, disappearing among the wildflowers we'd decorated the field with for the ceremony. The metal catches the sunlight one last time before vanishing, like a cruel wink from fate. My whole body trembles, fine tremors building into violent shakes as reality crashes through my shock.
A piercing scream cuts through the chaos – maybe my own, I can't tell anymore. Before I can turn toward it, strong arms wrap around me, yanking me down and under the wooden ceremony platform where musicians had played celebratory songs just minutes ago. The sweet scent of crushed grass and fresh earth mingles with the metallic stench of blood as I'm pulled into the shadows beneath.
My heart slams against my ribs like it's trying to break free, each beat a thundering reminder that I'm alive while my brother... The thought chokes me, and I thrash against my captor, desperate to break free, to help, to do something. The summer breeze carries screams across the field, a horrific contrast to the gentle wind that had carried flower petals during the ceremony's opening.
"Audrey, sweet girl, it's Helen!" The familiar voice breaks through my panic, gentle hands smoothing back my hair. My maid's lavender scent– the same smell that's comforted me since childhood – fights against the copper tang of blood in the air. The fighting continues above, but something far worse takes its place. I feel it, deep in my soul, where our pack bonds live: my brother's light flickering, dimming, going dark. Our connection, forged before birth, snaps like a thread cut by the Fates.
No. No, this isn't real. This is just my mind playing tricks, punishment for stealing his breakfast this morning before his coronation. He'd laughed, called me a 'little thief' with that crooked smile of his...
Another soul-deep pain rips through me, and my eyes fly wide. "Mom," I whisper, the word carried away by the wind. I surge forward, but Helen's arms – stronger than her flowered dress and gentle demeanor suggest – lock around me. Through gaps between the wooden planks, I see my mother's ceremonial robes whipping in the wind as she fights, her movements deadly and graceful until they're not.
Her head rolls across the grass, her eyes still fierce even in death, wildflowers crushed beneath her fall. The bond breaks and something inside me breaks with it. Tears burn trails down my blood-stained cheeks as another piece of my soul dies.
I won't wait for Dad's bond to join the growing void in my chest. I sink my teeth into Helen's hand, tasting copper and salt as I bolt into the open. The festival grounds, with its colorful banners snapping in the wind and scattered chairs knocked askew, spins around me as I turn in a circle.
Bodies litter the grass – wolves and rogues alike, their fur matted with blood. The golden afternoon light casts long shadows across the field, turning the scene into a grotesque painting. How did we get here? One moment, we were celebrating my brother's rise to future Alpha, crystal glasses clinking and pack bonds humming with joy beneath the open sky. Now I'm standing in a sea of death, watching rogues tear apart everything I've ever loved.
My mind screams for answers, for sense in this senseless slaughter. But there are no answers in the blood-soaked earth or the cooling bodies of my family. The wind tugs at my ruined dress, carrying the scent of death across what should have been a field of celebration.
My muscles burn with the need to shift, to fight, but there's nothing to answer that call. At thirteen, with my first shift still a month away, I'm trapped in this useless human form. James had teased me just yesterday, ruffling my hair and joking about how I might be the pack's first wolfless Alpha child. The memory of his laugh feels like glass in my chest now. I'll never hear his stupid voice again, never get the chance to prove him wrong about my wolf. The pain in my chest is physical, like someone's reached inside and is slowly crushing my heart.
No. Focus. I can't just stand here crying. I might not have my wolf yet, but I'm still an Alpha's daughter. And Dad – Dad's still alive. I can feel our bond, weaker but there, pulsing like a distant heartbeat. I have to help him, somehow, anyhow.
I close my eyes, focusing on the air around me. My wolf might still be sleeping, but my senses have been getting stronger with each passing day. Dad's scent – pine needles and winter frost – cuts through the metallic stench of blood. My almost-formed werewolf abilities are good for something at least.
I run toward his scent, trying not to look at the bodies I'm forced to dodge. Pack members I've known all my life lie broken in the grass, their ceremonial clothes stained dark. Bile rises in my throat with each familiar face I pass, but I swallow it down. I can't stop. Not now.
Then I see him – my father's massive black wolf, still fighting, still alive. Hope blooms in my chest like the first spring flower after winter. But as I sprint toward him, a scream tears through my soul, stopping me dead in my tracks.
"Next time, you'll consider my offer more carefully." The voice is calm, almost conversational. Its owner looks barely older than James, but his hand is buried deep in my father's chest. He pulls, and something in me shatters as Dad's heart comes free.
My chest caves in on itself, the pain of our severed bond driving me to my knees. No, please no. Not Dad too.
"Everyone's gone. They're all gone." The words tumble from my lips in an endless loop as my head spins, the world tilting on its axis. My fingers dig into the blood-soaked earth, anchoring me to a reality I don't want to face.
"No!" The scream rips from my throat as I launch myself at the killer, at this man who looks like he could have been James's friend in another life. Rage and grief make me reckless and stupid.
He catches me like I'm nothing, his hand wrapping around my throat. "What do we have here? A little pup?" His grip tightens, and my lungs burn, desperate for air. I claw at his hands, hatred, unlike anything I've ever known burning in my bones.
Then suddenly, his grip loosens. His eyes widen as they study my face, recognition flooding his features. "By the Moon herself. It's you."
I don't care what he sees. I lunge for his face, fingers curved like the claws I don't yet have. But something's wrong. The world begins to blur at the edges, my eyelids growing impossibly heavy.
"That was quick work, Avery. I didn't even have to ask." His voice sounds distant now, like he's speaking through water.
Darkness creeps in from the corners of my vision, but I catch his final words as consciousness slips away: "Ensure she wakes with no memory of my face. Let her keep today's horror, but when she wakes, make it the first time she's seen me."
"Your wish is my command, Your Highness," a woman's voice replies, following me into the dark.
KNOXDad's study feels different when we arrive—charged with an energy that makes my skin crawl. The familiar scent of blackberry tea and old books is overpowered by something else, something that tastes like copper and shadows. Candles flicker despite the absence of any breeze, casting dancing shadows across the walls lined with ancient tomes.But it's not just Dad waiting for us. A woman I vaguely recognize sits in one of the leather chairs facing his desk, her silver hair braided with small bones and feathers. She's elderly but moves with the fluid grace of someone far younger, her dark eyes sharp with intelligence.Elder Lina. I've seen her at various ceremonies over the years, always hovering at the edges, speaking in whispers to other pack elders. But I've never known much about her background beyond her role in castle rituals."Knox, Noah, Astor," Dad greets us with unusual formality. His face looks more haggard than when we last spoke about the white wolf. "Thank you for comin
KnoxThe scent of her arousal still lingers in my chambers three days later, a constant reminder of how close we came to mating that night. I can still feel the way Aubrey's body responded to mine—the soft catch of her breath, the way she arched into my touch, the heat that radiated from her skin like she was burning for me. Her wolf wanted me; hell, every cell in her body was screaming for completion.So why did she run?This wasn't like her nightmares—those happen when she's asleep, vulnerable, lost in memories of her family's massacre. This was different. She was awake, responsive, completely present with me until something triggered that sudden shift from desperate desire to panic. Whatever sent her fleeing from my chambers cut through the mate bond's pull in the middle of our most intimate moment.I've replayed that instant a thousand times—the way her body went rigid, the terror that flashed across her face, how she shoved me away like I'd suddenly become a threat instead of her
The thought should make me turn around, should send me fleeing back to my chambers where I can maintain the safe distance that protects us both. But standing here, seeing the genuine concern in his green eyes, feeling the warmth radiating from his skin—it makes Jax's cold commands feel like poison in my veins.I'm so tired of being a weapon. So tired of calculating every move, every word, every breath around this man who looks at me like I'm something precious. For just one moment, I want to forget the mission, forget the nightmares, forget everything except the way Knox makes me feel when his walls are down and mine haven't been rebuilt yet.Just once, I tell myself desperately. Just once, let me feel something real instead of this endless guilt. I step forward and press my lips to his.Knox freezes for a heartbeat, clearly caught off guard by my sudden aggression. But then his arms come around me, pulling me closer as he responds to the kiss with a hunger that matches my own. His sk
AUBREYThe nightmares are killing me.Every time I close my eyes, I'm thirteen again, watching my family die in an endless loop of blood and screaming. The memories play with brutal clarity—my mother's head rolling across the grass, my brother's defiant cry cutting off mid-breath, the metallic taste of terror coating my tongue. Night after night, I jolt awake gasping and drenched in sweat, my heart hammering against my ribs like it's trying to escape.Knox's abrupt departure from the family meeting barely registers through my exhaustion. I catch a glimpse of his rigid shoulders as he storms out, but I can't muster the energy to care about whatever's bothering him. All I want is to drag myself back to my chambers and collapse into bed, even knowing sleep will only bring more horrors."Aubrey, wait." Iris's gentle voice stops me before I can escape. She rises from Astor's lap with fluid grace, her green eyes soft with concern. "Can we talk? Just for a minute?"I force myself to nod, tho
KNOXThe clang of steel against steel echoes through the castle corridors as I make my way toward the family meeting, the sound of ongoing preparations for the binding ceremony filling every corner of our home. Servants rush past carrying armfuls of white silk and winter roses, their faces flushed with the constant activity that's consumed the castle since our engagement announcement. The scent of pine and cinnamon drifts from the great hall where workers have been planning the altar construction, mixing with the underlying tension that's been building all week.The ceremony preparations are moving forward steadily, though we still have time before the winter solstice. Still, the reality of what's coming makes Liam practically purr with satisfaction every time I think about it."Soon," he rumbles contentedly. "Soon she'll bear our mark, and there will be no more uncertainty."I push his voice aside, unwilling to admit how much I agree with him. A Crown Prince doesn't get giddy about h
JAXThe fine crystal wine glass feels fragile between my fingers as I take another sip, letting the rich burgundy coat my tongue while my mind churns through countless possibilities. It's been too long since I last heard from Aubrey, and the silence gnaws at me like a persistent wound.My mahogany dining table stretches before me, polished to mirror perfection and laden with tonight's feast—roasted duck with cherry glaze, winter vegetables that cost more than most families see in a month, bread still warm from the ovens. All of it tastes like ash while uncertainty eats away at my carefully constructed plans.Has she seduced Knox as I commanded? Is she gathering the intelligence I need to bring down that bastard's defenses?The blade of my dinner knife catches the candlelight as I methodically cut another piece of duck, each slice precise and controlled. Control—that's what this is all about. Control over Aubrey, over the mission, over the ultimate destruction of everything Knox holds
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