My breath grew rigid in my throat, realising who stood in the dining room with the Lanes.“You’re not Sir Valerio.” I immediately blurted out in an accusing voice, and this made the rest turn to me with a confused gaze.I had never met Sir Valerio in person, but I was certain he would be much older, greyer, and less annoying.“He’s not,” Oliver’s mother named Scarlett spoke up, coming into his defence, “My husband is on a royal assignment to the east and couldn’t make it here today despite wanting to. The prince stepped in for him and it was a noble thing to do.”How noble of him.My eyes moved back from Scarlett to Edward, who has since not taken his eyes from me. Of all the people I could have run into, it had to be him.I haven’t seen him since the heated last dispute we had and honestly; I wasn’t looking forward to it. I never wanted to see him again, but fate had its sick way of bringing the worse dreams to pass.“Do you two know each other?” Scarlett asked, her gaze darting betwe

I tried to leave, but he caught me by the wrist and I looked up, locking my gaze on his. Whatever he saw made him let go, and I walked away, finding my way back to the dining room.I returned to the table first, feeling much better and in control than before of myself. Edward returned a few seconds later and Rue’s eyes darted between us, her lips puzzled and her eyes dimmed.It wasn’t what she was thinking, but I let it be.“Lady Kailani, do you see yourself finding a mate and maybe someday settling down and siring offsprings?” Scarlett asked and turned the attention of those seated over to me.And here I was, thinking only the prince could make me uncomfortable at this table.When I was younger, I wanted an escape, someone who would come and save me from all my misery. I wanted that person to be the man of my dreams to sweep me off my feet with charming gestures, shift with me and strengthen me during the full moon and make me feel better about myself. We would marry and sire a handfu

“You look like you have had better days.” Edward stepped into my office, closing the door behind him. I had a scroll in my hand which I read through before he interrupted. “I have, but that’s no business of yours.” I shot at him with a stern voice as I folded the scroll back. I already readied myself to attack. He knew that, too. He paused and gave me a concerned look. “You know you don’t have to be on the defence every time you see me, right? We work together as partners just like it was in the beginning.” Yes, I didn’t have to be hostile towards him, especially when he’d done nothing wrong, but that was the only way to keep my fences up. He was still the man that affected me in ways I couldn’t explain in the past and he still had that ability. My wolf still shivered in his presence, and I could not ignore the way my body heated whenever he stood too close or stared at me for too long. The best way to keep him out was to welcome no form of casual friendship. If I could maintain

He followed behind me, saying no word, but I could feel his heated gaze on my every move. We stepped into the open space to see the full moon almost setting. The night was peaceful and its mild weather comforting. The calm wind of the night blew over my face, swaying my hair from side to side and making me giggle. It was perfect and I hope it’ll continue thus. “We would shift any moment from now,” I announced, my voice coming out eagerly. He nodded. “Yes, you will, but I don’t have to shift if I don’t want to.” His answer left me in a puzzled state. “Is that because you are the prince, then?” He shook his head. “No, every werewolf shifts when, where, and how they want to unless they have taken human life.” “I have always shifted on the full moon,” I revealed, a little confused at where he was going with his words. “You shifted because you wanted to, not because you had to.” I never thought about it that way. Honestly, I never thought I had the choice of not shifting, but hearin

Ever since the last time I reprimanded Cynthia for carelessly leaving her mask, I felt the need to watch her whenever she came in for her shift. Deep in my guts, I knew she would do something stupid that would put not just her life in jeopardy, but everyone else’s. The only one who knew about my fallout with her the last time was the prince. I kept it away from Jane because she already had a lot on her plate at the parlour. I had also seen her flirt with prince Edward a few times since then. It didn’t bother me—maybe it did a little, but I paid no mind to it. She wasn’t a child, and I had no authority over him because he wasn’t mine, despite our sneaky escapades. The prince always remained formal with her and he either was oblivious to her tactics or didn’t desire her at all. Cynthia struck me as the type that would rather stand on the shoulders of others to get what she wanted instead of working for it. I noticed she would tag around those she suspected were rich with gold and silve