KENZIE From there, we decided to head to the War Room in the castle. My body was still feeling exhausted, but I did not want to be a whining Princess or anything. Thankfully, Bellamy hid my discomfort by telling me to hop on his back. “Only if you can convince Beatrice to ride on Luca’s back,” I said, crossing my arms. He apparently mindlinked Luca because he whispered something to her, which made her laugh before hopping onto his back. Well, damn. It worked. Bellamy turned around and gave me a pointed look. I jumped on his back and smacked his ass before pointing at the group ahead of us. He laughed and started after them. ‘She likes him but is nervous,’ I explained to Bellamy. ‘He likes her but is nervous. Whatever are we going to do with those two?’ ‘Force them into enough interaction until they fall madly in love with one another,’ I cooed and placed my chin on his head. We were the last ones to arrive, so all eyes were on us when we entered. I just gave a Princess wave to

BELLAMY Kenzie was truly my equal in all things. She just kept surprising me left and right about her desires and her needs. I would always give her anything she asked for. For her to say that my darker side is alluring would have ended in another round entirely. How did nobody make the connection between the orphans and Aedrul like Kenzie did in no time? I had no doubt that she was right about it all. If we could prove that this was a habit and regular occurrence, then it would be one further nail in Markov’s coffin. I was trying to figure out why he would take kingdom children but soon realized a possibility. If he could separate them from their homes and families, he could mold them into whatever he wanted them to be. He could release an army into Aedrul that nobody would suspect with his compulsion. I shared my thoughts with Kenzie, and she agreed while punching a wall. Wrong time to be aroused, but that was hot. I loved the fire that was inside of my mate. “Well, we can figur

LUCAI woke up before Beatrice did, and I was happy for a little time to observe her beauty. She was the most gorgeous woman I had ever seen before. Yes, there was a little age gap, but we both looked to be about the same age anyways. The numbers truly did not matter to me. Hopefully they meant the same to her.I felt like my heart had stopped when she showed up to the auction. I could not take my eyes off her and even called my fathers for advice. I knew I liked her, but I was not certain if it was reciprocated because she was sexy, intelligent, and was a powerful witch. What was I? Yeah, exactly. None of those things. Well, I was smart but not intelligent like Kenz. They told me to ask her to tell me about herself, so I did.She told me about her family. Her brother had died, but she did not want to elaborate, so I did not push. Then she told me about her daughter who mated with a guard here in Aedrul. That was cool. I offered to take her on a tour while she was there, which she eag

LUCAThis was a very impromptu coronation, so I knew it would not be a huge fanfare which was perfect for me. Many people would want the attention of the adoring crowd, but that was not how we were raised.Our parents and Nonno ensured that we understood it was a gift to be in the position that we were. It was not our right but our privilege. Our duty was to always be the leaders that our people needed.It took a while for our people to heal after what Selene had done. It was still hard to hear about what she did and the hand she had in Mom’s torment, but like the badass that Mom was, Selene got her ass handed to her on a silver fucking platter.My fathers clasped a hand on both shoulders and smiled at me. They were the best fathers that I could have ever been blessed with. They always put Mom, Kenzie, and me first. They hurt Kenzie, but she moved past it, and so did I. They fucked up, but they owned up to that and were trying to right their wrong with her.“Son, we’re incredibly prou

KENZIE “You knew,” Luca accused, pointing at me with an arm around Beatrice. I had never seen my brother happier than he was the moment that the mate-bond clicked into place. On the outside, Luca showed that he did not care much about finding his mate, but it was an entirely different truth on the inside. My brother longed for his completion, but I knew that he was worried about leaving me alone. We understood things about each other that others never would because of the bond that we shared. “Who do you think told Nonno we had to throw an impromptu coronation? I sure as hell didn’t need it. Marnie clued Bel and I in when we went to jailbreak her. She said it was the only way to save you two. No idea why knowing the mate thing matters, but we like her too much to let her die,” I told him. He stared me down for a whole thirty seconds before he nodded and pulled her closer. “Thank you. I like her too much for her to die as well.” She stared at him like he was crazy. Ah, yeah. Well,