I didn’t have to wait for Lesley to let me know that it was over. I could hear it from the movement in the passages outside of my room. I almost wished I had been there, but seeing someone experience what I went through was too much. It was bad enough that I went through it myself. The second Lesley walked into my room, I wanted to know how the old king was doing and if he was okay.The man was a lot older than I was and I couldn’t imagine him surviving what I had, but according to Lesley, he didn’t even cry out. Well, I didn’t cry out most of the time, so it couldn’t have been that bad, could it? I honestly couldn’t imagine Lorenzo allowing anybody to whip his father to the full extent to which I had been whipped.Unfortunately, Lesley had a lot more to tell and by the time she was done, I was actually feeling nauseous. At least, it was over. We could all move forward from here. The slaves could be freed and no one would ever have to go through that again. Which made her think about

LorenzoI DIDN’T KNOW WHAT I WANTED, which was a strange new feeling for me. I couldn’t see myself crowning a slave as the queen, but I also couldn’t imagine living my life without her anymore. In a very short time, Ariana had shown me that my first impression of her was completely wrong.She definitely wasn’t weak, that much was clear. She was smart, and I bet if she was in the right circumstances, she would be funny. She was fair even when the world around her wasn’t. She was kind even when she really didn’t have to be. If I was honest with myself, I would have to admit that she was the woman I had been looking for all this time, but I wasn’t honest with myself.I might be in the process of trying to free the slaves, but that didn’t change anything. Ariana would always be remembered as the slave girl that was saved by my mother and that girl could never be our queen. I wondered how she would feel about being my mistress but pushed that idea out of my mind as soon as it popped up.Wh

LorenzoI let her go. She slipped out of my arms and I let her go. When my brain finally started working again, I realized what the hell I had done. I wanted Ariana! I wanted her to be my queen! Everything I had been looking for was right there in front of me and I couldn’t even say that I didn’t see it, because I did! I knew that she was perfect and I had done exactly what I accused everyone of. I judged the slaves before taking the time to get to know them.I was so damn wrapped up in my own world that I didn’t want to see what was right in front of me. I scanned the crowd who had started the next dance but I knew she wouldn’t be there anymore. Running up the stairs, my mother called me and I turned around sighing.“Lorenzo! What did you do to Ariana?” The scowl on her face was strange. She never showed emotion in front of people. Quickly moving up the stairs, she stood opposite me but I was still taller than her.“I made the biggest mistake of my life, Mother, and I would like to g

THINGS WERE STARTING TO TAKE SHAPE around my new home after a couple of days. The seeds had been planted and, thanks to the pixies, I could already see small plants growing. Their magic just touched the plants and it would come to life. I would really have been lost without their help and I knew it.So, I hadn’t built my own home and they were helping me grow the food … So what? They seemed friendly enough and they hadn’t asked me for a thing since I got here. I hadn’t seen Emanuel again in the past couple of days, but since she was a queen, I could only guess that she was busy. I wondered if Lorenzo had even come to look for me, and quickly pushed all thoughts of him to the back of my mind.I had a lot to do around my new home, and keeping busy kept my mind off what could be happening in the world outside of mine. My wolf was slowly starting to accept our new life and that I wouldn’t be going back to Lorenzo no matter how much she cried, but I could feel the effect her sadness had on

I had no idea what I was going to say to him or what he would even do, but I needed to speak to him. I had just turned a corner when Emanuel appeared in front of me. Her face suddenly looked so angry. It was distorted and I wanted to sidestep and run past her, but she did something and I couldn’t run. My legs were running in the air and I was getting really frustrated when I suddenly hit the ground with a loud thud and trees came up all around me like a cage.“Didn’t I ask you politely not to go back there?” She hissed and for the first time, I saw her fangs. She was nothing like she pretended to be! Unfortunately, I saw it too late!“Did you mean it when you said you wanted to save the slaves?!” I growled, knowing she could read my thoughts. I was stronger in my wolf form. There was no way I would give her the upper hand … More than she already had.“That is why I asked you to stay!” A howl echoed through the forest, interrupting our talk. That had to be Lorenzo! I opened my mouth to