One of the sentries ran from the gate into the village and shifted into a man. Darius stood up from the midst of the men he was discussing with and beckoned the sentry closer."They have arrived, milord." The sentry informed him.Darius nodded and dismissed the sentry. He turned to his Beta, Herrick and said, "Prepare the men," and to his mate who had come out of the house to the shade of the tree they were all sitting, he said, "Let the preparations commence."His mate nodded and hurried away while Darius walked out to where the path to the Alpha's courthouse began, joining the members of his curious pack which were beginning to walk out of their houses on to the path the queen was to arrive on.Soon, the queen's foot troop of soldiers arrived, followed by the horsed lycans which were led by Lucas, and then the carriage bearing the royal emblem of the realm which was carrying the queen and her lady-in-waiting. On one of the horses riding behind the carriage sat Theresa with a hood ov

The Queen scoffed, regarding her request to be a rather silly one, but at least, she was relieved that the silly girl had not asked for gold or something else she would have been unwilling to grant her. "If that's what you want, so be it!" She said with a dismissive wave. "Let the feast continue!" She announced and the music and dancing suddenly continued, while Claire who was greatly displeased with how things had turned out, glared at Theresa as her mother led her out of the feast hall."I hate her the more already!" Claire indignantly huffed to her friend who was rather indifferent to everything that had happened."It's really not her fault, Claire, if we are to be fair," Stella said. "We all saw what happened.""Does the Queen have to dump her here to be the bane of my life? If she wanted to get rid of the bastard princess so bad, she could have just ordered her to throw herself off a cliff and the better for everyone!" Claire was livid. Her mood was totally

Theresa jolted out of her thoughts and turned around to find a maiden who was quite older than she was but still very young. She had thought there was no one else in the court and that she was all alone, and staring at the maiden, she realised that she had not been present during the meeting that had been held a few minutes ago. Seeing how Theresa quizzically stared at her, the girl shot her a warm smile and said, "I'm Medea, I am also a ward of the alpha."Theresa smiled back, finally glad that at least she had managed to earn herself a lycan friend. "I'm Theresa.""I know who you are," Medea quickly said. "I mean... I saw the whole thing...I was outside…” she explained when she saw the confused look on Theresa’s face. “I am not really a fan of crowded places…” after Theresa nodded in understanding, Medea asked, “So you really do heal creatures?"Theresa nodded. "Yes.""Lycans don't do that," Medea

Elaine turned as she heard footsteps and visibly sighed in relief when she noticed it was the men. "Where have you two been? You are almost late for breakfast. You two kept everyone waiting," She was complaining when she suddenly went quiet when Lycidas appeared in the dining room behind them, rendering her speechless. "Oh, okay...now I get what you have been up to." She sheepishly said, softly clearing her throat. The men knew that she was pleased that they had been able to convince the lone lycan to come for breakfast, thus every sin was forgiven.Lycidas turned to her and acknowledged her with a subtle nod and she did the same. She turned to Herrick's pregnant mate, Karen, and said, "Karen, it seems we'll be needing an extra plate, and on your way back, please call in the others," She then whispered the last sentence so that the men didn't hear her. "...and also get Theresa in here."Karen nodded and exited the room. Elaine turned and was surprised to see Lycidas staring at her in

Everyone watched Lycidas as he leaned down, picked up the chair and set it right while the boy muttered an inaudible “thank you” and nervously sat down, but warily pulled his chair away from Lycidas to keep some safe space between them. Claire shot him a glare causing him to cringe and sheepishly lower his gaze. He very well knew that Claire would cuff him severely when no one was around. She was that mean.Elaine smiled to ease the obvious tension that had hung long enough in the room. She stood up, and with the assistance of Karen, began to dish the food out but as she was about to dish out some to Lycidas, Claire surprised everyone by standing up with a winsome smile which was obviously meant to please or charm Lycidas. "Mother, I shall serve his." She offered as politely as she could.Elaine exchanged knowing looks with her husband, having telepathically communicated her concerns to him. When Darius nodded his reluctant approval, she passed the plate and ladle to her daughter who