"Father, I must speak to you" Roland said, entering his father's private domain, his study, without even bothering to knock.
Damon rolled his eyes. His child was a right pain in the ass sometimes and lately it was getting to be on his nerves.
"What is it?" he asked exasperated. He really didn't have time for this right now. Not when he was busy organising for this important meeting in a few weeks as well as his regular pack business.
"It's about Serenity" he pouted "why can't I just have her already? What difference does it make if we are married or not? You know I never wanted to get married in the first place" he added and Damon gave a loud groan of dismay.
"Do we really have to go through this again Roland! You know exactly who she is, heck she bears the birthmark which is all we need to prove it! Once your married we take her back home and everything she owns, everything she was to inherit will be yours" he said in frustration "is that not worth the sacrifice" Damon growled and his son gave a hurrumph and sat down, looking just as frustrated on his end.
"As for touching her" Damon warned "forget about it. After your married and not before. If he finds out you touched her without consent he'll kill you. As it is the marriage is pushing it but he'll have no choice but to accept it."
Roland sighed. He thought his father was overreacting personally but he didn't dare voice it. The last thing he felt like was getting a clip around the ear.
"You know you could take more of an interest in what's going on in the pack" Damon said with disappointment "and especially with this meeting that's coming up. After all you will be more than just an Alpha soon."
"What's so great about a Werewolf Prince anyway" Roland snapped irritably "he's no more powerful than an alpha and he's not even directly related to the King."
"The King chose him as his heir, so be respectful" Damon snapped. "It's important to give a good impression and he'll be bringing a bunch of warriors with him and his convoy of officials so to speak. Everything has to go perfectly or we'll be black listed as one of the packs to be dissolved and reestablished elsewhere."
"He wouldn't dare" breathed Roland but Damon shook his head.
"He's taking over from the King soon, so his decision is final. Please for heaven's sake" Damon pleaded "don't mess this up."
Roland rolled his eyes as he sat back and folded his legs. "I won't" he muttered "I don't know why you keep drilling me. I'm not an imbecile you know."
Heaven help him thought Damon biting his tongue instead of screaming at his son like he was wanting to. He was seeing more and more lately how spoilt Roland had been and it had turned his son into a pompous twit. His fault for being so lax in his upbringing but now he was a man for heaven's sake and he needed to start acting like the Alpha he was going to be. How else was he going to take over if he couldn't even do that?
"Please just try" Damon said plopping back down on his seat and regarding his son thoughtfully. He could smell Serenity's scent on him and his eyes flashed black for a moment. He better not have done something to her he thought grimly.
Damon took a deep breath. "How's Serenity?" he asked pleasantly between gritted teeth. Roland gave a chuckle that instantly grated on his father's nerves. "Getting more and more beautiful by the day" he said "a lot more than I could say about any of the women here" he complained with his nose crinkled in repulsion. He failed to mention none of the women wanted anything to do with his pompous ass, his father noticed.
"Did you touch her" his father's eyes flashed warningly and Roland quickly shook his head in response.
"No" he denied "I kissed her that was all. I know better than to go against your orders" he half grumbled and Damon breathed a sigh of relief. They were so close, if only his son didn't mess everything up. For crying out loud he was acting like a randy teenager instead of a young man. He needed to grow up.
"I have work to do" Damon told his son firmly "so you can either stay and help me or you can go and do something, anything else that keeps you out of my way. Choose wisely" he added and was not surprised when his son decided to do the latter, quickly making his way out of the study so that he didn't have to do any boring paperwork. Damon was loathe to admit it but he was glad to see the back of him. He was growing tired of Roland's endless complaints and his endless pushing to be able to have Serenity earlier. He knew he was going to have to keep a close eye on him over the next few weeks, especially since the excitement of the wedding seemed to be wearing off the boy. But he hadn't gone to this much trouble all these years to not go ahead with his plan and his son was going to shape up whether he liked it or not.
Roland stormed out of the study in a rush. Whew, he hated paperwork, hated being confined indoors. It wasn't fun and he especially loathed taking orders from his father. He reflected on his father's wishes not to touch Serenity and pouted. She was so beautiful and she was going to be his regardless in a few weeks time. Why did he have to wait? Nobody knew she was being kept here did they? He began to smirk. His father really was an idiot if he thought Roland obeyed his every directive, every single time he issued them. Serenity was going to be his and his alone. Having her would just cement it wouldn't it? He began to plot quietly to himself as he made his way outside. He might just visit the local brothel in the meantime.
Serenity was cleaning with Lauren once again, mystified as to why they were putting in so much effort when the so called meeting was weeks away!"It seems a little silly to me" she said in a low voice and Lauren gave a small chuckle."This is just a normal part of the cleaning, wait until it's a few days before and then you'll see just how much more we'll be required to do" she chortled shaking her head as Serenity sighed.The truth was, Serenity didn't mind in the slightest about doing the chores. It meant she got to spend time with Lauren each night and the girls had formed a close bond, although Serenity didn't dare tell Lauren that she lived in the attic. To do so would mean punishment, not just for her, but for poor Lauren as well who was proving to be a really good friend to her. Serenity would never put her in danger, not to help herself or for her own sake."What is this meeting for anyway" Serenity queried in
Serenity was still in a daze. She knew in her heart instinctively that she was the missing werewolf princess and she didn't know what to do. She couldn't exactly tell Lauren without putting her in danger and she knew that Roland and his father were already aware of it. Her only hope was to escape or to barge in on the meeting, both of which were unlikely.Serenity stared at the window, it was two stories up and if she jumped she could die or break a leg from the fall. As an escape option it wasn't feasible. She was also still locked in every single night and there was nothing in which she could use to break the door or lock. Not anything of use but she still had to search more of the attic. They'd been careful when they situated her in here though, the room was bare and minimal, as though they didn't want her having too many items in case she tried escaping. She shuddered, remembering the other attempts she'd made and the failures.
He was growing tired, bored of his predicament. Every single pack was the same, nobody had any news of this so called missing Princess and they were all rather annoying, even going so far as to provide him with omega's for his sexual needs. Not that he ever took them up on it, it disgusted him no end to be given someone against their will and those that made the mistake of giving it, found themselves in the dungeon while he dismantled their pack.He'd always believed omegas were an important part of a pack, they helped keep it running and as such deserved to be treated with respect and kindness. His adoptive father, King Lucas had left him to do this tour by himself and even he'd instructed the officials and delegation back to the castle, Liam assuring him he was able to do this on his own. At least then he could be in and out.He only had one more pack to visit thank god and then he could go back home, away from these annoying Alpha's
Serenity wondered what on earth was going on, completely dumbfounded by how the pack suddenly seemed busy all of a sudden, Alpha Damon completely grabbing her roughly by the hand and almost forcefully leading her upstairs, away from a completely startled Lauren."What's going on" Serenity protested and he shot her a sideways glance, saying nothing as she huffed in frustration. She was really enjoying her chores downstairs and now for some reason she couldn't fathom, he was cutting her time out of the attic short. She wanted to swear at him and found it difficult to hold her tongue."Nothing you need to know about" Alpha Damon said sourly, seriously put out. The Prince and soon to be King of Werewolves had decided to come early for some reason! This infuriated Alpha Damon no end, because they hadn't been prepared for his visit and that made his pack look incompetent. Now he had to deal with Serenity before anyone else besides Lauren or even Roland saw her.&n
Liam had decided it was in his best interest to go to the pack he had left early, coming to a stop at the edge of the border in the middle of the night as patrol stopped him. An Alpha Damon came out to greet him, a small tic in his jaw that indicated he was annoyed by this, even as he forced a fake smile on his face. Liam looked at him curiously. Though the Alpha was a much older man he still looked quite handsome, one of the benefits of being a shifter. Though there didn't seem to be a Luna at this pack, something he thought was quite interesting."Prince Liam, we weren't expecting you for another few weeks" Alpha Damon said tightly and Liam gave a careless shrug."I figured I would come earlier, is there a problem" he enquired, his eyes narrowed and the other Alpha looked quite put out but shook his head quickly."No problems your highness" he said hastily "welcome to my pack. How about we get you situated into a guest room for now and we can condu
Prince Liam woke up the next morning, late it had to be said because of his arrival time, determined to find out who the delicious scent belonged to. He spent a few hours in Alpha Damon's study, anxious to get out and only half listening to the man's ramblings. Apparently the man sensed his disinterest and rather sourly dismissed the prince who was more than glad to get out of the stuffy study. He also had yet to meet Roland, the man's son.As he came out, he accidentally collided with an omega, causing her to drop the tray of food she'd been carrying."I'm so sorry" he apologised and the girl, a young one at that, waved off his apology with a smile."It's my fault I should have been looking where I was going" she said rather tiredly, exhausted from spending all night cleaning and then forced to clean during the day due to several sick omegas. Lauren couldn't wait to get to bed."Nonsense it was mine" Liam told her, b
Serenity stared out the window, feeling an intense longing to be free, to smash the window but what good would it do? She was too high to jump without being seriously injured and she wouldn't heal very fast without her wolf. She was stuck and she admitted to herself, feeling a sense of panic the more she got closer to her eighteenth birthday."Serenity" the voice was quiet, masculine and she stiffened, knowing who was standing behind her and fighting the urge to be sick, always nauseaus in his presense lately. He was repulsive and she shuddered, turning around and forcing a fake smile to her face."Roland" she said just as quietly, watching him place yet another plate of food on her bedside table and hoping rather violently that he would just leave, that he was too busy to deal with her. No such luck though."You get more beautiful every day" he complimented her smoothly and she flinched, him moving closer, his dark
Liam dimly heard the words his mate had shouted and his head swivelled around as the other man smirked, clearly thinking he was safe."You're the Alpha's son" he growled 'Roland I presume?"Roland grinned "Yeah, so what If I am" he shrugged casually "and I have every right to touch my mate" he threw out and Liam stiffened."Your mate" he said slowly and Roland nodded while Liam tried hard to control his temper."You shouldn't lie" Liam said tightly "I know she's not your mate because she's mine" he roared and Roland flinched, eyeing the exit as he paled.Liam advanced on him and gripped him by the collar, raising him up and without ceremony flung the young man across the room as Serenity gave a small gasp, Roland's back hitting the wall as he howled. Liam shifted and Roland did the same, as the two women clutched at each other in fear.Both were black wolves but while Roland's was big