PhillipaThe witches had a feast planned for the evening and as I was getting ready, I caught sight of the bottle of tonic on my dresser. I knew I was going to take a huge risk, but I was feeling so nauseous that I couldn’t stand it. There was no way I would be able to get through dinner that way! I grabbed the bottle, uncorked it and took a huge sip.Closing my eyes as I swallowed and prayed that it wasn’t poison. The moment the tonic hit my stomach I started to feel better, and I breathed a huge sigh of relief. The tonic could very well have been poison, but surely, they wouldn’t have been that stupid. My omega would have testified that the witch had given me something. I shook my head to clear the thoughts of poison.My mother said that because she was scared. She had such a traumatic life at one point that she was scared something might happen to me. I was grateful for the tonic and thanked the healer as soon as I saw her at dinner. I could see the look of relief in her eyes, but
AndreMy experiences with women haven’t been good at all. It started with my mother, who died the day I was born. She left me with a womanizing father who taught me that women wanted only one thing from us. The opportunity for a title and money. I fought against this notion for a long time. The girls at school weren’t all like that.One girl in particular wasn’t anything like the others. I fell fast and hard for the dark-haired blue-eyed Vicky, daughter of my father’s beta. The war had been going on for as long as I could remember and when we had to run from our home for the umpteenth time, Vicky’s father insisted I mate with her for her protection. He played me.Vicky and I were mated under a full moon in a forest far away from home and I thought I had found my true love. My heart broke on a similar night not so long after that when I caught her with one of the warriors. I tried not to think too much about what happened that night. Flashes of what happened still haunted me. The amoun
PhillipaI got the fright of my life when the biggest boulder suddenly started to move and, in the blink of an eye, I was looking at a troll!“Your highness, welcome. I am Edgar. The ruler of the trolls.” His face was kind, but the thing I noticed first was how chubby his cheeks were! I had to fight with everything inside of me not to squeeze them! All around us, the rocks started to move, and their entire clan stood in front of us. I was positively gobsmacked! We didn’t have much information about the trolls.They didn’t have anything to trade, but my brother believed in adding them to the trade agreement. The idea behind it was to make everyone feel included after all. I looked around after the introductions but couldn’t find where we would be staying. I was surprised when they showed us to a cave. It had been set up for us, complete with rock beds and moss blankets, and I had to bite my tongue.I wasn’t spoiled, but I wasn’t sure if I could sleep on a rock. Lunch was the biggest su
PhillipaI couldn’t remember much about the trip back home. I remember flashes of waking up and having people around me and finally being loaded onto the boat, but I don’t remember much. I remember my mother’s panicked voice when I arrived home and, after that, everything just went dark.I woke up in my room in the middle of the night and my entire family were sprawled out around me. My mother was sleeping on the chair beside my bed with her head resting on her arms while my father and brother were on chairs in the corner of my room. It was the first time in I had no idea how long that I felt wide awake. As I tried to get out of bed, my mother stirred.“Oh, thank the goddess! Oliver! Eli! She’s awake!” My mother gasped and I sighed.“Hi mom. Hi guys. What happened?” I frowned, and my mother quickly explained everything. I sat listening as my shame grew. I have been the cause of a lot of people being woken in the middle of the night.“She said you drank some tonic!” My mother exclaimed
Phillipa“Let him go!” I shouted, feeling confused. I wasn’t entirely sure what was going on here. I was the only one who said it and he looked just as confused as I felt. I could tell from his scent that he was a wolf of some kind, but I also quickly figured out that he wasn’t a Lycan. His scent was different. Almost like … My eyes grew wide at the realization of what he was!He smelled a lot like my mother! He was a werewolf! My mind ran a mile a minute. All I could think of was my father and his hatred for all the werewolves that weren’t my mother. How on earth was I going to tell him he missed one and that one was my mate?!!! I waited for the wolf to say something, anything that would indicate he recognized me as his mate, but there was nothing. I wanted to know more about him. Did he have a pack? Did they have territory here? Was he a rogue?“Bring him.” I ordered my guards. Thankfully, we were planning on staying here for a couple of days before I was moving on to the next town
PhillipaI couldn’t tell my parents not to come! I also couldn’t allow them to come and meet my mate!“Mom, he didn’t recognize me as his mate. There is no need to come. The stories have been greatly exaggerated as usual!” I don’t miss the slight sound of panic in my voice and neither does my mother!“I’m sorry, sweetheart, but I don’t think I heard that right. If he is your destined mate, he would have realized it instantly.” She hesitated and I rolled my eyes. “It’s because of those witches! I’m sure of it!” My mother and I had a huge blow out with the witches, and it just got worse when she found out about the love spell. My omega told the doctor about it in the hopes that it would help with whatever was wrong with me! The only way my father could get us to make peace right before I left was to agree to disagree and never to speak about it again.“Mother!” I sighed deeply.“What? I didn’t say anything. I just think that whatever they had you do has now come back to bite you.” My m
Phillipa“Andre, I know why you don’t want to say anything. I understand, but someone has told my parents and now my mother is on her way to meet you.” I got it out before I lost my nerve! His eyes showed a quick sign of recognition, but it disappeared again so fast that I wasn’t sure.“Listen, I don’t know how things work in the royal household, but here people have free will.” He got up and started shaking his head, sounding a little offended. I frowned. I wasn’t trying to offend him! Why was this so damn hard?!!AndreI hated seeing the confusion and pain in her eyes. I hated more that I was the one causing it, but I pushed those feelings deep down. I had a plan and I had to stick to it if I was going to save my pack. I was ready for her parents to show up. I knew she wouldn’t allow them to hurt me. Our bond would force her to protect me even if I didn’t feel it.The problem came in that I did feel it! It was incredibly strong. I was fighting every nerve ending in my body. I couldn
Andre“She what?!!” The news that the princess left in the early hours of the morning spread like wildfire through the town. Why would she just pack up and leave? I sighed deeply, wondering if I had pushed her too far. “How long ago did they leave?” I felt like an idiot! I didn’t expect her to just give up! I grabbed a shirt and put it on, rushing out of the door before my beta could answer.According to what he was telling me through our pack link, the princess and her entourage left before sunrise. I had missed them by a couple of hours and now all I could do was pray that I could somehow convince her to come back! Realizing I was so far behind that there was no way I would make it in my human form, I had no other choice but to shift! I had to catch up with her!PhillipaMy mother didn’t look happy when she heard we were moving on. She knew better than to ask in front of the staff, and she waited until we were alone in the car on the drive to my next destination. I paid the owner of