BRYAN BANKSI sat quietly on the horse carriage with my hands tied in front of me as Alpha Nikolai’s scouts ransacked the cottage core houses that sat in a quiet litter in the village.I turned to stare into the grey darkness, catching the way the dark-haired prince stared off into the distance where his castle loomed large ahead of us.“Empty, your highness, save for the women, He’s probably holding most of our men in the castle,” The blond haired bat who had given me a knuckle sandwich earlier screamed at the top of his voice, making the towering black beast nod the triangle of his large head ever so slowly.I could tell it took everything in the man not to pound toward the castle gates as we made our way across the high and low rise buildings of the Stone village, with one of the scouts shoving me roughly when I stared back at a white-faced family who had drawn the shutters closed as we passed, frightened.“Eyes on the road drunk!” He yelled, his paw smacking me painfully in the ba

RAYA BANKSI had never felt a betrayal so strong as what I felt when Alpha Toph had told me Prince Nikolai was his brother, right before he gouged out my father’s heart.I tried not to look at the dead husk of the fat wolf that was lying motionless only a short distance from my legs, focusing instead on my dust-coated feet as tears blurred my vision. “Name yourself maiden,” The King growled and it took longer than I would have liked for me to realize he was talking to me.I felt a shiver run down my spine as all eyes in the lot turned to me, and I could feel Nikolai’s gray eyes burning holes in my back. I shimmied forward, away from the panting tower of Alpha Toph’s wolf and toward the deathly quiet king wolf.“Your Grace, my name is Raya Banks, daughter of the dead merchant,” I whispered, hanging on one knee as a murmur broke out in the crowd, and my chest burned with hate.“And what is your alliance with my son Tophas?” The King hummed before I heard Nikolai’s interjecting baritone

RAYA BANKS“Saints, angels and cherubs above, protect me from the evil eye,” I whispered the chant my mother had taught me back when I used to accompany her to the exquisite lots of the upstate houses where she worked.Ma had never trusted them, the rich men with their luxury sports cars and polo shirts hugging their tight, muscular frames, or the snobbish women with their dye-streaked hairs piled high on their heads and their chests pushed so far out it was a wonder they could see an inch in front of them.She thought them skanks, selfish bastards who couldn't spare a speck of concern if a child was starving on the side of the road so long as it wasn’t theirs, or anyone they could gossip about in their pretentious little meetings.“Stay away from the neighborhood kids Raya, they're not your friends,” My mother had said one night when we got back, her eyes glittering with rage. It was usually like that for her, her anger was quiet, subdued, simmering under the surface like a volcano t

NIKOLAII glanced at the glowing mantle of the clock piece above me, my heart sinking to the pit of my stomach when I realized how nervous I was about seeing the olive-skinned woman again, the image of her small face and piercing hazel eyes rising unbidden to my mind.Christ, I was a fucking mess, how the fuck was I going to hold up in front of my father if I couldn't get Raya freaking Banks out of my fucking head.I needed this break, being the last son came with its perks, being my father’s favorite, but I had to work twice as hard, break my fucking back and drive a chainsaw through the remains to satisfy the old bastard.“Fucking hell Nikolai! You know just how to make a woman wet!” Olivia’s honeyed drawl came from behind me and I damned near chucked the flower vase on the nightstand at her head, turning to catch her sexy frame panting in the doorway so that my mouth fell slack and I had to pick my jaw from the floor.The redhead took sex appeal to a whole new level, fitting her bu

OLIVIA BURNSIf I had to be assaulted with Raya freaking Bank’s pale face one more time I promised myself I would not be held responsible for what I did.The bony little bitch was everywhere! It was like I couldn't catch a fucking break with Nikolai without the stupid girl showing up to ruin the moment!I ground my teeth uselessly against the wine glass, only stopping myself when I caught the metallic taste of blood pooling in my mouth as I chewed on the glass shrapnel that had exploded in my fist right after Nikolai had marched off to meet her.“What did he see in the scrawny peach cobbler anyway?” One of the sour-faced women in my posse hissed, turning up her nose at the handsome prince’s turned back.Nikolai was hot cake in the Burning City, more so even more than he was in his Stone Castle. I could imagine why everyone would be enamored with the striking hulk of a man, shit, even his wolf was every inch as commanding as his physique.“Nothing that I don't already have,” I hissed t