"Why are you like this?!" Rhys grabbed my shoulders and shook me the moment the four to our room shut. Xander looked equally pissy. "Why can't you back down from a challenge? Why can't you accept that there are some fights you just won't win?" I shrugged him off. "I've yet to lose." Yeah, I was being a brat, but still. "It's my choice. If Lilith can tell me anything about my parents, then it's a fight worth having." "Lilith isn't normal. She will pit you against her strongest fighter. And laugh when you're littering the arena floor in pieces." "I'm so glad you have so much faith in my capabilities." These men knew nothing of how I was raised. My father taught me how to fight. Everyday. For years. I had always been better at hand-to-hand combat, but I could work a sword with the best of them. It wasn't their fault that they underestimated me. I didn't exactly show off the skills I'd spent my life working on. I preferred to b

"What else can you tell me?" I curled up in an armchair in front of the roaring fireplace in Lilith's decadent office. I wanted to cry. I wanted to rage and curse and break things. My parents had lied to me. My entire existence. I was out here living a dark fairytale, and was left to find out everything on my own. Lilith must think I'm the stupidest child to walk the earth. "That it's not your fault." Lilith threw me a smile. "Secrecy is the most important task of blending in with society.""My parents are essentially sleeper agents for the Supes. I believe that goes beyond secrecy into falsehood." "It's not like they could have announced themselves. They knew you were going to end up being a Bride. Tierney is the daughter of Liliana, the last true Luna. Roderick is a mutt of a few different supernatural DNA.""But why did I not know my mother was a wolf?!" My sigh was a heavy thing. "How could she hi

The car was dead silent as we all reflected on our forest tryst. It was one thing to act in the moment of passion, but another to be urged on by a primal need. I didn't regret it. My hand fell to my belly. Was a Were's gestation period the same as a human's? Would I know sooner than six weeks? This wasn't something they covered in my classes as a Bride. The Accords were kind of shifty on the information. Of course I was sitting in the car with two fonts of knowledge. Time to pick their brains. "Does a female typically get pregnant their first time in heat?" The words hung in the air around me. Xander shifted uncomfortably and I could hear Rhys sigh behind me. "It's not–""I mean we–" They both tried to talk at the same time. I suppressed a smile. "Maddie, we weren't trying to–" Xander started. "Take advantage of a situation." Rhys finis

My father led us from the building in silence. I patted the pocket of my jeans where the paper with the directions to the Grimm society headquarters was tucked away. I was going to ask for help. The rows of guards glared at us as we made our way from the building. I was tempted to glare back, but Rhys' elbow in my side pushed that thought away. Flipping diplomats. We paused at the fountain. "This is as far as I can go, Maddie." My father stood there in his ridiculous leather outfit. "I'm no longer allowed to leave the grounds of the Queen's compound."I threw my arms around him, squeezing him as tightly as I could. "I'm going to get help." my words were soft, barely a whisper."For your mother. I have to remain here to make sure you are both safe." He clung to me like I was a lifeline, his strong arms caging me. Tears tracked my cheeks. "I can't do that. You know me, Dad. You raised me." My words were choked as

"You are my mate!" Xander's yell ended in a howl. His body shook, my rejection pounding through us both. "I am your Alpha! You can try to reject me, but I won't let you."Ridiculous man. Couldn't he see I didn't want to do this as much as he didn't want it done? Couldn't he see me breaking into pieces in front of him? The first love is self love. How could I love anyone if I didn't love myself enough to stand up for me? Being forced to just accept the decisions Xander wanted to make for my life was, at best, enabling his superiority complex, and at worst, spiraling into a toxic relationship. I had enough of men deciding they knew the way the course of my life should play out. "I am a person, not a doll that you can just play house with." My words were gritted out through my clenched teeth. The pain was overwhelming. I struggled to my feet. "We could have discussed this, like adults in an actual relationship. But instead you decided to take away my autonomy. And still you refuse my r