Brie
“He can’t be that bad, Brie,” Maeve hisses as she clutches the crook of my arm, leading us down one of the winding staircases in our castle in Veiled Valley. Sconces flare to life on their own accord, lighting our way. “Mom said he’s been dying to meet you, anyway. He’s a warrior, you know. They’re always so handsome.”
I purse my lips as she tightens her grip. “You’re entertained at my expense.”
“You don’t get to complain. You’re doing this to yourself!” Maeve throws her head back in a beautiful laugh that echoes down the corridor. Everything my little sister does is beautiful because she’s stunning. Beautiful of the drop-dead gorgeous variety. She’s also only eighteen, and I doubt she fully grasps what this meeting with the Alpha of Rainway, a nearby pack in the mountains bordering Veiled Valley, and his warrior son means.
Mom and Dad wouldn’t marry me off. I know that for a fact… but it doesn’t mean that Mom isn’t going to try to help me find my mate.
Not that I’m in a rush or anything. I'm only twenty-two, but Mom’s a romantic, and I’m… adopted.
Maeve tugs me to a stop in an alcove with a full length mirror. The magic that makes the castle come alive swirls around our ankles before pulling back the curtains in the alcove to let in the warm afternoon sunlight.
“Oh, this is just gorgeous,” Maeve croons as she adjusts the fabric on my deep purple gown. It shimmers in the sunlight–tight around my waist and ample breasts but falling loose around my hips before cascading to the ground.
She pulls a few pins free so my hair falls loose down my back in light-brown, spiral curls.
“There. You’re ready.”
I stare at my reflection as she fidgets with the skirt of my gown again. Even though I’m the elder sister, she's several inches taller than me. Her hair is rich, dark brown, and her eyes are the color of polished sea-glass as she meets my eyes in the mirror’s reflection. She squeezes my shoulders, smiling, but her eyes are slightly sad. “I could… sneak you out?”
I smirk, looking down at my shoes. “It’s fine. I’ll be fine.” I’ve been fine the last ten times I’ve worn a dress like this and paraded myself in front of Alphas and their powerful sons. It’s Mom I’m worried about.
Another rush of air swirls around our ankles.
“We’re going!” Maeve groans, reaching up to flick the scone above her head. “I swear, the older we get, the more bossy the castle becomes!”
I don’t fight the smile tugging on the sides of my mouth as she takes my arm and hurries me down the corridor. The castle groans around us like it’s annoyed it took us so long to get ready. I often wonder if the castle wants me to find my mate–or, at least, a husband–as much as my mother does because it gets rather excited when events like this spring up.
Maeve knits her fingers through mine as we reach the side doors leading into the formal dining room, which we rarely use as a family, but I can already smell the food and wine and feel the slight heat coming from what I assume are dozens of candles the castle arranged throughout the room to give the place a more romantic ambiance.
“You need to chill,” I say to the magic rippling all around us. “It’s not that serious.”
As if in answer, the doors fly open, revealing my mother looking slightly flushed and an elderly man swishing a glass of wine.
I take a deep breath. Maeve watches me inhale, then exhale, and takes the first step into the room.
“Oh, there she is,” Mom says, her silver eyes shining with relief and a hint of annoyance as she briefly glances at Maeve, who’s smiling like a cat. “Alpha Fredrick, these are my daughters.” She steps to the side, extending her hand in our direction. “Princess Brie and Princess Maeve of Veiled Valley.”
Alpha Fredrick gives us each a polite bow before straightening, but his gaze lingers on me for a moment. I notice how he refuses to look at Maeve all together, but I’m used to that. So is she, actually, because people have been weary of her since birth.
Maeve wastes no time swaying toward the refreshment table and pouring herself a glass of wine, ignoring the daggers mom’s shooting in her direction. I purse my lips to stop from laughing as Maeve sways past us again, white wine in hand, knowing full well Mom doesn’t like her drinking at the young age of nineteen but isn’t about to fuss with company standing mere feet away.
I do notice, however, the insane amount of food and drinks laid out and the fact that Alpha Frederick is here… alone.
I glance around, but we’re the only people in the dining hall. “Alpha Frederick,” I begin, giving him a practiced smile. “I was under the assumption you wanted me to meet your son, your heir, Michael.”
“Yes, of course, but he’s indisposed at the moment. We’ve had some bandits near our southern border in the past weeks, and he decided to stay behind in the event we came under attack.”
Mom raises her brows. “I didn’t know. Is it serious?”
“No, Alpha Kenna,” he says with a slight bob of his head. “Our pack is able to handle it. It’s one of the… unfortunate developments that came with your father’s road projects, I’m sorry to say. But we’re a hardy, well trained pack. Our warriors are top of the line.” His gaze sweeps back to me. “We’ve needed someone strong to help lead our pack when the time comes for my son to take over in my stead.”
“Ah,” I say, smiling despite the discomfort raging through my body. “Well, I understand that completely. Your son isn’t mated, then?”
“No, and he’s well into his thirties.”
“Oh,” I reply, unsure what else to say. I’m sure some would look at this situation and wonder why my parents would be okay with this in the slightest. I’m essentially on auction, being paraded like something to buy. It wasn’t like this a year ago, when I turned twenty-one. I’d been allowed to travel, to go to the mating balls and festivals all across Eastonia and Crescent Falls.
But… I’m a royal. I don’t date. I’m not using one of those fancy apps that help match people with their prospective mates. I have expectations about my future partner, and so does my family. I will marry someone of high rank, of high standing. I will be a Luna one day because my family is extremely influential and powerful.
The only problem is that I’m not.
“So, I must ask,” Alpha Frederick says, turning to my mother. “What are her gifts?”
Mom’s smile flatters. “I’m sorry?”
“Her powers,” he urges, his eyes flicking to my face before turning back to my mom. “What can we expect from her future bloodline?”
I chew my lower lip as Mom gapes. Maeve, eavesdropping on the other side of the room, arches her brow when I meet her eyes.
This is the reason I’m not having any luck finding my mate, or even a boyfriend, for Goddess’ sake.
“I’m a shifter,” I say. “Is that not powerful enough for you, Alpha?”
“Yes, but what else are you?”
He wants to know if I can turn into a shadow like my mother, or shoot fire and light from my fingers like my sister, or read minds and manipulate time like my aunts and uncles.
“I can shift. That’s it. Is that not enough for you, Alpha?” The bite in my voice is obvious. So much so that Mom actually flinches like she hasn’t heard this very conversation time, and time, again.
The castle, eavesdropping just like my sister, blows out every single candle. Alpha Frederick gapes, glancing at my mom, then turning to look at Maeve, likely wondering which of them used their powers to extinguish the flames.
I step back and curtsy before turning my body toward the door, extending my hand. “It was lovely meeting you, Alpha Frederick.”
He chews his lower lip before scurrying out of the dining hall. The doors close on a phantom wind and the candles immediately reignite.
Mom turns to me, shaking her head. “Brie, I don’t want to do this anymore.”
“We have to,” I say, pinching a piece of invisible lint off my dress and flicking it away.
“We don’t.” She turns and walks toward Maeve, saying, “In fact, this is over. I hate this, Brie.” She snatches the wine out of Maeve’s hand, ignoring her exaggerated whine. “You’re not a breeder being sent to auction. You’re my daughter–and a princess.”
“I’m also normal,” I rasp, pouring myself a glass of wine to ease the ache spreading through my chest.
Silence hugs the room for several heart beats, and I know I’ve struck a nerve.
My parents are wonderful. They love me–have loved me from the moment they met me twenty-two years ago. It was never a secret I was adopted and why, but I grew up in a family who have powers. Immense, unbelievable powers.
I am the odd one out in my generation, and now everyone knows it.
“I’ve already talked to your father, and we’ve decided maybe it’s best you spend some time in Crescent Falls this summer.”
“I want to go to Crescent Falls, too!” Maeve rushes me, skidding to stop at my side and leans in. “Please, Mom!”
“You’ll be in Moonrise with your grandparents for training, remember?” Mom picks up a grape and pops it into her mouth, chewing slowly.
“I’m staying here,” I say, shaking my head. “I don’t want to go to Crescent Falls, and I have no reason to go.”
“If your mate is there–”
“He’s not, and even if he were, he’d likely be just as turned off by the fact I’m nothing but a shifter, and I can add nothing to his bloodline.”
“Brie, that’s not what’s important.”
“But it is,” I say as calmly as possible, pacing across the room. “This is what I have to do. Marry an Alpha. I’m a princess. I’m also powerless. I don’t have the luxury of time, like Maeve and Aris do. Like you did. If I don’t find my mate, I need to settle, and… I will.”
I want to fit in somewhere. I want to be somewhere I’m not just the powerless princess. I need to make a match that honors my family after all they’ve done for me. I need an Alpha. I am more than my birth. I am more than the orphan I could have been.
“You’re breaking my heart,” Mom says, but her words are absorbed by the doors to the dining room opening and dozens of heavy footsteps charging in our direction.
Maeve whirls us toward the door just as Dad comes into view, dressed in his usual all black attire. His dark blond hair is peppered with white, but his dark green eyes are soft as he takes us in, giving us an uncharacteristic smile. Maeve rushes into his arms while I hang back with Mom. She takes my hand, leaning in to whisper, “We’ll talk about this later.”
Aris steps into the room beside Dad, throwing me a cocky grin before clapping me on the shoulder. “Miss me?”
“Never,” I tease, smiling in earnest as he steps past me toward the refreshments.
But at least a dozen warriors–all in black Ghost-issued uniforms, follow, stopping to bow or nod in hello to the royals in the center of the room.
Dad presses a kiss to Mom’s temple before saying, “We’ll be in and out. The Ghosts will be staying in the barracks.”
“I figured you’d be hungry, so I had a late lunch laid out for everyone…”
Their voices fade as a strange feeling sets my senses on fire. My heartbeat roars in my ears, my vision going slightly hazy as I turn as if in slow motion.
Aris walks over to me, biting into a sandwich, but whatever he’s saying to me as he reaches my side falls on deaf ears. A tall, dark haired man stands near the refreshment table with his arms crossed, his head bowed as one of his Ghost buddies chats at him. He nods along, his face totally expressionless.
“And then Dad said you’re still making Mom set you up on dates with Alphas, and I said I’m sure I can set you up with someone if you’re that serious–”
Aris’s voice drowns out, turning to just… noise. The man lifts his head and goes perfectly, utterly still before slowly looking in my direction.
His hazel eyes turn nearly black as his pupils expand, his gaze locked on mine.
Time stands still.
“Oh,” Aris says beside me, chuckling. “Oh, shit. Brie, you probably haven’t seen him in years. Logan, come over here–”
Logan. Logan… the kid Aviva and Ryan took in like seventeen years ago? Surely not. The last time I saw him, I was thirteen or fourteen spending the summer in Moonrise, and he’d been one of the trainers Aris couldn’t stop talking about when he went through warrior training.
I watch Logan’s tongue dart out, sweeping across his lip. My heart pounds out of rhythm. I can’t catch my breath and everything in the room feels like it’s spinning, and I can’t… breathe….
“Brie?” Maeve reaches my side, clutching my arm.
“I don’t feel well,” I rush out, reaching down to tug on the fabric clutching my waist which is suddenly too tight.
Maeve glances at Aris before turning me toward the door, but out of the corner of my eye I see Logan, who I’m still trying to place in my memory, taking a single step in my direction, his hands curling into fists at his sides.
Thank you for reading! Book 13 will be out in May, 2025!