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I stifle a laugh, trying not to show that this experience is hysterical. She looks at us aghast at for the moment and then laughs at herself and bends down and splashes the two of us. I guess she’s gotten her revenge without thinking about it; I bend down, scoop water up, and throw it at her. It turns into a giant splashing war. Each of us throwing water at each other. None of us taking sides fighting for ourselves only. Eventually I stop dead. Looking up, I see that King Mateo is making his way down the beach. The broadest smile is on his lips as he’s laughing to himself, pointing to his mate, getting her attention to focus on us. I slowly back out of the water and Bella follows me. It’s about the easiest way I can get her out without yelling at her. She needs to leave it.
“Welcome to my kingdom,” King Mateo says with his arms spread wide, smiling. Bella damn near jumps out of her skin and into my arms, clinging to me tightly.
As her focus was on me, she didn’t realize the king and queen had arrived at the beach. Hollis is laughing, rolling around on the sand, barely able to contain himself at our mate’s reaction. A soft growl escapes Bella’s lips as she stares down at him. The power of her beast glows in her eyes as she bares her canines at him, still with her arms draped around my neck. She slides down my body, which unfortunately gives me an inappropriate boner at a time like this. She glances briefly at my crotch, laughs for a second, and then turns to face King Mateo. “Thank you, your Highness, for such a warm welcome.” She bows slightly, never taking her eyes off him. She motions back to the water behind her, and a brilliant smile breaks out across her lips.
“I’ve never seen this much water in my entire existence. What is it called?” she asks innocently.
He smiles and walks up closer to her. “It’s called the Black Sea, mainly because in the winter the water here is so dark it looks like somebody spilled ink across the land when you look out across the horizon.” Bella studies the nearly clear water, then looks back to Mateo.
“It really shouldn’t be called the Black Sea. The name is completely inappropriate for what I’m seeing right now.” She touches the water again and then reaches in and grabs a second shell for herself. “It’s too beautiful to be the Black Sea.” With that, she stops talking and walks over to link arms with Hollis staring up at him. She waits to see what he has to say.
“I’ve got nothing, baby girl. If you say it’s too beautiful to be the Black Sea, then it’s too beautiful to be the Black Sea.” He bends down and kisses her temple, reassuring that her assessment is correct.
“Well, all right then,” King Mateo says. “Please join me in the castle. We’ve already got dinner prepared for everyone. I just hope that you enjoy it.” He turns in the castle's direction and we follow behind him. Our accompaniment is already removing our luggage from the car and bringing it into the castle to our room for the duration of our stay.
I see up on the upper balcony King Mateo’s three children stand watching us move across the sand toward their home. Elise is clinging to Callan, while Callan cannot take his eyes off the three of us. Orwell just stares and you can almost see a slight venomous gaze in his eyes. He searches the rest of the beach and then leans in and speaks to Callan. Callan shakes his head no, and his brother relaxes. I can only wonder what that was all about. Perhaps the brothers were under the assumption that we went to the Fire Kingdom before them. As it was the original plan. Maybe they were looking to see if we had a Fire Wolf with us. For right now I can only hope to keep the peace and show them we did not bring any the princes from the Fire Kingdom with us. Hopefully everything goes off without a hitch before tomorrow and we learn about what trials Bella is gonna take part in.
Walking through the halls of the castle upon entering, you can’t help but study the architecture and the paintings that line the walls. Bella stops several times to stare at different paintings questioning King Mateo; who’s in them, where was it done and who painted it? She’s quite inquisitive and highly intelligent, recognizing the painting styles of several artists. There’s one picture that makes her stop dead in her tracks and she stands there staring at it. It’s a picture of a black dire wolf with the shadows dripping off every inch of its body. Darkness whips around it wildly as if it in its own maelstrom of shadows. The glow from its eyes is a brilliant emerald green, just like hers. She tries to read the inscription at the bottom, and it’s so worn that it’s almost impossible to read.
“Well, that there Bella is the last known Spirit Wolf to ever have existed,” King Mateo says with a somberness to his voice. “She existed approximately 400 years ago. There was not a single wolf alive able to stand against her. She was one of the greatest warriors our people have ever known. Back then, all the wolves lived as a single pack. Spirit Wolves were not uncommon. It wasn’t until the Great War with the Fae that they were slaughtered, and the packs divided.” He glances down and away for a moment, seeing his wife at the end of the hallway herding the rest of her children into the dining hall.
“There’s an old prophecy that says when spirit walks the earth again that we would all be united. The time of war would end, and the Fae would trouble us no more.” He reaches behind the painting and pulls out an old scroll. The prophecy is written clearly upon it that a warrior queen will be born of death and shadows. She would walk the lands gathering her mates that were made just for her. And then we’d end the blight of the Fae that was upon us. Bella stares at the words on the page and then offers the paper to Hollis and me. Without hesitating, she links her arms with Mateo, and they walk down the hallway to the dining hall. Standing there stupefied, Hollis and I look at the prophecy and then watch our mate walk down the hallway. Spirit walks again. We have claimed two out of four kingdoms. The prophecy is now.
Chapter24
Belladonna
Hollis leadsme into the dining hall and it’s nothing short of fantastic. We walk the perimeter, examining everything in the room's interior. They made the table of a rich mahogany and ornate designs are on the tablecloth before us. I examine everything before finishing my walk around the table. The queen and her children sit toward the head of the table, where the king himself will sit with them. Such an antiquated way of doing things. Yes, it’s nice to sit with your family, but for somebody like myself who wasn’t able to depend on their family, it’s a novel notion. I choose the opposite side and motion for Kaedyn and Hollis to flank me. Not that I don’t trust being in the Water Kingdom. But let’s face it, it hasn’t been a safe journey from the start to now.
Drawing in a deep breath, I examine everyone before me yet again. Something still seems off to me, and after the complete debacle with Relic, I’m having trust issues. Eva motions to her sons to introduce them. Orwell, first in line for the throne of the Water Kingdom. His scent is the vanilla that I scented when I was examining the contents of the boxes. Which means the other one, his brother Callan, is the one who has the scent of jasmine. The one whose scent drew me here. I keep that information to myself for now, not exposing the fact that I already know which of the two I’m more interested in.
I study both males before me. Orwell’s hair is more of an ash-blond than the golden blond that Callan has. Both of them have blue eyes, and it looks like Orwell might be shorter than Callan. As for their builds, they’re pretty similar, both muscular in tone, but not as heavily built as Hollis. Their build is barely larger than Kaedyn’s. But to be honest, it’s not the build that’s attracting me. Hopefully, my nose isn’t lying to me and that Callan, as my mate, is the best thing possible. But then I think about it, that scent isn’t everything.
What if he’s an asshole? Now, what if he’s, you know, not that great, I mean. There are just way too many what ifs involved in this bullshit. The guys catch me staring and then I feel Callan’s stare intensify. His eyes are almost a white blue when his wolf comes to the surface. They seem to study me almost as intently as I’m studying them. I can see Elise off to the side, getting nervous. She’s clinging more to Orwell than anything else. I look back up from the table at Mateo and his wife, Eva. I say wife because it’s known among the packs that they are not true mates, that they were in an arranged marriage in order to continue the bloodlines.
I reach out and grab my wine glass, bringing it to my lips. I sip at the light fruity white wine that they’ve offered me and allow its flavor to burst upon my tongue. It’s light and refreshing, unlike the deep reds that I’m used to drinking at home. “I know every pack has their trials that they put the females through. What is the trial for your pack?” I direct the question to any of the royals in the Water Pack. It could either be the sons or the parents. I’m not sure who will answer me.
Callan surprises me and stands. He bows at the waist and talks. “For our pack, there are only intelligence challenges that we put any potential mate through. Since we are doctors and healers and artisans, trying to get anyone outside of our pack to perform any of the things that we can be nearly impossible.” He reaches down and grabs his wineglass, taking a sip from it.
It’s now that I notice how Orwell’s looking at me. There’s almost a longing in his gaze and that makes me wonder whether there’s more than meets the eyes. Callan snaps his fingers, trying to direct my gaze back up at him. That elicits a growl from my wolf. It does not please her that the male whose scent drew us here is trying to be that much of an asshole. I stifle my growl as I feel the hairs on the back of my neck rise. I can tell King Mateo is getting anxious as he feels the oppressive power rolling off me. He clears his throat and stands up, which makes Callan sit down almost immediately.
“You must forgive my son, Princess.” Arching a brow, I stare at him and a soft laugh escapes my lips.
“I haven’t been a Princess in almost two and a half months now. If your pack hasn’t heard already.” Standing, I push in my chair and walk over to lean on Kaedyn’s shoulders while I glance at the king. “I’m pretty sure that Kaedyn’s father has made everyone aware my father has been disposed of. He lost the mantle of king the moment we exposed he was beating my mother and mistreating her. He was dethroned the minute they found out that I, myself, was abused by him and sentenced to live in the graveyard. Isolated away from the other packs. It wasn’t until someone injured my brother in battle that I could enter the castle again.” With the mention of my fallen brother, my eyes blaze to life. The glow from the green of my eyes changes the color of the room, bathing the table in its green light. Kaedyn reaches up and starts stroking my arms, trying to soothe me. But it’s not working.
“I have already ascended and taken the throne as Queen of the Shadow Court.” As soon as the words leave my lips, King Mateo and his wife pale. Never in the existence of the packs has there been a female ascend to the throne and been crowned. I study his sons; Callan seems disinterested, while Orwell maintains eye contact with me as I speak. I bow my head to him out of respect. My wolf has made up her mind. Even though Callan’s scent appeals to her, he is not worthy of her. Nor shall he ever have a chance at us. Dismissing him in her head, she focuses on Orwell. His eyes whiten with the power of his wolf and it makes me smile. He’s not threatened by me in that sense. Instant brownie points.
Dinner is rather uneventful and concludes quickly. As we depart the dining room, Kaedyn and Hollis leave my side, allowing me to stand out on the balcony by myself. Latching the door behind me, I walk out and lean against the rail. I didn’t ask, nor do I care, what the challenges I’ll be facing tomorrow are. As far as I’m concerned, it’s a moot point. So far, I’ve yet to meet anyone that can stand against me. It seems with each mate that I take; I become much stronger than I was. With that being said, I can only assume that taking a mate from here will also increase my power ridiculously. The gentle click of the door latch catches my attention. The shuffling of feet sounds behind me and then a life form manifests beside me.
Orwell has come out onto the back porch and look out over his kingdom with me. “It was nice to see someone put my brother in his place. Trust me, it’s a daily battle for me.”
Stifling a laugh, I shake my head. “Trust me, I know all about brothers and over-inflated egos.” My smile turns sad as I think about the condition that my brother is in at home.
I have no idea what’s going on with him at the moment, nor have I bothered to reach out to my mother to find out. I love my brother, but I need to be focused on unifying the packs now. I’m sure if something of note was happening, my mother would reach out to me and let me know. After all, I am now the Queen of the Shadow Court. And she has little to no power left to do much of anything for, with or against anyone.
“Where did you go just now, your Highness?” Orwell says, as he reaches out and touches my forearm. Oddly enough, static crackles between us at the mere touching of our skin. This bodes rather well for him in the sense that my wolf is trying to push for a bond with him. I look down at where his fingers touch my arm, and then glance back up at him slowly.
“Just thinking about my brother. Nobody’s giving me an update on him in quite some time. And it’s moments like this I wish I was a Water Wolf like you. I wish I could heal my brother. Then I wouldn’t have to worry about whether he’s gonna be alive by time I’m done visiting all the packs that I have to.” Sadness creeps into my voice and I sniffle.
