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Her mother and father give her a slight nod and I watch Bella lower her head and bend her front leg into a modified bow before standing straight up again. My father fires the starting pistol, and all the she-wolves take off, except for Bella and Ari. They stand there watching the others run. I wonder what they’re waiting for.
We watch them for several moments as they study the directions the other, she-wolves are going. I’d have to say ninety percent of the she-wolves broke into a run to the right, heading to the north end of the property. The other ten percent headed toward the east. Ari gets ready to run toward the east and Bella barks at her, stopping her in her tracks. At a slow trot, Bella heads to the south, leading Ari off to hunt with her. King Grimshaw rolls his eyes watching my sister following behind Bella. He turns his back not interested in watching the woods for the she wolves.
It’s approaching six o’clock and the first of the she-wolves come back with their prey. The King and Queen of the Shadow Kingdom haven’t budged from their self-imposed isolation. Not once have they glanced towards the woods looking for their daughter. Perhaps Ari’s description of how little they care for Bella wasn’t an exaggeration. None of what they’re bringing back are any of the new animals that we had stocked for today. Mostly, they’re returning with rabbits and squirrels. Two she-wolves return with small deer and pigs. Most of the others return empty-handed.
Anxiously, I watch the woods waiting to see where my sister and my mate have gotten off too. Just before I get ready to descend the stairs to go look for them, a bone chilling howl breaks the silence of the night. The tone sends the birds from the trees scattering, flying, trying to save themselves.
It’s a howl that I’ve never heard before, but one that makes Grimshaw smile broadly. He descends the stairs and I follow right behind him, as do my parents. From out of the deepest part of the woods, I can see Bella dragging something behind her. Bella has taken down the largest bull moose we had stocked today. She drags it to the middle of the field and puts her front to paws upon its rib cage and howls again, letting the darkness swirl around her. She looks back into the woods, staring at something. Without a second thought, she bolts back into the woods and comes out carrying a red stag in her mouth with Ari trotting proudly behind her. She lays the bull stag next to her much larger moose and Ari does as Bella did before and places her front paws on the stag and howls her victory.
Bella returns to her moose and nudges it with the bridge of her muzzle as she stares at me. “She’s looking for your approval.” Grimshaw says sternly, staring at me. His eyes glow emerald, just like his daughter’s, as he watches and waits for my reaction to her kill.
At the sight of Bella’s success, the other females shift back to their human forms, staring at their much smaller trophies and the males that are left.
Cautiously, I approach the bull moose and bow to Bella and to her moose. I place my hand on the massive horns of her prize. “You honor me with your kill, Princess Belladonna.” Her wolf’s fathomless orbs stare at me and she blinks several times before shifting back to her human form. She looks over her kill and then back up to me and gives me a slight nod of her head.
Ari shifts back to her human form and Bella runs over to her and sweeps her up in a big hug. “I told you we could do it!” Bella says to Ari, she laughs and then smirks. “I told you we didn’t need no stinking boys!” She laughs hysterically, and my sister joins her in her laughter. I don’t know if I should take offense to that or just laugh along because it is quite funny.
By the looks of it, I’m really gonna have to step up my game tomorrow. I watch Bella approach her father first and lower her head in deference to him. He kisses the top of her head, and she breaks into the broadest smile I’ve yet to see from her. He gives her the briefest of hugs and the smile falls from her lips as he whispers to her. “I would have returned faster with my kill. Thankfully, the Air Wolves don’t have high standards.” I never want to see that look on her face again. My father says something to her, and she moves to him and lowers her head to him too. Immediately, he wraps her up in a tight hug and that brilliant smile crosses her lips again. He whispers something in her ear, and she smiles and looks up at him. Her eyes dart back to me, then over to my mother. What in the world are my parents up to?
Mom hands Bella one of my hooded sweatshirts, and she slips it on. It looks like a dress on her as she pulls the hood up over her head. Giggling, she waves her arms back and forth, unable to see her hands. Her hands come up and she pulls the neck of my sweatshirt to her nose and closes her eyes. My mouth pops open of its own volition as I realize she’s breathing in my scent and enjoying it. Her eyes lock with mine as she turns to face me.
I’m shocked to see her walk toward me. This is not normally allowed, and surprisingly, our parents don’t object. Bella reaches me after what seems like forever and looks up at me. Her eyes don’t seem to glow as brightly as they did the other day. Smiling, I look down curiously at her, wondering what she’s up to. Her sleeve covered hand comes up, and she pulls the hood to the side to cover her face. She presses the bridge of her nose under my jaw and my heart damn near stops in my chest. She just submitted to me and accepted me in front of all the other wolves gathered.
“Don’t take this as a sign of weakness from me Kaedyn, I told you I would not reject you… mate.” She speaks the words so softly for my ears only.
Bella shocks me again when she leans her head back and turns away, baring her throat to me before walking back over to my sister. Her parents stand there in shock, their jaws practically hitting the floor. Bella stops and stares at her father, and the shadows whip around her wildly. “Its official, the spare is out of your hair and no longer your responsibility.” She spits her venomous words at her father before vanishing right before our eyes.
I look around the area, trying to find where Bella has gone. In the darkest part of the forest, I see the faint glow of her fathomless green orbs. Shouts from her mother yelling at her father distract me momentarily from my mate’s position. By the time I look back where I last saw Bella, she is gone. Praying to the Goddess above, I can only hope she’s safe and that she’ll seek my sister or me out when she’s ready to talk.
Chapter5
Belladonna
The thunderingof my paws hitting the soil and the pounding of my heart are the only two things I hear clearly right now. There’s a war waging in my head and heart that there will be no clear winner in the end. A furious growl escapes my lips as I think about how I’ve always been treated, like a tradeable commodity to my father. Raised only to broker peace among all the elements. My heart aches thinking that I received a more loving hug from King Coro than my father.
I’m torn between wanting to cry and wanting to wage war. Betrayal seems to be the word that echoes in my head. I feel betrayed by my father. He pretended to love me, to only have no issue giving me away at his earliest convenience. At least he allowed me to remain in his home into my twenties. What about my twin? Is he well enough that they were okay to leave him?
The more I think about how cold my father is, the harder I push myself to run faster and further away from everyone. After I’ve run for what feels like forever, I find a pond and stop for a drink. Moonlight reflects off the water and I can see my reflection clearly. My eyes seem hollow and cold as I stare into them. Once they were a vibrant green, now they appear dull, almost lifeless. My thoughts turn to Kaedyn and how proud he was of my kill. The glow increases in my eyes the more I think about him and how happy his simple actions have made me.
Raising my head, I look back in the direction I came from. Who knows how far across the property I am? The good news is that I haven’t found the wall that keeps the imported game on the property. It’s about time I use some of my dark gifts for my good. Control of shadows is fun, perhaps a bit more useful than shadow walking. I concentrate on that very corner that I disappeared on Kaedyn for the first time. Since it’s a place that I’ve moved the shadows in before, I can do it again. The familiar whoosh feeling embraces me tightly as the shadows carry me to the place I wish to be. I remain in the shadows of the dining room, listening for movement within the castle at this hour.
Quickly I move from shadow to shadow, drifting through the castle, searching for Kaedyn’s room. A dozen rooms later, I finally find where his scent is the strongest. My wolf steps out of the shadows and into his space. He’s lying on his side facing his open balcony doors, fast asleep. I can only assume he left the doors open for me to enter through. Looking back to his bedroom door, I see it’s locked and blocked by his dresser. I move to the far side of his bed and ease my enormous wolf up onto the mattress with him. Gently I curl my wolven body around his human form, hoping to keep his body warm as the temperature steadily drops. I lie awake for what feels like hours, watching over my mate as he sleeps. Part of me wants to stay with him all night, the other part doesn’t want to be found where I don’t belong according to protocol.
Rules be damned. I rise on my front paws briefly and use my teeth to grip the blanket at the foot of the bed. I try my best in this form to cover my mate with the blanket. Thankfully, I get him covered most of the way without waking him up. I look him over several times before I lay my head down and place a paw over his ribcage, holding him to me. Sleep will be a blessing at this point because I have a feeling that tomorrow I’ll be walking into hell.
* * *
Morning comes entirely too early, all things considered. I slept as my wolf watching over my sleeping mate. I feel him wake up and move against me. He suddenly stills as he grips my paw, looking at it. “Bella?” He spins to look up at me. “You came back!” he says excitedly before lowering his tone again. A smile graces his lips as he runs his fingers through my thick fur. “You would be proud of your mother. She started a war with your father last night after you left.” Kaedyn laughs as he looks up at me. “She threatened to give him nightmares for the rest of his existence if he didn’t make peace with you.” He continues to laugh as he rolls onto his back.
Carefully, I dislodge myself from him and leap off the bed and shift back to my human form. I’m still wearing his hoodie and my outfit from last night. Looking around his room, I opt to go sit in the chair directly across from his bed. “Sorry I scared you. Being the spare and nothing more than breeding stock messes with your head after a while.” I force a weak smile as I gaze at the floor in front of me.
“Bella, please look at me,” Kaedyn says, his tone rings with concern and a tinge of fear. I raise my eyes slowly to look at him. “You’re so much more than that to me. You’re everything I’ve ever hoped for in a mate. The fact that you stood up to your father impressed me the most.” A smile creeps across his lips. “The way you told your dad you were no longer his responsibility… that was the coolest thing I’ve ever seen. Your mom damn near beat your dad senseless when you vanished.”
Now that caught my attention. “Really now? Mother stood up to Father. That’s hard to believe.” I study Kaedyn’s facial expressions and his pupils for any signs of deceit and find none.
Kaedyn furrows his brows looking at me. “Why do you call your parents’ mother and father?” Damn, he had to catch onto that.
I huff out a sigh and fold my hands in front of me. “Father didn’t allow Mother to have hands on time with us. We were raised by a wet nurse and then several nannies.” I laugh as I look from my hands up to see the horrified expression on Kaedyn’s face.
