*Isaac*
“It’s not bad.” Mom smiles tightly as her hands smooth over the front of my dress suit, her slender fingers pale against the navy blue fabric.
I twitch, reaching up to tug on my collar while I look at my reflection over the top of her head. For a moment, I think it’s my father staring back at me, but no. My father, Alpha King Maddox, and I have practically the same face. Strong jaw, high cheekbones, and the same sharp nose. But I’d been blond up until a few years ago, the glossy golden hair that favored my mom fading into a rich brown. I look even more like him now than I ever have before.
Mom’s soft blue eyes, the same color and shape as mine, turn up to meet my gaze.
“Where’s Dad?” I ask, trying to shrug the stiff fabric from my shoulders as Mom breaks from my gaze and walks in a circle around me to inspect the suit she’d had specially made for the occasion.
“Probably making sure Ella and Rosie aren’t sabotaging something,” she mutters softly, clicking her tongue.
I hope they are, which is a strange thing to wish for, but I hate events like this. The dressing up, the formality, the Alphas and Lunas of other packs groveling at our feet.
Oh, and of course, having the daughters of said Alphas shoved at me from every angle.
The idea that my sister Ella and Rosie, who I’m sure can be called a cousin in some shape or form, are plotting something makes my chest tighten with excitement…. Even if it’s just spiking the punch bowl or letting a snake loose in the ballroom.
“You look very handsome, Isaac,” Mom sniffs.
“Please don’t cry,” I almost beg, turning away from my reflection to face her. She reaches up to tuck a lock of my hair behind my ear before picking invisible lint from my suit.
“Goddess, it seems just like yesterday when I first held you in my arms…”
I bite my tongue to stop myself from reminding her my birth resulted in her death and resurrection.
“Well, that was twenty-one years ago.” My face pulls up into a tight smile. Stepping past her, I give myself one more brief glance in the mirror before grabbing my watch off my dresser.
“A lifetime,” she sighs, her hands smoothing over the pale rose gown she’s wearing tonight. “You’re a man now.”
“I’ve been a man,” I remind her softly, sitting stiffly on the edge of my bed in the grand castle where I was born and raised. “And it’s not like tonight has any significance.”
Mom’s eyes flash with what I can only describe as grief, which makes me feel like an absolute jerk.
Coming into my wolf at sixteen had been a shock to everyone. My family and those who live and work at the castle continue to keep it under wraps, of course. Instead of going to Wellington University at age sixteen, like the rest of the men in my family, I’d been educated at home until I reached the age of eighteen and those who caught the scent of my powers would assume I was nearing the age of twenty-one and coming into them slowly like all shifters, rather than having hid them for two years.
The only explanation we had for my early powers was the fact the Diamond of Faith had saved my mother’s life, and possibly my own, at my birth.
I try not to think about it if I can help it.
“Are you ready?” Mom asks, her hands folded neatly behind her back.
“Do I have to?” I sound whiney, but being forced to stand at the top of the grand staircase while I’m announced to my father’s kingdom, Crescent Falls, as the wolf I’ve been for the last five years isn’t what I want to be doing right now.
Her mouth quirks into a slightly annoyed smile. “Yes, Isaac. You’re the prince, and it’s your twenty-first birthday.”
I open my mouth to respond, but then I hear a familiar voice. “You look ridiculous,” Ella snorts from the doorway, her white teeth gleaming as she looks me up and down. Rosie peeks her head in next to Ella’s, her soft black curls pulled back by pink and white ribbons.
“Ella, quit harassing your brother.” Dad’s voice echoes down the corridor leading to my room in time with his thundering footsteps.
Ella strides into the room wearing a tight red dress made of silk and dusted with little crimson crystals. Now, she looks like Dad. More so than me. Her deep green eyes glimmer with amusement as she folds her dainty arms beneath her chest and looks me up and down with a shrug. “I guess it’s not that bad.”
“How long do I have to wear this?” I sigh, turning pleading eyes to Mom.
“It’s just a suit jacket, for Goddess’ sake,” Mom hisses, losing her patience as Ella smirks at us. “You can take it off when the dancing starts.”
Rosie claps her hands excitedly, but I want to die.
“We are late, Isla,” Dad says from the doorway. His eyes land on Ella, and a growl escapes his throat. “I told you to change, Ella.”
“We’re late,” she teases, flipping her long, dark brown hair over her shoulder. “You just said it yourself.”
Chaos breaks out as my family members begin to grumble and bicker with each other while I sit stone-faced on the edge of my bed.
“I am not changing my dress,” Ella says with finality, her voice lifted and cutting through the fray.
Dad fixes Mom with a pleading look, but Mom’s eyes are on me.
“Happy birthday, honey,” she smiles, tears blurring her vision.
* * *
Music swells in the immaculate, golden ballroom. The whole place is a sea of bright gowns and men in fine suits as couples swirl in circles and glasses of champagne catch the light of the massive crystal chandelier overhead.
“No word from the border?” Dad asks somewhere to my right, his voice low against the music and the hum of various conversations from around the room. Elijah, my father’s Beta, shakes his head.
“Nothing. No movement. Alpha King Kane didn’t acknowledge the summons whatsoever.”
A muscle in Dad’s jaw twitches as he shifts his weight, his arms crossing over his chest. “Is Alpha Hunter prepared in the event Eastonia makes any more moves?”
Alpha Hunter is Elijah’s twin and one of my father’s strongest supporting Alphas. Moorn is a strange, almost mythical, city located at the farthest reaches of my father’s kingdom. The river that once separated our world from the temple in which my father placed the Diamond of Faith to restore peace and order, borders the land. No one from here even knew there was anything across the river until eighteen years ago….
I was too young to remember that night, but I’d heard the stories over and over again about how that woman had stumbled into the castle. She’d cried and begged for help, bleeding everywhere.
And then the Queen of Eastonia had died on the floor right here in the ballroom.
My thoughts are interrupted by Elijah’s words as I try to listen in. I need to know all of this because the kingdom will be mine to rule one day. “Hunter is keeping an eye on things but feels there’s no immediate threat,” Elijah says after a moment, his eyes on the crowd.
I chuckle to myself, keeping my face forward so I’m not caught eavesdropping.
“I’m tired of this game of cat and mouse,” Dad breathes. “I wanted this issue taken care of by now.”
“Kane wants something.” Elijah’s tone darkens.
Kane. The young King of Eastonia, a man close to my age from what I understand. Ruthless, brutal, and powerful.
But none of us have ever seen him.
And none of us know exactly what he wants. He’s sent scouts out into my dad’s territory several times now, leaving chaos, death, and destruction in their wake. But war is impossible when your enemy hides behind something my parents’ call “the veil.” I’m not sure what they mean, but I need to know.
Again, my thoughts are interrupted by a voice. “Prince Isaac?” A short, elderly man dressed in the official colors of his pack bows his head to me, then Dad. “I offer my sincere congratulations on your twenty-first birthday, as do my daughters.” He steps aside, revealing two blushing women standing shoulder to shoulder behind him.
“Thank you,” I say kindly, bobbing my head to him and his daughters. Both are blonde, beautiful, and desperate for my attention.
I wince when Dad’s elbow slightly nudges my arm.
“May I have the pleasure of dancing with one of your daughters?” I say, choking on the words. I feel Dad’s silent chuckle as the Alpha beams with pride and yanks one of his daughters forward.
With a sigh, I take her arm and lead the young woman to the dance floor for a waltz around the ballroom. Politely, I ask about her hobbies, her education, her likes and dislikes. This one likes the color pink, roses, and ballet. She hopes to have six or seven children if the Goddess blesses her. She calls herself dutiful and loyal, both qualities all of these Alphas drill into their daughters.
I manage to smile and nod, pretending to care, but I don’t.
Looking over the girl’s head, I spot Ella in the crowd, still wearing the dress nearly the color of Dad’s face when he’d realized she hadn’t changed into something more modest and appropriate for a woman of nineteen. Dutiful is not a term I would use to describe my hard-headed sister.
She’s speaking to a dark-haired man I don’t recognize, but I don’t have the opportunity to try to catch a detailed glimpse at his face before the dance ends, and I hastily lead my partner back to her father, who will be disappointed I won’t be asking her for a second dance.
Her sister’s eyes look like a puppy left behind at the pound when I don’t ask her to dance, but I see no reason to crush her hopes even more, so I ignore her.
Everyone watches me. Everyone wants to know if I’ve felt it yet, either the twinge of amorous or possibly even the elusive mate bond. Everyone wants to know if their daughter will be the lucky one who gets to be my Luna, who will one day hold the title that my mom now claims.
No one knows I don’t, and won’t ever, know my mate.
I rush out of the room to get some air for a moment, practically panting in my haste to be alne.
I have no such luck.
“You look like you want to disappear into the wallpaper,” Ellia grins as she slides up next to me in an alcove, her fingers curled around a glass of champagne.
“Don’t let Dad see you with that,” I sigh. A waiter walks by on his way into the ballroom, and I snatch a glass of scotch. Behind him, I watch the party go on without me.
“What’s the matter, Isaac?” Ella’s voice drops, losing that mischief laced tone she’s known for. Her hand rests on my elbow as she turns her eyes toward the crowd.
Ignoring her question, I turn the tables on her. “Who were you talking to earlier?”
“I’ve been talking to a lot of people–”
“The dark-haired man dressed in black.”
“Oh,” she laughs, her glossy dark hair trailing over her shoulders. “I don’t know. I didn’t get his name. Some Beta’s son, I’m guessing. He asked me to dance, and I declined.”
I look around at the party goers. So many laughing, smiling faces. So much splender. So many prim peacocks strutting about. Some of the women titter and crane their necks not even bothering to try to hide the fact that they are gaping at the platform where the thrones rest. They are empty, of course, my parents enjoying the party they paid for.
It seems that everyone is looking for me. But tucked away in this quiet alcove in the hallway, both the prince and princess of Crescent Falls are hidden from the world.
“Do you see that loudmouth girl about my age over there?” Ella asks, pointing discreetly at a woman wearing a gaudy green gown with a matching headdress. “She comes from a place called Celestoria.”
“That’s over the northern mountains,” I mutter absently.Celestoria is a small, mostly unknown territory with its own Alpha King who is considered our father’s ally, but it’s so far away their alliance is practically useless in times of unrest. Plus, their language is totally different and tricky to learn, let alone understand.
“Yeah, that’s right,” Ella confirms. “She’s been asking everyone where you are.”
I sigh, looking down at Ella. What in the world for? I won’t be able to understand anything she says anyway. She must only speak a word or two of our language.
“She even asked me about your wherabouts, and when I said I didn’t know, she threw a little hissy fit. She’s obviously desperate for a dance.”
“Her and everyone else in this room.” Shaking my head, I consider sneaking out the back. Would my parents notice? Probably.
I look back over the dance floor, but movement far across the room catches my eye. A young woman in a pale gray gown darts behind a curtain, her body pressed against the far wall as she brings a glass of champagne to her lips.
She isn’t dressed like the rest of the young woman in the room. No jewelry drapes over her neck, no rings on her fingers catching the light of the chandelier. Wine-red hair is pulled away from her face and falls down her back in soft, gentle waves. And her face?
Beautiful.
I don’t realize I’m walking forward until the crowd parts, and I find myself in front of her, my hand extended.
“Will you dance with me?” I ask as her eyes meet mine. Eyes the color of a stormy night, so blue they’re almost black.
Her brow furrows deeply as she looks from my eyes to my hand. At first, I think she is confused. Perhaps she didn’t expect the question. Neither did I.
But then,, she places her hand in mine, and I walk her out of her hiding spot.
A hush falls over the crowd. I hadn’t approached anyone for a dance yet, not of my own free will.
We are the only ones on the dance floor for several moments, my hand resting on her lower back as I sweep her across the marble floor in a very tricky waltz. She knows the steps, and her eyes stay locked on mine to the point I barely notice the other dancers starting to twirl around us.
Her eyes have me spellbound. I swear on the Goddess I can see stars shimmering in her irises as I twirl her in a circle.
I lean in, her hair grazing my face as I whisper, “What's your name?”
But she doesn’t answer, and when I pull away I notice the beautiful, rosy blush on her fair cheeks.
The music ends too soon, the dance coming to an abrupt end. She steps away from me, curtsying deeply as people start to crowd us.
“Move! I’ve been waiting to dance with him all night!” someone shouts. Other voices shower over us, but my eyes don’t leave the borgeous face of the only woman here who has captured my attention. She rises from the curtsy and briefly glances at me before turning on her heel and rushing into the crowd.
“Wait!” I shout, but my voice is drowned out by the crowd.
And just like that… she’s gone.