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Fighting Kane (Book 1 of The Sovereign Series)

1. Beauty and The Best Friend 

“Tell me again why I have to dress up and go to The Ball with you?” Lexi asked as she scoured the dress racks for a gown worthy of royalty.

“Because you are my support system and best friend,” Diana informed her with a frown. “Don’t you want to be there when I am chosen as the next queen?”

“To be honest, I’d rather be sitting at home with a pint of Ben and Jerry’s and watching Netflix,” her friend replied wistfully. “But that’s just me.”

“Leo will be there,” Diana mentioned coyly.

“I know.”

“You’ll get to dance with him,” Diana added.

“Dancing is overrated,” Lexi stated. “And sweaty.”

“If done right, dancing can be practically s*x in a vertical position,” Diana claimed.

 “Gross. Who would want to f**k in public?” Lexi gave her a sour expression and grabbed a decent-looking gown in a dark blue color. One of the salespeople looked over at the two young women, scandalized at their vulgarity.

“Don’t go for dark colors, Lex,” Diana scolded her and came over to pull the navy-blue gown away from her fashion-backward friend. “Go for vibrant. You look so much better in bright colors. Red, orange or a nice lime green.”

“You want me to look like citrus, don’t you?” Lexi sighed and placed the blue gown back on the rack. “I’ll look like an orange or a pineapple if you have your way.”

“What about this pretty salmon-colored one?”

“It’s pink,” Lexi noted with a grimace. She hated pink.

“It’s salmon,” Diana protested evenly. “It’s a completely different color!”

“Still, it’s a hard pass,” Lexi remarked as she walked over to a nice emerald green gown with high slits up the thighs. “This one isn’t bad.”

Diana eyed the gown greedily and nodded. “You could work that one, especially with those slits. They’ll go practically up to your panty line.”

“Great! I’ll find it in my size and we can get the hell out of here!” Lexi said brightly, smiling at her friend. They had been at the boutique for what seemed like hours, but had in all actuality only been forty-five minutes.

 “I haven’t found the perfect dress yet!” Diana looked devastated and started to rifle through the racks frantically. She knew her friend had a low threshold for shopping, and she was coming dangerously close to surpassing it.

“How about that pink one you seemed to like so much on me?” Lexi asked with a smirk.

“That old thing?” Diana scoffed. “I wouldn’t be caught dead in it. So last year!”

“Yet you wanted me to wear it.” Her tone was wry.

“Well, you wouldn’t care if something’s last year or haute couture. I figured it would look pretty on you, but not so pretty that you would outshine me when I meet my Prince Charming,” Diana told her.

“Honey, there’s no way anyone could miss you,” Lexi stated with a smile. “All you have to do is open your mouth and you outshine us all.”

That part was true enough. Diana Loudin was Alexandria Welsh’s best friend in the whole world, not to mention her adoptive sister. After Alexandria’s parents had passed three years ago, her best friend had begged her parents to let Lexi stay with them as an adopted daughter. It was either that or she would have been placed in foster care. And who knew where she would have ended up then?

Lexi was one of the few true-blue friends she had. Many thought Diana was too high maintenance. Diana thought—erroneously—that high maintenance was synonymous with beautiful. And Diana was beautiful—in a manufactured sort of way. With deep chestnut-colored hair, hazel eyes and a slim figure, many men had fallen for her charms over the years, but Diana had her eye on only one man. A man neither she nor anyone living outside the palace had ever seen: Prince Kane.

From an early age, Diana thought herself destined for greatness, and she would take nothing less than the best. She was determined to become the mate to the eldest son of Queen Margot and King Xavier Reifenberg, the ruling family of werewolves for the North American continent.

But no one had ever seen the 20-year-old Prince. Nor any of his brothers, Kolton and Kade. It was tradition.

Upon the king’s eldest son’s 21st birthday, a ball would be held where all the notable young women from far and wide would attend, and the future king would choose his mate and bride. In order to allow the prince to choose his mate in peace, he and his brothers were kept hidden from society. No one but the king, queen, and other wolves living on the palace grounds would know whom was Prince Kane, future King.

To Alexandria—better known as Lexi to her friends—it was nothing more than a fashionably catered meat-market. Why didn’t they just let the man date and see who he was compatible with? It seemed so shallow to have a man choose his life partner based on one evening of dancing and flirting with all the eligible ladies from the best families across the nation. Lexi hated it, and had stated as much often—ever since the Loudins had received their invitation.

Of course, many other men would attend The Ball, and Leo Pomeroy was one of them.

Leo. Lexi’s future mate. She just knew it. They had known and loved each other since they were 15. Lexi was certain that once Leo came of age and turned 18, they would feel the mate pull, as all wolves did when they hit that anointed age.

Whereas Diana loved being the center of attention, Lexi was the complete opposite. She loved the simpler things in life and was just as happy sitting at home reading a book or watching a movie as Diana was in going out to parties and flirting with young men.

But that, of course, was all Diana ever did. Flirt. She was saving all her firsts for her mate, the future king of the wolves. Kane.

While Diana had a radiant, ethereal beauty about her, Lexi’s own looks were more muted. Not that she wasn’t pretty, for she was. With lush black hair and brilliant, light green eyes, she was more elfin than her more ostentatious-looking friend. She would just be happy when Leo turned 18 and they were found to be destined for each other.

Leo was set to come of age in a week’s time. He was one of the few reasons she was attending The Ball at all. Well, that and the fact that Diana had nagged her to death about accompanying her. Lexi tried to point out that the invitation was addressed to the Loudins and not her, but Diana was not having any of it. Ever since the death of her parents, Diana considered Lexi just as much a Loudin as herself.

“Try it on first,” Diana urged Lexi, and gestured to the gown on the hanger. “We need to make sure that it doesn’t need to be taken in somewhere or let out in the breasts.”

Lexi sighed and headed into the dressing room, placating her friend. She was lucky that the back was low cut, for she wouldn’t have been able to zip it up herself otherwise. With her larger breasts, she was afraid that the top wouldn’t fit. Though she was petite enough, her bosom was generous and could make for awkward wardrobe choices.

Thankfully, the gown fit well and would only have to be taken in a couple of inches at the waist. It was Diana-approved promptly, and Lexi sighed gratefully. At least she wouldn’t have to try on any more clothing and would only be tortured by the amount of time Diana would take selecting her own perfect gown and accoutrements.

Three hours after entering the boutique, the two women left with their purchases. Diana had insisted they get shoes to match, and both walked away with their gowns in garment bags, shoes, and some lacy underthings that Diana insisted would make them feel glamorous from the skin on out.

“You should wear your hair half up and half down,” Diana instructed her. “Your hair’s too pretty to have it piled up on your head, though it would be a shame to cover up your slender neck. At least with the front half of it up, your neck will be seen.”

Lexi only half-listened to Diana’s plans on makeup and hair style. Her friend had wanted her to wear higher heels, but Lexi had balked. They finally settled on 2-inch strappy heels that looked fancy enough with the clear gems pasted on them like diamonds to adorn her feet.

“And you should wear my diamond and emerald necklace with the earbobs,” Diana added. “They will look perfect with that dress.” If anything, Diana was very generous with her belongings. At least with Lexi, whom she trusted with her life.

“Diana, you’re not going to make me dance with everyone that asks, are you?” she questioned. It would be just like her friend to try and pull Lexi out of her comfortable shell in such a social setting.

“Only the handsome ones,” Diana told her with a grin. “You never know. You may meet your mate there, Lex.”

“I’m with Leo,” Lexi reminded her. “He’s going to be my mate.”

“You don’t know that for certain. He hasn’t turned 18 yet,” Diana remarked sagely. “Leo’s quite good looking, very surfer-boy chic, but you could be coupled with someone else—someone absolutely breathtaking.” She sighed. Probably thinking of the handsome prince. Or at least it was rumored that he was so. No one but the palace dwellers truly knew, but word always got out.

“They say the prince has eyes that are steely-grey with raven black hair,” Diana chattered, her mind back on her favorite topic.

“Or he could be blond and blue-eyed with a wretchedly hooked nose,” Lexi teased her.

“He isn’t,” Diana decreed stoutly. “He is brooding and handsome and utterly dashing.”

“And you will be the winsome little mate at his side, the social butterfly to his stern and foreboding air of nobility,” Lexi scoffed haughtily, teasing her. She could truly see her young friend as the next queen. Elegant and radiant like a beam of sunlight breaking through the trees in the early morn. If she had cared enough about her own looks more, she’d be as jealous of Diana as many of the females in their social circle were.

“Well, after tomorrow I will have to be much more stylish and grander,” Diana said, almost petulantly. “Nobility aren’t allowed as much fun as the common people. Always having to watch what they say and do. Like A-list celebrities. If it weren’t for being queen, it would be no fun at all.”

Lexi smiled. “I’m sure the perks will outweigh the downsides.”

“Of course,” Diana batted back jovially, as if she were daft to think otherwise.

And with that, the two females walked off with their purchases. Back to the home Lexi and the Loudins shared in the finest part of town.

2. Mondblume 

“Is the draught ready, Serena?” King Xavier’s voice boomed out as he spoke to the sorceress, who was standing over the bronze cauldron that was no larger than a small mixing bowl.

“Nearly, Sire,” she told him with a small smile. “It needs to steep one last time overnight to mature and cool. It will remain unspoiled until two weeks after The Ball and must be stored at 40 degrees temperature or lower until the mixing of Prince Kane’s blood with his intended.”

Xavier nodded curtly to the woman and left the room he’d had the maids prepare for the sole purpose of preparing the Mondblume Elixir.

Xavier knew very little about how the elixir was made, but had the utmost faith in Serena’s abilities to make the so-called potion. She had, after all, made it for his own mating when he selected his queen on his Coming of Age day.

If the king had asked Serena, she could have given him a wealth of knowledge about the flower it was brewed from. The moonflower—or mondblume in German—opened its petals only at night, widest during the full moon. On nights of the full moon, the moonflower could be plucked and then stewed for a total of 28 days—or four weeks—before being used to create the bond between two wolves. There were other ingredients that were added to the mix, but the moonflower was the most important.

The Mondblume Elixir was only used by royal families nowadays, as it had been overused and abused over the centuries. It had wrought some havoc between true mates who wished to be coupled to others of their choice. Very messy situations arose from the misuse of it. Therefore, the potion was now kept secret in the grimoires of the sorceresses who brewed the potions, and was in no instance to be given to anyone without the proper authority to create such a draught. Only royals were allowed to use it to create the sacred bond between mates.

Once Prince Kane selected his future queen, he and his intended would add a few drops of their blood into the cauldron during a ceremony and share the tonic between them. The effects would be almost immediate, and the two would feel the inevitable beginnings of the mating pull.

The royals—since they obviously ruled with complete authority—felt the need to pick and choose their own mates. Each royal would have a Coming of Age Ball where they would peruse likely candidates from the most noble of families. Near the end of the evening, the prince—or princess—would select and announce their mate to the attendees. It was expected they would drink the elixir within two weeks of the ball and, soon after, mark and mate, completing the bond.

This Coming of Age Ball was to be the largest and most extravagant since King Xavier’s own. It would be when the next king would select his future queen. Hence, this Coming of Age Ball was to be larger, more opulent. Xavier wanted a huge selection of the finest females for his oldest son and had sent invitations out six months in advance across North America. This would give ample time for the noblest of families with daughters that were of-age to attend and prepare for the journey to the palace. It was only polite to give people advanced notice.

Xavier left to go find his eldest son. He knew he would most likely find him in the game room with his brothers, drinking wine or scotch and playing billiards. His three sons had a weakness for the game.

Upon reaching the threshold of the game room, Xavier could hear Kane speaking with his brothers, Kolton and Kade. Not surprisingly, he was talking about his Coming of Age Ball. Most people attending would be discussing it, Xavier knew.

“I’ll know her when I see her,” Kane aired to his younger brothers and started to set up for another game. Kade must have lost the last game, because Kolton was holding his stick and chalking the end of it vigorously.

“And what if you go up to her and she has breath like a dog?” Kade asked him from his position leaning against the foosball table.

“Then it’s lucky none of the unmated females know what I look like,” Kane retorted. “I’ll move on to the next female that catches my eye.”

“The perfect woman will be like finding a needle in a haystack with the number of ladies father has invited,” Kolton replied, shaking his head at the frivolity of it all. He wasn’t looking forward to his own ball—dreading it, in fact.

“Which is why the ball starts earlier and ends later this year,” Xavier said as he entered the room. He nodded to his sons in order of age.

Kane would turn 21 precisely on the day of his Coming of Age Ball. Kolton, next in line, was 19, and Kade was a mature 18. Sometimes he acted like more of an adult than his two older brothers. It was as if they had been born in the incorrect order.

“Father, is everything set for tomorrow?” Kane asked, anxiety lacing his words.

“Yes. Serena is finishing up the elixir and will have it stewing one last time overnight,” Xavier informed him as he walked over to the built-in bar and grabbed himself a drink as well. Adding some ice, he continued. “Once you have selected your mate, you will have the usual two weeks to combine both your essences and drink the potion down.”

“Stop calling it a potion,” Kolton sniped with a frown. “It makes it sound like he’ll turn into a toad if he drinks it. Elixir is much more refined.”

“As refined as all the females that will be attending The Ball tomorrow night,” Kade added. His mother was never one to invite anyone of lesser birth or family to any of her functions, this one being the largest yet as it was in honor of the future king choosing a queen.

“How will you get all of the guests to the island?” Kane asked. It had baffled him. In order to keep any unwanted visitors away, their palace had been set upon a large island in the middle of a deep lake in the mountains. Had anyone wanted to attack, they would first have to scale the mountains and then either swim or row to the secluded island. The only ones who regularly left the palace were the workers who needed to make the necessary trips to town in order to make purchases. None of the royal family was allowed to leave unless heavily guarded and—most often—disguised. It was a necessary detriment to being royal. You never knew who was out to get you.

People knew what the queen and king looked like, but no one had seen the children they had produced except for the staff and some visiting VIPs. All were made to sign a special non-disclosure agreement upon arrival to the island. It was a necessary evil in order to keep people from recognizing the princes and their sister, the Princess Louisa, the youngest of the brood who was still at boarding school on the east coast.

It was only at the end of The Ball when Kane selected his future mate that anyone would know what he looked like. The anonymity let him roam freely throughout the hallways to make his careful selection.

“Boats. All the largest vessels will be rented and used to carry our guests to the island,” his father replied.

“Must we have classical music? It’s so damn dull,” Kolton complained with a whine.

“This is a Royal Ball, not a rave,” Xavier pointed out. “I won’t have females grinding on my sons like a bunch of untamed whores.”

“I wouldn’t mind a bit of grinding,” sighed Kade, who couldn’t wait to come of age himself.

The others ignored the youngest man in the room and started to discuss the type of female they thought Kane would select the next evening. Kane, for his own part, watched them with growing amusement spreading over his face.

“Someone with blond hair and blue eyes,” Kolton guessed, looking over at Kane, who gave nothing away.

“Green eyes and red hair,” Kade surmised. “Redheads are as fiery as our dear brother can be when in his cups.”

Kane shook his head and chuckled a bit. It was a good guess, but they had no idea what he was looking for. Hell, he wasn’t rightly sure himself. He only knew that when he saw her, he would know. He was going to let his inner wolf do much of his choosing for him, knowing it would ease both himself and his beast if they shared the responsibility.

“Black hair and silver eyes, like Kane,” Xavier said, getting into the light banter his sons were batting about the room.

“And how do you know that personality isn’t what I would go for?” Kane asked, setting up to break the carefully racked billiard balls. He had won the last game and was first to go in the next. “A spitfire redhead may clash too much with my own personality. Perhaps I would want a meek, submissive mate who says ‘yes, sir’ and ‘no, sir’ like a proper lady.”

“Because you’d be bored out of your gourd if you chose someone like that,” Kade told him. “Probably wouldn’t even make a peep while you ravaged her between the sheets.”

“True. Kane seems like the type who’d get off on a moaner,” Kolton barked with a laugh, and watched Kane’s cheeks flush pink as he set up to break the balls.

“As long as she is of noble birth and breeding, she will be a fine queen,” Xavier said stoutly, as if that was the end of the discussion.

Kane sighed. If the noble women were anything like his mother, he would be bored to tears by her. He liked some spice in his mundane palace life. The most exciting thing that had happened recently was when one of his mother’s maids had fallen into the lake and had to be fished out like a gasping fish. The poor dear had been afraid to go near the water ever since, not surprisingly.

“Well, the only thing to be done now is to get your hair trimmed before tomorrow evening,” Xavier stated as he watched Kolton take a bad shot at a striped ball.

‘“What’s wrong with my hair?” Kane asked, sifting a large hand through his black locks. “I just had it cut last month.”

“And it grows like weeds in the gardens,” his father reminded him. “You need a trim, though I think keeping it as short as Kolton would probably suit you better. It would go well with your square jaw.”

“Kolton looks like he’s ready to be shipped off to boot camp with that buzz cut,” Kane complained. He liked his hair’s length and didn’t see the problem with having it a bit longer than his brother. His unruly mane had a nice wave to it that he rather enjoyed.

And perhaps his future mate would want a little something to grab onto as well.

“You need a trim, and the edges need to be shaved down,” Xavier said. “You look like a downright ragamuffin.”

“What’s the point of tarting him up?” Kolton asked. “No one’s going to care if he’s a hunchback with a unibrow so long as they become queen and mate to him.”

He had a point. Two of them actually, and his damned military haircut didn’t hide either one of them atop his head. Kolton could be downright demonic.

“It’s a ball, not a barn dance,” Xavier decreed drolly. “I will have someone see to getting a barber to the island tomorrow posthaste.”

There was no arguing with the man. What the King demanded was as good as done, and there was no changing the man’s mind.

Grumbling at his father’s wishes, Kane leaned over the pool table and went to take his next shot. He was certain he could win against Kolton. His brother may talk some serious smack, but when he had been plied with a few drinks, he was completely horrid at anything that needed concentration or coordination. It was why he made sure that the wet bar was stocked well every day. He loved to lord it over Kolton when he was victorious.

“Well, I think she will be statuesque, tall and lithe,” Kade said.

Apparently, while Kane had been zoning out, his brothers and father had gone back to guessing what type of mate he would select.

“Small and just a little bit plump,” Kolton objected. “Kane likes to dominate and having a petite little thing would allow him the illusion that he was almighty and authoritarian.”

“She’ll be your mother’s size and just as regal,” Xavier guessed. “Possibly look a lot like her as well.”

The three brothers blinked over at their father.

“Hopefully not too much like her,” Kade mumbled, breaking the awkward silence. “It would be creepy if they favored each other too much.”

Silently, Kane and Kolton agreed, but they didn’t say anything as their father glowered over at them. As far as Xavier was concerned, his queen was perfect in everything, though a bit cold and boring to some.

“Speaking of your mother,” Xavier started to say as he finished his scotch. “I’m going to see what she is up to with the decorations. She’s had all the maids running around like chickens with their heads cut off, so I have a feeling she has gone a bit off the deep end again.”

Xavier walked silently out of the room in search of Queen Margot, and his sons waited a good thirty seconds before speaking again.

“Please don’t pick a mate that looks too much like Mom,” Kade pleaded with Kane.

“Agreed,” Kolton said and lowered his voice. “And when you do pick, make sure she has big tits.”

Kane laughed at his brother and wondered what Kolton’s mate would look like when he finally chose her. Most likely something out of a Hooter’s advertisement if his words spoke true.

3. Madeleines 

“I don’t want to go,” Lexi grumbled as she fidgeted in her seat. She was at home the day of the Coming of Age Ball with her dutiful boyfriend-future mate by her side. Leo Pomeroy, short for Leopold.

“Sweetheart, I will be there as well,” he appeased as he cupped her hand in his and brought it to his lips. She had to smile, as the gesture touched her deeply. “I won’t allow anyone to steal what will be mine in just one week.”

“And what would you like for your birthday?” she asked him with a Cheshire-cat like grin. “You can have anything and it’s yours.”

Smiling back at her, he moved to kiss her on the lips gently, but hesitated. “As long as I have you as my mate for the rest of my life, I could want nothing more,” he told her with his own little grin.

“And if I’m not?” she asked, the slight fear of that coming to fruition coloring her features.

“Then we run away together and never look back,” he asserted.

The thought shocked her. “But what about your true mate? What happens when you meet her?” she asked, her eyes suddenly moist and lips quivering slightly.

“I won’t ever find her. And if I do…well, you will be marked and mated to me before that and it will not matter,” he explained, trying to soothe her fears.

She looked away, almost afraid of that possible dark future.

“It’s not going to matter anyway, sweetheart,” he told her. “I can tell you’re my mate. In my heart. In my soul.”

“But why can’t I feel the pull toward you yet?” she asked worriedly.

“Because I am not of-age yet,” he explained. “Only when both are 18 will the bond to each other be noticeable, though I have a pull already towards you that is completely unconnected to the mating bond.”

He smiled at her, and she returned it in kind.

“Then how would you like to spend your birthday next week? We can do anything you like.”

“As long as the time is spent with you—” he began to say.

“Give me an answer or I’ll choose something myself, and I can’t guarantee you’ll like it,” she scolded him good-naturedly. He grinned back at her, the little nag.

“As long as my day ends with us marking and mating, I don’t care if we spend the day hanging from a cliff or scuba diving in shark-infested waters.”

“I love you,” Lexi whispered as she placed a kiss on his lips.

“And I love you,” he murmured back, moving in to deepen the kiss.

“Forever and a day?” she asked, doubt lacing the words only slightly.

“Forever and always.”

ЖЖЖЖЖ

“Hurry up, Lexi! The Ball starts in less than three hours, and we need to get to the boats in less than two!”

Diana was as irritable as ever before an important social function. It was as if the sun rose and set over whether or not her hair was perfect and her makeup applied correctly. Heaven forbid she gain an ounce or two over the past several days since buying her ballgown. She may have had a stroke if the dress wasn’t the perfect fit the day of. Therefore, Diana had munched out on leafy greens and crunched on celery sticks with low-fat peanut butter on them since selecting her attire. The peanut butter was only for the protein.

Lexi decided to put on her ballgown first so that she could get accustomed to it. She had never been one for wearing such elegant pieces, but she did enjoy feeling pretty every once in a while. It just took some mental and physical adjustments. And the right shoes. Too high and she would teeter on her heels all night. One couldn’t have that. Falling flat on your face was never an option.

Lexi was still feeling out of sorts since seeing Leo earlier that day. She knew he would be at The Ball and at her side on occasion, so that didn’t keep her from having to socialize with other wolves, both male and female. Lexi was such a headstrong personality in some ways that it took a special kind of friend to be able to deal with her. Diana was just that type of person.

“I’m going to put on my dress now,” Lexi grumbled. “Find your chill already.”

“Don’t spill anything on it, including your makeup,” Diana warned her.

Lexi muttered to herself. It wasn’t as if she would have a chance to wear the dress again. It would probably sit in the back of her closet at the Loudin’s until it was so old it stood up by itself.

Diana was getting her face done by a cosmetologist her mother had had scheduled to come to the house over 2 months ago. Patricia Loudin was almost as determined to see her daughter crowned queen as Diana was.

“I want it smoky, sexy,” Diana ordered the beautician who was standing there with a thick brush and a flat demeanor. She had probably seen many bridezilla’s who weren’t half as bad as Diana could be. And just for a ball. A ball that she couldn’t be certain would go the way she intended it to.

And to be honest, Lexi thought Diana was pinning all her hopes on one star. There would be hundreds of she-wolves at the ball, and though Diana was undoubtedly gorgeous, there were probably many others just as stunning.

Plus, there was no accounting for royal tastes.

Perhaps Kane wanted a platinum blond, or fiery redhead, or someone who would knuckle under to each one of his wishes and whims. If he wanted that, Diana was the last person he should choose. She was as headstrong as her friend, though definitely more vocal about it.

Diana barked out commands to both her friend and the beautician, whose name Lexi finally realized was Camilla. If she had not gone out of her way to ask, she would have assumed the woman’s name was you or hey, you by the way that Diana was bossing her about.

“Now do my friend,” Diana said sweetly, once her makeup was up to snuff.

“Don’t make me look like a w***e,” Lexi begged the woman in a low, tremulous voice. The woman smiled down at her and promised to make her look “natural, yet breathtaking”, whatever that meant.

Camilla ended up doing a phenomenal job. Lexi’s eyes looked larger, the green more vibrant, and she kept the concealer to a minimum after she stated that her skin was already so fine that it didn’t need much to begin with. Her lips were a rosy pink and plump, and she looked innocent, yet impish. It suited Lexi well as she was already quite mischievous anyway.

“Don’t trod on your dress, and make sure you pick it up if you go up any stairs,” Diana ordered as they started toward the docks where the boats would pick them up to take them the island castle. She acted as if Lexi didn’t already know every one of those things.

“Yes, Mom,” Lexi muttered under her breath. “I’ll not chew with my mouth open or fart in public either.”

“Don’t say fart once we get on the boat,” Diana scolded quietly, looking around. Lexi rolled her eyes and wondered if she should write up a ‘How To’ instruction manual for the prince in the event he actually chose Diana. The man was going to need all the help he could get.

It had been a twenty-minute drive to the piers that berthed several larger boats that would ferry them across the water. Lexi’s heart sank the closer they got to the vessels that would ferry them to the large palace on the even grander island. Social anxiety at these types of events was no stranger to her. She hoped they would allow the legal adults to drink champagne or wine. It would help loosen her up. The stress was already tying knots in the tendons in her upper back and shoulders.

Once they disembarked the stomach-churning vessel, the two females and the older Loudins got into a receiving line. Both the king and queen were at the head of it, and they had a little something to say to each wolf that passed by. Of course, Kane and his brothers were not in attendance, as their identities were to remain hidden until the last possible moment.

This was going to take a while.

Once inside the palace and past the royals, the two young females made for the bar. Diana wouldn’t admit it, but she was just as nervous as Lexi, though for entirely different reasons.

Diana’s eyes scanned the crowd to see if she could tell which male was the future king. Lexi’s did the same, but centered on Leo as soon as she found him. She couldn’t care less which male in attendance was Kane or which was a busboy. Her focus was all on her future mate. It had been since they were young.

Lexi gave him a hug and told him how dashing he looked.

“You look handsome tonight,” she remarked. “If I didn’t know any better, I would say you are the prince this evening.”

“And, of course, the only female who could catch my eye would be you,” he told her. “You look devastatingly gorgeous tonight, Lexi.”

“Thank you, kind sir,” she quipped with an exaggerated curtsy.

“I may have to keep you by my side all night so as not to tempt the real prince into stealing you away from me,” he murmured into her ear as he smirked.

“I have no need to dance with anyone other than yourself,” she asserted playfully.

“But you will. Diana will see to it. You will dance with as many gentlemen as she does as she scopes the crowd for Prince Kane.”

“I could dance with the ruler of the universe and none could light a candle to you.” She beamed a smile at him, her head tilted coquettishly.

He only smiled back and kissed her hand in a courtly manner. “Just promise me at least one dance and you will have fulfilled my wishes for tonight.”

“I wish I could give you all my dances, but I’m afraid you’re right about Diana,” she sighed. “She will force me to mingle and flirt like she always does. It will be with a heavy heart, though, I assure you.”

“I know, my angel,” he replied under his breath.

They both ended up walking over to Diana, who was already catching the attention of several gentlemen’s eyes. Lexi tried to keep her smile at bay as she saw Diana inspect each of them for any royal tendencies. Lexi was sure the men felt like they were being put under a microscope, but didn’t necessarily seem to mind that she was checking them out so openly. It was a compliment to them, if anything.

To start off The Ball, Lexi danced with Leo and was then whisked away by Diana, who thought she saw men of “royal stature” near the table with all the delicate desserts.

Diana soon was dancing with a likely candidate for prince who was devilishly handsome but had a short haircut that reminded Lexi of the armed forces. She was left to her own devices by the tray holding the madeleine cookies her mother used to bake so lightly.

Lexi soon started to look around the room, wondering where Leo had gone. She was sipping daintily at the glass of punch in her hand when a shadow loomed over her.

“Excuse me, miss,” a man’s deep, rumbling voice spoke as he tried to sidle past her without brushing up against her. If he had, it was very possible he would have upended her drink all over her.

“Pardon me, sir,” she said to him and went back to looking for Leo. The crowd was too dense and the ballroom too large to not get dizzy just by looking at it. And the man who had gone past her was still behind her and picking up a couple of madeleines.

“Have you tried one?” his deep voice asked.

Lexi turned to see the stranger who had moved past her holding out a small plate of the cookies to her.

“No. I haven’t yet eaten,” she told him. “I should wait until after dinner before indulging in any sweets.”

Lexi saw the man in front of her somewhat resembled the gentleman Diana had gone off to dance with. He was tall, well over six feet, and dwarfed her both in height and width. He was just as handsome as Diana’s dance partner, with light blue or grey eyes that seemed silver when they caught the candlelight just so.

“You should try at least one before they are all gone,” he urged and nudged the plate toward her. “I hear they are as light as a feather and delicious as sin.”

She blinked at him and put a hand out to take one.

“Thank you,” she mumbled to him as he nodded back at her.

Taking a bite, she tore her eyes from his steely gaze and chewed. He was right, the madeleines were just as good as her mother’s. Possibly better.

“What is your name?” the man asked as her eyes wandered over the crowd.

“Alexandria Welsh,” she answered him. “But my friends call me Lexi.”

“Well, Alexandria, after you finish your cookie, might I have the pleasure of the next dance?” he asked.

She looked at him, and he seemed hopeful. She could tell now that his eyes were a bright grey and hair was black as pitch. A very handsome face with square, cut features. His body hovered over her with its broad shoulders that angled inward at the waist. It was obvious he came from money, as the tailored suit bespoke of only the finest materials.

He was much larger a male than she was used to, and it made her hesitate. He could crush her if he wanted, though his gaze was gentle enough.

“I promise not to tread on your feet.” He smiled at her, his lips twitching as if amused by her hesitation.

“Alright,” she agreed, and took another bite of lightly-baked deliciousness.

4. Pure 

“How are you enjoying The Ball?” The man’s husky voice questioned from too far above her head. He truly dwarfed her in all capacities.

“Do you want my honest answer, or some typed-up little speech about how lovely this all is?” she asked with a smile in her voice.

“I’ll take honesty,” he told her and smiled his own secretive little grin. One of the rules of The Ball was for the gentleman not to let any of the women know their true names. Many men from other cities and towns would attend, so the likelihood of any of the eligible women knowing all the men in attendance there was slim. He wouldn’t have told her even if she had rebelled against the rules and had asked. It was “don’t ask, don’t tell” until the announcement of the future queen.

Kane watched the little woman in his arms sigh wistfully as she scanned the ballroom.

“It’s all very pretty,” she commented. “But all very fake.”

“Fake?” he asked, his brows rising.

“Yes. Plastic,” she affirmed with a nod. “Everyone on their best behavior, women acting like the wilting flowers they think men want them to be. Men acting like the gallant, courtly gentlemen they’re not. It’s like mannequins in a department store.”

“How so?”

“Pretty bodies with neutral expressions wearing the latest fashions,” she stated, gazing up at the puzzled look on his face.

“Plastic,” he repeated, as if he was tasting the word on his tongue. It certainly did ring true now that he thought of it. From the receiving line down to the last dance where he would waltz with his future mate and queen, it was all luxurious, but coldly clinical. And absolutely and utterly a façade. There was nothing pretty about the inner workings of royalty. The politics alone were enough to make you want to throw up your hands and scream.

“Yes, plastic,” she mimicked, her tone even firmer.

“Then why are you here if you think of us all as faux-luxurious beings unworthy of your attention?” He bit his lips to contain his smile.

She peered up at him dubiously until she realized he was teasing her. The smirk on his face said it all. He found her words amusing.

“I’m just here for moral support,” she told him plainly. “My friend wanted to come, and since she is determined to be the next queen, she wanted me to witness her in all her glory, I suppose.”

“There are so many women here,” Kane pointed out. “How does she know for certain she has what it takes to be the next queen?”

“She doesn’t, and I pity her for it.” Lexi sighed. “I don’t want to see her hurt, and though she is beautiful, there are other beautiful females here as well.”

“And why does only beauty come into play? Perhaps the prince wants something more than looks?” he queried, almost sounding like he was inside his own head.

“Well, I suppose he could want both,” she admitted. “But if he wanted more, then he should court her, woo her—not have some sort of ball where he gets to only see one side of the woman he’s to one day marry. He’ll get her most lovely side assuredly, but once he’s made his decision, she could be a she-devil in disguise.”

Kane barked out a laugh at that. He rather enjoyed the little wolf he was dancing with. Enjoyed her very much. It was refreshing to have someone speak so plainly to him instead of the “yes, Prince Kane” and the “of course, sir” he usually got from the staff the palace employed.

“That is true, and you do have a point,” he agreed when his laughter died away.

Lexi watched as two other men nearby looked at them. The taller of them was the one dancing with Diana, and another nearby was dancing with a small red-headed girl who looked even younger than she. They were both staring over at them with amusement plain on their faces.

“Thank you,” she tossed back at him with an air of faux-modesty. “I’ve been known to crank out a nugget of wisdom or two in my time.”

“I will have to meet your friend who would be queen. She sounds like a very determined young woman.”

“Oh, she is,” Lexi replied fervently. “After queen, I’m sure she’ll want to work her way up to Empress of the Universe.”

Looking at each other, they both laughed. Even though it was at her friend’s expense, she couldn’t help but tease Diana’s grim determination for power. At least Lexi was sure she wasn’t one to abuse it, at any rate.

“So, tell me about your family,” he encouraged before watching a flicker of pain filter across her face.

“They’re...not around,” she told him. “They passed away several years ago. I live with my best friend, Diana, that I told you about. The Loudins have been most generous for keeping me, though my parents did leave me some money. I didn’t get hold of it until I turned 18 though.”

“I’m sorry to hear about your parents,” he said grimly. “You were close?”

“Very,” Lexi replied, nodding. “But the Loudins have always been like a second family to me. And I have Diana and Leo.”

“Leo?”

Lexi glanced up at him and saw his brows furrow over his cool, grey eyes. “Yes, my boyfriend.” She waved her arm airily, indicating to the crowd. “He’s somewhere around here.”

“Boyfriend? Not mate?” he asked, sounding curious.

“He’s not of-age yet,” she told him. “Though I am sure he is my mate. At least, I think he is.”

“And what if he’s not?” he questioned. His face looked more somber than before, and Lexi wondered if he disapproved of their pairing before knowing if they were truly meant to be.

She merely shrugged. “I’ll deal with that if it comes to pass.”

There was no way in hell she was going to admit that Leo had offered to run away with her and forsake his destined mate. He was sure that it would be frowned upon in the highest echelons of Were society.

Such hypocrisy.

“Interesting,” Kane murmured.

Lexi realized they were dancing closer than before, and she wondered how that had happened. She was suddenly very conscious of his large, firm form, and it made her slightly uncomfortable.

They were silent until the song ended, and Lexi curtsied just as Diana had always prompted her when finishing up a dance at an elegant function. It felt awkward, and when she looked up, he was eyeing her with open curiosity.

“Did you wish to meet my friend Diana?” she asked, looking around to see if she could catch sight of her. His gaze...there was something in it she wasn’t comfortable with. As if he could see right through her—or possible just through her clothing.

“Sure,” he replied, albeit a bit unenthusiastically. He was more interested in finding out more about Lexi than her friend, but he had mentioned it, and it was only polite.

After introducing Kane to Diana—though not by name, of course—her friend perked up a bit. Another handsome man always did that, and Kane felt obliged to ask her to dance. Perhaps Diana could tell him more about her friend. He certainly had no interest in the determined she-wolf that was Lexi’s bestie and adopted sister.

Scowling at his brother, Kolton, who had been Diana’s previous dance partner, he watched as he bowed and took his next dance with Lexi.

“So, tell me, Diana, what is your friend Alexandria like at home?” Kane asked her after all her chattering had waned. She had finally taken a deep enough breath to help her oxygen-starved brain cells function properly so that Kane could ask a few on his own questions.

“Lexi?” Diana asked, surprised. She had forgotten that no one ever dared approach her friend. She was off-limits. Everyone knew about her and Leo. Granted, this handsome man was a complete stranger to her, as was the last.

“Yes, she has a very interesting personality,” he remarked, holding himself upright and away from the female’s body.

“Oh God, what did she say?” Diana sounded mortified. “If it was something horribly gauche, I apologize, sir. I made her come with me tonight, and she’s not really all that comfortable at social events.”

“Nonsense. She was quite charming,” Kane assured her. “I just wanted to know if she was always so...so open and free-thinking.”

Diana scoffed gently. “She is. Terribly so, at times. It can be quite embarrassing, to be honest. She has no filter and is as headstrong as they come.”

“Is she...pure?” Kane asked, his voice tightening.

“Lexi?” Diana asked, surprised. Was this man asking what she thought he was asking? “In what sense of the word? If you mean intimately, she’s pure, as you say. She’s only waiting for her boyfriend to come of age so they can mark and mate. She’s never been with anyone else, if that is what you are implying.”

Diana scrutinized the large man, trying to read his thoughts through his actions and facial expressions. What she found there was enlightening. He was obviously smitten with her friend, and she wondered who he was. He had seemed to know the other gentleman she had been certain was the prince. Perhaps a younger brother? They were close enough in age to be, though there was a more dominating air in her last dance partner that made her sure he was a future king. Dominating and regal.

“She told me about Leo,” he explained to her, his shoulders stiffening. “She seems quite certain he is her mate.”

“Yes,” Diana replied softly. “I tried to tell her not to get her hopes up in case he isn’t, but she is certain they will feel the mate bond when he comes of age.”

“She told me she lives with you and your parents. That’s very generous of them to take responsibility for a pup that’s not theirs.”

Diana grinned unabashedly. “Totally my fault. I cried and cried until they agreed to take her in.”

“She is your best friend from what I understand,” he stated as he looked over at Kolton dancing with Lexi. They seemed to be getting along well enough. A little too well for Kane’s liking, if he was being completely honest with himself.

“Oh yes. The very best of friends,” Diana answered with relish.

“And what makes her such a good friend?”

“She’s honest, loyal to a fault,” Diana began. “She listens well when I’m being stupid or shallow, and tells me the truth instead of sugar-coating her words. Everyone needs a friend like her.”

“Indeed,” Kane murmured softly as his eyes slid over to look at Lexi again, now laughing at something Kolton had said.

His brother always was idiotic.

ЖЖЖЖЖ

Diana and Lexi danced the night away, only stopping for refreshments and a bite to eat at dinner. Lexi didn’t want to admit it, but she’d had more fun than she cared to confess. Especially with the grey-eyed stranger she’d nicknamed Goliath in her head. The broad-shouldered, slim-hipped man who found her so amusing as they’d danced. That was until he met Diana, most likely. Everyone fell for her beauty and winsome ways.

Leo was able to get a couple more dances in with Lexi, and she was more than happy to oblige him with those. She couldn’t focus too many on one man or Diana would scold her. She didn’t want to hear it at the end of the night that she was being a stick in the mud.

Kane and Kolton had wandered off for a snack and took their plates off into a sitting room that was not being used for The Ball.

“Anyone catch your eye yet, brother?” Kolton asked, a knowing smirk on his face.

“Perhaps,” Kane replied, his voice musing.

“Oh, come off it. You’ve been staring at that one little beauty all night, Kane,” Kolton cried pointedly to him.

“And which little beauty is that?” Kane asked, teasing. He knew he had been fairly obvious. At least to his brothers.

“The one with the babbling brook for a friend,” Kolton explained. “Diana—that was the friend’s name. Don’t remember the other. She was quite distant. I had to coax her out of her shell a bit with a few of my wittier stories and jokes.”

“Alexandria,” Kane informed him. “You say she was shy with you?” That was interesting. She certainly hadn’t seemed shy with Kane. Perhaps Kolton’s own more sinister, darker looks had intimidated the little she-wolf.

“At first,” Kolton admitted. “Then I told her a dirty joke and she seemed to snap out of her meek little bubble.”

Kane rolled his eyes. His younger brother had no sense of decency sometimes. “Well, she wasn’t that way with me,” he advised his brother. “She was honest and open, and I didn’t have to scandalize the girl to get her to relax. Your lack of manners and upbringing would shock a w***e at times.”

“Women secretly love to be scandalized.” Kolton smiled widely. “It’s why they flock to me whenever I’m around.”

“Which women?” Kane asked. “The scullery maids, or the washerwomen who launder your dirties? There are no women of any decency to be had on the island.”

Kolton shrugged. “Who said I meet them on the island?”

Kane frowned. “You’re not supposed to leave the island without security and being properly disguised.”

“I wear a wig and aviator sunglasses when I leave,” Kolton tossed back at him. He hated being told what to do. It made him feel like an errant child being scolded.

“You risk your life and the lives of all the others on the island when you stray from the rules,” Kane admonished him.

The two argued for a bit—as many brothers do—until it was time for them to make the announcement of the next queen and Kane’s future mate.

Kane had been right. He had known from the start that he would find the one for him tonight and would feel it deep within his soul.

The fact that his female had her heart set on another only made him more determined to win her over in the end.

ЖЖЖЖЖ

Kane stood hidden behind the curtain in the ballroom, listening to his father thanking all his guests for coming to his eldest son’s Coming of Age Ball. There was a lot of pussyfooting about how all the women attending were fit to be queens, but that only one would make the cut that night. Kane kept his eye on the time. Five minutes until midnight and the start of the last dance. His father would probably milk the time for all it was worth. It was in honor of the future king and queen of the wolves, after all.

And the man’s bluster knew no bounds at times.

Diana whispered amidst the crowd, rocking up on her tiptoes occasionally as King Xavier spoke. Her excitement and anxiety were at war with each other, though Lexi could tell that her excitement was winning.

“I tell you I saw him skulk off to a closed room with another gentleman,” Diana whispered. “And it wasn’t a room that was open to the public. It had to be him.”

Ever since Diana had seen the man she was positive was Prince Kane leave the ballroom and go into a cordoned-off area of the palace, she had been so sure that her handsome and saucy dance partner was the prince. Lexi had long since stopped trying to get her to think otherwise, just in the event that he wasn’t. Diana had her heart set too much on being queen, and Lexi hoped she wouldn’t be shattered beyond repair if she wasn’t picked.

Looking up to the raised stage at the far end of the ballroom, she realized the king was wrapping up his little speech.

“I now present my heir, Prince Kane, who will choose his mate, bride, and your future queen,” he announced grandly as the curtain to the right of the stage ruffled with movement from behind it. The absence of applause bespoke of the tension in the air amongst the crowd in attendance.

“Is it him? Is it him?” Diana asked. Even in her high heels, her diminutive stature made it difficult for her to see the raised platform.

“I’m even shorter than you are, Di,” Lexi scolded quietly. “And unless you want me to give you a piggyback ride to see over the heads of the people in front of us, I suggest you calm down.”

There was now a steady murmuring as the sounds of heavy dress shoes made their way across the stage. After ten seconds, the sound stopped and a voice boomed out.

“I, Prince Kane Reifenberg, have selected my mate and future bride this evening,” he said shortly.

The murmuring became louder, and Diana clutched at Lexi’s arm, probably bruising it with her grip.

“Will Alexandria Welsh please come forward?”

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