A castle of secrets

Trouble

Taking a deep breath, I pulled back the bow, closing my eyes and imagining the target in front of me. I needed to be able to do this with my eyes closed, or the skill was useless against Lycans.

I released the string, listening to the whoosh of the arrow, before it smacked into the target, cracking the wood. Opening my eyes, my lips tugged into a smile, seeing the arrow lodged in the red center.

“You’re getting better at that,” Sebastian said. I could hear the smile in his voice.

“Did you know?” I turned around, glaring at him.

His smile fell quickly, “She told me after your speech last night. After the way things went, I didn’t figure that you wanted to see me.”

“You figured right, Seb. You took her side. She is insane. Delusional. The woman hates me with a passion.”

“She is still your mother,” he began, but I held up my finger cutting him off, “She is the woman who gave birth to me. She doesn’t have what it takes to be my mother.”

Sebastian walked closer, wrapping his arms around me, “You know I was trying to calm her down, even if it sounded as if I was going against you. Your mother will back down if she feels she is being supported.”

I hated admitting that he was right. I knew that he wasn’t trying to hurt me, but I just wished for once, someone would step in and stand up for me. My father did what he could to shield me from her wrath, but now, I’m entirely on my own.

I released a breath, wrapping my arms around him as my bow dangled behind his back, “I’m just tired of being in a battle with her. She is supposed to support her child, but I feel like her life’s mission is to break me.”

“Maybe that’s why she’s so bitter. Because she knows that you are too strong to be broken,” he whispered, nuzzling my nose.

He was right about that. I would never give her the satisfaction of breaking me. I was too stubborn and had too much pride to admit defeat. That’s one of the reasons that I excelled in everything my father threw my way.

I don’t accept anything less than perfection from myself. Whether it be personal or professional. I will be a great Queen. I can learn to lead and that is of no thanks to my mother.

“I’m still mad at you.”

Sebastian pulled away from me, slowly dropping down until he was on his knees, “Princess, what can I do to get in your good graces?” he questioned with a devious smirk. I pretended to ponder, looking up towards the sky when I felt his hands grip my thighs, “Anything. Just say the word,” he whispered, moving his hands around to grip my ass.

I hated the way my body responded so easily to danger. What Seb and I were doing was condemned. He was thirteen years older than I, and my father’s Beta. He was also not my mate.

Seb was strong from all of the training he did, and his muscles showed it. He was blessed with strong arms and a delicious set of abs. He looked up at me with his chocolatey brown eyes, swirling with lust as he smelled my arousal. This man knew just what to do to turn me on...he didn’t need to ask. But, since he was on his knees, I might as well have a little fun.

While I thought of a good way to "punish" him, I felt his fingers dip below the waistband of my pants. His finger's slid down, teasing my clit.

“I want you to strip,” I moaned as he moved closer to my opening.

He raised a brow, “You want a dance too?”

Nodding, he leaned forward, nipping at the skin on my thighs before he stood up, backing away, “Lilliana,” he purred, “You are trouble.” A sexy smirk spread on his face as he slowly removed his shirt. The way his hands skimmed over his olive toned skin had me salivating.

Sebastian threw his shirt at me, and I caught it, acting like a crazed fan, causing him to chuckle.

“You’re enjoying this, aren’t you princess?” he whispered seductively. His muscles glistened with a light sheen of sweat as he moved his body like an exotic dancer.

“Oh, more than you know.”

I was mentally logging photos into my brain for later when I needed relief that he couldn’t provide.

He stalked over to me, moving behind my back and wrapping his arms around my torso. His hands skimmed the top of my thighs before his hands found mine, spinning me to face him.

I noticed his eyes glaze over, before he frowned, leaning his forehead against mine, “Funs over. The Queen requests my presence.”

“She’s awfully good at ruining all the fun in my life.”

He quickly kissed my forehead as I shoved his shirt against his chest, “I will make up for it.”

“You better hurry. She doesn’t like to wait,” I rolled my eyes.

A wash of sadness crossed his features, “I am sorry, Lilliana,” he whispered before jogging back towards the castle.

I shouldn’t be worried about a man right now anyways. My intention was to come out here and train, so I ignored the warmth that had spread to my core, grabbing my arrows, and focusing on the target in front of me.

************

“What the f**k is this?” I growled to myself, reading the contract that my mother created.

This solidifies my belief that she hates me. There was a small shred of doubt in the depths of my heart, thinking that maybe this was just her way of loving me. Some people treat their kids like garbage in a sad attempt to make them stronger, right?

Wrong. My mother loves to see my misery.

I, Lilliana Pershing, princess of Nymeria, am entering a contracted agreement with, Elliot Lakin, prince of Valtarin. This agreement binds the two of us as chosen mates. As my chosen mate, we will take the throne in Nymeria together, with you, Elliot, becoming my King. I am offering you myself, as collateral. You may do as you please with me throughout the duration of our reign as King and Queen of Nymeria. I, Lilliana Pershing, agree to be whatever you want me to be in exchange. I will not defy you. I will make myself available for anything that you desire. You will have lead decision making, and I will support you and stand by your choices.

She even made sure to put a note on the bottom saying that Elliot could discuss anything further that he would like to add to the contract.

This doesn’t make sense. Why would she be so willing to basically sell me off to the enemy? My father would never have allowed this. He is probably rolling in his grave as we speak.

Something about this entire situation seems off to me. She should be focusing on finding out what happened to him....not destroying his legacy.

Coralynn Pershing has officially lost her mind.

My mother has crossed a lot of lines before, but this, I know he would have put his foot down. She is not doing this for the protection of the kingdom. She spewed some bullshit about this being for the greater good. We needed to show unity between the kingdoms. It would make us look stronger. Blah. Blah. Blah.

She wants me to be this man's s*x doll and give up my kingdom. I think the-f**k not.

I don’t know Elliot very well, but I can’t even imagine he would be happy with this arrangement. As a royal Lycan, we are committed to finding our mates and leading alongside them. That makes the kingdom stronger as a whole, not taking in a s*x slave because some crazed woman thinks that’s the way.

I think Elliot is already twenty-six, maybe twenty-seven. His mate is bound to be out there somewhere. Maybe he’s agreed to meet with me because he’s bored. Or maybe he wants to shock the kingdom. At this point, who knows what my mother has said to him to even get him to agree to meet with me.

Something about this entire situation just doesn’t sit right with me. I guess I could just be being stubborn, but I’m not going to meet him with this contract.

I’m creating my own.

If my mother wants me to lead with Elliot, I plan to do it on my terms. She can think that he agreed to her contract..... I’m not going to tell her otherwise. And if he doesn’t agree, then she can add that to her long list of why I’m such a disappointment to her.

Sitting down at the desk in my room, I pulled out a notepad. I knew what I was about to do would make my father angry, but nowhere near as angry as basically handing his kingdom over to the enemy.

It would buy me the nine months that I needed, while still being enticing enough for Elliot to agree.

Biting my bottom lip until the coppery taste of blood filled my mouth, I knew what I needed to do. Viltarin has wanted the land that borders ours for centuries. When the kingdoms were divided hundreds of years ago, Viltarin was angry that they didn’t win the bid for the land that we settled in. They’ve been trying to persuade us for many years to sell the land that borders theirs, but every generation has denied them.....up until now.

The walls would need to be torn down and rebuilt, but I have a feeling they’d be more than willing to agree to such a big project knowing that they’d receive that precious land.

If Elliot is willing to agree to my terms, no matter what happens, he will get the piece of land that his family has been fighting for since the formation of Viltarin.

Our contract is only valid until the other finds their mate. It doesn’t matter which party finds their mate first, the contract is immediately null in void once that person accepts their fated.

Either way, he retains the deed to the section of land I’m offering. Once my mother steps down from the throne and initiates me as the new Queen of Nymeria, there is nothing she can do.

I will finally hold enough power to fight back against her hellish ways.