The alpha gave me the creeps more than I was afraid of him. The way he touched my shoulder was a little too intimate—a little too personal.

I shrugged on an emerald green dress and black stilettos before taming my wild, golden brown locks. I wanted them out and free. The royal hair-people had tied it all up for the mating ceremony, as though they were trying to hide my cinnamon.

I was letting my cinnamon shine.

I came out, and our bedroom was already being cleaned by three servants, all cinnamon. For a moment, meeting each of their eyes, I felt like a traitor.

My mate assessed my outfit. “You look . . . Are you ready to go?”

Harrison wore gray pants with a lighter gray button-down shirt. His stubble had already started to grow into a beard, and it took all there was in me not to reach out and touch it for myself.

I had to stay the course.

This was only temporary.

“Yes. I’m ready.”

We went downstairs and entered a car that cost more than all my student loans combined. The alpha and his wife were in the car ahead of us, and I had yet to meet my mother-in-law. This place was absolutely ridiculous.

“Want to give me some background? What am I walking into?”

“Nothing that’s a big deal. You have to introduce yourself to the Court, because you are now future royalty, and then get your tattoo. Ric Kasun, the seat holder on the Court, will officially introduce you. The rest is formalities.”

It was the formalities that scared me the most.

“Who is Ric Kasun?”

Harrison looked out the windshield before speaking. He reached between us and pushed a button that made the privacy screen rise between us and the driver. It was like a movie or something. And also ridiculous.

“Ric Kasun is the head of the Kasun pack of wolves. My father and he are like two rabid dogs when they see each other. Dad thinks the seat on the Court should be ours, and Ric hates my father and thinks he’s a pompous ass. Ric would be right, by the way. But, in public, it would be wise of us to be on my father’s side of things. Ric may be right, but we have to live in the castle with my father. You know?”

“Know where your bread is buttered.”

“What?”

“My mom says that. Know where your bread is buttered.”

Harrison laughed again, and damn it all if somehow the sound didn’t penetrate my chest and make my heart beat double time.

Without warning, he scooted over in the car and pulled me against his side. He was warm, warmer than anyone I knew. “Please don’t make me do anything against the alpha to protect you. Don’t make me choose, because after last night, I will choose you, and we know what will happen if you aren’t the new alpha’s queen. You do know, don’t you?”

I did. It was all under the guise of a pretty package and a lovely little wedding, but the fact was, I was the bargaining chip for the lessers, the cinnamon bears. They were at their wits’ end from being treated like second-class citizens, and well, lesser than the black bears. We were technically all the same species, just a different color than the rest. The cinnamon bears were pushed aside and forced into servant positions, cleaning the alpha’s floors.

I was the only thing preventing an all-out revolution. “I do. I don’t want my people killed.”

“All of our people. I don’t want any of our people killed, cinnamon or black. I want us all united, like we used to be.”

“Before the Xaviers took leadership.”

He nodded, and his ear brushed mine as he did. “Took is the right word.”

I pulled back with a jerk and looked him in the eye. There was no lie on his tongue. We bear shifters could taste a lie from a great distance, even the hint of untruth.

“You’ll have to tell me about that one day.”

He nodded again. “Let me begin the conversation when we do. Trust me. Some of the castle walls listen and talk. I know the safe places.”

I could hear my heart beating between my temples and in my ears. There were too many things happening beneath the surface of all this water.

I opened my mouth to ask more questions, but the car halted and the doors opened. A Cheshire grin pulled at the corners of the alpha’s face as he saw Harrison and me so close. To him, it probably looked like a successful coupling on his part.

“We are here. Harrison, I trust you’ve briefed your mate of the situation with these . . . these beings. We do what they say, but they get nothing more.”

Harrison nodded and opened the door further to get out before me, strategically placing himself between me and his father. “Of course, Alpha. My mate is ready for this. Aren’t you, Atlas?”

It was time for me to pretend to be the meek little female again. Ick.

“Yes, Alpha. Harrison has made sure I know all I need to.”

That was a little much, even for me.

“Good. Let’s get this over with. My bear is itching to burst out and claw those wolves already, and we haven’t even gotten in the door.”

Alphas were supposed to be steady and still and responsive instead of reactive, yet this man was the very opposite. The scent of his restlessness hung in the air.

A woman came through the doorway and approached us, her hands outstretched and a smile gleaming on her face. Her silvery, almost snowy, hair was pulled up in a chignon. An air of regality flowed about her.

“That’s Saundra Beaumont,” Harrison whispered into my ear.

We walked toward her, and I noticed Harrison’s mother wasn’t coming.

“Your mother isn’t joining us?” I thought about it for a second, trying like hell to be as diplomatic as possible. “I’d love for another female bear to be with me for the tattoo.”

Our company stopped, and I knew I’d done it. One day in, and I’d done poked the bear—literally.

Saundra replied, “Actually, that is an excellent idea. Divine, won’t you come and join your new daughter-in-law in receiving her new marking?”

Harrison’s mom looked like someone just gave her the biggest brownie she’d ever seen. Practically running, she looped her arm in mine and gave it a squeeze.

If I were ever to be queen, she would be treated like she deserved.

I’m not sure what I thought the Court of the Sun and the Moon would look like, but it seemed somehow less formal and more bustling in friendly conversation.

“Welcome to the Court, young bear, future queen of the Black Bears.”

I didn’t know who the woman was, but she seemed to be the leader.

“Thank you,” I answered with a smile.

“We have already approved you to stay in Havenwood Falls, of course, but there is the question of the tattoo.”

Harrison stepped forward. “The tattoo, Saundra?”

Saundra. That was her name.

“Yes. She can have an invisible mark or a visible one. One matching her mate’s or another one. It is her choice, and her choice alone.”

The alpha stiffened beside us. Apparently, he didn’t like anyone having a choice about anything.

“Give us one moment, Saundra, please.”

The woman nodded once.

Harrison pulled me to him, placing his hand on my waist. “It really is your choice. It’s your body.”

“What is yours?” My whisper wasn’t much quieter than a regular tone, so there were several snickers around the room from those who heard me.

“A bear. Visible.”

I cleared my throat and decided to thoroughly embarrass myself. “Can I get one that is only visible to my mate, but other shifters can see another tattoo?”

To my surprise, there was no more laughter.

Saundra paused and then nodded. “You may. I’ve never heard of it before, but I like the idea. Emilian, I like this new daughter-in-law of yours. She brings new ideas and hope to Havenwood Falls.”

Too bad the alpha didn’t strike me as one who appreciated new ideas.

Saundra extended her hand to me and my mother-in-law. “Let’s begin, then. Divine, are you accompanying your new daughter?”

The alpha queen nodded and curled her long black hair over her shoulder.

“It shall be done.”