Chapter 1
Azaria
I wouldn’t do it. My father, fuck him, didn’t get it. Just because he was the King didn’t mean anything. How in the world did he get the idea that I’d want to bond with someone that much older?
I mean for real.
Just because I would live to be older than all get out didn’t mean I wanted to be stuck with some old school Vamp that had expectations of the Old Laws.
He lived by the Old Laws and that meant I would be nothing more than a live-in servant who had to do his bidding. It was my duty to produce the next heir to the throne as well, and I was nowhere near ready to become a mother. I was only 30 for heaven’s sakes. Living Vamps struggled to produce, but my family always produced a female heir and bonded with another royal family to keep the peace. It was our way. It’s why there were so little of us, and most of them ended in a horrible miscarriage and death for the female. I didn’t want to lose my life, and sure I understood what I had to do—but not with him. He was arrogant and old.
Love.
That’s what I wanted. No one seemed to get it. It was almost as if they wanted to force the bond so I couldn’t find my mate. I knew he was out there somewhere, but finding him was nearly impossible. Humans and other Supes populated the land. It was like looking for a needle in a stack of needles. I smiled at nothing. The saying was cliché but so true. I had less than three months to find my mate or I’d be stuck with Julian—forever.
Shuddering, I glanced outside. That thought didn’t sit well with me. Instead of focusing on my doom I realized it was raining again. Normally I loved watching each drop splash along the pavement outside my window as they glistened under the moon, but not tonight. My heart shuttered in my chest slowing to nearly nothing. That’s what happened when a living vamp stressed. The ache spread through my body thinking of how Father’s eyes had glowed when I fought. I hated when he was angry with me. Then he treated me like a teenager that rebelled and sent me to my room. I hated when he treated me like a child, yet he was trying to get me to act very much the opposite by bonding.
The hairs on my neck stood as footsteps sounded in the room. I didn’t move or acknowledge the man who wanted to ruin my life.
“Azaria,” Julian said with a deep and demanding voice.
I cringed. I had been taught to respect my elders, but I couldn’t do it. So, I sat immobile watching the clouds roll and the rain splatter against the asphalt. The street below was empty of its normal pedestrians.
“You should be so lucky to be bonded to me. I don’t understand why you seem so—unhappy about our upcoming union.”
I knew he really didn’t get it. There was no way I could explain it. Being the only child to the King and Queen meant showing no weakness. Wanting love was exactly that.
This time I spun towards him and narrowed my eyes when he seemed to take that as an invitation and sat next to me. His large, heavy hand was on my knee and I wanted to rip his fingers off when he squeezed.
“We’ll make a great pair for all the others to see.”
I sighed and lifted his hand moving it from my body. I held back the distaste as much as possible. “I don’t doubt that.” And that was the truth. We would make a great political pair. He was feared and respected across the world. I understood my father’s choice on that level. It was a smart move. But for me it was the wrong one. Not that it mattered.
“Then why did you fight the King.”
I rolled my eyes. “The King is also my father.”
Julian squeezed my knee again. “Princess, that doesn’t matter.”
He ran his nails over my bare flesh easing up my dress. This time I laid my hand over his using my strength to keep him from doing something he would regret. “It does, and I swear if you don’t stop touching me like this you will lose your hand.”
He chuckled but removed his hand from my leg. I didn’t let out the breath I was holding. Weakness wasn’t something I could show, because as my bonded he would use it against me. I needed to establish my dominance now or I’d never get it. Sadly, my mother hadn’t done that with my father, and that was exactly why she’d told me since birth to always be strong. Show the male we were a force to be reckoned with. I intended to do so.
***
Dulex
“Run little bear, run.”
The voice taunted from not as far behind me as I’d like. My bear wasn’t fucking small. That pissed me off more than the chase. I was used to being on the run. That wasn’t new. My paws sunk into the damp dirt throwing off my balance enough to slow me down.
“Dammit!”
It rained the night before, and it made for easier tracking.
I’d been running my whole life. Before Ma was caught, she told me to keep running and never look back—and that’s what I did. Being half bear and half Fae meant I was different and the magic worked a lot different for me. There wasn’t a day that I hadn’t been told I was an abomination. The Fae didn’t breed with the bears. It just wasn’t done. But Ma and her Fae lover sure showed them. I was proof of that. And I was certain there had to be others like me in the world—somewhere.
I’d spent my years as hiding with a traveling carnival. Being a smaller blue-black bear with wings tended to garner attention. Finally, the Fae trackers had found me. There was a pretty price on my head. I should take the compliment but instead I felt nothing but insulted. I hated running, and I was exhausted from always looking over my shoulder.
I’d always hoped to find another one—just one like me. It would get these Fae trackers off my ass and show the Fae council that they couldn’t kill me. I wanted that damn price off my head. I wanted my freedom and peace. It was only a matter of time before they caught me. In fact, they could have already, but these fucks liked to play.
I hated games, and this was no different.
I was so lost in my thoughts I’d missed the scent and the flutter of wings in front of me. I tried to stop my momentum but it was too late. The Fae was tall and thin with a bare chest. He wore trousers that fit like a second skin. They were black matching the suede boots that tied up the side of his calves. I wasn’t sure why I paid so much attention to him considering the sword he held was meant to take my head…
Only he didn’t do as I planned. Instead he shoved the blade right through me to the hilt. I didn’t even have it in me to growl. The agony started from the front of my chest and ended on the other side. My body shook and I panted before he yanked the sword back out adding more fiery pain through my body. A shifter could handle a lot but even this was too much for both sides. It was iron. As my body shook I was forced back into my human shape laying on my back and covered in dirt and blood. I felt the beat of my heart slow. I knew in that moment they had finally won. I was going to die.