Still freezing, I hugged my arms around my frame as I scanned his apartment. It was cozy, warm, simple and lived in. It was far from immaculate, but it was safe. That was all that mattered. I was used to palatial accommodations, but this was paradise to me compared to the freezing rain outside. Picture frames lined the walls and tables, filled with smiling faces. Two young boys who were apparently related grinned toothy smiles into the camera. Only one was a formal picture of a man and a woman standing proudly behind the two boys. Their smiles were genuine and made their faces radiate.
I picked the last picture frame and studied it closer. I’d never seen such happiness in my parents. Though my sister and I had been loved and doted upon, I could barely remember my parents ever smiling with such joy, such vibrancy. My fingers ran across the smooth wooden frame, a rush of melancholy overcoming my misery. This guard had grown up happy, cared for. I wonder if he knew how much richer he was compared to me.
“You can take a shower if you like. The bathroom is down the hall to the right. Last door on the left. Here.” He held out a dark green towel along with a shirt and some elastic waistband shorts. He must’ve guessed my stuff was all soaked through and through. I was relieved I wouldn’t have to ask for anything, but there was one question lingering in my mind.
“Thanks,” I whispered. He turned away and was headed toward his room to change. I assumed. “Wait!”
He paused and turned, awaiting my question. “Yes, m’lady?”
“Please don’t call me that. Call me Lily or Lilliana.”
His eyes looked thoughtful as he pondered this, but he didn’t speak. I was sure it was against everything ingrained in his soul to call me by name. It just wasn’t done in the royal court.
“What’s your name?” I asked.
His eyes widened with a smidge of uncertainty flashing behind them. I couldn’t quite make out all his features in the darkness of the apartment. I wasn’t sure if he was offended or not. I couldn’t wait to see his face in pure daylight.
“It’s Ephrem.” He continued toward the room on the other side of the apartment where he pulled off his shirt and tossed it to the floor. I couldn’t rip my eyes from him and, naturally, he glanced over and caught me watching him. Great.
He definitely knew who I was. I wondered how he could know that. I stayed away from the cameras. No one was interested in the lowly younger sister of a crown princess of a royal werewolf line. In spite of my lineage, the way he caught me staring at him made my face burn scarlet like I was still a schoolgirl. I was never more relieved to be standing in the dark with my features cloaked by the dim light.
A flash of green at his chest caught my attention as he shifted his weight, turning to leave.
“What’s that?” I asked, desperate for him to stay just a moment longer.
“Pardon?” Ephrem never looked down, but his jaw tensed. He knew what I was talking about, and I was even more curious now that he’d given me a reason to investigate further. He didn’t want to straight out tell me what the talisman around his neck was, so I’d squeeze it out of him, whether he wished to volunteer the information or not.
“You know… that pendant you’re wearing. What is that?”
He reached for the necklace, curling his fingers around the emerald stone embedded in a dull, platinum finish setting pressed with tiny runes. I’d never seen it before, yet it was oddly familiar.
“This was a gift from my mother.” He searched my eyes for a moment. “Every royal-blooded family member has one.”
“What do the runes mean?”
His eyes drifted to the window where he watched the rain pelting against the window. Swallowing, he cleared his throat and let out a breath. “It doesn’t mean anything. Just a gift.”
What a lie. He knew that I knew every royal family member had an Ardent talisman. It wasn’t completely unheard of for minor royals like a king’s nephews or cousins to join the ranks of the royal guard, but it was certainly unusual. And even then, their rank would make them captains, not scouts on the periphery of the court’s domain. What was he hiding? I felt my anger pulse to my face, most definitely turning it an eggplant shade of purple. How dare he lie to me? I may be pampered royalty, but I felt the same emotions as everyone else. In fact, his deception burned into me like a branding iron.
“Where’s your talisman, Lily?”
I reached up to my neck, feeling nothing where the metal of my pendant should lie. I felt vulnerable and weak without my necklace.
“I—I don’t know.”
I looked away, breathing in deeply so as to not lose my head over such a matter, but not a moment later I flicked my gaze back toward him when I heard his door click shut. The bastard had left me there to stew in my own anger. MarkTiers were raised differently from ArcKnights. They might treat royalty with the utmost respect, but they were more secretive than the CIA. But I’d get it out of him sooner or later. There would be nothing he could hide from me.
Damn. If only I hadn’t caught sight of his well-developed, trim warrior’s body before he’d disappeared behind the door. He kept in shape, that was a definite. I was pretty sure every soldier in our guard was required to stay in perfect shape, but I’d never seen one without his armor on. The way it made my body ignite underneath my skin had me beelining toward the bathroom to hide, my anger dissipated.
Once there, I pressed my back against the closed door and closed my eyes before I turned on the light. This tiny space was a sanctuary, and if all I had to do was deal with a hot, introverted guard, this was going to be a piece a cake. I just hated that I currently looked like a drowned rat. My reflection was horrid, and I groaned as I stepped forward and swiped the stringy strands to the side, squeezing the water from my mane.
“Drowned rat, indeed,” I sighed. Looking away, I stared at the standard tub/shower combo and sucked in a deep, centering breath. Gone was the luxurious bath suite back home. This was my life now. Yeah, that royally sucked, but now that I had nothing, this was better than the alternative. Beggars can’t be choosers.
At least now I had Ephrem. Whoever this soldier was, I intended to know more about my knight in shining armor. Maybe he could be an ally. A comrade. Maybe he could help me retrieve what was stolen from me and help me get my life back.
Maybe he was what I needed after all. I couldn’t wait to find out.
Chapter Five
Ephrem
I leaned against the door, grateful to have a barrier between me and the princess. She was apparently used to commanding her way around people, especially guards. It made me chuckle. Regardless, this wasn’t her domain and she was right, she was no longer royalty here. I owed her nothing, and she didn’t have any power over me.
Blowing out a breath, I proceeded to peel off the rest of the drenched clothes clinging to my muscles. It’d been a long night, and with Lily in my care, things were much more complicated now than they’d ever been before. I’d never saved a royal before. Banishment was as good as death to any soul. Why did I have to stumble upon a royal of all people tonight? Especially an ArcKnight royal? It was one thing to save one of my own pack, a MarkTier, but the opposing pack in the city of Temple was a whole other matter and held a bottomless pit full of possible problems.
If only it’d been another guard who’d found her tonight.
I clutched my Ardent talisman, feeling its magic hum beneath my fingers. The presence of any royal-blooded wolf always excited the stone, and its constant thrumming against my skin made my head feel light and dizzy. Not that I needed any more help with that. Lilliana was unique in her own way. What little I knew of her from the brief spotlights I’d seen in the media was not much, but I knew from the moment I first spotted her years ago that she was different from the rest of the royals, even her sister, Rafaela.
Tossing my sword to the side, I rolled my shoulders back before heading into the master bathroom. I thought about nothing but Lily as the steamy water recharged me. Never in a million years had I thought I’d ever
meet her face to face again. She apparently didn’t remember me from when I’d been part of the royal guard for my pack thirteen years ago.
When I was still a boy and escorting the royals of the MarkTier pack to the ArcKnight palace for negotiations over land disputes, I met Lily. That same meeting had left the two packs forever separated. They failed to come to an agreement for control over a portion of the neutral lands, and in the process of all the disagreements, the promise we’d been held to as a betrothed couple had been severed. If we’d married, it would’ve united the two feuding kingdoms and satisfied an ages-old prophecy for peace. Even if she and I were both second born in our lineages.
But it was never to be. There could never be peace.
I wondered if Lilliana knew she was supposed to be my bride once upon a time. Her memory failed her, but I remembered her clearly and more than anyone I’d ever met before. I wasn’t going to refresh the past for her either. I was no longer the skinny kid looking at the much younger five-year-old named Lily, who would’ve been my bride thirteen years later. Instead, here we were, both on alternate paths and unmarried. How ironic it all was… or could it just be some sick and twisted coincidence?
Either way, I shut my eyes and squeezed them tight, hoping to block all thoughts of the past and what could’ve been or should’ve happened out of my mind. It was no use. No matter how long I’d waited to finally have her in my arms, this was by far not the way I’d imagined it. Not even close.
After my shower, I lay on my bed, staring up at the shadows the rain threw against the ceiling. It was pleasant, yet I couldn’t sleep for the life of me. Training Lily wouldn’t be an easy feat. She was older than most trainees I’d worked with, set in her ways and stubborn as a boulder. Somehow I’d have to help improve her combat skills so she wouldn’t end up under another behemoth of a man and almost crushed to death trying to survive the neutral lands of Temple. If I hadn’t been there at the right moment tonight, she’d have been a pancake.
Not the best way to go, but certainly not the worst either.
I chuckled to myself as I placed my hands behind my head, listening to the tiny noises coming from the other bedroom. The wall was thin, and I could hear each and every little creak the bed made as Lily tossed and turned, evidently as restless as I was. I felt for her. Even though I’d never been officially banished and had instead been assigned to monitor the lawless parts of the city, it was as good of a punishment as any banishment could be.
I hated the job, but I had no choice on whether I wanted to do it or not.
The lightning flashed outside my windows, followed by a gut-trembling rumble of thunder.
I heard a gasp and sat up to find Lily standing at the edge of the couch in the living room, pale enough to be a ghost and trembling. I could see her through my open door.
I jumped up and called out to her. “Are you all right?”
Her lips trembled. “The storm… it’s louder here than it is back home.”
Her hands instinctually clasped over her ears as another bolt hit. The buildings were some of the tallest in the world here in the city of Temple. Much like New York City, most of them had lightning rods to ground the lightning. My apartment building was no exception, but we were near the top of the building where the strikes resonated with roars of noise.
“It’s just hitting the metal poles rising from the roof of the building. They’re made that way so we don’t get electrocuted.” The explanation did little to settle her nerves as she tried to pull her hands away from her ears to listen to my words.
“It’s not just the noise.” Another boom and she buckled to her knees while her face contorted in agony. Her pain made my talisman vibrate even harder, and pounding static pinged against my chest. I grabbed for it, and it zapped my hand with a biting hit. I yelped and yanked the thing off, dropping it to the floor.
That had never happened before.
It was emitting a bright moonlight glow into the darkness of the room, illuminating Lily’s features as her pain grew, her face morphing into sheer terror as she screamed. Her gasping made me lunge for her, down onto the floor, flicking an eye onto the talisman as I slipped my arms around her.
“Lily!” I pressed her to my chest, hoping she wouldn’t hurt herself with the spasms.
The pendant had scorched my skin where it had been resting against my chest, and I flinched as Lily’s weight pushed against the injury. The pendant continued to glow, pulsating now and then like a heartbeat. I picked it up, holding it by the chain. It was still glowing red hot. It slipped and landed on Lily’s arm, but it didn’t burn her.
What the hell was going on?
I held her tight, avoiding the glowing talisman. It had never done that to me during a lightning storm before. In fact, I’d never seen it glow quite so much before. Could it have something to do with Lily? If so, why?
It was because it was her talisman all along. Of course.
I cradled her in my arms as her eyelids fluttered while she lost consciousness. I slipped the pendant around her neck and watched it seep energy into her. She remained unscathed, and a moment later, went completely slack but was breathing softly. The talisman seemed to go dormant, the light ebbing until it was extinguished.
The storm outside calmed to a drizzle, and the lightening distanced itself from the building, still flashing in the distance but farther away with each passing second.
Checking to make sure she was still breathing, I found she was quietly sleeping now. I reached for the talisman, now cool to the touch, and studied its tiny runes and the moon stone set into the pins. It looked harmless and, as always, strangely beautiful. It had always drawn me, and I knew the moment I tried to take it off that it was not supposed to be anywhere else but with her now.
I don’t know what it was that drove me that moment to leave it around Lily’s neck, but I did, and I stared at it as it slid down her neck and in between her breasts. Her beautiful figure had not escaped my notice, and I averted my eyes from her smooth, milky skin and looked back at the talisman.
It was glowing again, but not nearly as intensely as before. How? In all the time I had owned it, it had made only a slight shimmer for me when I was in need of some extra power. I’d come to believe it gave it to me whenever I was exerted, hurt or depleted. I’d come to take comfort in its familiarity and calming presence. It was very much alive, though I’d often wondered what it was and where it’d come from. It had been in my possession for as long as I could remember. My mother would just smile and tell me it was a gift from someone special. Nothing else ever came of it, and I knew better than to push the issue further.
Watching it calm Lily by slowing her breathing and soothing her heart rate, I could feel her anxiety die with it. Now, she slipped into an alternate world, deep into dreams where nothing of this world could follow.
It had never been my talisman in the first place. I’d known that for a long time, but now I fully understood. It was a dowry from the days of our betrothal. How could I have known it would want to return to its rightful owner if I ever saw her again? How could I have been so blind?
It was an ArcKnight relic, and it had been given to me when I was promised to Lily. So where was the MarkTier talisman that was its mate, the one I’d given up to Lily when she was promised to me?
I didn’t see it around her neck. I had to find it. It would want to return to me, too, if Lily’s had literally scalded me to be replaced around its owner’s neck.
Wait a minute….
She’d been banished, but for what? What sort of thing would deserve such a fate in our strict pack societies?
Every royal-blooded wolf had a talisman. It was the essence of our powers and only left a wolf’s neck when exchanged with a mate’s pendant. If it was ever lost, banishment was always the punishment for such a crime.
Maybe Lily had lost my talisman… or it’d been stolen from her.
I had to find out who would’ve done such a thing, why and how.
I h
oped Lily had some answers for me when she woke up. Otherwise, it was only a matter of time before someone wielded it against me.
The clock was already ticking in a game I didn’t know I was playing until now.
Chapter Six
Lilliana
The rain finally relented near morning, but sleep had eluded me most of the night through. I remembered tossing and turning, trying in vain to sleep, but I was sure I’d gotten to my feet and walked out of the room at some point. I just don’t remember getting back to bed. I must’ve received a blow to the head fighting that vagrant in the alleyway, and it was surely worse than I’d imagined.
Ephrem had given me the guestroom to sleep in, and it’d been quite comfortable. What a gentleman. I was still holding out hope that he wasn’t a serial killer or anything crazy like that. A girl can never be too careful, especially since neutral territory meant it was a free-for-all for everyone outside the two main royal strongholds.
The sun snuck through the slits in between the curtains, slamming me right in the face. I turned away, pulling a pillow over my head as I groaned. Life sucked right now. What did I have to look forward to? Everything I’d been used to was gone. My entire life had been swiped away from under my feet, and it had left me without any future. All I had left was a past that meant nothing to me now.
“Absolutely nothing,” I mumbled, and let out a defeated sigh.
“What did you say?”
I jumped at the voice, my heart racing. Ephrem stood at the doorway, a tray of food in hand, looking confused. I wondered how long he’d been standing there watching me feel sorry for myself. I had a lousy poker face; every emotion spilled out across my features. From his expression, I could tell I’d been contorting my face as I fought out my internal battle. He probably thought I was insane.
Perfect.
“I—I’m just thinking about… you know… stuff. What’s that?” I eyed the tray of food he was balancing. Not exactly servant quality, but I’d forgive him if he dropped anything just to get another glimpse of his rock hard body.