Wanted By the Elven King (The Chosen Series Book 7)

by Charlene Hartnady

  Charlotte swallowed hard. “Don’t say the ‘L’ word. I want to murder your brother right now. You have no idea how angry I am.”

  “That’s the thing ‒ love and hate go hand in hand. It’s high emotion because feelings are involved. Please,” Esral gripped her hand, “stay away from him. When he reaches out to you and he will …” She widened her eyes. “Stay away. He needs to take an elven female. He needs heirs. My people will accept nothing less.”

  “Yes … I will.” She really would. She had to, for her own sanity. She’d been with him twice and he had her tied up in knots. He was hot and then cold. It was pull, and in the next breath, push. Charlotte didn’t like games. “I hadn’t planned on entertaining anything more with him and quite frankly, I think you’re wrong. I don’t think he’ll try to contact me.” Not after the way he’d treated her. He had made it clear that they were finished. Not that there was a ‘them’.

  Esral pushed out a breath. “I believe you.”

  “I wouldn’t lie to you, Esral. You’re a good friend. That’s why I tried to talk to you about Keto after the first time … we were together.”

  “I didn’t mind too much back then. I didn’t want to talk about it though. I didn’t think it was anything … not worth discussing, but that’s changed.” She paused. “I believe you when you say you won’t contact him and that you don’t want to see him. I only hope you won’t change your mind.”

  “I’ll ignore his texts.”

  “Keto doesn’t text … ever. He often deletes emails without even reading them. He’ll call you. I would place money on it in a heartbeat.”

  “I’ll ignore him. Oh shit! I don’t have his cell number though. I won’t know it’s him.”

  “I can help with that.” Esral scrolled through her phone and read out Keto’s number, which Charlotte programmed into her own device.

  “Perfect.”

  Esral still looked worried. “What if he tries to see you anyway?”

  “I’ll kick him in the shin if comes anywhere near me,” Charlotte said, completely deadpan. It was a joke.

  Esral laughed. “Promise?” she barked out between giggles. The elven princess looked much more relaxed.

  “Yes.” Charlotte laughed too, even though she still felt out of sorts.

  “That should do it.” Esral was still grinning. “I almost hope he does try it.”

  “He won’t.” Charlotte shook her head. There was no way the newly-crowned elven king was coming anywhere near her again.

  Chapter 16

  Esral forced a smile. Keto knew his sister well and the smile was definitely forced. “So …” Esral leaned back on the sofa, looking like the vision of calm. He could see the tension in her shoulders and in the tightness of her jaw. Her eyes were a little bloodshot, that or she had been crying. Guilt churned in his gut for not meeting with her this morning. He instantly thought of Charlotte but pushed it aside.

  Esral licked her lips “How did it go today? Savar and I spoke last night and he said that you finally gave the go-ahead to meet with the highborn females. I believe you had your first meetings today?”

  Three hours of his life he would never get back. “Yes, I met with three delightful females.” Keto had to stifle a yawn just thinking about them. All prim and proper. Courteous and sweet. He had to admit that they were all perfect queen material though. There was nothing wrong, per se, with any of them. He needed to get a grip. Get his head in the game.

  “And?” She raised her brows. “Are you going to make me beg for some information?”

  Keto shrugged. “They were fine. I need to meet with all of them before I can make my final decision. Maybe shortlist two or three for a second meeting.”

  “It’s not like choosing a car, or making a business decision, you know.” Esral sounded put out.

  Xavier chuckled. “Leave him be.” His brother-in-law turned to him. “You just haven’t met the right female yet. You’ll know it when you do. Don’t be all pigheaded about it like I was though. If I can give you any advice, just run with it. It’ll probably feel like you’re being slammed upside the head.”

  That reminded him of Charlotte. She was the only female who had ever hit him.

  Esral pulled in a sharp breath, like she hated the idea of him running with anything. “You’re meeting a few more females in the morning, I hear?”

  Keto felt himself frown. “Since when are you so interested in my schedule?”

  “I’m looking forward to welcoming an elven female to the family. I love Blooming ceremonies …” She clapped her hands together and kept them clasped, her eyes took on a faraway look. “Not just any Blooming ceremony but a royal one. It’ll be beautiful and special.” Esral looked him head-on. “I think you should leave straight after dinner tonight. You need to be fresh tomorrow for your—”

  “I’m staying the night, I’ll leave in the morning.” What had gotten into his sister?

  She smiled at him. It was overly big and overly bright. “No problem! I’ll go and make up the spare bedroom, you’ll be quite comfortable—”

  “I already had my guards secure a room. My overnight bag is there. What’s going on with you? You seem a bit out of sorts.”

  “Nothing,” she said, a little too quickly. “I’m just worried about you. I want you to find the right female. Someone who will make our lord father proud, someone who will know her expectations as queen.” Esral gave him a pointed look, like she was trying to convey something to him without actually saying it. He wasn’t a mindreader so he didn’t have a clue what she was on about. Probably just a little bit worried, not only about him but also about her own situation. “I care about you and about our family oak. I would hate to see something go wrong because you can’t choose a female. One that the council would approve of.”

  Oh! This was about Charlotte. His sister knew they had spent the night together and was worried he would shirk his responsibilities. “I will choose someone soon. I will make sure I go to bed early.” Keto forced out a laugh. “You’re making me feel like a child and are reminding me of mother more and more with each passing day.”

  Esral’s eyes clouded. He felt his own throat tighten at the thought of his mother. It had been many years since she had passed. He still missed her very much. They all did.

  “Talking of children and mothers,” Xavier interjected, “what did you find out that might help us?” The male slid a protective arm around Esral.

  “I’m not sure how much the information will help you. In fact, it’s not really good news.” He hated that Esral’s eyes filled with tears. Hated how her lip trembled. “I have a team on it but they haven’t uncovered much yet. They’re working round the clock in the library, trying to uncover what they can on the subject.”

  Xavier nodded and Esral’s eyes widened. His sister leaned forward in her chair. Gone was any pretense of calm.

  He sighed. “All they’ve been able to uncover is that it is the male’s seed that triggers a garden to form in his mate’s belly. The couple must be mated. The female’s thorn broken. Only then does—”

  “I broke Esral’s thorn.” Xavier tightened his arm around Esral. “I give her plenty of seed and yet there has been no garden and no pregnancy.”

  How did Keto put this delicately? Screw it, he was just going to put it out there. “This was the interesting part, it specified that the seed needs to be from an elf. An elven male is required to start the formation of a garden.”

  Xavier’s eyes narrowed. “So, what are you saying?” he growled. “Should I allow another male to rut my mate? Fuck that!” A snarl. Xavier’s voice was getting higher and higher. “I’d be happy to wear a robe, hell, I’d even wear your pointy shoes if it would help, but there is no way an elf is going anywhere—”

  “Calm down.” Keto shook his head. “I’m not suggesting anything of the sort. That’s all the info we have uncovered so far. Elves have never mated outside of our species before the two of you, so we have no idea what is required. Don�
�t kill the messenger here.”

  Xavier pushed a breath out through his nose. “I’m jealous as fuck. I can’t bear the thought of Esral with another male.” He clenched his jaw. “In the near future, you’ll know what I’m talking about. When you find ‘the one’ your blood will boil at the thought of her being anywhere near another male. You’ll see.”

  Keto thought of Charlotte and how pissed he had been when he had seen her with those males. It was a good thing last night was their last time together. Things were too heated between them. He regretted how they had parted ways though. The vampire beauty had been so mad at him. He was tempted to go and apologize, leave things on a good note. That was all! Nothing more or less. A quick apology and then he’d be out of her hair. The more he thought about it, the more right it felt. “I have my team working on it,” he blurted, hoping he hadn’t missed any of the conversation. “We’ll keep digging.”

  “You could’ve saved yourself the trip.” He could hear the disappointment laced in Esral’s voice.

  “I didn’t want to dismiss any piece of information, no matter how irrelevant it might sound. We need to put it out there and discuss it. Three heads work better than one,” Keto said.

  “Like I said, you could’ve saved yourself the trip. You should’ve just told me over the phone this morning.” She sniffed. Keto could see that she was trying not to cry. “It doesn’t help us one bit. We already knew that the seed was key in this.”

  “Hey …” Xavier pushed some loose strands of hair behind her ear. “Your brother is trying to help. He’s family, he came out to the castle to see us.”

  Esral made a noise that sounded like she didn’t agree with Xavier. It seemed like she wanted to say something but pursed her lips instead.

  “It’s okay,” Keto said. “You’re disappointed, I understand. We may have known it was seed, but what we didn’t know was that it needed to be elven seed specifically.”

  Xavier gave him a dirty look before his gaze moved back to Esral. “It’ll be okay.” He slid both his arms around Esral and Keto felt like an intruder. “Let’s have something to eat and—”

  Esral shook her head. “I’m sorry … I’m not very hungry,” her voice hitched.

  “You need to keep up your strength. You won’t grow that garden if you’re—’

  “What’s the point?” More sniffing. “It’s not working. It’s not going to either.”

  “You heard your brother, it’s me that’s the problem … not you.” He cupped Esral’s face and forced her to look at him. “I only hope you don’t kick me to the curb.”

  Esral smiled through her tears. “Now that’s crazy talk. I love you too much and you know it.”

  “I love you too.” They kissed. There was a whole lot of tongue and lip and … Keto looked away. He could still hear them going at it though.

  He finally cleared his throat when Esral lifted her thigh onto Xavier’s thigh.

  “Oh!” Esral giggled. “Sorry.” Her cheeks turned rosy. “My darling mate makes me forget where I am, who I’m with. He makes me forget my own name sometimes.”

  Yeah like this morning with Charlotte. No! It wasn’t the same. What was he saying? Why did he keep thinking about her? Maybe because he needed to apologize. It was weighing on him. That was it! They needed to end things on a good note.

  Esral smiled, looking a little more relaxed. “Let’s have dinner, you need to be in bed early ‒ all ready to meet with those elven females.”

  “Yes, mom.” Keto grinned. He was relieved to see that she was feeling a bit better. “I’ll help.” He stood up. Thing was, he wanted to get supper over with as well. He needed to apologize to Charlotte. The sooner the better. Now that the thought had taken root, he couldn’t dislodge it.

  Chapter 17

  Charlotte stepped out of the shower. It was amazing how dirty you could get just lazing around next to the pool all day. Although, that wasn’t entirely true, she’d also swum a ton. One hundred and sixty-two laps in total, spread over three swims. She’d read four magazines cover to cover and had tried to get into a romance novel but found herself shouting at the stupid heroine for falling for all the BS the hero was handing out just because he was a gorgeous specimen. Like that happened in real life. No way!

  So, all in all, it had been a busy day, for a vacation day. Charlotte hated the idea of a repeat tomorrow. How did people do nothing day in and day out? Maybe she’d go into town or volunteer at the clinic helping Becky … then again, she’d better not. The kings probably wouldn’t approve. Volunteering would be considered as work.

  She heard her phone vibrating in the next room. Charlotte frowned. It wasn’t work since all her calls had been diverted to Grace, who was filling in for her. Maybe it was her ex head of housekeeping and new assistant checking in to see how her first day of holiday had gone. She wrapped the towel around herself and made her way to her bedroom, picking up the device from her desk.

  Shit! She sat down hard on the bed.

  It was Keto. The phone continued to vibrate in her hand a few more times before finally stopping.

  Shit! Shit! Shit! He’d called her three times in the last five minutes. Three times. What the hell? What was wrong with this male?

  He probably wanted sex. Yup, that was it. He was here on vampire soil and thought he could just jump back into bed with her. The elven king obviously saw her as his easy lay, so therefore, for the time being, she was important to him. But make no mistake. Once he’d slaked those urges she would be worthless again. Not elven enough; a lesser. What was it the one guard had called her this morning? Oh yes, a helper. Someone not worthy to use the front door like a normal person. No, she was used goods and therefore had to slink out through the back. Keto sucked.

  Jerk!

  Asshole jerk!

  Acting like she was the one who kept chasing him. ‘This can’t keep on happening, Charlotte’. Like she was throwing herself at him or something. ‘I’m meeting with three potential female candidates today and another three tomorrow’. Like she even cared.

  Her phone began to vibrate in her hand. She looked down at the caller ID. It was him. Again. Four times in seven minutes. Talk about desperate. For just a second she was tempted to answer, to give him a piece of her mind. Charlotte sighed, putting the phone down, it continued to vibrate. No! She’d promised Esral that she wouldn’t answer and she was sticking to her word.

  Anyway, she had things to do. Um … things like … like … getting dressed. Yes! Getting dressed. Her phone gave two long buzzing noises.

  Shit! He’d left a message.

  No! She was ignoring him. Ignoring any messages as well. Ignoring him flat out. Charlotte went over to her closet and began searching through her things. What to wear? What to … oh yes … it was late and she had no place to go. Maybe her pajamas then.

  She grabbed a pair of pink boxers and a tank top, pulling the items on. Then she … What now?

  Charlotte dug into her beach bag and pulled out the abandoned romance novel from this morning and began to page through it.

  Her phone buzzed again. Twice. Another blasted message. He’d resorted to texting her.

  No! That couldn’t be right. Esral had said that Keto wasn’t the type to text.

  Two more buzzes sounded. A few seconds later there were two more. By all that was fanged he was definitely texting. She burned to go and look. Charlotte eyed her phone ‒ the screen was still bright.

  No! She couldn’t do it. He might be saying sweet things. Things that would whittle her down. Not this time! This time she was going to stay strong. There was no way the two of them were happening again.

  Charlotte ignored her phone. She wanted to turn her setting to silent but was worried about catching a few words of his text. She’d delete everything and block his number in the morning. Late morning, when she was sure he had left and the temptation was far away.

  Charlotte lay down on her bed and flipped through the pages of the book, trying to find her place. Then, she
began to read. Ah yes, the first sex scene … at least, it looked like it was building up to that. The hero was talking dirty to the heroine and she was lapping it up, her body reacting in ways that were just plain inappropriate, considering the guy was her landlord. As well as her very rude, arrogant neighbor.

  Her phone buzzed again. Charlotte groaned in irritation and maybe a little in frustration. She rolled over to face the opposite way. The neighbor had his hands on the heroine now. Up her skirt, in her panties. He wanted to make her come. Of course he did. Damn, this author was pretty good at writing sex scenes. Charlotte groaned again. Why had she picked up this book instead of the murder mystery?

  Right … She paged ahead, skimming through the naughty bits. Oh … she bit down on her lower lip. There was thrusting … into a tight pussy … yup, she knew the heroine was going to give in. Knew it! Typical. Charlotte threw the book down in disgust. Well she wasn’t some character in a damned book. This was real life. There would be no making up ‒ not that they were ever really together in the first place ‒ no dirty talk and no thrusting. Not of the fictional variety and certainly not in real life.

  It was still early and she wasn’t tired but she was going to try to fall asleep. She was not going to think about a certain elf. Forget it! She pulled the covers back and then wrapped herself up in her bed like a cocoon.

  Keto could see that his messages had been delivered and yet, Charlotte hadn’t read them. Why the hell not and why wasn’t she answering her phone? He’d tried calling her work phone and had gotten hold of someone by the name of Grace who had informed him that Charlotte was on leave but still on vampire territory. Thank fuck, because the more she tried to avoid him ‒ and he knew without a doubt that she was deliberately avoiding him ‒ the more he needed to see her.