The Royal Shifters Complete Series Boxed Set

by Alice Wilde

  I try to focus my eyes on hers, willing her to tell me something, but all I manage to do is growl. Her fingers, which had been gently rubbing away the tear stains on my chest, recoil as I do, and her expression hardens as she looks up at me questioningly.

  I say nothing, obviously, but inside, I feel an awakening. Up until this point, I hadn’t realized the sounds, the growls and the vibrations that coursed through my body, were noticeable to anyone but myself. Hope rises in my chest.

  Miriam hastens from the room, and I am left once again standing, waiting. It doesn’t take long for her to return, or at least it doesn’t seem like long in my mind. Every moment I am, alone I poke and prod at my mind as I attempt to find some knowledge I can use to defeat Damien’s curse. But, when I refocus on what my physical eyes are seeing, I notice the daylight has changed. Late afternoon. The wedding will be taking place soon. My legs are aching from standing in one place all afternoon.

  The handler has come as well. As Miriam takes my hand, guiding me from the room, I watch as my leopards are chained to the wall. My eyes catch each of theirs in turn, and something shifts inside my heart. A spark. A small piece of the icy wall splitting me in two begins to melt. The moment passes as the door to my bedroom is closed to me forever and Miriam leads me down the passage and toward my betrothed.

  Twenty-Nine

  Li

  We took turns sleeping through the night, keeping a close eye on Annalise even after the sounds stopped.

  I have to remember to thank my ancestors properly if I ever get the chance. It has to be a sign. She’s still alive; she’s still Annalise. I have to make a decision. I thought it would be easier if I knew her mind was still intact, but it’s made everything worse.

  Roan thinks I have to allow the bond, but Ero thinks it’s too dangerous.

  When she woke, there wasn’t a single trace of her left, but then I hear it. A low purring sound, too quiet for human ears. I’m afraid she’ll alert Miriam to it if it gets any louder, but Annalise stops as soon as Miriam gets close to her. At first, nothing happens after Miriam leaves her to wait, but then we hear a louder purr, and Annalise moves ever so slightly as the vibrations force her body out of balance.

  The afternoon passes slowly as we listen and watch, none of us speaking. I know Ero and Roan are trying to give me space to decide, but the tension is palpable.

  I’m alarmed when I see tears stream down her otherwise motionless face. She can still feel.

  “How can I choose?”

  “You have to,” Ero replies. “You’re the only one who can let us get closer. Thor’s beard, we’ve had enough lectures from you on the dangers. Now it’s up to you to decide if it’s worth risking everything with the possibility of making things worse—”

  “Or saving her life,” Roan chimes in unhelpfully. “And probably still making everything much worse.”

  “I hate you both.”

  “The feeling is mutual,” Roan replies with as much playfulness as he can manage, but there’s an edge to it.

  Miriam and the handler have returned.

  “Damn it!” Ero says as I realize too late that we’re being chained to the wall.

  “Looks like the decision has been made for us,” says Roan.

  We watch as Annalise is led out of the room, but her eyes shift to meet ours just before she’s swept from the room, the door closed behind her.

  A familiar burn in my heart is sparked into a fiery blaze with just a look. I’ve been such a fool.

  “I’ve made my decision.”

  “A little late for that.”

  “We’ll see,” I say. “Her finger twitched.”

  Thirty

  Annalise

  I can hear the wedding long before I see it. The sounds of guests milling about, the tuning of instruments, and the heavy, overpowering scent of flowers fills the castle. I wish I could retch.

  The doors to the Great Hall are closed, but Miriam stops us long before we reach them and once again leaves me to wait as she slips inside.

  I’m still holding the bundle of flowers in my hands. I breathe deeply, or at least my inner me imagines I do.

  Concentrate. Ever since the mists took over, I’ve had an excruciatingly difficult time remembering my leopards when they are not in my direct vision or close enough for me to feel their presence. When our eyes met, a split second of clarity washed over me. But the more I try to focus on them, the darker the fog in my mind seems to grow, tearing at my sanity.

  My finger twitches and I lose my focus. My finger twitched. A shiver runs through me. Perhaps they are the key!

  Roan. Eyes of emerald. Ero. Eyes of sapphire. Li. Eyes of amethyst. I can feel the vibrations in my body grow stronger even as the darkness rises in me.

  The softness of their fur. The tremors fade.

  I’m confused. When I imagine their eyes, I can feel a power rising in me, but as soon as I try to focus on anything else about them, everything dissipates.

  The doors to the Great Hall creak open slightly as Miriam once again slips through and returns to me.

  “Go.”

  My feet move, and I walk toward the doors as Miriam steps away and watches. As I near the doors, they swing open to allow me through. My dress is weighted down, so I know I’m moving slowly, but I wish I could force myself to walk even slower.

  The room is filled to the brim with strangers, some of whom I recognize from the betrothal ceremony and dinners, but most are unknown to me. I search the crowd with my eyes, although my head remains facing forward, unmoving. Father is nowhere to be seen, and I start to worry that he’s already dead.

  But that would be impossible. If he had already died, there’d be no wedding today.

  The room is lit with a thousand candles along with the dying light of day, and it’s only now that I realize everyone is wearing black except for myself and Damien. We’re wearing the same deep shade of red. He is standing on the raised dais at the back of the hall, in front of the king’s throne. His face is stunning in the candlelight, the darkness of his hair and the sharp masculinity of his features catching the light just right. The knot in my stomach nearly tears me asunder as I realize this is all anyone else can see, his outward beauty.

  I rip my eyes from his face before his eyes can find mine. His cloak barely trails the floor due to his height. And his codpiece—it’s obscene. He might as well be announcing to the whole world that he’s preparing to kill me with the monstrosity between his legs.

  Then I see them. Just out of my direct line of sight are Rosa and Luca. Or, at least I think it’s Luca. His face is partially bandaged, dark bruising discernable wherever the skin is visible. Rosa is holding him up, although I’m unsure how she manages to do so as he is nearly twice her height. I want to reassure them that everything will be okay, but I can’t. Nothing is right about any of this.

  I thank the gods my dress is as heavy as it is. I’ve only made it halfway up the aisle. The room is eerily silent. I can hear music playing, but it’s as though it were being played through a pillow. A heaviness settles over the room the closer I get to the platform where I am to be married. No one else seems to notice.

  Focus. Their eyes. I let myself draw from them, using the power in them to course through my veins. My finger twitches again. It’s not enough. I know I’m on the right track, but I don’t know what else I’m missing.

  Sweat trickles down my back as I near the platform. I look at Rosa and my heart stops for a moment as I notice she’s wearing a leather collar not unlike the ones around my leopards’ necks. Damien’s taken far more from her than I had imagined. He’s taken her freedom too.

  I want to run, to throw my arms around her and cry. To promise her I’ll fix this, but I can’t.

  I climb the steps to stand beside Damien.

  This is it. There’s no fairytale ending. I’ve failed.

  Damien takes my hand and turns me to face him as a priest comes to stand beside us.

  “Look at me,” Damien says
.

  I look up, unable to fight it. His eyes are a black, soulless abyss.

  “We are gathered here today,” the priest booms, “to witness the joining of two souls together as one.”

  I balk at the concept.

  “Two hearts, two bodies, forever entwined in holy matrimony. One being, under the skies of heaven. Two halves pieced together for all of time. Fate and destiny leading to a single moment of truth. The duty of woman finally fulfilled as she is taken under the wing of her husband. The gods’ wills appeased as the weaker sex is matched.”

  If I were more myself, I’d kick this priest in the shin, however unholy an act that might be. If the gods saw fit to create woman, I doubt they thought as low of us as this priest of theirs does. I don’t want to listen to his ramblings anymore and almost instantly my wish is granted. Damien’s eyes flash violet. He shakes his head.

  “Hurry it along.”

  The priest clears his throat. “I must follow the script, My Lord, or the marriage will be void.”

  “Fine, but speak faster.”

  Damien’s eyes shift again, but this time the color doesn’t change back. I’m looking into the eyes of my amethyst-eyed leopard. Clarity floods my mind, or at least I think it does.

  “Hold on, Annalise. You’re not alone in this. I’m coming for you. We’re coming for you,” Damien says, but it’s Li’s voice. The voice from my dreams. I really am going mad.

  Damien growls, and I see his eyes change to green.

  “Lass, you have to focus. Feel.”

  Again, a familiar voice. This time it is Roan.

  I yelp as Damien’s hand crushes mine, the sound causing his eyes to refocus and revert to black.

  The voices. Their eyes. I remember the men from my dreams and my heart leaps. The spark in my heart grows brighter and brighter until my heart is aflame with desire. I can feel them, their hearts, their bodies, their beast-like power amplified in my own body, burning away the dark mists in my mind with a vengeance.

  I drop the bouquet of flowers.

  “Priest, marry us,” Damien says darkly. “Now!”

  “I pronounce you man and wife,” the priest concedes.

  Screams sound from outside the Great Hall and everyone inside turns to look just as the doors crash open.

  Thirty-One

  Li

  We don’t have much time, and I still have to figure out how to break down the barrier that’s kept me from bonding with Annalise.

  “Come on, Li,” Roan says. “Just imagine her in your arms, what you’d do if you were human again.”

  “It’s not that easy,” I say.

  “Yes, it is.”

  “No,” I say, sighing. “I’ve never been with a woman.”

  Silence. I look up into the shocked faces of Ero and Roan.

  “What?”

  “Well it all makes sense now,” Ero says. “It’s easier to tell someone else to stop when you don’t know what you’re missing.”

  I wish I could rip him limb from limb.

  “So,” Ero says, “how do we make him understand what it would be like to have her?”

  “I’m not going to pleasure him,” Roan teases. “Guess it’s up to you, Ero.”

  “Shut up, both of you,” I snap. “There’s no time for this. If we love her, we have to save her.”

  “Who said anything about love?” says Ero.

  I freeze. My mind racing as I try to process what I’ve just said.

  “Do you love her?” Roan asks.

  My tongue is dry as my heart beats wildly in my chest. “I think I do,” I say. As the words leave my mouth and the realization settles in, I feel the spark ignite my heart like dry kindling.

  “I love Annalise.” Excruciating pain tears through my body and I collapse to the floor, writhing.

  “I was wrong!” Roan yelps.

  “You’ve killed him,” Ero says.

  Just as I am about to let death take me, the pain subsides and I’m left shaking on the floor. I look up at Ero and Roan.

  They growl.

  “You could at least have the decency to speak,” I say.

  A link forms in my mind.

  “Li, you might want to check yourself out,” says Ero.

  I look down and my heart stops. What I see is no longer the body of a leopard, but my own. My human form. This is the first time I’ve been able to shift since the curse. I reach behind me and unhook the heavy chain from my collar.

  “We have to save her. Follow me.”

  I unhook them from their chains and dash to the door, but their growls turn my focus.

  “Hurry up!”

  Roan links with me.

  “Li, seriously, you’ve got to cover up. You’re going to kill Annalise yourself if you burst in with everything swinging around for all to see.”

  I feel heat rise in my face. I’d forgotten what it was like not to be covered in fur. I search the room for something to cover myself with, my eyes finally landing on a piece of fur draped over a chair. I snatch it up and wrap it around myself as best I can.

  “That’ll have to do. Now, let’s go!”

  I throw open the door, and together we race toward the Great Hall.

  I concentrate on finding Annalise’s mind, hoping I can get through to her. Nothing. I find Damien’s mind instead. It’s a dangerous move, but I have to try. There’s a magic running through Annalise’s blood unlike any I’ve ever known. I can’t explain what just happened back in her room, but simply allowing her into my heart broke my entrapment. Now, we have to keep her from physically bonding with Damien.

  I link with Damien, and for the first time, I use him to my own advantage. I speak through him to Annalise. Roan steps in just before Damien manages to shake us and we reach the Great Hall. Guards are positioned on either side and charge us as soon as they recover from the shock. Ero and Roan make easy work of them, but I’m certain their screams have alerted everyone to our presence.

  I throw open the massive doors with ease as I run in.

  “Stop the wedding!”

  Ero and Roan join me inside, flanking me, blood staining their fur.

  The room is deathly quiet as the guests first stare at us and then shift their attention to Damien.

  Thirty-Two

  Annalise

  Pinpricks of sensation flood through my body as I find myself shifting to see what the commotion is all about. My heart stops. There, standing in the middle of the aisle, is Li, one of the men from my dreams, two massive leopards beside him. I want to run, to throw myself into his arms, but something is stopping me. Damien’s hand.

  I scream, startling myself with the sound I thought would only be in my mind. I turn to look at Damien, and then my leopards. I can move! The darkness has fled my mind. The next moment, I fly through the air as Damien throws me over his shoulder.

  “You’re too late, beast,” Damien says. “We’re wed.”

  Damien reaches out a hand and clenches it into a fist and I scream again as I see Li and the two leopards collapse to the floor as they claw at the leather collars around their necks, blood leaking out from beneath. I pound my fists against Damien’s head, trying to get him to release me.

  He does.

  I’m thrown to the floor, the wind knocked out of me so hard I see stars. My eyes find Li’s, and he is on his feet, running down the aisle toward me even as the collar tightens again. Then he leaps at Damien, and right before my eyes, he changes. The fur wrap he was wearing falls to the floor as his outstretched hands become claws, his smooth body is once again covered in beautiful, spotted fur, and his face suddenly morphs into that of a leopard.

  He collides with Damien, the sound like thunder as they tumble to the floor. The other leopards’ collars loosen and I watch as Ero and Roan stagger to their feet and race to join Li.

  Damien rises from the floor, holding Li up by the neck, then tossing him to the side as he braces against the attacks of Roan and Ero. The sounds are sickening as I lay watching in hor
ror from my place on the floor as Damien once again throws the two leopards off, each one struggling to rise from the floor. Damien cracks his neck and then turns to me, pulling me from the ground and setting me on my feet in a single move.

  “Now,” he says, running a hand through his tousled hair, “I will take my bride to our wedding chambers.”

  “You shall not!” I say with as much command as I can gather. “I demand to see my father.”

  “We should inform the king of this intrusion first, should we not?” the priest asks shakily from behind the throne. “After all, such dangerous beasts shouldn’t be left to roam the castle.”

  “Fine,” Damien growls as he motions for the messenger to go, his composure slowly turning far too calm. “Be quick.”

  The guests are looking around in shock and confusion, although I’m sure none of them are more surprised than me. I was sure he’d protest my demand to see Father…and now all I can feel is a deep unease.

  Damien’s hand around my wrist hasn’t loosened. There’s a collective shift as we hear the sounds of hurried footsteps finally approach, and the messenger rushes into the Great Hall, stopping far enough away from the leopards as he dares.

  “The…” he says, his breath catching in his throat. “The king…”

  “Out with it, boy,” Damien commands.

  “The king is dead!”

  Damien swings around to the priest, pulling me with him up the final steps to the throne.

  “Crown me.”

  “I…I…The crown! Bring the crown!”

  Damien seats himself on my father’s throne, and I am left standing, aghast at the whirlwind of events.

  My eyes shift as they catch Rosa’s, but just as I’m about to go to her, a voice rings through my mind.

  “Annalise, you have to run. This is our only chance,” Li says.