The Royal Shifters Complete Series Boxed Set

by Alice Wilde

I look up into the face of the man who had been teasing Bryn a little while earlier. He crouches down to examine me.

  “So, you’re the girl from the beach. I can see why Lord Aldrich wanted to keep you.”

  He brushes a finger against my cheek, watching my face carefully.

  “James was my best friend,” he says, his voice sharp. “He may have been an idiot, but he was as loyal as they come. You’re the reason he’s dead. Once Lord Aldrich is finished with you, you’ll be all mine.”

  I am seething with rage. To think he blames me for the death of his friend when all I wanted was to escape. I didn’t tell either of them to join a group of outlaws. It’s absolutely not my fault they have chosen to live a life of crime, and I was not the one who shot James in the back with an arrow. I’m starting to wonder if all men blame women for their own shortcomings.

  “Step away from her.”

  I look up to see Bryn returning.

  The man crouching before me gets up and returns to his horse without another word.

  Bryn kneels down next to me, holding a steaming bowl of stew in one hand, which he places on the ground next to him.

  “I’m going to remove your gag so you can eat. Don’t make me regret it. If Lord Aldrich hears you, or word gets back to him that you started screaming, then I can assure you things will get far worse for you. Do you understand?”

  I nod my head.

  “Very well.”

  Bryn reaches over and loosens my gag, slowly removing it. My mouth is uncomfortably dry, but I gratefully take the spoonful of stew Bryn offers me. It’s not as satisfying as water would have been, but it’s something. My stomach welcomes the food greedily. Bryn feeds me several more spoonfuls of the thick stew before my stomach twists in on itself and I am sick on the ground beside me.

  “I should have given you water first.”

  Bryn stands and walks over to the stream, and I watch him dump the rest of the stew out and rinse the bowl before filling it with water and carrying it back over to me.

  “Here, drink slowly.”

  I sip at the water he holds to my lips and immediately feel life return to my body. If I could grab the bowl, I’d drain it in seconds. I’m slightly unnerved by Bryn’s surprisingly gentle and patient care for me.

  “Why are you being so kind to me?” I ask after I’ve drained the water from the bowl.

  Bryn stares at me, his face unemotional. “I’m simply following orders, nothing more. You’re to bathe before joining Lord Aldrich.”

  I shudder at the thought. I’d love to bathe, but not under the current circumstances. My stomach clenches, but I’m not sick again.

  Bryn stands and then lifts me to my feet, propping me against the tree once again, then he frowns.

  “I’m not actually sure how to do this.”

  “Do what?” I ask.

  “Bathe you.”

  “I can bathe myself.”

  “Not while you’re still bound.”

  He’s right, of course. I’d most likely drown in knee-deep water in my current state. Bryn turns and surveys our surroundings.

  “Oi, Jack, come here for a minute.”

  The man who’d spoken to me earlier turns to face us, but doesn’t move otherwise.

  “What is it now, Bryn?”

  “I need help getting this one ready to see Lord Aldrich,” Bryn says with a bob of his head toward me.

  Jack’s eyes light up, a dark look appearing on his face as he stands and walks over to us.

  “What do we need to do?”

  “Aldrich wants her bathed before she sees him.”

  “Alright, I’ll help, but gag her first,” Jack says, a slow smile spreading across his face.

  Bryn hesitates for a moment and then grabs my gag and repositions it.

  “The stream isn’t deep enough for bathing here, but I heard some of the lads found a swimming hole just down the hill over there,” Jack says, pointing.

  Bryn nods and then lifts me over his shoulder, following Jack through the camp.

  We’re almost out of camp when I start to hear voices and the splashing of water. I had honestly expected Jack to be lying to us.

  “What do you have there?” a voice calls from the water.

  “A live and kicking woman,” Jack says with a vile laugh. “Well, she’s alive, if not kicking.”

  The other men laugh along with him.

  “She’s Lord Aldrich’s. No one is to lay a hand on her,” Bryn says, but I can tell there’s a nervous twinge to his voice. Even he doesn’t trust these men.

  “Aldrich can’t be angry about what he doesn’t know,” Jack sneers. “Hand her to me.”

  Bryn takes a step back. “I don’t think that’s a good idea.”

  “Hand her over, Bryn.”

  Men have started to egg Bryn on with jeers and taunts.

  “You want to be one of us, don’t you?”

  “I am one of you.”

  “Then prove it, hand the girl over.”

  “But, Lord Aldrich—”

  “He doesn’t have to know.”

  I wriggle, trying to warn Bryn not to listen to them, but he just tightens his grip on me to keep me from moving.

  “Come on, Bryn. She needs to be bathed anyways, right? Let us help you.”

  Bryn takes a jolting step backward, but the tension slowly leaves his body and I’m certain he’s decided to give me up. Jack’s hands grasp me around my waist and he pulls me into his own arms. Bryn drops to the ground, and it’s only now that I see the knife protruding from between his ribs.

  “Stupid boy,” Jack says mockingly and the other men cheer and laugh from their places in the pool. “So, how about it, men. Ready for a bit of fun?”

  The men cheer.

  “Throw her in!”

  “Let us have her!”

  I watch Bryn let out his last breath as Jack carries me over to a rock jutting out over the pool of water. The whole situation utterly confuses me. For being so angry about James, this man found it easy enough to kill one of his own. Jack lowers me onto the rock and removes my gag.

  “Scream all you want,” he says. “No one will hear you from here.”

  And with those final words, he shoves me over the edge and I fall into the deep water of the pool below. Hands grab me from every direction and raise me to the surface. I cough and open my eyes to find myself surrounded by a dozen naked men.

  “Look how scared she is,” one of them says, laughing.

  “She might be even prettier like this,” another man says, his expression wicked.

  “Move out of the way,” Jack calls from the rock above as he removes his clothes.

  I turn my eyes away as he drops his pants and jumps into the water. Jack rises to the surface and swims over, reaching out and pulling me toward him by the neckline of my dress.

  “See, men, if I were your captain, we’d share in all the prizes.”

  The men hoot in excitement.

  “But, as your captain, I’m sure you could see fit to give me first tastes.”

  Jack takes my face in his hand, pulling me roughly to him. His other arm wraps around my waist, pressing my body tightly against his own naked one. Despite the chill of the water, I can feel the stiffness of his arousal digging into my thigh. Without further hesitation, I butt my head into his. There’s a crunch and Jack’s nose starts to bleed. His eyes stare at me, wide with shock, but only for an instant. But then my stomach twists sickeningly as he smiles at me, blood staining his gums, and I feel pressure on my leg grow harder. Gods, I’ve only made him more excited. I should have known. Men cut from the same cloth as Damien relish in the torture of others.

  He slides his hand behind my head, hooking his fingers agonizingly into the hair at the nape of my neck, forcing me into an immobile position.

  “You’ve only made things worse for yourself, girl.”

  “Whatever happens to me, at least I’ll know you’ll forever be uglier for it.”

  The smile on Jack�
��s face fades slightly, but he only tightens his grip on my hair. Tears well in my eyes uncontrollably.

  “Don’t worry about me. You’ll regret that soon enough. I’ll make you wish you were dead.”

  He jerks my face toward his. I struggle as much as I can against him, but his mouth finds my own. His lips move against mine, his eyes open and watching me.

  I retch.

  Jack lets go, shoving me away in blind reaction and splashing clean water on his face.

  “You, bitch!”

  I can’t keep my balance and fall backward into the water, sinking below the surface. This time, no hands raise me up. I open my eyes and watch as the rays of the sun streaming through the water grow red and faint. I writhe, trying to free myself from my bonds. Just as I’m about to use the last of the air in my lungs, a hand pulls me back to the surface and I look up into a pair of beautiful green eyes.

  Roan! My heart sings.

  It’s almost as if time has stopped, until I tune in to the sounds around me. It’s only now that I realize why the water looked red. Blood.

  More than one body is floating, torn, on the surface of the water, Jack among them. Several more are lying at the edge of the water, arrows lodged in them as they tried to escape.

  I look over to see Li standing atop the rock above the pool, a bow in hand. Ero is shaking the water and blood from his fur at the edge of the pool.

  Exhaustion and relief overwhelm me and I collapse against Roan’s chest, the world falling away around me as he takes me in his arms.

  “Is she okay?” Roan asks.

  “She’ll live, but she needs to rest,” Li replies.

  I slowly open my eyes and look up into Li’s face. He smiles softly down at me.

  “Welcome back.”

  “She’s awake,” Roan says as his face jumps into my vision alongside Li’s. “How are you?”

  “Where are we?”

  “Dinna fash. We’re plenty far off from the men we found you with, or at least whatever is left of them.”

  I try to sit up, but my head spins, and Li gently presses me back down to the ground.

  “Try not to move too quickly. You’re still very dehydrated and need to let your body rest.”

  Li props my head up and lifts a waterskin to my mouth. I sip it gratefully, but remember to take it slowly.

  “How did you find me?”

  “It wasn’t easy.”

  I turn my head to see Ero, sitting by a small fire. He’s wearing some of Bryn’s old clothes, the blood stains still visible, poking at the wood in the fire.

  “It didn’t take long for Roan to notice we’d lost you overboard, but the storm only got worse,” Li says. “The captain grew angrier with us since not only had he lost his merchandise, but the storm didn’t die down. He believed we had waited too long and the sacrifice hadn’t been given freely. I raced over to Roan, who was already preparing to jump overboard, and then I noticed Ero motionless on the deck.”

  “What do you mean motionless?” I ask.

  “He was just sitting in the middle of the deck, his eyes open, but unseeing.”

  I look over at Ero, who’s still just staring at the fire.

  “I managed to pull Roan from the edge of the ship and get him to follow me over to Ero. I’d never seen or heard of anything quite like it.”

  “But I have,” Roan says quietly. “Some years ago, before I was born, our land was invaded by Vikings. We fought back, and won, or at least we thought we had. The Scottish are a proud lot, and what few know is that the reason for this particular battle was a forbidden love between the laird’s daughter and a Viking jarl. He had been denied her hand in marriage, so they decided to run away together. They succeeded in running far enough away that they felt it was safe to set up camp, but they were soon found, and the laird’s men were ordered to kill the Vikings on the spot and take back his daughter.”

  “How cruel,” I murmur.

  “It gets worse,” Roan says. “The laird’s men slaughtered every man they could lay their hands on, finally reaching the Viking jarl’s tent. The men entered and dragged the two out. The daughter was thrown atop a horse, the jarl pinned down and made to watch as she was carried away, never again to be reunited in this life. This was when everything changed. A great storm appeared out of the blue, tearing down trees and twisting air and clouds into deadly funnels. This became the legend of the Stormcaller.”

  A movement draws my attention away from Roan for the span of a few seconds. Ero’s interest in the story is suddenly intense and focused.

  “You’re not talking about the Viking named Jarl Einar by chance?” Ero asks, interrupting.

  Roan pauses and glances over at him. “Yes, I think that was his name, although he’s not often gifted his name in the legends.”

  Ero’s brow furrows, but he doesn’t say anything more.

  “The jarl’s eyes shifted from a pale blue to a swirling tempest of grays and blues,” Roan continues, “his face becoming otherwise vacuous as the storm around him grew deadlier by the second. Most of the men were so frightened of the storm that they fled, but the laird’s general stayed and watched. As the Viking finally calmed, the storm did, too, but by then, it was too late as the Scottish general had already kicked him to the ground and put a sword to his chest. They looked at each other for a long moment, the jarl confused and seemingly unaware of what he had just done. Then the general ran him through with his sword. It was impossible to keep the tales quiet. The laird’s daughter bore a child nine months later. But there was never any proof that the legend of the Stormcaller was more than fairytale…not until Ero.”

  “You mean to say Ero caused the storm at sea?” I say, disbelievingly.

  “I have no reason to doubt it,” says Roan. “Li and I worked together to calm Ero. It wasn’t easy, but as soon as he started to relax, the storm shifted as well.”

  I can’t believe what I’m hearing. None of this is making sense. First a curse, and then shifters, and now the ability to control the weather?

  “Jarl Einar was my great-great-great-grandfather, or at least that’s what I was told growing up. He ran out on his wife, leaving her to care for their six children. The tales of that battle, his betrayal, and death were carried back to her many years later. I’d always thought it was a figure of speech and he had just gone crazy. So, you see, princess,” Ero says, not looking at me, “if what they’re saying is true, everything has been my fault. I blamed Roan, but I’m the reason you were tortured and nearly raped or perhaps even killed. I’m the one to blame for the trouble you’ve endured the past two days. After everything is said and done, it all leads back to me.”

  “Enough,” I say to Ero. “None of us knew you were capable of that. You can’t blame yourself for the actions of others. Besides, this still doesn’t explain how you found me.”

  “With the storm dying down, we knew the crew would think the captain’s superstitions were true. So, we did the next best thing and jumped ship, taking several wooden casks with us for support. From there, we could only hope that we’d be able to follow the same currents you did,” Roan says.

  “That’s impossible,” I say.

  “You’re right,” says Li. “We ended up further east than you did, which is why we weren’t the first to find you. Ero stayed where we landed while Roan and I shifted and ran the shore in opposite directions. When I finally returned to Ero, Roan hadn’t arrived yet. We waited a couple of hours, but when he didn’t return, we knew he must have found something.”

  “I found your barrel,” Roan says. “You had been taken perhaps a few hours before I found it, but I could tell by the location—”

  “Roan, there was a dead body. I doubt the placement of the barrel is what set off alarms in your head,” Ero says, rolling his eyes.

  “Do you mind, I’m telling my side of the story.”

  “Whatever.”

  “As I was saying, I found the barrel you’d been stowed away in. There were footprints, broken c
rates, and tracks everywhere…and your shoes. It was pretty obvious at that point that you were in some kind of trouble. I left my mark, hoping Li and Ero would follow once they realized I wasn’t returning.

  “I tracked you down as quickly as I could, but I had no way of getting you away from them alive. Not on my own. So, I waited and watched, hoping I’d have a chance to rescue you, or at the very least Ero and Li would arrive in time.”

  “When did you catch up with us?” I ask.

  “Around the time the leader decided to set camp,” says Roan.

  “Were you watching me from the forest while the horses were being tended?”

  Roan cocks his head to the side. “Yes, why?”

  “I thought I felt someone watching me.”

  “Well, there were plenty of men milling about, and I’m sure more than one had ill intent toward you.”

  “It wasn’t that,” I say.

  He watches me quietly for a moment, and then leans down and kisses my forehead.

  Li and Ero groan, but I find the gesture reassuring.

  “Perhaps there’s something greater at play than either of us, lass,” Roan whispers gently in my ear before lifting away from me. “I was starting to get anxious when Li and Ero still hadn’t arrived.”

  “We moved as quickly as possible,” Li says. “After all, I had to run in human form to carry the supplies we had found on the beach. It’s a bit slower on foot.”

  “What supplies?”

  “Besides our clothes, we found an axe with the body on the beach. Someone must have overlooked it.”

  “I didn’t see you carrying an axe,” I say.

  Li clears his throat uncomfortably. “I’m not fond of fighting with an axe. As soon as I found use for it, I left it.”

  “He killed someone,” Ero says curtly.

  “Not just anyone,” Li says hastily. “One of the men patrolling the outskirts of the camp, and he had a good bow. I’ve always been better with bows.”

  “That explains the men who died trying to run.”

  “Ero and Li arrived just as Jack was about to try to hold you under the water for getting sick. I don’t know what he expected. I doubt he’s ever satisfied a woman by the way he was treating you.”