Page 59 of Princess Redeemed

“Please don’t call me princess.It only reminds me of him.”

“Then Hannah, if you prefer.You may call me Alara.”

“Very well.Can you get me out of here?I’m pregnant, as you well know, and I need to take care of my baby.See a doctor regularly.I can’t do that here.”

“How did you get here before?”

“Through a portal in Rogan’s penthouse.Or with Rogan, while he was in wolf form.”

“Yes,” she says.“That makes sense.Our kind, with our extended lifespans and depth of experience, are more attuned to the subtleties of the ether.We feel its ebbs and flows, the delicate balance of energies that governs it.It is a realm of pure energy, where thoughts and emotions can manifest with as much reality as the chair you sit upon.”

“So you’re saying I’m not really here?”I wave my hands around.“This war didn’t actually happen?”

“Oh, it happened.And it was brutal.”

I rub my forehead.She’s giving me a splitting headache.

“Just get me home.Please.”

“To access the ether, one must transcend the physical body, reaching a state of heightened consciousness.It is through meditation, reflection, and sometimes ancient rituals, that we can brush the edges of this otherworldly plane.The portal in your wolf’s home helped you reach this consciousness through magic.Your wolf, being in his animal form, was able to get you here using his animal instinct.”

“So you’re saying I have the power to get home?Click my heels together three times and say, ‘there’s no place like home?’”

She laughs then, and it’s a joyous sound.This is a person who’s at peace, despite the spoils of war dotting the ground over our heads.

“You’re not wrong,” she says.“But are you ready to leave?”

“The man I love just ran off with his fated mate, so yeah, I’m more than ready.”

She nods.“Look around before we go.The ether is not just a place of power, but also of wisdom.It holds the secrets of the universe, the mysteries of life and death, and the echoes of all that has ever been and will be.Approach it with reverence, and it will reveal wonders beyond your wildest dreams.”

I do as she bids me.I look around at the bunker.At the place I last made love with Rogan.

The next moment, I’m back in Chicago.

I’m home.

35

“Alara!”I call out.

I pace the length of my small apartment, tapping my boots against the hardwood.

I touch my abdomen, trying to tame my heart.It’s beating like a caged bird flapping wildly, and that can’t be good for my child.

She sent me back—or rather, I sent myself back without having a clue how I did it—but now I have questions.So many questions.

I swallow the lump in my throat.Rogan is with his true mate now.I’ve lost him forever, and I must deal with that.

“Get it together, Hannah,” I mutter to myself.

But then…

The blood lust—that insidious whisper urging me toward satiation simmers beneath my skin.My child needs to feed…and I no longer have access to wolf blood.

Dominic.Dominic will feed me.But where the hell is he?Back in Las Vegas?

I dart my gaze around, looking for my phone.I need to call Dom, get back to?—