Page 1

Chapter

One

I had been away from my pack and family for six consecutive months. A total of six years, on and off. Now, I was finally finished with my degree and heading home. I anxiously watched the scenery through the train’s window, wondering what my friends and family were doing. My phone was suspiciously quiet, something very unusual in my life. The train came to a smooth stop and everyone in the car stood to grab their bags, myself included. My large suitcase was in the back and I would get it after exiting the train.

Hiking my backpack up higher, I walked out of the train car and searched for whoever was picking me up. I assumed it would be one of my parents or my childhood guard, Ezio.

As I surveyed the area, I realized I didn’t see any of them. Heading towards the rear of the train where my luggage was, pain filled my chest that they could have forgotten about me. The pain burned hot as it morphed into rage.

Deep within me was a stirring pit of boiling anger, caused by a personality alteration spell I had absorbed to save my adoptive mother when I was five years old. Most of the time I was able to keep it contained with little effort, but some emotions, like sadness, allowed it to stir.

My purple and cyan streaked hair started to glow softly from the awakening of the anger and darkness in my soul. Stopping, I closed my eyes, took a deep breath, and reminded myself of my loving family, my best female friend Maya, and my grandparents and great grandparents who cared deeply for me. I was not alone. I was loved. I was happy. The magic and anger were not me and would not control me.

Successfully calmed, I opened my eyes and resumed walking, a skip in my step as I moved. I knew my parents remembered I was coming; Mom had messaged me several times this morning to make sure I didn’t forget anything and was ready. They were probably just running late, as per usual. When your parents were king and queen of a clan, they quite frequently got called to emergencies. It was something I had become accustomed to.

The man unpacking the luggage saw me and bowed. “Your Highness, your luggage is right here.” He wheeled over my large, bright pink suitcase with an adorable bunny on the side that reminded me of Mom’s animal form. “Do you need me to call a car or anything?” he asked, looking around me and seeing I was alone.

“That won’t be necessary,” a deep, familiar voice said behind me.

Spinning around, mouth open in a wide smile, I threw my arms around Ezio’s neck. “You didn’t forget me!”

He chuckled as he hugged me and patted the back of my head. “Silly girl. I could never forget you.” Ezio was getting older. Grey lined his temples that hadn’t been there when I first met him as a child, and his forehead creases were deepening, which he blamed on me giving him extra stress. He was one of the strongest werewolf alphas, but his age was starting to catch up with him. When I was a child, he had been my guard, protecting me from harm and helping to teach me how to behave in shifter society. “Just this one suitcase?” he asked as he grabbed the handle.

I nodded. “Grandpa Nico teleported the rest of it last week when they came for my graduation ceremony.” Grandpa Nico was King of the Mages and the most powerful mage in the world. He was kind and one of the most sarcastic males in my family, next to Caleb, my adoptive father, of course.

Ezio shook his head. “I don’t understand why they had you ride the train when your mother or Nico could teleport you back.”

“I asked to ride the train,” I explained and looped my arm through his. “I wanted the full college experience, but Grandpa Nico convinced me that trying to drag four additional suitcases would ruin the positive experience and left me with the one.”

Chuckling, Ezio looped his arm around my shoulders and squeezed. “I’ve missed you, kid.”

Resting my head against his shoulder I admitted, “I missed you, too. How’s Holly?”

Holly was Ezio’s wife, one of several hybrids we had discovered on an island that had been thought to be uninhabited when I was young, and who had come to live with our clan. She was sweet, powerful, and when angry, a bit scary. Since Ezio was like an uncle to me, I’d spent a lot of time at their house and she’d treated me just like a second child. That included a few spankings when her son, Kayden, and I had gotten into trouble together.

Thinking about Kayden made my chest ache. We had been friends growing up, but he had said something that hurt me so much I stopped talking to him about four years ago. That was about the same time our mutual best friend, Trey, had stopped talking to me as well. Probably a boy solidarity pact or something. Thoughts of them had that darkness and anger swirling.

“Are you excited to be done with college?” Ezio asked. He glanced at my hair that had started glowing and frowned, knowing my darkness was awakened if it glowed.

“Yes. It’ll be nice to be home and reacquaint myself with the clan and spend more time with my parents,” I said. My life had been spent surrounded by people who loved me and ensured I never wanted for anything. Going away to college had been a big change, but one I had desperately needed.

We headed out to the street and I squealed and dashed away from Ezio when I saw Maya, my best female friend. “Maya!” I screamed.

She ran to me, crashing together as we hugged each other. “Lily!” she squealed.

We held each other in a bone crunching hug for several long minutes, just needing to be touching again after being apart for so long. I was careful not to hug too tightly, my animal side was a constrictor and if I wasn’t careful, I could seriously hurt her.

Maya had been my first friend, one of the island hybrids, and when she moved to our clan territory, we had been inseparable throughout our childhood until her parents had moved away and she’d gone with them. We had called and messaged each other every single day and ensured we saw each other for at least one holiday a year. Just a few months ago, she’d moved back to the city.

“We’re finally together,” I exhaled and leaned back to look at her. Her fiery red hair was curly and wild like usual, puffed around her face, framing it in what seemed like flames. Though, that wasn’t far off, since she turned into a flaming bird.

“I’ve missed you so much,” she said and hugged me again.

“Get in the car, girls. You can hug inside,” Ezio ordered us.

“Yes, sir!” she said, released me, saluted him, and climbed inside.

Giggling at her over the top theatrics, I climbed into the backseat with her.

“So, did you meet any cute boys on the train?” Maya asked.

Ezio growled softly.

Chuckling, I shook my head. “Nope.”

She groaned. “I’m supposed to live vicariously through you. How am I supposed to do that if you’re not meeting any boys?”

“It’s not like I control where they are,” I reminded her. She knew I had started quietly looking for guys to date. Announcing that to my family would spell disaster for sure. “Besides, I’m sure we’ll meet some guys at the club tomorrow.”

She flinched. “About that …”

“Oh, no. What?” I asked.

“Your great grandparents are all in town and they called for a party to celebrate everyone being together for the first time in like a decade,” she said, her words so fast I barely understood them. “So, they’re throwing this big shindig thing and we’re supposed to dress up really nice and go to that big building where they have the fundraisers and stuff. I tried to get out of it, but Mom Two said it was mandatory.”

Mom Two was what Maya called my mother, since she was like her second mother.

“You know the former royals haven’t all been back at the same time in quite a while,” Ezio said as he drove us towards our clan territory. “They’ve all missed you a lot and it’ll mean the world to them if you go.”

“It’s totally fine,” I said with a smile. “I haven’t seen Great Grandpa Dan or Great Nana Kara in months, so it’ll be nice. We can do the club another day.”

Maya squealed again. “I’m honestly excited for tomorrow. Mom Two said she’s going to have all of your favorite foods, which means lots of sweets, too! I hope she remembers the lemon bars.”

“Those are your favorite,” I reminded her with a soft laugh and shake of my head.

“Oh, right,” she said.

Ezio laughed at us, smiling wide. “I’ve missed you two rambunctious girls. It’s been far too quiet without you running around the clan territory.”

I wanted to ask about Kayden, but my pride had me keeping my mouth shut on the topic in case he told Kayden I had asked about him, since I didn’t want him to know I cared still.

“Do you know what your plan is after your break?” Maya asked.

I’d asked my parents to give me a month break after I finished college before sucking me back into royal duties, and they’d agreed without much hesitation. I knew after that one month was up, all bets were off though.

“I’ll have to start pulling my weight as princess,” I answered. “I’m sure they’ll have me take over one of the businesses now that I have a degree in business administration.” Part of the reason I’d opted to go to college was to increase my knowledge to help our clan. We were much smaller in number of members than the others, so it was important that we did all we could to ensure we were monetarily safe.

A thought occurred to me. “Wait, we’re having a party tomorrow when we’re already having a party for my birthday next week?”

Ezio said, “Your birthday party won’t include all the cousins and distant relatives. So, they opted for a party tomorrow to include everyone.”

“Everyone?” I asked softly.

Maya put her hand on top of mine on my lap, sensing my unease.

Ezio arched a brow. “Is there someone you have a problem with that you don’t want to see? Did something happen between you and one of the others?”

If I admitted it was Kayden, he would ask me a billion questions since he was his son. So, instead, I just shook my head and said, “No, just thinking about how many people that will be and how I’m going to get bombarded since I’ve been away for so long.” The distant family hadn’t seen me since I started college six years ago, so they would definitely swamp me with questions.

Ezio didn’t look convinced, but he focused on the road again. “Do you want me as a guard?”

“Ezio, I’m an adult now. I can handle the party. I just know I’m going to get bombarded is all.”

“The offer stands. Remember, everyone had guards during the turbulent times in their adult lives, even your father and mother.” He gave me a look. “So, don’t you, ‘I’m an adult now,’ me, missy.”

Laughing, I said, “Thanks, Ezio. I’ll keep it in mind if I do end up needing a rescue.”

“I’ll be at the party,” he said, “so don’t hesitate to yell for me.”

But would he rescue me from his own son?