Leighton

42. Blurred lines

Leighton

It was eerily quiet as we entered the castle. Both the King and Prince were waiting for us. Heeding the kings advice I didn’t waste any time issuing a challenge.

“I challenge Prince Alonso for the hand of Princess Estelle.”

I stood tall before the Prince, I remembered him as the same Prince that attended alpha training a while ago. The smug look on his face was not fitting of the skills I saw then. Either he had plans or he had vastly improved because he hadn’t impressed me then.

“I accept your challenge. Do you wish to propose a second?” His voice didn’t waver.

Peter stepped forward.

“I will be his second.”

“Delightful. I propose King Adalfudis as my second. Anyone say nae ?”

S***. I was pretty sure all my instructions said not to engage with the King.

Clearing my throat.

“Nae, no seconds.” As much I wanted to believe we could defeat him, if even King Louis didn’t think he could then we had no chance.

The Prince’s smug grin remained in place.

“As recipient of this challenge I propose a dawn battle, in the castle grounds.”

“Why waste any time ? Let’s settle this now ?” I taunted him.

The smug smiled slipped only briefly.

“You will receive instructions in due course, I’ll have someone escort you to your chambers to wait.”

Both the King and the Prince swept out in a flurry of cloaks. If they thought they were making an impression then I wondered why they felt they needed too.

“I have to say that wasn’t expecting the King as his second. They must really want the Princess.” Peter said.

I hadn’t yet taken Ara’s potion, she said she didn’t know how long it would last, so I was to take it close enough to the fight for it to work but not straight away in case it worse off too early. Helpful.

“Can you smell that.” Titan piped up in my head, on wide alert for danger.

A faint trace of lilac was in the air that was vaguely familiar.

“What’s wrong?” Peter asked, looking at me strangely as I tried to establish which direction the smell came from. I tried to follow nose but it was so faint.

“Can you smell anything ?” I asked him.

“No. Well not anything unusual.” He relied cautiously, looking around.

The smell got a little stronger and in entered two maids. One of which was remarkably similar to my first mate, Rhiannon.

Upon seeing me she stopped and then ran towards me, throwing herself into my arms.

“You came for me ? I knew you would never give up.” She stared sobbing on my shoulders. The faint lilac scent was coming from her.

Gently easing myself out of her grasp I looked her over.

“I’m sorry, I didn’t know you were here. Where is your mate ?”

Scanning her neck I didn’t see her mark, I instinctively reached for where I had felt that burning pain that night, my recent reminder still feeling raw.

“He was killed.” She almost whispered, looking around like she was scared. “Have you come to take me back Leighton?”

I could almost feel Peters questioning gaze on my back.

“Can we have two mates ?” I asked my wolf who had been remarkably quiet.

“No.” His simple answer didn’t help me much.

I looked the shewolf up and down. Her clothes were scruffier and her hair not as polished as the last time I saw her, when she was a luna. Her eyes filled with tears when I didn’t reply immediately and I wondered what was going on in her head too. Did she feel the same pull? It wasn’t as strong as before, was that because of the rejection.

“Why am I feeling a pull to her when Estelle is my mate?” I asked Titan.

“I don’t know.”

“We felt her be marked, if that isn’t accepting rejection I don’t know what is.” I took his lack of reply as agreement.

I hadn’t relied to her, lost in conversation with Titan.

“I’m here to challenge the Prince. I’m sorry for your loss.”

I could do with her and her lilac scent leaving my vicinity. It was a distraction I didn’t need or want to worry about, not only because of the memories it triggered but the strange feelings too.

“Now would be a good time to snoop, you don’t want to wait all night to see if the fire protection works for that long. Come on.”

Peter led me off, and with Rhiannon shouting after us that our chambers were the other way, we set of into the palace. Entering the library I didn’t follow his logic.

“Look in the dark magic section, for a book that’s not as dusty as the rest.” He told me.

One stood out straight away, a small black binder book with weird symbols all over it. It was dusty but not as much as some others and the dust on the shelf in front had been disturbed.

I pulled it of the shelf and stuffed it in my pocket.

“Don’t do that, read it now, we can’t take anything. Stealing breaks the rule of protection.”

“Let’s call it borrowing?” Another book had caught my interest. It was really old but had a sinister look about it.

Picking it up the amount of dust on it caused me to cough. I took it over to the table and opened it. It appeared to be a book on elemental gifts.

After the goddesses created their “special wolves” they decided they needed more than their given gifts from the moon and sun. The ancient elemental powers that had graced our ancestors, carefully hidden through the years were discovered.

As a reward for defeating the witches the powers were taken and given to the kings and queens of the victorious nations.

It didn’t take long before the royal wolves started to crave more power. They will endeavour to keep their lines pure, increasing their chances of passing on their powers. But they will never stop seeking power, to take what doesn’t belong to them.

Once enough suns have set the wolves will forget the origin of the powers. They will heed our help once more and we will be ready to take back what was rightly ours.

The book went into great detail about the elemental powers. As they were originally witches powers the things the book suggested they could do was far more impressive than I had seen. It made me believe that most of what was in this book might be true.

I returned the book and saw Peter was reading one on jewellery. Knowing it must have an importance I didn’t understand I looked over his shoulder.

“Sacred powers weren’t meant to be stored. So if it’s true they have managed then it’s going to be in one of these.” He showed me the page. “Well Esme said to look for witch jewellery and I confess I don’t quite know wat that is?”

I couldn’t think either to be honest. I didn’t recall the witches I had met wearing anything unusual. I tried to think back to the coven I had stayed at with Piper. Most of that time I had tried just to forgot but I as I recalled one of the older witches wore a star like pendant.

Pointing at a star pendant named Astrea’s Star.

“So we are looking for something like that?”

Peter shook his head. “I thought it would be more like a locket or amulet ? You know with somewhat of trapping powers within.”

“Wouldn’t you need an artefact to store anything like that?”

Peter like back to the book. “I think you might be correct. Well that makes life easier, it’s the medallion.”

“It does ? What medallion?”

“King Adlafundis is the owner of Chandra’s medallion. It’s been in his family for ever. He always wears it. It’s perfect, meaningful, large enough and it opens like a locket.”

“Okay let’s go find it then.”

“Haven’t you noticed, he always wears it. If that’s what we want we have no chance.”

“He can’t wear it at all times ?” While I knew stealing anything from the King, negated my protection I found myself kind of wanting to impress Estelle’s father, make him think I’m fit for her, to be King.

“Unless you brought someone who can seduce him and get it for us I don’t see how we can get to it.” He shook his head and closed the book. “Anyway we probably should just concentrate on keeping you alive. We aren’t getting anyway here.”

He was probably correct but I was already forming a plan. While we didn’t bring anyone, I wondered how much Rhiannon wanted to leave. Could I broker her safe passage in exchange for it ?

“Keep looking for anything we missed, let me see if I can go about getting that medallion.” I told Peter. I waked out of the library with no idea how to try and find Rhiannon. She had been told to take us to our quarters so she would possibly be there but I didn’t know where that was.

Strangely the corridors were quiet, I didn’t know what I had been expecting but certainly not the freedom I was experiencing.

This time when the lilac scent caught my nose it was stronger than before.

“There you are.” Rhiannon smiled at me. Why hadn’t I noticed her pretty green eyes before. They were mesmerising.

“I was just coming to find you.” I told her.

“Follow me I’ll show you to your quarters, the Prince sent some refreshments.”

I hadn’t forgotten my warning not to eat or drink anything from them but I smiled politely. Distracted a little by the swish of her hips as lead the way. I hadn’t noticed her curves before but the dress she was wearing now left little to the imagination.

We neared a door that appeared to be mine.

“Thanks, I guess I’ll see you at the challenge?”

Her eye filled up with tears at my words. Without warning she threw herself into my arms and I felt those sparks again.

“You can’t fight him,” she hiccuped. “I’ve just found you again, I can’t lose you.”

Her liliac scent was so strong now, I found myself not wanting to let her go.

“What’s going on? Why does she feel like my mate?”

“I don’t know, I feel it too. But you can’t have two mates.”

The sudden thought that something had happened Estelle hit me like a bucket of cold water. I froze, Rhiannon in my arms look a moment to pick up on it.

My mind was reeling. I needed to go back to the library and find Peter, see if he knew how we could check on her.

“I’m sorry.” Rhiannon sniffed. “I thought you could still feel our bond too.”

She pulled herself from my arms, tears pouring down her cheeks.

“I do feel something, I don’t quite understand but I have a mate. It’s her I’m here to fight for.”

She wiped her eyes and looked at me. “Sorry. I didn’t realise. I wasn’t expecting all these feelings or … for you to be so strong and handsome. I have wished for someone to come and save me from this place.”

“Maybe you could come with us if I win? I had a favour to ask.” Now she was out of my arms my brain fog cleared and I remembered what I had planned to ask her to do.

“The King has something I would like, something he will probably rarely take of. Do you think you could get close to him and retrieve it before we leave ?”

“If I take something from the King he will kill me.”

“Only if you get caught.?” She looked worried and I suddenly felt bad.

Pulling her back into my arms the sparks took me by surpise this time.

“Don’t worry about it. I’ll work it out.” I told her , stroking her hair. She signed happily in my arms.

As I released her she looked up into my eyes.

“Thank you.”

She brought her lips to mine, catching me by surprise as she kissed me.

Standing on her tip toes she pushed her hips against my c**k as she wrapped her little hands around my neck.

“Kiss me.” She whispered against my lips. I let her tongue enter my mouth as her hands pulled my lips closer to hers. There was a desperate hunger in her kiss and I could feel my body responding to her as she pulled me close.

As her kisses moved from my lips she kissed my marking spot and I now had a large bulge below. I gasped in surprise, inhaling a lungful of her lilac scent as I felt her small hand wrap around my c***.

Stroking it gently I let out a strained groan. She removed her hand, pushing my jeans down, she then pressed my chest so I was sat on the bed.

Smiling at me she then knelt before me and took my now pulsing c*** in her mouth.

“F***” I exclaimed as I felt sparks at the top as she teased me with her tongue, her hand wrapped around the base. Every now and they her hand would leave my c*** and circle my a** leaving little trails of sparks in its wake.

I found myself desperate for release and soon my hands here holding the back of her head, thirsting my c*** deep inside her mouth. Just before I could feel my release coming I felt her hand at my a**. Inserting a finger as I came inside her mouth, twitching as she swallowed my c*m without releasing me.

“F***” I groaned as I withdrew from her mouth. My eyes closed as the tingles in my c*** refused to lessen.

I felt pressure on my knees as she stood up. That was replaced by the weight of a body on my lap. When I opened my eyes she was sitting astride me. But now naked.

I stared at the sight before me. Her large full breast were just under my eyes and as she cupped them I could see her n*****s were already hard buds.

“You are beautiful.” I croaked.

I could feel sparks on every part of my body that was touching her now. As she rubbed her naked p**** over my c*** I could feel her wetness.

Lifting her of my lap, I placed her onto the bed, staring at her beautiful body before pulling of my t shirt. Before I could remove my jeans there was a knock the door.

Frowning, I pulled them up and went to answer. Finding Peter standing there I was confused for a moment.

“It’s time to take… you know.” He said.

My mind went blank, all I could think about was the naked girl in my bed so when I didn’t respond he looked concerned.

“You okay? You didn’t eat or drink anything ?”

Other than love, I thought to myself, catching my smile I shook my head.

“Okay well take it now, hopefully then it will be working on time.”

He looked at my pocket so I reached inside, taking out a tiny bottle and draining the contents.

“Try and get some sleep, they haven’t moved the time forward yet so I’ll go cause some trouble.”

The challenge, I had momentarily forgotten why I was here. I needed to get my head in the game.

I closed the door and turned around, pausing as I took in the sight waiting for me on my bed.