Chapter 15

Tara

It's amazing how much a long bath and drying out in front of a fire warms the spirit. I feel good down to my toes, and that's saying a lot given the fact that I'm deep in shifter territory. In enemy territory. In a shifter castle.

Let's not ruin the mood with those kinds of thoughts.

Slipping on my green dress and black corset make me feel like myself for the first time in days. I turn and admire myself in a mirror positioned in one corner of the room they put me in and smile. Maybe I don't look great compared to Edna and the other witches but here, alone, I don't think I look half bad.

Could I actually be a little happy?

It helps that things are going better than I imagined. This room they've given me so does not give off prison cell vibes. It's spacious, with a tall ceiling. Dark wood makes up the room and dark wood runs in beams above me. There's a huge bed, the biggest bed I've ever seen before, and doors leading out to a big balcony. I'm on the second floor too, so I definitely have a beautiful view of trees and a lake in the distance.

There's a light knocking at my door.

"Come in!" I call out, expecting a servant.

Instead, Prince Rinan pushes open the door and strides in. My stomach does a little flip when I see him. He's cleaned up after our long days of traveling. His face is cleanly shaven, his dirty blond hair so fluffy that I have the strangest urge to run my fingers through it, and he's wearing a blue shirt the same pale color as his eyes. The sleeves are rolled up, drawing attention to his muscular arms.

My husbands are many things. Men who hate me. Shifters. Enemies. But they're also incredibly handsome, I'll give them that.

"Princess Tara… how are you settling in?" he asks, his gaze sweeping from my armoire with all my clothes to my bed, where all my weapons have been laid out.

I'd been trying to decide if I should keep weapons on me here, and if so, which ones. Would I want them to be obvious? Like a sword at my hip? Or more subtle, like a dagger on my thigh? I probably should have decided faster.

"I'm doing well. The room is far nicer than I thought it would be."

His gaze meets mine and lingers as it runs over me. "Oh?"

I bite my lip, trying to ignore my nerves. "Yeah, Prince Drogo had mentioned something about me being in a cell, so I wasn't sure what to expect."

To my surprise, he laughs, and the sound is rich and masculine. "We're not savages. Besides, you shouldn't listen to Prince Drogo, he's a bit of a grump."

"He is, isn't he?" I ask, smiling, feeling like I'm connecting with one of these men for the first time.

His smile falters. "And being in witch territory put us all on edge."

"So you probably felt a little how I feel now," I say without thinking, then flinch, wishing I could take the words back.

He studies me, those pale eyes of his assessing me. "Do you feel unsafe here?"

I cock my head, not wanting to answer. "Should I feel safe here?"

His expression is hard to read as he moves around the room, letting his fingertips hover about my weapons. "Are you going to give us a reason to be wary of you?"

"No," I tell him easily.

He turns back to face me, and I again get the sense he's trying to figure me out. "You're very different from your mom."

A laugh explodes from my lips. "Says you and everyone else who meets us."

He gives a little shake of his head. "That laugh of yours… I like it."

And my heart, it swells just a little.

He walks to the door. Hand on the handle, he looks back at me. "Dinner will be ready soon, and someone will be by to escort you there."

"Thanks," I say, my face hurting from my smile.

He seems to want to say something else, but then he just turns and goes.

I breathe easily for the first time since he entered my room. There must be something wrong with me. Every time I interact with these men it feels like I've been punched in the stomach… no, more like someone is twisting my gut into knots. What that means, I have no idea, but it's probably not a good thing.

But even though my stomach feels better now, I realize that I actually miss Prince Rinan's presence. I'm lonely, but it's not the same loneliness I felt back home with my own people. The servants here just seem wary, like I'm something too new to touch. At home, they knew me too well and wanted absolutely nothing to do with me. I can deal with fear of the unknown and trepidation a lot better than people just hating me to my core.

I'll grow on them. I know I will. These shifters are going to love me eventually. Hopefully.

My thoughts are interrupted when my door swings open, and a woman is suddenly standing in my doorway. Her gaze instantly meets mine, and there's a dangerous twinkle in her eyes before she grins.

I open my mouth to speak, but have no idea what to say. She takes another step forward, and her pink gown seems to flutter around her long legs as she moves. My heart pings. Unlike me, this girl looks like the princess of every man's dreams. She"s tall and blonde, with her hair in a perfect braid over her shoulder and tanned skin.

I wonder if my husbands had a choice to choose her over me. If they did, there's zero chance they would have made the bargain for me. Unless they were forced to.

"Hi, Princess Tara!" she greets, grinning.

"Uh, hi," I say back, giving a little wave.

Her smile widens. "That's no way to greet family!" She walks over to me and pulls me into a hug. "I am so happy you"re here. There"s so much goddamn testosterone around here. It"s nice to have another woman around." She releases me and stands back looking me up and down.

"You"re cute," she tells me, her gaze running over me from head to foot. "Cute and tiny. You're like the size of a kid."

"Um, thanks," I say, confused. I don"t know who this woman is, but she"s being really nice to me, and I don"t know how to take that. "I didn't catch your name though."

"Oh goodness, I"m Lady Scarlet! Arlys's cousin. I got so excited I forgot that you have no idea who I am!" She drops my hand and plops on my bed next to my weapons. "This is quite an arsenal," she says as she picks up one of my daggers and turns it over in her hand. "Whoever made these is really talented."

I nod my head in agreement, but I don"t say a word. If she knows I made them, it might lead to questions about my magic that I'm not yet ready to answer. And the last thing I need is people figuring out how useless I am here too.

"How"s married life?" She put down my dagger and now she"s holding a sword and admiring it.

It takes me a minute to decide how best to answer her question. "Honestly, I don"t really know how married life is. I feel more like a package that"s been shipped from one place to another than a wife." It's an honest answer, but my words are chosen carefully, since I'm aware that I"m talking about her cousin.

"Well, that's certainly not the way they should be making you feel," she says, shaking her head. "I always figured when those three picked a wife, they'd treat her like the finest, most precious gem."

"Maybe if they'd married a wife outside of a peace deal," I suggest softly.

"Right? That is an unusual way to start a marriage." She smiles. "They didn't tell any of us about the deal before they left. I was shocked when those three came back with you. A wife didn"t seem like it was even on the radar, but I guess politics have a way of changing things."

I hesitate, then decide the hell with it. "They don't seem very happy about the deal."

She shrugs, but her eyes are kind. "They wanted to marry for love. They wanted to marry a mate. Creating a political alliance wasn't really something any of us considered."

Puzzle pieces are starting to slide into place for me. If they wanted to marry for love and got saddled with me, they must be feeling disappointed. Maybe even angry.

"So they're not always that… grumpy?" I ask.

She laughs again. "Nah, their bark is way worse than their bite. Prince Arlys is not a problem at all, but when he has a lot on his mind, he can be distant and cold. Prince Rinan is like a puppy, but he tends to follow the lead of the others. And Prince Drogo? Okay, well, he is a bit on the grumpy side. Getting a smile from him is like finding gold."

"And being forced to marry a witch might just lead them all to being a bit grumpy then?" I ask, brushing my sweaty palms against my dress.

She nods, then smiles. "I have to say though, you got the bum end of the deal because you seem delightful, while they're all a pack of animals."

We exchange a grin. This Scarlet, I like her.

"Yeah, and I ended up with three of them. Is that how it always goes here?"

Her smile is light. "No, not always. You see, some boys bond as young children. It's instant and noticeable. They're like bonded cats or dogs, as silly as that sounds. When they're not with each other, they're inconsolable. So when that happens, the parents of the children keep them around each other most times, if possible. Those boys, we know will end up sharing a bride. Bondings are extremely common among shifters. For every male-female pairing, there are about five pairings where there are multiple men. Sometimes just two, sometimes up to eight or nine."

"Eight or nine?" Hell no!

She laughs at my horrified expression. "Yes, but typically men marry their mates, so the women want to be with all the men. She loves them equally, so she doesn't mind how many of them there are."

"And with Princes Arlys, Rinan, and Drogo…?"

She shrugs. "They bonded as young kids and always intended on finding their mate and marrying her."

My thoughts are turning. "And you said mate? Does that just mean wife?"

"Oh, no, a mate is far more important than a wife. When you choose a wife, you could fall in love with any woman. But your mate? For males, there's only one. And the men adore her. They're drawn to her from the first moment they meet her. It's like there's a force pulling them together, and no one can escape. Hell, no one wants to escape."

This shifter society is so incredibly strange. With witches, the women basically stake their claim on whatever men they want. They seek out whoever is most capable, or the families that have yielded the most powerful witches, mostly daughters, etc. It's certainly not for love. If the man doesn't return their interest, they move on until they find one that does. Then, their hope is to have a daughter, so they can have a powerful witch in their family instead of some boy who can never wield magic. If something like this were to happen in our society though, multiple women might share one man.

"So they never have more than one wife?"

"No," she answers easily.

I think, circling through the conversation. Princes Arlys, Drogo, and Rinan knew they were going to share a woman from a young age, not someone like me. "But I'm not the princes' mate, so…"

Her smile falters. "No, you're not."

They wanted true love. Someone they all wanted to be with. Someone they felt a pulling when they were with. Instead, they got a witch they hate.

"They must be disappointed they didn't get to wait for someone so special."

She avoids my gaze. "They realize how important the treaty is."

Which is code for, yeah, they're really upset. This is the last thing they wanted. You"re the last person they wanted.

"I understand," I say, feeling a little sad.

"So… can I take you down to dinner? It's about that time," she asks.

Relieved, I pat my stomach. "I am famished for a real meal."

"You'll love our food. Moonfall Castle has some of the best food in the whole Shifter Kingdom."

She rises to her feet and we head towards the door. As we step through, Scarlett yelps. Looking behind her, I see that her dress has gotten caught on one of the crates holding my belongings. There's horror in her face as she dislodges her dress, and a good part of her skirt is torn.

"Oh no, this is my absolute favorite dress!" Her eyes glint with unshed tears. "It belonged to my mother. It's irreplaceable. I can't believe I just did that," she laments, holding the dress in her hands and running her fingers along the tear in the fabric that goes from the bottom hem of the dress to her knees.

And, unfortunately for her, the material is a delicate lace she'll never be able to repair. Not with a needle and thread, at least.

I step closer to her and touch the spot where the tear starts. "Fix," I say with the dress still in my hand.

The threads lift and meld together, seamlessly repairing the damage until the gown is whole once more. For a second, I'm stunned. This spell has worked for me in the past, but not often, and not when the witches were taunting me. But maybe without the pressure of others the spell is easier?

Strange. Does my magic work better here? I haven't set an accidental fire in a while…

I drop the fabric and look up to see her eyes wide and her mouth forming an O of shock. My stomach clenches, and I have to force myself to breathe, wondering what will happen now that I've used magic in a shifter castle. Is it forbidden? Are witches looked down upon? I hadn't thought to ask the rules.

After a moment, she asks, "Was that magic?" Then she runs her hand along the dress where the tear once was, and gapes at me.

Hesitantly, I manage, "It was… just a little bit."

"Magic can… fix things?"

A little laugh slips from my lips. "Of course!"

She stares at me, bewildered. "The only magic I"ve heard of is the kind that witches use to kill or burn or boil. All I know about magic is that it hurts. This was useful magic. It was helpful. It was good magic." She looks at me as if she truly can"t believe what she just saw.

I nod, not sure what to say, but my mind starts turning to the last time I felt that way. "I"ve only known shifters to be vicious, cruel monsters who attack and fight, but I watched a little boy shift into a tiny pup, and it was the cutest thing I ever saw. That was magical."

To my surprise, Scarlet links her arm in mine and looks me in my eye. "We might be different, but I have a feeling we"re going to be the best of friends. Who would have thought?"

My heart feels warm and happy as we head out of the room. A friend. A real friend. Is that even possible?

"Besides," she says, "not even all the packs are alike. We're all a little different."

I can barely contain my excitement at the opportunity to learn more about the packs. "How are the wolf packs different?"

She smiles as we walk. "Well, our pack, Pack Talon, is the largest and most powerful of the wolf packs, which is why Prince Rinan and Prince Drogo spend so much time here. We have more to handle, and Prince Arlys is the only child of his generation. Prince Rinan's pack is Pack Silver. Pack Silver tends to have mostly girls, which is probably obvious given that Prince Rinan has three sisters. But their numbers are so small, it doesn't help to balance the fact that there are still far more men than women among our kind. Their lands are also the most fertile, and, arguably, the most beautiful. They tend to focus a little less on war and a little more on learning and expanding their cities. Prince Drogo's pack, Pack Fury, is dominated by men. Women are few and far between, and their focus is on war. They want to destroy the wit– well, the witches, or at least they did, more than any other pack. They send the greatest number of soldiers to the war, and take great pride in doing so."

I can tell she's studying me, so I force a smile. "All of that, strangely enough, makes a lot of sense. Prince Rinan seems like someone used to being around women, while Prince Drogo–"

She surprises me by laughing. "Yeah, he's got some rough edges."

I laugh too. "I hope I'll get to see all the pack lands."

She nods. "I imagine after you're done– after things are settled, you'll see all of the wolf shifter territory."

Some part of me feels like there's something she's not telling me, but I push the feeling aside. There's enough to be scared of here – I can't start jumping at imagined things I see in the shadows.

"I would love that!" I admit, excited at the prospect.

My mom has never let me travel. I'd grown up in our small town, in my castle, learning nothing of the outside world. Here, I'm a bit afraid of what's going to happen to me, but there's also hope that things might be better than back home. Hearing things like this help me to feel that sense of hope more strongly.

"Oh, and lucky you," she says, smiling, "the king will be joining us for dinner, so you'll get a chance to meet him!"

Every happy feeling flees. King Talon. Destroyer of witches. Beast among men. Talon the Bloody. Here, today. If the three princes were frightening, I'm sure that's nothing compared to the deadly King of the Talon pack… and I"m about to dine with him.