Dark Soul

A curse to break. A sister to find. A quadrant to reclaim.

After the initial shock of being soul seared to a stranger, Creed and I realize the universe might know what it's doing afterall. As the two realms unite and initial relationships are made, the news of our mating breeds more than salacious curiosity throughout Dornte—it ignites hope.

The citizens want safety. And freedom. And the restoration of the royal family.

With the rule of the usurper queen threatened, Laryssa's claws come out and her most effective weapons against Creed are: threatening my life, tormenting his sister, and empowering the blood witch to torture him with the dark beast he's been cursed with.

But Creed isn't alone in his fight anymore. Now he has us.

Creed
The contact of skin-to-skin thrums like a jolt of electricity from the ink of our joined mating marks. The energy throbs through my pounding heart, and straight to my aching cock. Technically, Keyla’s hand in mine is no longer a necessity of life or death, but I grew fond of it over the past three days and am not willing to give it up.
I’m not sure if it’s the same for her, but she doesn’t hesitate to lace our fingers when I prompt her to hold my hand, so I choose to think that’s telling. “Do you feel it, Little Wolf? Destiny is calling.”
She smiles up at me as we make our way through the crush of civilians outside the portal hub. Her brown eyes are as dark and rich as Travon chocolate and hold more trust and compassion than I deserve. “I do.”
“Is your destiny beacon back?” Dillan asks.
Keyla shifts her attention to the third in our mating, the ex-military bear shifter she was in love with when the universe soul-seared us as the perfect match for one another. I consider him her plus one, but she wants us to be more than that.
Who knows? Maybe we will be.
“Yes, it’s back,” she says, as we reach the stairs into the building and start climbing. “It subsided when we first arrived in Dornte but disappeared after the mating. It’s back now and it’s calling.”
“I remember that feeling,” Kotah says, jogging along beside us. “As uncertain as things seemed then, it lead me to a life I never dreamed possible.”
I cast a sideways glance and meet the Wolf King’s easy smile. Can anyone be this nice? Kotah has been nothing but understanding and supportive since this whole mating mess began.
It makes sense he wants Keyla to be happy and safe, but even when I scan his mental energies and intentions, with my mind guardian gifts, he genuinely wants the best for me as well.
How is that possible? He doesn’t know me.
As crazy as it sounds, sometimes I swear simply being near him makes me feel calmer and more at peace with the mess that is my life.
We crest the top step of the Dornte portal hub and as citizens recognize me, they shift out of our way and bow. Kotah and Keyla smile as we pass and genuinely acknowledge them. I realize, in many ways, I’ve never embraced being set apart as their prince.
In my youth, I tried to blend in, work alongside the citizens, learn about their lives, and show them I was one of them. The past two years since my father was killed and my crown was taken, I learned how wrong I was.
I’m either their prince or I’m not.
And if I’m their prince, I need to fight for the throne of the quadrant I’m destined to rule. Keyla said her brother, Kotah, never wanted to become King of the Human Realm but when their father died last week, the male straightened up and assumed his place.
It’s hard to believe he’s only been a king for a week.
Watching them interact with my citizens is humbling. They aren’t stopping or speaking with them, and yet, even the way they hold their heads and nod makes it obvious they are more ‘royal’ than I am.
They are gracious and warm.
They seem to value the people around them whether they are attendants in the portal gate or displaced citizens living in the tunnels below the city or strangers smiling at them on the street.
They make it look easy.
Keyla said I have the right to be guarded after years of torment and torture and that’s true, but it’s not the kind of king I want to be once we reclaim my throne.
“Everything all right?” Keyla asks, squeezing my hand. We’ve entered the main atrium at the Dornte portal hub, and a hundred people are shuffling around us.
I lean in and kiss her cheek. “Fine. Just adjusting to my new world.”
“And are they welcome adjustments?”
I take in our group: my stunning wolf queen, our broody but intelligent bear, my brother-in-law Wolf King, and my… Rhylan.
Rhylan isn’t my anything. At least not anymore.
I meet Rhy’s scowl, and it gives me a sour taste in my mouth. His foul disposition is nothing new, but something changed. This anger is directed at me.
Is he mad I’m wriggling out from under his thumb? Does he resent the first spark of happiness and hope I’ve had in over two years? Did he expect me to remain a prisoner in my wing of my own castle for the rest of my life? In truth, it’s me who should be furious.
He held me prisoner.
He lied about my mother’s death.
He has no right to be angry with me.
Keyla presses a hand to my cheek and recaptures my full attention. “My prince?”
I blink and snap back to the moment at hand. “Yes, sorry, what? Oh, apologies, you asked me something.”
Her gaze is intimate and unarming. I’ve spent the past two years locking myself away from the world and it’s unsettling to have someone slip under my defenses as easily as Keyla does. “I wondered if the adjustments to your world are welcome. Are you all right?”
I stop and our group slows to stop around us. Lifting her chin with my finger, I bend to capture her lips. Whatever this is—the soul-searing or our mating bond or simply the blessing of having a female devoted to me and a brighter future in sight—it is bliss to kiss her.
Magic.