Chapter 2
Two
Annette’s POV
It had been rough since starting at Bartholomew University.
My brothers, Ambrose and Anders, older by minutes, had found their mates a few weeks ago and had been practically MIA since.
I was left to deal with my bullies, Bambi the bimbo and Gavin the Gooch because he was somewhere between a prick and an asshole, basically on my own.
And the fact that I’m basically human, against her human self, and his shifter self.
Location, location, location.
His Royal Goochness had approached me early this morning in one of the only classes I had with him that his fiance Bambi the Bimbo wasn’t in with us.
He slid into the seat right next to me, his Jester and Court of Clowns flocking around him, and effectively, me.
I was a bigger girl. I have five-ten, a size fourteen, I was big by Fae standards, but I wasn’t fat.
I just took care of myself, ate healthy, worked out with some of the best in the business.
It was part of my training as the heir of The Society.
I had to be able to defend myself against a mirage of unexpected threats.
I had spent years being trained by some of the world’s top assassins in hand to hand combat, poisonings, and thousands of ways to kill someone.
Most of which didn’t require me to lift more than a finger.
I was toned, tough, and curvy like some beautifully written calligraphy.
I knew I was good looking with my long, snow white hair like my father’s, pairing perfectly with my creamy skin.
My eyes a striking shade of blue and my lips a pale pink, my ears had a slight point to them, making me look slightly elvish.
They were our cousins, in related species, but they were rare.
I had innocent looks with curves for days, and looked great in a body con dress and heels as well as athleisure wear.
I knew that the Gooch Douche didn’t like what he saw when he looked at his fiancé.
She was the stereotypical “beautiful girl”, all blonde hair, thin body, and breasts that jutted out like they were medically engineered onto her front because the rest of the body didn’t match.
The way his eyes lingered when he saw me, the way he searched every room when he walked in, I knew he wanted me.
He stalked into every room and hall like his animal was looking for me, needing me.
He had made it no secret since the beginning of the semester, all the while I was content on staying to myself.
I liked to watch people, observe things for myself, figure out who someone was before deciding if they were worth my time.
Most supernaturals here knew who we were, they knew our status, and they wanted to make connections at every turn.
It was exhausting, but I think because they also knew I was heir to The Society, they left me alone.
But I preferred it that way. I had to call my father not too long ago to alert him to a surge in natural forces.
My father, King of Fae, had passed all of his Fae traits, including greater auras and powers to my brothers, while only giving me white hair, the ability to sense what others were, looking as ethereal as my brothers, and wings that all Fae children got, even the ones who took after their human parent more.
Other than only those few features, I was completely human.
I was a special case, and the only technicality that had ever been permitted to be the head of The Society.
My father was the head currently, again, on a technicality.
When my mother, Avenida, my father’s mate, passed away two years ago, I still had not yet graduated from Bartholomew University, as was stipulated in the bylaws, for all heirs of The Society before taking over.
Mother was always off by herself too. She told me once when I asked her about it, “When you’re quiet, and listen, you learn more about others and their intentions.
” And she was right. I sat back and watched, making it my mission to stay out of the spotlight.
With this being my first year, it seemed that everyone knew about me and my brothers.
Even though my brothers were by far more popular, especially with the ladies, a few knew of me.
Most of them were of the supernatural variety, giving slight bows as they went.
The Young Lords and Lady Del le Fleur, Royalty of the Fae, as we were known to the supernaturals at school.
I was fine with letting my brothers take the spotlight, preferring to stay hidden in the shadows.
It was more comfortable under the cloak of darkness.
I was able to hide, be someone else, someone brave, someone fearless, someone worthy of the Fae blood that ran through my veins.
It was about the only way you knew I was Fae, other than the facial features.
I never brought out my wings, I never tried to see if I had other powers, not after the seer said I would be mostly human, and the stone man would protect me.
I partially hated that I wouldn’t have any chance of being more than human.
In the light of day, the darkness, the bad-ass-ery of it all, seemed to fade. Having never attended a regular school before, this was a lot to take in for my brothers and me.
I stupidly, naively, wanted it to be like in the movies.
When the new girl becomes popular, best friends with her roommate, and gets the handsome guy, living happily ever after.
So far, none of that had even come close to happening.
My roommate was Bambi the Bimbo who bullied me every chance she got in the privacy of our shared living room, and in hallways or the shadows of the garden.
She ignored me in front of others, attempting to maintain the image of angelic.
Basically, she kept the bitchiness wherever she didn’t have to flaunt her ugly to everyone.
I was way too comfortable with my lot already to become popular, and the only guy who showed an interest in me was Gavin the Gooch.
I wasn’t sure I wanted his attention, let alone his affection.
He was annoying in his methods, an immature child who had never been told no before and it showed.
Blatantly in the way he pulled my hair, tried to copy my work, tried to talk to me when the professor was teaching, he was always trying to bump into me, or touch me somehow and claim that it was just an accident.
I hated the feel of his skin on me, his touch against me.
I hated everything about it. It felt wrong.
My father was the longest reigning fae in the last five hundred years, while also simultaneously running The Society in my place, until I could assume the role in another three years.
I was going to be taking classes year round to finish early.
I wanted, and needed, to get my father out of the position he was in.
It looked greedy, and power hungry, the kind of Fae he always tried not to be, which went against his nature.
My brothers, being young for Fae, were still in that greedy, overindulgent phase of their lives.
I feel like I aged ten years in the last two, since Mom died.
Since Anders and Ambrose went off the rails a little.
Since Dad closed himself off. Since I was just getting through.
Now I had to deal with these two…people.
I knew Bambi was human, but Gavin, His Royal Goochness, was a lion.
He would be stuck as Beta, taking over the family’s company while his older brother took over as alpha of his pride.
One who acted like a petulant child, who wanted a toy, but didn’t want others to know he wanted to play with it. So he acted out. Not that I would ever do anything with someone who wasn’t someone I had a connection with. And an engaged man who picked on women, was not it. At all.
Then there was the other person, the scorned fiance.
Jealous, angry, and petty, all misplaced feelings because I was doing nothing to encourage the crush that jerk had for me, but the crazy broad wouldn’t believe it.
In fact, if she had to know, I stone walled him every chance I got.
I wouldn’t talk to him, or even acknowledge his presence.
I acted like I had my earbuds in between classes, and during class I was working hard to take notes and ignore him sitting next to me in every class, being that annoying space between prick and asshole.
I also had the displeasure of getting glared at by Bimbo Bambi on his other side in all his other classes.
Only the last week or so had the pathetic and elementary attempts at flirting been getting worse. The guy simply could not take a hint. It was like two plus two did not equal four to him.
He was desperate to get to me, to my connections.
I knew he wanted an in with my brothers.
They had found their mates. I wasn’t sure why, but I was pretty sure it had something to do with the annual All Hallows Eve party coming up.
Families could come visit afterwards. After listening to others, it seemed that everyone was either going in costume, or dressed in full masquerade regalia.
Two of the few nice humans I met during my many trips to the library, Coco and Freya, had talked about going or not going.
Coco was going dressed as Tour Guide Barbie from that one Disney movie so I decided to go as Workout Barbie.
I could pull it off. My mom had once described my curves as a slightly more voluptuous Marilyn Monroe.
I had a bit more ass, and my breasts were slightly larger, fuller, and anything skin tight on me looked provocative.
It was mostly a curse because most Fae men couldn’t resist, but society at large had told them I was an embarrassment to be with.
The perfect Fae woman was tall, thin, delicate. So, I was still untouched.
I would use the images I had in my mind of what an ideal partner would look like, or what he would do to me.
Then there was the cold man who would invade my senses, taking over my dreams, who would growl at my every moan and mewl.
I started dreaming of him shortly before coming here, and they only intensified after arriving.
In my dreams, he would never say anything, but he would show me everything, every emotion, every thought, in his stunning onyx eyes, glittering like they possessed galaxies in them.
And his touch. My gods his touch! He was talented with those fingers!
With that mouth! He was tender, loving, gentle.
He was a block of ice, cooling the fire within me that felt never ending.
It was in those moments, those nights when he would visit me that I would sleep like I hadn’t seen the inside of my eyelids for decades.
I never wanted to wake up from those shared moments.
I wanted to live in those moments, when he made me feel beautiful, seen, worshipped.
In this morning’s dream, he had written a message to me, tapping the notepad once before kissing my head, just as everything started getting fuzzy and I knew I was about to wake up, about to be forced back into reality.
Sitting here in Professor Tomlin’s psych class, I pulled my books out, somewhat lost in the lust of my dream.
I flipped open my notebook, my jaw hitting the floor.
I couldn’t believe it, not when I saw it, and had it sitting on my desk in front of me.
My notepad.
At the top of my ramblings, scratched in sloppy english.
“You are always more beautiful than a sunrise, more awe-inspiring than the vast seas, and each day you become even more so.”
He was real.
My stone cold man.