Chapter 2
Atall, broad-shouldered young man jogged up to Aedan and Lucie.
He moved with the kind of easy confidence that came from knowing exactly how much space he took up.
Dark green hair fell across his forehead, a shade or two deeper than his eyes, which carried a mischievous gleam.
His arms were thick with muscle, and when he folded them across his wide chest, the fabric of his shirt pulled tight at the shoulders.
A lopsided grin spread across his face as he looked at his cousins.
“I’ve been looking for you two … well, specifically Aedan. No offense, Luce, but hanging around you is like wearing girl repellent.”
Lucie giggled and shook her head. Aedan and Justice were naturally close. In fact, Justice had taken on the unofficial role of Aedan’s guardian.
Guardians were only for fairy royalty. Their lineage was a long story, and she often just left it out because people didn’t understand.
But they were descendants of fairy royalty.
In fact, her father was the fairy prince before he became the King of the Werewolves.
In fairy lore, it is the queen and princess who hold all the power, and it is their children that get the royal titles.
Since their father was the fairy prince, neither of them would be considered fairy royalty.
Her cousin Alexa was, though. She was the fairy princess, and one of her best friends.
Justice’s dad, Chasen, was her father’s guardian. This was where Justice got the idea.
Lucie looked at her awkward cousin. He was always a character to have around.
But if a fight broke out, you would want him on your side.
He and his sister Destiny were part werebear and part demon.
But what was remarkable was how similar their powers were to each other.
It was almost as if they had become their own species.
Neither one could shift, but they had very unique powers.
They could materialize special swords from thin air when they needed them. These swords harnessed their powers.
This wasn’t just true for them. Their other cousin Raine also had a similar sword.
She was part kelpie and part werebear, but her powers were similar to those of Destiny and Justice.
Her parents and relatives always insinuated it was the work of the Moon Goddess, and they believed this was planned for the future. But who really knew?
Lucie and Aedan were part werewolf, fairy, witch, and vampire. But because their father was the Werewolf King, their wolves reigned supreme. They had extra abilities but were basically just very dangerous shifters.
She smiled as she watched Justice animatedly talk about these ‘hotties’ that came from another pack. He was getting Aedan all amped up and begging him to help fix him up for the night. Ugh. Men. Or boys? She couldn’t decide what they were. Man-boys? They were somewhere in between.
“Hey, by the way, Dessy is leaving the pack TONIGHT! She decided she was ready for Harley to claim her and he doesn’t want to wait another night.
” Justice grinned. “Momma is excited for her and is of course a blubbering, jumping, excited mess. But Dad took Harley to the side and is having a nice little chat with him. I’m guessing it’s along the lines of ‘I killed two hellhounds during the war, and if you mistreat my daughter, I have no problem adding you to that list.’ Blah blah blah.
Though, according to Uncle Grayson, Dad only killed one hellhound. ” Justice chuckled.
An ongoing bone of contention in the family was how many hellhounds his dad and two uncles had killed during their battles with demons, before and during the demon war.
Brody and his dad claimed two, but their Uncle Grayson dealt the final blow on the last one, so he added it to his list, making his total four hellhounds killed.
“Uncle Grayson only says that to tease your dad, and Harley knows it. We all know how much your dad respects and depends on Harley.” Lucie shook her head, smiling. “But you males always have to put on a show, which I think is really your inner insecurities crying out.”
“Inner insecurities?” Aedan smirked and slowly turned to look at his sister.
“Is that what she said?” Justice smirked at Lucie too as both man-boys faced off against her.
“I didn’t stutter.” Lucie planted her hands on her hips and tilted her head. A half smile spread over her face as she waited for them to make a move.
“Hmmm. I think I need to show you my poor, insecure strength,” Aedan said as he pumped his chest out with an exaggerated, fake, manly laugh. Maybe they really were just boys.
Justice fake pounded his fist in his hand. “I say we make her beg for mercy.”
“Touch my future princess and you’ll be the ones begging for mercy.” A soft baritone voice sounded as a blur planted itself at Lucie’s side.
“Jasper, whose side are you on?” Aedan furrowed his eyebrows at the vampire. “She told us that us males are insecure.”
Jasper quirked a brow at Lucie. “Is that right, Luce?” he said, taking a step away from her and standing next to Aedan’s side. “Well then, I do think a punishment is in order.”
Lucie rolled her eyes. They were like a couple of yappy little dogs … all bark but no bite. At least when it came to her.
Jasper was vampire nobility. His father was the Vampire King’s brother.
In other places, he would be considered a duke, but vampires didn’t use those titles.
He was just considered higher ranked among the vampires.
Jasper was fun, goofy, and considerate. And with his pale skin, blond hair, and brown eyes, he was quite the lady’s man, and he knew it.
His parents were close to her family and always tried to make it for special events. It was their way of staying in close contact with Lucie, since she was to be their princess. And Lucie was glad to be so close to Jasper, since she wouldn’t feel as homesick having a good friend like him around.
“As much as I love punishing Lucie, there are a few ladies back at the party who were looking a bit lonely. And with Jasper as our wingman, I think we have an in,” Justice said.
“Hey, what about me?” Aedan huffed out.
“Jasper is way smoother with the ladies.” Justice chuckled. “Well, you in, Jasp?”
“I don’t know … I came here to hang with Luce.” Jasper looked over at Lucie with a guilty, hopeful look.
Lucie giggled. “Get out of here, you morons. And let’s hope those girls don’t have any brains. Otherwise, you’re all out of luck.”
“Ouch, Luce. My heart.” Aedan pouted, clutching his chest.
“Eh, I hope they are shallow, because that’s our in. Between our good looks and our titles, we have an in.” Justice shrugged. He didn’t care. An in was an in. He graduated and he was ready to celebrate.
Jasper winked at Lucie and the three boys strolled off together, laughing and pumping up their egos.
Like she said … insecure. Lucie smiled and shook her head.
Ah well, she loved them and their obnoxious ways.
A small part of her was jealous of them too.
They could all go off and flirt with random girls.
None of them had mates and were free to enjoy their youth, while everyone knew Lucie was spoken for.
She walked toward the packhouse and the party in the back.
Destiny would be attached to Harley somewhere, and that was who she usually hung out with.
But maybe Raine and Alexa would show up.
Their families had these unique pearls that would let them teleport to the location of the other pearl.
There were a total of four of them, and one piece would be going with Lucie when she left the Black Ice Pack.
But she wasn’t sure if they were coming, since they had just come to visit the day before for a smaller, family celebration.
Today was bigger, one for the other packs to feel involved.
She immediately saw her father Hunter when she walked around the corner of the house.
He was always busy speaking to the different pack members that were present.
Most alphas didn’t miss the opportunity to meet with their king, so when there was a party, they knew a lot of packs would attend.
This meant her dad didn’t have a lot of extra time during these parties.
“Sorry. I need to steal my husband for a bit.”
Lucie watched her mother save her father from whatever boring conversation was going on.
Her mother was an amazing person. Not only was she wise, but she was incredibly strong.
Once upon a time, she was called the huntress.
She was a well-known demon hunter but was now an amazing queen to the werewolves.
Her parents made their way over to her. “Lucie, my baby girl. Where’s your brother?” Hunter asked, wrapping his spare arm around Lucie and pulling her against his side.
“I think Aedan is with Jasper and Justice right now. They’re trying their luck with some of the fresh meat available.” Lucie rolled her eyes and laughed.
Hunter sighed. “He really needs to start getting more involved in these political talks.”
“You can barely stay awake during them. Don’t torture our son with them already.” Freja elbowed him, smiling.
“Are Grandma and Pap Pap coming?” Lucie asked.
“You just missed your grandparents. They stopped by for a bit but couldn’t stay. There’s some flower blooming ceremony that your grandma has to bless, since your aunt Reiya hasn’t taken over her responsibilities as the fairy queen yet. They plan to come back tomorrow.”
Hunter noticed his beta Sam walking toward them. “No no, Sam. No more.”
Freja giggled, listening to her mate whining over his duties. “And you wanted to burden your son with this. Look at you.”
Sam chuckled. “Sorry, Alpha. There are two packs disputing territory lines, and it’s starting to get heated.”
Hunter rubbed his forehead and sighed. He grinned at Freja. “This one sounds like a job for my queen.”
“You don’t want me to handle it. If I start handling these entitled alphas’ pack problems, we’re going to have less and less packs to worry about.” Freja gave him a crooked grin.
“Hmm.” Hunter pretended to consider what she was offering.
“I’ll go with you and give you a hand. For some reason, they seem to behave better when I’m around.”
“That’s because your deadly reputation precedes you, my dear.” Hunter kissed the top of Freja’s head. “Alright, Sam. Lead us to them.”
“Lucie.” Freja glanced at her daughter. “Go. Enjoy yourself. You don’t always have to act like the perfect princess.
” She winked at her daughter as she walked off with Hunter.
Lucie always behaved as expected. But she wanted her daughter to have a bit of fun and experience life.
If only they could blend Lucie and Aedan’s personalities together.
That would be perfect. Aedan was always more wild and had a tendency to get himself in trouble.
But soon he would be burdened with a lot of responsibility, so she was fine with him enjoying himself for now.
Lucie walked over to an isolated bench away from the party commotion and sat down. Enjoy herself? Hard to do when everyone was afraid to approach her. Between her family and being already promised to another, most people politely avoided her. Well, most men did.
“I see I’m not the only one looking for a quiet place to escape.”
Lucie looked up to see a set of baby blue eyes looking down at her. The man had a dazzling white smile with cute dimples, and he didn’t hide the fact that he was openly checking her out. Her cheeks flushed slightly. No one had ever been this bold with her. He must not have known who she was.
“It’s Lucie, right?” he asked, keeping his grin wide.
Lucie smiled and nodded her head. Okay, so maybe this party wouldn’t be so bad.