Synopsis:
Leo has left the pride and kingdom in search of freedom from all the burdens of a crown he never wanted. Now those burdens fall on Liam the second born, the Last Alpha. He needs to find his mate, his Queen, but his lion has rejected every woman presented to him. His social season will start within a months’ time, and he will have to be married at the end of the season so that he can ensure that he has an heir by his 30th birthday. He does not want to settle for just choosing any woman to bear his cubs, he wants his woman, would he find her? His friends sensing his unease plan for one last trip before he is plunged into the abyss of endless balls, wine, and women trying to win a crown.
The Characters.
Liam, a lion shifter, is the new Alpha and King of Cordonia, a small country that is home to shifters and humans alike. Liam was not born to be king but with his brother Leo’s abdication and his father’s death he has no choice but to rule.
Drake, a wolf shifter, is his best friend a secret part of his security team.
Bastien, a wolf shifter, is the Omega to Drake’s father’s Alpha. When Drake and his sister were still young pups, the Alphas were killed and Bastien was tasked with raising Drake to become Alpha of the pack and King Guard.
Bertrand, a bear shifter, a noble that has always been close to the royal family as far several generations before. He is the Alpha of his clan.
Maxwell, the younger brother of Bertrand, and close friend of Liam’s. He is the fun-loving, havoc-wreaking of the group and his antics have gotten him more than a few reprimands from the elders.
Madeleine, a lioness, desperately want to be an Alpha, she was hoping to mate with Leo, and their parents had agreed that she would be his mate, but his lion refused to be told what to do. Her eyes are still on the crown even if she would have to settle for the second born, she will rule the pride, have his heir, then get rid of him.
Olivia, a dragon shifter, thought to be the last one left in Cordonia, best friend of Liam’s, she truly loves him, but his lion did not want her for a mate. Though she is heartbroken she knows that Liam wants to find his true mate and not just mate that a second-best option. She too was looking for her true mate, but she and her dragon do not agree with the dragon’s choice.
Siryah, a human, has heard of shifters and has a few for friends. After the death of her parents when she was sixteen, she was sent to live with her aunt and her aunt’s boyfriend. A few months before her seventeenth birthday, the boyfriend tries to have his way with her, her aunt moves her to the apartment that her parents left for her and tells her to stay away. She helps her to emancipate herself so that she can live alone and not have to live in foster care for a year. But her aunt took most of her inheritance and left her to fend for herself.
Daniel, a jaguar shifter, has watched over Siryah since she came to work at the bar five years ago. His one of the very few people that she has in her life that love her and she trusts completely.
Em, short for Emma, human with shifter traits, is the fiancé of Daniel, even though in the shifter world that they are a mated pair, they are still having a wedding to appease Em’s family. She is one of the few people that Siryah has in her life.
Need to know before you read:
What is a Shifter?
A shifter is a paranormal that has been born with two souls, that of a human and that of an animal. They both can control the body, thoughts, desires, and actions. They have a heightened sense of smell and hearing. They can detect lies. Each shifter typically looks for their mate, they one person that both their animal and human chose, the one that they will create a soul bond. When they find their mate, there are no questions, they just know, and they are ready to commit to forever, no one will ever take the place of their true mate.
Need to know facts about Shifters:
Men:
- They are built like Gods.
- Tall, Sexy, Well Endowed. (Like very)
- Can never lie, but are too direct for some, they will always tell you like it is.
- Masters of talking dirty.
- Insatiable
- Loves curvy women, I mean that is their preferred type.
- Fierce protectors of their people, they would rather die protecting their mate and family.
- Family oriented
Women:
- They are a reflection of Goddess.
- Curves for days
- Can never lie.
- Can be very petty, best not to cross on, especially if they want to mate with the Alpha.
- Family oriented.
- Some do not like the men choosing human females over them.
- Fierce protectors of their people
- Some have been known to fall for human males.
DISCLAIMER: All characters belong to Pixelberry Studios. I am just borrowing them for this story.
Chapter 1: The Beginning of it All
New York,
It was eight years ago today, that Siryah would lose her parents. It was seven years that she found out that her aunt was truly a piece of shit. Her parents left her an inheritance of a half million dollars, between the apartment, the storefront that was downstairs, and the insurance money, Siryah should have been set. Instead, her greedy aunt stole $200,000 from her as “custodial fees”, she probably would have taken it all if her parents didn’t really trust her mother’s sister and only released part of the money upon their death and the rest when she turned 25. Thank God, her 25th birthday was in a month. She may finally get out of debt and be able to take the European vacation that she has been dying to take.
Living paycheck to paycheck, with the student loans starting to be due, was a struggle. She just graduated with her master’s in Global Finance from NYU Stern School of Business. She had been fortunate that her parents had started a 529 plan for her to pay for all her undergrad at Columbia University, where she majored in International Business and International Relations. She has been looking for jobs that would allow her to use her degrees, but she hasn’t decided what she wants to do just yet. For now, she had to work a double shift in the shitty little hole in the wall bar. It has helped her pay her bills as since her Aunt ran off with her money.
Today is going to be a miserable day.
Cordonia
The sun has just risen in the early morning sky, Liam is waking up to the sound of his royal assistant clearing his throat.
“Good morning your Majesty, sorry to wake you, but your stepmother has requested your presence for breakfast in one hour.”
“Thank you, James. Let her know that I will see her in an hour’s time.” Liam can see that James is debating whether to continue speaking, by the look on his face, he knows that the Prince is not going to like the news.
“Out with James,” Liam sighs.
“Your Highness, Lady Madeleine and Lady Olivia will be joining her…” James sees the anger flash in Liam’s eyes and decides not to continue but quickly states, “Very well, sire, I will inform her Majesty that you will attend breakfast.” He turns and practically runs out of Liam’s chambers.
“Why must that woman insist on prancing that contemptuous woman in front of me at every moment.!” He roars, his lion is furious. They both agree that Madeleine is the worst female in the Pride and he would not wish her on his worst enemy.
“Easy there, Tiger!” someone chuckles as they enter his quarters.
“Shut up. Drake” Liam scowls.
“Whoa, someone woke up in a mood,” Drake says, raising his hands defensively in the air.
“You know what, will you join me for breakfast?” Liam asks.
“Only if they serve a real breakfast, none of that toast and jam with a poached egg shit. I need steak and eggs!” Drake demands.
Liam laughs, “I’ll send James a text stating that we will be having steak and eggs, bacon, the works.”
“Now you’re talking, I must run a few things by Bastien, what time should I be there?” questions Drake.
“In forty-five minutes,” Liam replies.
“I’ll see you then.” Drake turned and walked out the door.
Liam smiles, he knows that he should have warned Drake about his guest.
“Serves him right for calling me a tiger!” he chuckles then turns his attention to preparing for this breakfast fiasco.
New York
“Hey Si, how are you?” Daniel asks when she came through the door. He could smell her misery. Then he looked at the date on the calendar, he had meant to get this day covered for her, he quickly texts his mate, Emily, to tell her to come and get Si, before turning to her, “hey boss man is in a real mood, I got Sarah to cover your shifts today, Em is coming to pick you up.” Si looks up from the cup of coffee that he sat before her ready to protest, but he cuts her off. “Don’t worry I am doing payroll, I will make sure you are paid for today, and we all are giving you our tips today. No arguments.”
Tears threaten to start falling, he remembers what today means to her, and she only came to work because she did not want to be alone, today of all days.
Cordonia
“What the hell are you doing here?” sneered Madeleine as Olivia sauntered into the formal dining room.
“I am here for breakfast same as you, what did you actually think that I would miss this,” a smirk crosses Olivia’s face, “It is my favorite show, ‘Completely Desperate Cunt.’”
Madeleine face contorted with rage. “How fucking dare you address me as such, Duchess.”
“Oh, but you forget yourself, Countess.”
“Enough both of you!” Regina roars. The feuding women as shocked into silence.
“Forgive me, your Majesty, I should have held my tongue and not let my anger get the better.”
“Kiss ass!” Olivia states rolling her eyes.
“Olivia, I do not remember asking you to join us for breakfast.”
“Well your Majesty you didn’t, but with Liam’s social season starting, wouldn’t it look bad for you if the rest of the court would find out that you are going behind their back to push your niece onto your second son?”
“How would they find out, Olivia?”
“Simple, I would tell them, that you kicked me out of a breakfast to make sure your niece got an unfair advantage.”
Just as Regina and her lion were about to threaten Olivia, Liam and Drake entered the room.
“I thought this was for you and me…” Drake whispered through clenched teeth.
“Stop calling me, tiger,” Liam whispered, Drake could hear the amusement in his voice.
“Mine.” His wolf stated. “Like hell!” Drake’s human side retorted.
New York
Em had picked up Siryah at the bar and was telling her about the day that she had planned for them. Siryah really liked Em, she was a little jealous of her when Daniel chose her, but Em understood and she helped Siryah to understand how shifters worked.
“Siryah, I understand that you have feelings for Daniel, but I never meant to come between you two, he says that he thinks of you like a little sister…” the memory of that conversation played in her mind. That was the day that she learned that one, he was a shifter and two, that both his animal and his human side must agree on a person, and if they do, then they have met their true mate and the soul bond is completed. It took her a few months to get over her disappointment, but he eventually came to see how good they were together and how differently he treated Em than the affection that he had shown to her.
“Si, are you okay?” Em voice cuts through the memory.
“Yeah, I am glad that Daniel got Sarah to work for me, I don’t think that I could put up with Jacob riding my ass all day today.”
“Is that all you were thinking about?” Em questioned. “you know I can smell a lie now? It is one of the perks of being mated with a shifter, you can smell things that you couldn’t as a human, boy this ability would have saved me so many tears and anger.” she grinned.
“Oh, don’t go all shifter on me, but I was just thinking about how good you and Dan are, and I was just thinking that I would want that for myself too. I am tired of being alone, you know. Not that I am looking for Prince Charming, but someone who wouldn’t lie or cheat or take me for granted.” Sadness was filling her eyes and radiating off her in waves.
“My birthday is in a few weeks, and I will get the rest of my inheritance, maybe I should take a vacation, getaway for a little while and clear my head. I am thinking that I will take that dream vacation after I pay off my school debt.
“Si, you definitely need to get away for a bit. You have worked so hard for so long, do something unexpected for yourself. Live a little.”
Cordonia
“Thank you for finally joining us, Liam. I had hoped that this would be a quiet family gathering, but I see that you seem to have invited Olivia and Drake to eat with us.” Regina said with polite disdain.
“Madeleine is not my family, Regina, she is yours. And Drake and Olivia are always welcomed at MY table any time they choose to join. So, what is this all about, hmm?”
“Well as you know, we need to start planning your social season, since your father has passed. You will need to choose your Queen in three months’ time. It is no surprise that I have my choice, but it needs to come from you. You will need to have an heir by your 30th birthday to keep from being challenged for the pride and the throne. So, if you are insisting on not just choosing my pick, then we have to go on with the season, which is a waste of time.”
“What she means Liam, she just wants you to marry her niece and fuck her brains out and get her knocked up.” Olivia bluntly states. “I mean, since your brother ran away from her, you would have no choice, the perfect trap.”
Drake stares at Olivia, he could tell that she hated the other two women in the room as much as he did. Olivia was unlike any of the other nobles that he has come to know. She was fiery and spoke whatever came to mind. His wolf chooses her for a mate, but he will not admit it to anyone, not even himself.
“Well, good thing my 30th birthday is not until next year, so I have time to find my true mate, as I keep stating Regina, I will not just choose anyone to be my mate. I want the one that appeases both my human and animal side. that is the only way that I will have heirs. Just because my father had two loveless marriages, does not mean I will settle for one myself.”
“Liam, be sensible,” Madeleine coos, “I have been raised my whole life to rule beside a great king and alpha, I am more than willing to give you an heir and a spare, and rule with you. I will be entering my heat cycle soon, so with us mating, you will have an heir well before 30th birthday, and your reign will be protected, no one would challenge you.”
“Jesus, Madi, people are eating! I suddenly have lost my appetite.” Drake exclaims.
“Like I care, you mangy mutt, you will address in the manner my station requires, commoner.” she hisses.
“Yes, Drake you will address her by her proper title, Countess Cunt.”
Madeleine cut her eyes to Olivia, sneers, “You’ll pay soon enough, Duchess.”
“That is correct, I am a Duchess, glad you know your place, Countess.”
Drake looks at Liam who is failing to stifle a laugh, before restoring his stoic posture and addressing the bickering women. “Ladies, enough is enough, I think we can call breakfast done, since appetites are ruined, and Madeleine, as I stated to you before, I do not require any services you have to offer, and if you dare address Drake in such a manner again, you will not be welcomed in my home, I am the King, you are a guest in my home, Regina has no power here. You would do well to remember. Please excuse us Drake and I have pressing matters to discuss.” With that being said, Liam and Drake leave the dining room.
“Well, this has been an eventful breakfast, I will take my leave,” Olivia says departing from Madeleine and Regina’s presence.
Regina is seething with anger, “We have got to get rid of that woman.”
“Don’t worry dear Auntie, I will be Liam’s mate, no one will challenge me for that right. They all know that there will be consequences if they even try, but I will instruct them all to at least make it look convincing. As for Olivia, her days will be numbered, once I am Queen, I will deal with her, after all, she is truly all alone in the world; no one will miss her when she is gone.”