The Last Princess (6 page)

She didn't respond.  This wasn't just some cheap thrill.  They
had feelings and an indescribable bond between them.  If she allowed Caleb to
bite her, knowing she may never return after breaking in the palace, it would
be cruel.  Shifters mated for life, and she wouldn't condemn him to that kind
of loneliness. She had been ready to give herself over to him, but it had been
selfish on her part.

"Breaking into the castle is dangerous.  Maybe we should
wait."  She didn't want to think about the future, the palace, mating, or
anything at all except the here and now.  The moment was perfect, and she
wanted to savor it, remember every sensation and touch to memory.

He exhaled, pausing his thrusts, looking at her with those
dominant green eyes. "Don't go to the castle.  Stay with me."

Did he know she had a death wish?  Or did he want a future
with her, man and woman?  "Hush.  I want to enjoy this."  She closed
her eyes, almost tempted to listen to the fox shifter.  Forget the past, forget
the present, and just start fresh with him somewhere far away.  But running
from her pain wouldn't solve anything, and she'd always regret not going
through with her plans.

Caleb narrowed his eyes briefly, but complied.  He dropped his
head and rimmed the shell of her ear with his tongue as he continued his
assault on her pussy.  She felt so full, so alive.  Every pump of his hips sent
her spiraling, an intense pressure building up in her core.  Delia wasn't sure
how long it would stay locked away before breaking free. 

"You're so beautiful," he continually murmured near
her ear.  Even his hot breath sent her nerves racing.  Their sweat glistened
bodies rubbed against each other, creating one writhing mass of flesh and
fucking. She enjoyed his domination, which grew stronger, rougher by the
minute. He was attentive to her needs, pursuing every moan and sigh she made by
delivering exactly what she craved.

It amazed Delia how sex could unite two people on such a soul
deep level.  How could others have random encounters without feeling the same
thing?  How could her sisters not feel a connection to the men they used for
pleasure in the past?  Was Caleb unique? Was he truly her mate?  The one fate
decided, not her mother?

"Caleb, you're bringing me close.  Don't stop."  Her
orgasm loomed on the surface, begging for release.  It hummed within her,
heated her blood, and cast off pleasure of the likes she'd never known. 

"If there's one thing I want, Delia, it's to bring you
there."  He fucked her harder, his pubic bone rubbing her clit
mercilessly.  The pleasure and pressure peaked, bringing her into a realm of
calm satisfaction before ripping through her body with the intensity of an
electric charge.

"Caleb!  Oh gods!"  She throbbed around his cock,
milking him, wave after wave of contractions gripping him tighter.  He growled,
a canine sound, his teeth dangerously close to her neck as he spent his seed
inside her.

The afterglow of her first sexual experience lulled her. Caleb
crawled up alongside her once she'd shifted to lay her head on the pillow.
"Come here," he said, tucking her under his arm.  She draped an arm
over his chest, resting her head over the steady beat of his heart.  Delia
knew, even without sampling his blood, that she loved him.  Love.  It was such
a vague word, impossible to describe. But she knew it in her heart as if the
gods had whispered it in her ear. 

Chapter
Six

Ulric was on this fourth nightshift in a row.  But he couldn't
complain about something he'd signed up for. Being a palace guard was one of
the highest honors, next to being chosen to mate with one of the princesses.
One of his best friends, Alexander, was destined to marry Ulric's childhood
sweetheart, Delia Demori—the last princess. Of course, she didn't know how he
felt.  They were young and foolish back then, and Delia very much a Tom Boy.
He'd originally applied to be a palace guard to get close to her, not willing
to let their social statuses separate them as adults.  But it had all been in
vain. Three males were chosen for her, and within a year of finding out, she
fled with her sisters, never to be seen or heard from again.

Now only one of her original mates remained, impatiently
waiting for her return.  If she ever came back home they'd be married as soon
as two other males were selected.  They'd be chosen from the list of qualified
shifters who'd applied and passed every test with flying colors. Ulric was restricted
from applying because the royals said this generation already had a bear
shifter, thanks to Carna's mating, and they didn't want another. More than one
wolf was fine, but not another bear?  Whatever.

Ulric may grumble about his life, but he'd chosen his path. 
Like all palace guards, he had to devote his life to the monarchy, just as a human
priest gave up everything for their church. He couldn't mate, couldn't even
allow himself to become distracted by life outside the castle grounds. His
placement was an honor, and he kept reminding himself of the fact. 

Why couldn't he be as content as his comrades? It would make
his life more bearable.

"You're not very alert tonight.  I could have snuck right
in the passageway and you'd never have been the wiser." Wesley blew out a
cloud of smoke which mutated into eerie shapes with only the glow of the moon
shining down on them.

"I can always smell you a mile away.  That's exactly why
we're not allowed to smoke.  Other shifters can detect us."

He winked. "It'll be our little secret.  Besides, do you
remember a time when someone tried to break into the castle?" 

No one dared to come near the palace grounds, never mind the
castle.  The Royal Elite Ops were known for their training, strength, and
lethality. "And who's guarding your station while you're here busting my
balls?"

Wesley shrugged, nonchalantly taking another drag on his
cigarillo.  He looked up at the moon and exhaled. "Every fucking month. 
We should be paid extra for full moon shifts.  All I can think about is eating
pussy."

"Join the club."  All Ulric could focus on was the
girl he'd lost so many years ago.  But he'd never have a chance with her.  He
was a Royal Elite and didn't conform to what the queen wanted for the next
prince.

There was a rustling in the distance—the faintest sound that Ulric
and Wesley detected at the same moment. His friend tossed his smoke and
crouched low, his yellowish panther eyes glowing.  He was so still that one
could mistake him for a gargoyle, like the decorative ones mounted on the roof
of the palace. Neither of them spoke, awaiting their prey—any human or shifter
who dared to enter their territory.

"It's just Alexander," Ulric finally announced, his
muscles relaxing as he rose to his feet and slumped against the stone wall.

"Running at night again?  That man has the patience of a
saint.  If I were him, I'd be long gone, mated with five kids by now." 
Wesley scanned the grass at his feet. "And I just wasted a perfectly good
smoke."  He cursed, and then disappeared around the side of the castle
towards his own post.

The black wolf eyed him as it neared. That same look would
scare the piss out of a human, but not him.  There was very little that could frighten
a bear shifter, and few who would be foolish enough to challenge him. 
Alexander shifted with practiced grace and donned the clothes he'd left behind
a low lying rock on one of the stone pillars. 

Wearing just a pair of black linen pants and holding the rest
of his items, he joined Ulric at the entrance.  "I ran for two hours
straight today, can you believe it?  Every full moon brings me closer to the point
of insanity."  Alexander ran a hand through his damp hair, his jaw
clenched down hard. "I'll kill her when she returns."

Ulric's hackles immediately rose.  Even after all these years,
he had an innate instinct to protect Delia.  "
If
she returns."
As much as he'd love to see her again, and know she was safe, it would destroy
him to watch the woman he loved mated to his friend.  He'd have to smile and
play nice when all he'd want to do was steal off into the forest with the woman
he believed was always meant to be his.

"Don't test me today, Ulric.  I'm exceptionally moody
this evening.  I think I'll take a long, cold shower and then force myself to
sleep."

"Seems the moon is having a stronger effect than usual
this month. Ronan and Westley both stopped by my post to aggregate me."

"Cade was out by the fence line.  I image jerking off to
the sight of the females passing beyond the border."  Alexander laughed. 
Their predicament was laughable, but when all the joking was aside, it was
painful being an unmated male during the full moon.  Ulric's balls ached and
his dick wouldn't settle down.  The need for blood and sex challenged even the
most experienced mind. Besides shifting it was the main thing that separated
shifters from humans, reminding them of their feral roots. 

"Am I the only one taking his duty seriously?  The Elite
shouldn't be slacking like this.  One day it'll backfire."  He wasn't
usually such a stickler for the rules, but his mood was just as black as Alexander's. 

"The sun will be up soon, my friend." Alexander laid
a hand on his shoulder. "Then you can squander the day in the local
pub—plenty of booze and women will ease your sorrows."

Footsteps, barely audible, came from deep within the interior
tunnels of the castle, as hushed as mice feet. Ulric's canines lengthened.  His
inner bear warned him of an intruder.  If it were another Royal Elite or one of
the palace inhabitants his senses wouldn't be firing off.  He whispered
harshly, "You see!  This is what happens when the guards let their dicks
reign over their logic."

Alexander dropped low on the opposite side of the opening.
"What will you do?"

Ulric growled.  If he hadn't been distracted by Alexander and
Wesley, he'd have heard the intruder sneaking in behind their defenses.
"Stay here!  If anything happens to the last of Delia's betrothed, the
queen will have a coronary." He stayed close to the grey stone wall, its
irregular surface scratching his back.  This could be dangerous, but he eagerly
awaited surprising his prey. 
Slip in the castle on his watch? 
No way
in hell.  He'd be the laughing stock of the town and banished from the Royal
Elite with a black mark to follow him until the day he died.

The intruder was near, lurking through the numerous corridors,
the great stony maze.  He began to remove his shirt so he'd be ready for a
sudden shift.  With the material coiled in one hand, he kept his back flat
against the wall as he heard one of the secret passage doors being unlocked. 
If the intruder infiltrated the castle, he could go for the queen.  Ulric had
to ensure this problem didn't pass the outer walls.

He lunged forward, swinging around the hidden entrance before
slamming the intruder against the wall. Ulric hadn't expected a female.  She
was tiny compared to him.  He loosened the grip he had on the back of her neck
and took a cautious step back. "Turn around," he commanded. She eased
her small frame around until she faced him.  He couldn't see her features with
the black scarf that covered her head, but he could have sworn he recognized
her scent. "Show yourself." 

Those yellowish-green eyes stared up at him through the
darkness, transfixed. "
Ulric,"
she murmured.  At that moment
the main alarm sounded, the blazing sirens deafening, capturing his attention,
distracting him for one second too long.  He caught movement in his peripheral
vision.  A second dark figure raced through a distant passage.  Were these
trespassers working together?  If not, who was the greater threat?  All the
recent complacency of the Royal Elite was backfiring as he'd predicted.

When he turned back to the woman, she was gone.  He twisted
his head to each side, and then spun around.  How could she move so fast?  He
raced back down the stone passage.  The voices of the other Elite echoed
through the tunnels, spotlights scanning the grounds beyond the entrance.  He
burst out of the passage, breathless, his bare chest slick.

Blake ran up to him from the left. "What the fuck is
happening?" he shouted to be heard.  Blake was the rookie, only entering
the Elite in the spring.  They'd all had their laughs breaking him in, but the
determined set of his eyes made Ulric proud.  The wolf would no doubt rip apart
any threat, as he was taught in his training, rather than bow out with his tail
between his legs in the face of real danger.

"At least two have infiltrated the outer wall. They were
in the tunnels only moments ago."  There was a vast tunnel system between
the moat and the interior of the castle.  The staff and residents were well
acquainted with its secrets, but an intruder would be easily lost, confused
long enough to be caught.  "We need to shift and flush them out.  One is a
female," he added. 

Blake didn't stall or ask questions.  "I'll scent them. 
Female or not, the intruder will pay."  He dropped to all fours, not
bothering to save his clothing. Another rookie mistake.  He'd learn soon enough
when all his money went to the purchase of new clothing. The wolf shifter bound
off, disappearing into the darkened treeline. Where had Alexander run off to? 
That soon-to-be royal wolf had probably retreated to the safety of the castle. 
Preserving his life was of utmost importance, but Ulric would never hide and
allow others to protect him.  He needed to be in the heart of the action, deal
with the threat personally.  His role as royal guard was well suited to him,
but it still wasn't enough.

He could see countless shifters prowling the area now.  He'd
head back into the tunnels to hunt.  That female could still be trying to gain
access to the castle interior. He dashed through the tunnels, testing the air
as he moved. When he turned another corner, he could smell the acrid scent of
fear and body odor. He smiled to himself.  His bear roared, craving a chance to
get his paws on the bastard who slipped by their perimeter.