Chapter 1
Marianna
“The Azure Heart Stone?” My best friend Talia asked as we locked the doors to her family’s fabric shop.
Biting my bottom lip, I nodded before groaning. “Yep, and before you ask…” I pointed at her knowing how skeptical she was about anything and everything. “Yes, it’s real and I have fifteen days.”
Putting her arm around my shoulder as we walked down the cobblestone road, she pulled me to her. “I still don’t understand how any of this happened.”
I’d told her the entire story two times that day. We had a twenty-five-minute walk ahead of us, so I hoped that the third time would be the charm. With a deep sigh and a blink to hold off the tears that would inevitably come, I began the tale again.
Two days ago…
“Mother?” I called out. I’d returned from the horse stalls to find my mom curled into a ball on the floor of our kitchen. Her fists were clenched tight above her head, and her body was tense and shaking. Brushing her wavy strands away from her face, I noticed several things. Her brown skin was clammy, pale and aged. She had thin lines forming in the corners of her eyes, and across her brow. At forty-three, my mother’s skin was flawless, she loved to tell people it was luck, but the truth was she was a half breed. My grandfather was a fae healer that fell in love with a human herbalist. Their traits were evident in my mother. Pointy ears, blemish free skin, and an overall presence of wonder.
My mother was my everything so seeing her like that was like a boot kick to my gut. Although it was late fall and there was a cold breeze blowing in through the open window, her clothes were stuck to her body and drenched in sweat. The fire in the stove was low, and the flames were still as if being controlled by an outside force. The knife that she’d been cutting potatoes with hovered just above the large pot.
Though all of those things were out of the ordinary and unsettling; it was her eyes that had me frozen in place. My mother’s eyes, once a brown so dark that they appeared black were now blue. Not basic blue but a glowing unnatural shade that rivaled the glowing petals of the Celestial Dahlias during a full moon. Her breath stuttered and she blinked filling the room with a pulsing light. I shivered when her cold damp hand cupped my face. Though she was looking at her, her eyes were not focused.
“Marianna.” Her voice was gentle and hesitant as she caught my eyes. “Help me up honey.” Once seated on the sofa, she acted as if there was nothing wrong. Aside from the thin ring of blue around her irises, her facial features had returned to what they were. The lines were smoothed out, and her skin was once again luminous.
“Mother, what…” My words were cut off as a loud clattering sound from the kitchen startled us. “I’m guessing whatever force was holding things had let go.” The knife that was floating was on the floor and the fire had returned to its normal strength. For the rest of the day, my mom changed the subject whenever I asked about the episode in the kitchen. The next afternoon, I found her in that same position, body coiled tight and filled with tension and obvious pain. Unlike the first day, she didn’t have the option to ignore my questions and avoid me. My grandparents were visiting with a healer from a nearby village.
Though I am twenty-two, my grandparents look at me as a child. I am unmarried with no real life experience. “Just wait outside and we’ll let you in once she’s been properly looked over. Okay Mari?” My grandmother asked as she pushed me outside of my mother’s bedroom.
I peered into the keyhole to see the healer, Ozark of Greenlitch waved the magical rune stone above my mother’s head while murmuring something I couldn’t understand. After making note of the color of the stone, he sat down to talk to my mother. I sat on my feet with my left hip pressed to the wall and my ear pressed against the old wooden door. It was in that very position that I was able to hear bits and pieces of the rune’s findings as well as the location of the illusive kingdom that could only be found under a blue moon. “Blue moon?” I whispered to myself.
Andreas
There was only one word to describe my current mood. Bored. I had been sitting beside my father at the council meeting as a senior advisor Sir Dane went on and one about the significance of the blue moon. Sensing my lack of attention, my father’s leg knocked against mine and I nodded as I’d observed him and other members of the council doing. There was no way they were all listening to him.
“In conclusion,” Sir Dane coughed into his handkerchief before he stuffed it back into his pocket. It was disgusting the amount of times he’d coughed, blew his nose and wiped his brow with the same cloth. “Prior to the blue moon, we will need to ensure that we strengthen the wards. With the annual appearance of Alvernia, our Eastern borders could be compromised.”
“How, exactly?” someone asked in a bored tone. It wasn’t until I felt the stares of thirteen council members on me that I realized that the voice came from me. Clearing my throat and lifting my chin I tried to push my dominance forward. “As future alpha, I want a clearer understanding of what the night of the blue moon entails and how it affects the Kingdom of Vale.”
“I’m very impressed,” my father said with a firm pat on my back. That was as much affection as I would get from him. Before I could enjoy that moment, he started with his usual commands and chatter. “You are a potential future alpha, and it would be wise for you to take a mate just as it is would be for you to immerse yourself in pack law and politics.”
After cringing at the way he used the word potential, I sighed. “Yes, father I am aware that will need to marry…”
“Marry?” he cut me off with a scoff. “Marriages are about love and emotions. Taking a mate, whether she has been moon assigned or not is for power and strength. I think it’s time to hold a mate selection dinner since you missed the chance to bond with Dutchess Leon.” He kept talking as he walked down the corridor, and I stopped following at the mention of that name.
Dutchess Maya Leon of New Shire was obnoxious, spoiled and she looked like an ostrich. Her big round eyes and beaklike nose were not what I wanted to wake to each day. The idea of bonding with any woman was frustrating but the thought of laying between Maya’s bony legs and placing my cock inside her dreadful form made my stomach churn. I was so lost in my thoughts that I didn’t feel the presence on my heels.
“My lord,” a palace guard said with a slight bow of his head. “Your father is searching for you.”
“Andreas, Quincy. You’ve known me my entire life. Call me Andreas.” He nodded his head, but I knew he would never call me by my name.
The next afternoon, I decided to bargain with my father. I knew he wanted me mated for the sake of an alliance and he wanted me to produce an heir. “It will strengthen the pack, the kingdom and our family.” He’d always say before reminding me that marriages were made from love, fated mates came from the Mood Goddess, but taken mates and bonds were for power. Never had I crossed paths with a woman that made me think of forever. So, for now I wanted to put off taking some random woman as my forever. Hopefully he will agree to my offer, and I’d buy myself some time.
