Prologue
Alexi Vuldarez knew he was tampering with Fate the moment he pulled that blonde girl into the darkest corner of the palace gardens.
One hand was tangled within silken strands of blonde hair, the other squeezing the gentle curve of the young woman’s hip– his fingertips grazing soft skin that set him alight. The night was filled with the scent of a delicate perfume, the crook of a neck that he pressed his lips into, the warmth of a body that clung close to his.
He did not know her name, and in a crowd he doubted he could have remembered her face.
She was dressed somewhat poorly in a worn dress that was far too small for her figure, the hem stained with filth like she had worn it walking through the woods. Around her neck hung a silver chain sporting a silver pendant in the shape of a crescent moon, marking her as an apprentice of Moonlight Sorcery. Besides that, she remained unremarkable to him other than being a wonderful kisser.
She wasn’t someone that the crown prince of House Vuldarez should have been kissing, but their attraction had felt… Right, somehow. A strange and magnetic pull that had drawn them together as he had passed her by earlier in the evening. Still, he would be sure that it never went any farther than this he thought, even as he kissed her again. She would be nothing more than a fragment of a memory after tonight.
From inside the palace he heard the music begin to play, marking the beginning of the ceremony. He groaned, pulling away from the girl and untangling their limbs as he clambered to his feet.
“Leaving already?” she asked, a teasing smile tugging at the corners of her mouth. “I’d like to think things were just getting good.”
Frowning, he ignored her as he straightened the lapels of his coat. Then with a dismissive motion he took out two gold coins and tossed them at her feet with a dull clink. “Here. See that no one hears of this.”
The girl snorted, picking them up before tossing them back at him unceremoniously. “What’s this for? To buy my silence? To think, you’re too scared for others to know that The Crown Shifter Prince has been in the rose bushes with the commoners.” She offered him another wicked smile. “Your secret is safe with me, your majesty.”
Gritting his teeth, Alexi felt his mood darken as he left the garden, the taunting laughter of the young woman following him as he entered the palace.
Immediately he was thrown into the crowds of chattering fae folk and shifters alike, the voice of the stranger melting away as a thousand other voices surrounded him.
He ignored most of them, making his way towards the front of the room where an old woman sat, her features creasing in disappointment when she saw him.
“A bit late for a Fating ceremony, wouldn’t you think?” she asked as he joined her in her spot that overlooked the entire ballroom.
“I still arrived, didn’t I?”
She did not reply, shaking her head slowly as her lips pursed in disapproval. And though Alexi never would have admitted it aloud, a sense of shame washed over him– his cheeks flushing at the thought of why he had been late to what was arguably the most important night of a wolf prince’s life.
He knew the importance of the ritual– of course he did! Since he’d been old enough to shift back and forth beneath the light of the moon it seemed like the Fated ceremony was all anyone talked about around him.
He knew his need for his other half; the sorceress that would use her abilities with moonlight magic to aid in his shifting. The person who would pull him back to his human form every full moon when the change was not under his control, saving him from the beast’s voice before he could turn monstrous. And though he did not want to admit it, even now he could feel that with each change his body made from man to wolf, the turn back became a little more challenging each time.
This night would change all of that, and as he stared out into the crowd dressed in elegant finery, he wondered if his Moonlight Girl was among them now.
He simply had to wait for Fate to bind them together…
…………………………………………….
Alexi was bored. Bored of stuffy courtrooms filled with fae lords and ladies, the air around them buzzing with a steady hum of dull conversation. Bored of the near tasteless morsels of food that he was offered and, in turn, declined with a grimace. Bored of the party that was so different from the ones he actually enjoyed; the ones with wine, women, and enough hunted game to feed a crowd twice this size.
He sat on a throne carved of dark wood, looking out at it all before him before letting out a heavy sigh full of disdain.
This disappointment was meant to be the celebration that was the pinnacle of his life… He just wished it hadn’t all felt so underwhelming. Right now, he should have been racing through the woods, his body morphing from man to beast in an instant, the moon hanging high above him as he let out a glorious howl–
He stopped, his hand coming to his chest as a sharp feeling pierced him there, like a needle-prick to the heart. He coughed, leaning forward slightly before sitting upright once more, glancing around to see if any had witnessed it.
A few had, and they gave him knowing smiles before whispering to one another, gleeful expressions on their faces.
He did his best to ignore them; the fae folk were ones for gossip, and tonight had only served to fuel their lust for it.
How exciting it must be to sit and watch as he, the Crown Prince of House Vuldarez, sat long into the night as his Moonlight Girl was nowhere to be seen, he thought bitterly. It would definitely be the talk of all of Adondale.
Generally, it never took this long, and as the hours had dragged on Alexi had begun to wonder if the girl might never show up at all.
He coughed again, the prick in chest growing to a dull, pulsing ache. Almost as though something tugged his heart forward.
Like an invisible string, he thought, It’ll pull us together.
He looked up, still seeing the swirling crowd before him with no one particular face standing out.
Where was she?
He glanced at the old woman who sat on his right side, her eyes gazing attentively out into the crowd, peering out from beneath a mop of white hair.
From time to time she’d hum or mutter something to herself, yet as the clock neared midnight, she had offered him no clue as to where his soul mate might be.
“Well?” Alexi snapped coldly, growing impatient as the whispers around them grew. “Is she here?”
For a moment, the old woman did not answer, yet when at last she did she seemed unbothered by his tone. “Those pains in your chest– have they become stronger?”
“Yes, why?”
She nodded sagely. “It won’t be long then.”
“Are you expecting me to die of a heart attack then?”
Her mouth opened as though she meant to bark back a reply, her words dying on her lips as the doors to the ballroom suddenly flung open.
All at once all eyes were on the figure that stumbled into the palace and the pain in Alexi’s chest grew stronger, his ribcage humming with the sensation.
It was her, it had to be. It had to…
He stopped, his face flushing as he recognized the tangle of blonde hair, the crescent moon around her neck bouncing against pale skin as she made her way through the crowds that parted for her.
Her expression was one of confusion as she walked towards him, a hand clasped to her chest as though she also felt the same pull that he did.
Was this why he had felt such a pull towards this stranger to begin with? Why they had meshed so seamlessly?
No, it couldn’t be, he thought with a rush of anger and indignation. His Moonlight Girl wasn’t meant to be someone like her…
Once again he looked at the witch who stood beside him. “There has to be some mistake.” he growled. “I’m the prince of House Vuldarez. It can’t be her.”
The old woman considered this for a moment as the girl continued to approach them. “There were many other Moonlight Sorceresses here tonight, and yet you did not feel a single pull towards any of them?”
Alexi shook his head, his frustration slowly growing as the girl came to stand before them. Once more, he heard the whispers and laughter growing, both fae lords and shifters alike mocking him under their breath.
Turning to the girl, he couldn’t help the snarl twisted his mouth. “What are you doing here?” he snapped, a small spark of hope igniting in him that this could all just be a mistake.
“When you left,” she began, her words almost hesitant despite her earlier confidence. “I had the strangest feeling. I felt that I was supposed to follow you inside. Like now that we had met, we weren’t supposed to be apart any longer.”
Cursing, he began to pace back and forth, the jeering tones of the crowd growing louder as his situation became more apparent.
Here was his Moonlight Girl; a peasant brought before the prince by fate itself, their souls bound together just as the stars had written it.
She must have realized it the same moment he had, the confusion fading from her face as she reached out suddenly to grab his hand.
With a jolt he shook her off, his anger flared to rage and he spoke without thinking. “I reject you. Leave my sight at once.”
A collective gasp rippled through the crowd, and Alexi felt the witch put a gentle but firm hand on his shoulder. “Think carefully about what you’re doing, child.” she hissed, “The Fated bonds that you break are not easily repaired–”
“I, Alexi Vuldarez of the House of the Wolf, reject my Fated One.”
The moment the words were spoken the tugging at his heart vanished and the girl stumbled back as though he had shoved her. “I–”
“Didn’t you hear me, woman? I said leave my sight!”
The grip on his arm tightened and once more the old witch muttered gravely to him. “You need her here with you.”
“There are others.” Alexi replied sharply, a sense of cruelness twisting at his heart. “Others who are far more beautiful. Not a peasant like this. There are others that I could truly love.”
He knew the words were immature, and though he might have felt a sense of shame at saying them, the satisfaction he gained from watching the girl back away into the crowd gave him a rush.
The fae folk and shifters around them roared with laughter at the spectacle as she shoved her way through them, her jaw clenched as though she was fighting back tears.
As she reached the door she turned around and spat once in Alexi’s direction. Then she was gone.
Throughout the rest of the night Alexi received praise for his rejection as well as assurance that eventually another, far more suitable mate was no doubt in sight.
Yet as the hours of the night stretched on, no other stranger walked through those doors. And as the crowd grew bored and began to dwindle, by the end of it he found himself alone with the witch in the ballroom, their eyes still fixated on the doors.
“She’s still coming, isn’t she?” Alexi asked, his words catching slightly in the back of his throat.
The witch said nothing, rising to her feet with a creaking of ancient bones. Finally, however, she turned her head upwards as though she could see the stars beyond the vaulted ceiling of the palace. “The full moon arrives soon again. For your sake, I certainly hope she does.”
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