The werewolf so isn't growing on me.
Annaliese refused to let it happen. First of all, he was a werewolf. That was reason enough to dislike him. Werewolves were unclean, savage brutes that only thought about themselves.
Then, there was the matter of his relations. Annaliese didn't care much for the King of the werewolves, nor his family. Come to think of it, she didn't care much- at all- for werewolves in general. By that reasoning, she wasn't allowed to care about Chronos. Her reputation as a badass, independent Queen forbade it.
Then there was the matter of who he was.
The matter of Chronos.
There was no way Annaliese was starting to like this werewolf of all werewolves. He was selfish, blind and heavy-handed. Only last night he'd lobbed her over the balcony into the river that awaited below.
Anything could've happened to her on the way down, and there'd have been nothing she could do to stop it.
If her body had hit something, Annaliese would've died for good. And yet the werewolf had still lobbed her.
So no. The werewolf wasn't growing on her. But the hand slung across her body was.
That must've been it.
She missed physical contact. And it'd been such a long time since she'd felt any.
The hand strung across her body was nice. It was big, warm and tight. It made her feel safe and protected. Safe. Ha! How often did she get to feel that?
Historically, never.
Stirring, she pushed that arm away with disdain, glaring at it when it crawled right back, grabbing her by the waist once more. Snaring her to him.
The arm was possessive.
For a werewolf that couldn't decide whether he wanted a mate or not, this one was annoyingly clingy.
But he'd told her last night he'd come to a decision, even though he hadn't been able to explain it.
He said he couldn't get rid of her and that she couldn't get rid of him—which was true enough. She'd given it some thought and a large part of her didn't think she'd be able to kill him if it ever came down to that. Historically, killing had never been much of a problem for her. He said they were stuck together, whether that be the easy way or the hard way.
"What happened to not wanting a mate?"
"Changed my mind."
It wasn't enough.
Annaliese needed details. Or at least something to deduct.
"Get off," She snapped, digging her nails into his palm.
He should be grateful she'd even allowed a mutt to sleep in her bed. This hugging and cuddling was far too much. Yes, she understood that the werewolves were touchy feely creatures—but still.
In response, he dug his own nails into her stomach. When those claws dragged through her, she clenched her jaw.
"Not fun, is it Leese?"
"Release me, brute."
"We're going to have a rule for the mornings," He murmured groggily. "The Queens aren't allowed out of the bed until they give the werewolf a suitable snog. Best pucker up."
"Fuck. You."
She shoved him away with all of her might, rolling out of the way before he could make another grab for her. "And get out of my room. I might not get a choice in the night, but you have no business being here in the day."
She felt him following her with his eyes as she sauntered around the room, searching for a nightgown. His gaze followed the sway of her ass hungrily. She ignored his heavy groan.
"Things are changing between us, mate. I know you can feel it."
She scoffed. "So you're calling me that now."
"I've accepted it. You might as well do the same."
"I don't believe in fate."
"Pity."
The werewolf was mocking her. Anyone else would've died for less.
He was enjoying himself far too much.
"You have two options, werewolf. Either you leave me alone willingly, or I call my Squire to keep you busy for the day."
"Unless you wish for him to die, you'll be doing no such thing." He crawled up from her bed, lazily making his way over to her. Sighing, he dropped his arms around her neck and breathed in her expensive scent. "Don't worry about me too much little Queen. You can go and meet with your long-lost witch friend. I'll be out of your hair for the day, picking up the pieces with my brother." He kissed her long and hard as she made a point of standing still, her lips unmoving beneath his, even as her lips quaked to give him access.
There was no way Annaliese was giving into this.
The thought hadn't so much as occurred to her, actually.
"I'm eager to continue this tonight, blood Queen."
"Get fucked."
"Gladly."
She moaned.
Damn it.
She was out of the room within the next hour, her feet carrying her down a path she hadn't walked by in the better part of thirty years.
But it didn't matter.
She'd know the way with her eyes closed.
At the very end of a long, empty hallway stood a lone door. Behind that door, Evette was waiting. Annaliese wasn't nervous to enter, but she was hesitant.
The wolf's words from the day before were still milling about in her brain.
The King had said child.
Was Evette with child?
She already knew a vampire-witch. What next?
Oh God. Annaliese wasn't sure she could juggle any more freaks. A werewolf-witch was as freaky as these things could come.
"Mistress," A voice said from her right. She sighed at the sight of the Squire. So Chronos' show of masculinity didn't make that much of a difference... Was she disappointed? Surprisingly, yes. Chronos' bold show of possessiveness had lit the spark of hope that her Squire would get the message. "Miss Evette is already awake," He told her. "She's been up for the last couple of hours, waiting for you. Quite anxiously, actually. I believe she's eager. She said to tell you not to bother knocking when you get here. She wants you to go straight in."
"You're dismissed."
"Thank you, Mistress." Annoyingly, she didn't hear him move. "Mistress?"
"What?"
"Is it true that you were walking through the castle last night, soaked? I didn't imagine it? It truly happened as I remember it?"
"Yes."
"O-okay. And is it true that the werewolf escorted you to your quarters last night? W-without leaving? And-and without clothing? My brain, Mistress, it seems to be playing up on me. I remember these things that can't possibly be real."
"Squire, I thought you knew better than to ask on subjects you have no involvement in." She gave him a pointed look. "You're dismissed."
"Right. Sorry, Mistress. It won't happen again, Mistress."
"Hmm."
When he left her there, she took another, long, good look at the door.
Why did it feel so hard to push it open? It was just a door. Annaliese had opened a million doors in her lifetime. She'd closed just as many. So why did this feel so difficult?
Enough messing around. She was a Queen, not an idiot. This hesitation was pathetic.
Without any further doubt, she gave the door a hard push, entering into a room she doubted she'd ever forget.
A room that hadn't really changed a bit over the last 300 years.
Decorating the walls were the same old dated wallpapers and tapestries. The furniture was the same, although the cleaners tended to it daily. She rounded the same corner that had always been there to get to the centre of the room where a large, canopy bed lounged at the very middle.
Perched on the end was the face she'd been missing and inwardly dreading.
Evette had already met her gaze.
Cautious, the women looked each other up and down, as if searching one another for a threat. Annaliese would never be a threat to Evette. She liked to think that promise ran both ways.
The silence lasted a minute longer before the Oracle released a heavy breath.
"You really haven't changed at all."
"Is that right?"
"I know you haven't. I've seen you in visions, messing with Chronos the same way you've always done. The same mind games. You're still doing that thing where you make them desperate for you, and then your prisoners are all stuck wondering why they can't finish you off."
"And you've gone soft. A werewolf, Evette, really?"
Her cheeks pinked. "Yes, a werewolf. Believe it or not, I love him. Almost as much as I love Shakira. There's been some bumps in the road- thanks for pointing them all out- but I do love him. He loves me too. I'd appreciate it a whole lot more if you didn't keep him in the dungeon, but I told him this would happen." She inspected her nails, finding them all short and chewed. "I even gave him the heads up that Chronos would take his hand. Turns out, I don't have to see the future to know everything that's going to happen. I guessed the first half. Not the hand thing though."
"Hmm."
Annaliese didn't know who this Shakira was. She prayed to the Gods that it wasn't another werewolf.
"Don't hmm me. It's been thirty years. Isn't there anything you want to say?" Annaliese stared at her blankly. "Anything at all?" The blonde prompted.
"You had the entire world in the palm of your hand and still you chose a werewolf."
Annaliese crossed the room, sinking gracefully into the stool before Evette's vanity.
"And you have no excuses," She added. "You're not ugly, so you could've pulled that demon King if royalty's what you're after. You're annoying, but not unbearably so. I'm sure Claudio would've gone for you."
"The werewolf chose me. I got lucky I like him."
"What happened to the human boyfriend?" Annaliese asked, nose shrivelling up in disdain. She didn't know which was worse.
Humans stunk of sweat. Werewolves stunk of wet dog.
Both were equally unpleasant.
"The werewolf happened. Is there really nothing you want to say to me?" Annaliese peered at her through the mirror.
"I'm not saying anything to you until we've cleared a few things up. First of all, are you pregnant?"
"Are you saying I look fat?"
"Physically, your immortality won't allow you to put on any pounds, so no. I'm saying you look pregnant. Tell me it's not true."
"I'm up the duff, Annie. I found out recently."
"So you are pregnant?"
"Yes."
"Lord have mercy."
Fuck. That meant the werewolf in the dungeons had to live. Annaliese couldn't leave her best friend a single Mother without the Father. Even though—suppose—growing up without a werewolf on their shoulder would probably be better for the wee parasite. Suddenly, things were looking a whole lot more complicated.
"I'm in a good place to have a child," Evette said, a soft smile on her face. "I'm happy with the man I love and I've got a good thing going for me. You've got to come down and see my shop in the Common World sometime. My pet werewolf has been trained to guard it. You'd love the queues. I'd let you skip them and reign it over everyone. I just need to get you on board with it all too. If you and Lorcan can't get along, things are going to get messy."
"Naturally, you remove yourself from the issue," Annaliese said, eyebrows raised. "Surely you haven't forgiven the werewolf for everything he no doubt put you through."
"Of course I've forgiven him. I wouldn't have let him knock me up if I hadn't."
"Answer me honestly. How did he react when word got back to him that his brother had been taken?"
Evette avoided eye contact. "Well?"
"He was... a little annoyed. Very annoyed. Super annoyed, but he's been making it up to me."
"He took it out on you, I'm sure. Is that really the sort of man you want to spend your life with?"
"Water under the bridge Annie. We've stitched that wound already. Look, I get that you've never seen much point to romance and these sort of things, but I want him, Annie. I really, really want him. And I'm not letting him go. I'm not letting you go either. You're both important to me. By the end of the year, I'm going to have a baby and I'm expecting you to be the God Mother. I don't want you to bibbidi bobbidi boo my man away. I don't want the two most important people in my life to constantly be at war with each other."
Evette was right. Annaliese didn't see the point in these things. It sounded like hard, unnecessary work. Sure, romance had its benefits- but it had just as many drawbacks.
"What is it that you want me to do?"
"I want us all to sit around a table together and talk about it." She supposed she could do that. Negotiating was one of her strong suits, so long as the people she negotiated with agreed with her instantly. Something told her the werewolf wouldn't catch that memo. "You, me, Lorcan and Chronos."
"Why Chronos?"
Evette raised her eyebrow. "I know that you're his mate Annie."
"Chronos doesn't want a mate, so your point is annulled."
That was a lie. He'd told her that he'd accepted her and some other sappy shit last night. But for the sake of her argument right now, Chronos didn't want a mate.
"He'll warm to it. He's just a stubborn fuck. You can take that from me, too. I can see the future you know."
She wouldn't admit it aloud, but this was all a bit much for Annaliese. Everything was happening at once. The vampires were plotting, Nazreen still wasn't there yet, the wolf King had attacked her only to be shut down by his own brother, she'd been thrown off a balcony. And now, her best friend and sister was back, pregnant, asking her to be the God Mother. She had a war on her hands and a sudden protest in her face telling her to drop it.
Annaliese's head was starting to hurt.
Maybe she did need some time off from the job.
But then all of Veneficus would go to shit.
Absently, she rubbed at her temples.
"Please, Annie," Evette said, crossing the room to grab her hand. "I know you're tired of war, and this is more than enough incentive to end it. The werewolves and the witches could have a union." She smiled to herself. "If me being the mate of the wolf King isn't enough to show you fate's in play, then surely you being the mate of the wolf Prince will tip you over the edge."
"I don't believe in fate."
Evette sighed. "Just think about it, please. Lorcan's not going anywhere. I'm still going to spend the rest of my life with him, even if the two of you don't get along. For me and for my baby, just try to work something out with him."
She leaned down to kiss her Queen's cheek, smiled, then turned for the door.
Annaliese knew what she was doing. She wanted to leave the Queen to her own thoughts and hope she'd start feeling guilty.
Fucking hell I need a break.
If it wasn't the Squire on her tail, then it was Killian and Nazreen.
Everyone had their problems.
Why was it down to her to solve them all?
She was sick of this responsibility. Now that the wolf King had realised he wanted something from the witches, he wanted her to drop everything she had against him.
The war hadn't even gotten started yet.
For centuries, the witches had taken hit after hit after hit. And she knew that better than anyone.
Maybe it was time for the witches to go onto the offence. She was tired of pulling her punches.
A small part of her wished she'd seen the wrong end of a sword before.
She needed putting out of her misery.