The Werewolf Queen

by Brandi Elledge

  After he left, I glanced at CG. “What’s the deal with you two? And how old is he if he knows mistakes in history? Like are we talking about when the first cell phone was invented, or when Christopher Columbus set sail?”

  “Some personalities don’t mesh together. I think he’s a conniving, selfish bastard, and I can only imagine what he thinks of me. I don’t hate him enough to kill him. Yet. And I’m not sure of his exact age, but considering he’s Prince of the Vampires, I’m assuming a couple of thousand years or so.”

  My mouth fell open. “Are you serious? Is he really that old?”

  “He is that old and deadly as well. You should do your best to stay away from him.”

  “How old are you? Please tell me you’re twenty-one.” He gave me the first smile I’d seen from him since we’d arrived at his estate. “I’m a few hundred years younger than the vampire.”

  All these hot guys around me and they were all crypt keepers. “That is so gross.”

  CG shrugged his broad shoulders. “I guess maybe to you it is. What do you say we call it a day? We can pick up tomorrow?”

  My muscles were starting to hurt. “Yeah, sounds good. Um, I saw a bathing suit in with all the clothes that you got me. Which, by the way, I appreciate. I don’t know how you knew my size, but all the clothes fit perfectly.” He just grunted, so I continued, “Anyways, when I saw the bathing suit, I was hoping there was a swimming hole somewhere.”

  CG had walked over to his gym bag and pulled out a clean T-shirt. He took off his sweaty one, revealing a shoulder tribal tattoo that looked amazing with its lines and swirls. I pulled my gaze away from his stunning form, just in case he was a mind reader as well.

  He said, “I’m sorry, a what?”

  What the hell was I talking about? “Um. A swimming hole. You know, a pond. Lake. River. Something. I’m not picky.”

  “Well, we have an indoor pool. I assume that will work as well as a swimming hole?”

  I squealed. “Yes, even better!”

  He turned around and almost smiled again before he caught himself. What was his deal? “I take it someone likes to swim?”

  “Yes. My dad always said I was like a fish. Wherever there’s water, there I was. My granny used to joke that maybe my superpower was a mermaid.”

  “Why don’t you go put on your swimsuit? I’ll come up and get you in a couple of minutes and show you where the pool is.”

  “I guess in a house like this I could get lost, huh? Okay, I’ll see you in a minute.”

  Before he could change his mind, I ran out of the gym and through a series of hallways and stairs. Only having to backtrack once made me feel accomplished. As soon as I got to my bedroom, I took off my clothes and put on the little black bikini. He hadn’t guessed my correct size on everything because my boobs looked like if I dove into the pool, they might pop right out. Feeling a little self-conscious, I wrapped a towel around me just as there was a knock on my bedroom door.

  “Come in.”

  CG stood in the doorway in a pair of swimming trunks, T-shirt, and a towel thrown over his shoulder.

  “Oh, that was quick. I just got ready. Are you going swimming, too?”

  “Yeah. I try to swim every night. Maybe I was supposed to be a mermaid, too.”

  Was that a joke? I had a feeling this man was like an onion. There were so many layers, and I hadn’t even scratched the surface.

  Chapter Thirteen

  After a couple of minutes of walking through hallways and corridors, I realized I seriously would have gotten lost. On our way to the pool, we passed a magnificent room. The walls were painted gold and the floors were white sparkling marble. I had to go in to explore. If he was aggravated with my curiosity, he didn’t show it. There were swords pinned along a wall and different weapons hanging on the opposite wall. At the very back of the room was a throne. The arms and legs of the chair represented a wolf’s paw. In the middle of the intricate chair rested a crown. It was made of solid gold and small, pointy things appearing to be antlers wrapped around the whole crown. There was an identical smaller crown in a glass case right next to the throne.

  “What is this room?” I asked.

  “It is where our pack meets on business. It also holds our family heirlooms.”

  “Do you sit on the throne while you go over your business?”

  “Yes.”

  “And do you wear the crown?”

  He looked like he was ready to change the subject. “When I have to, yes.”

  He exited the room and didn’t wait for me to follow. I should mind my business, but I was too curious. I caught up with him.

  “Hey, what’s up with that room? You look agitated.”

  His pace quickened. “That crown belonged to my father. That throne belonged to my father. That room belonged to my father.”

  Before I could ask any more questions, we went through some glass doors. The swimming pool was shaped like a tropical island. One side of the pool you could walk right into, and the other side was at least twelve feet deep.

  CG placed his towel on a chair then made a motion for mine. After a moment of hesitation, I handed it over. His eyes bulged out of his head, and he made no move to grab the towel from me. Finally, he cleared his throat and snatched the fabric. He was clearly attracted to me, and it was as if the thought of that more than anything was what pissed him off. Perhaps in his thousands of years roaming this world, he’d found true love and lost her. Maybe he thought feeling attraction for anyone else was a disservice to her memory? And maybe I was reaching, trying to explain away his odd behavior. As he stormed past me, I decided to ask him what his deal was. I watched him gracefully dive into the deep end.

  He swam over to where I stood. His voice was gruff. “I thought you said you could swim? Are you going to stand there all day or get in?”

  I smiled. “I was just waiting for you to get a little closer.”

  “Excuse me?”

  I did my best cannonball I could muster without landing on him. When I emerged from the water, CG was wiping water off of his face.

  “What are you, four?”

  “What? Is Mr. Grumpy Stripes afraid to break out of his stuffy box and have a little fun? Or is it that you’re too old and don’t remember what fun is anymore?”

  His brow furrowed. “I’m not that old. Do you want to see fun? Let me tell you what I think that cannonball needs. A little height.”

  He grabbed me with one arm and turned me around in the water. My back momentarily met his chest before he pushed me an arm’s distance away. There were definitely some issues there. His massive hands grabbed both sides of my waist and he launched me.

  He threw me ten feet into the air, and I had plenty of time to roll my body into a tight little ball before I hit the water.

  I came up laughing. “That was awesome.” I made sure my teeny-weeny bathing suit was in place before I swam over to him. “Let’s do it again.”

  He turned me around and said in a mocking voice, “I think the old man can do it one more time. You ready?”

  He was so busy enjoying the moment and actually having fun that he didn’t notice how my body pressed up against his. But I noticed. I bobbed my head up and down, not sure I could find my voice. After a couple of seconds, I went soaring again into the air, but this time I jackknifed my body and did a shallow dive into the pool. I swam back over to him once more and stopped right before I got to him, still treading water because it was over my head in this section.

  “It must be nice to be over six feet tall, huh?”

  He grabbed my waist. “Here, let me help the little mermaid.”

  Before I could tell him I was fully capable of swimming to the shallow end, he was placing me on my feet.

  The water dripped slowly off his muscular chest. He leaned into me. His nostrils were flaring, and almost bitterly, he said, “You are so beautiful.” The back of his hand trailed down my face, and I was both thrilled and scared he was going to kiss me. That couldn�
�t happen. Not when I needed answers. I had a feeling the moment his lips touched mine I would lose touch with reality. He wouldn’t settle for anything less.

  “Why do you hate me?”

  He abruptly dropped his hand and stepped back. At the same time, the glass doors to the pool opened up and Celia walked in. She shook her long, flaming red hair behind her and put one hand on her hip. “Well, what do we have here? Hope I wasn’t interrupting something. After all, I would hate to call the wedding off.”

  I could feel the color draining from my face. I looked over at CG, waiting for him to laugh, or tell her that she was a crazy lunatic. When neither of those things happened, I felt majorly disappointed. I had a bad habit of romanticizing things. I thought he was an ass because of some misplaced feelings for a lover that had gotten away. Not once did it cross my mind that he was engaged, much less engaged to a nasty, trifling ho.

  Celia tilted her head back and snickered at my confusion. “Oh, I can see he must have forgotten to tell you that he has a fiancée. Well, hopefully, you didn’t fall too head over heels for him and if you did, it will be all right; most women do, so don’t beat yourself up about it.”

  “Celia…” There was a warning in CG’s tone, one his fiancée clearly ignored as she continued glaring at me.

  Well, hell. When it came down to it, I was Southern, and most of us Southerners had many admirable qualities. One of them was our pride. I’d be danged if I let either of these two get the best of me.

  I smiled cheerfully at Celia like I was about to let her in on a dirty, little secret. “Oh, I’m sure mentioning you just slipped his mind, and you don’t have to worry about me. I’m not most women. I only give my heart to those who deserve it. Now, if you will excuse me, I think I’m going to go soak in the hot tub.”

  As I climbed up the ladder of the side of the pool, Celia said, “Well, I just thought I would set the record straight that he is, what do you country bumpkins call it? Getting hitched? So, you should probably not get your hopes up.”

  “Nope. We’re good. Nothing for you to worry about. He never once said anything about wanting to upgrade.”

  In my anger, I must have let my walls down and unintentionally siphoned off of her because as I walked away, I could feel her coming for me before CG yelled, “Celia, no!”

  I instinctively stepped to the side right before she reached me, letting her rush past me, which made her even angrier. I could see her aura as bright as the light of day—reddish orange. Somehow, I knew she was a witch. She was back in front of me snarling. She raised a hand to slap me, and I quickly caught it. I wanted to take the brute power from the wolf behind me to send Celia flying into the pool, but he asked me to not show her my powers. Which was another question I could add to my growing list of “What the hell CG?” Instead of giving into my desires, I gave her hand a hard squeeze before I let her go.

  CG quietly called out my name, but I ignored him as I made my way around the curved rock wall to where he had said the hot tub was. I should have just gone back to my room, but I was trying to act like what just happened wasn’t a big deal. You know, that whole pride thing. I walked down the steps of the hot tub, grateful it was secluded with tropical plants growing around it for privacy. I didn’t have to see CG and Celia, and they couldn’t see me. After a couple of minutes of hearing hushed voices, I heard the glass doors open, and I prayed that both of them were leaving together. I laid my head back on the side of the hot tub and closed my eyes. Day two sucked. But on the bright side, even with its drama, it was still better than yesterday.

  “Ca c’est bon. That’s good. Real good stuff. But now don’t cha worry, Cher. They done gone off together.”

  I jumped up, searching for whomever was spying on me.

  “Whoo-hoo! Right cher, darlin’.”

  I looked over my left shoulder, and there was this huge bug… No, a tiny person the size of my palm flew over the hot tub. My mouth dropped open.

  “What? Cher, haven’t you seen a fairy before?” I shook my head. At least she didn’t look like she wanted me dead like the demons. Her Louisiana accent was heavy and left little doubt where she was from. “Well, now I ain’t gonna hurt cha. I ain’t never hurt nobody before that didn’t deserve it. And I can promise you no matter what my ex Lynard says, he deserved what he got. Yes, he did, and it’s not like he ain’t never gonna be able to fly again. I think.” She gave me a sweet smile. “Here, I’m a gonna come closer, and you can have a good look see. Just don’t go gettin’ my wings wet.”

  I leaned my head down close to hers, so I could get a better look at her. She was beautiful with skin the color of light caramel and black hair falling down in ringlets to the top of her shoulders. I said the first thing that came to my mind.

  “Wow. You’re gorgeous.”

  “Cher, you earned you some brownie points. Yes, you did.” She pushed her hair up with her palm twice and winked at me. “Comin’ from you, that’s a huge compliment, and the way you handled yourself bag dare with that slut puppy.” Then she saluted me. “I’m Lilly-Ana, but you can call me Lil, because I have a feelin’ we’re gonna be great friends.”

  Now that I knew she wasn’t going to hold my head underwater until bubbles came up, I went back to the bench and sat.

  “Well, thanks, Lil. I could use a friend. And as far as those two go, well, they deserve each other.”

  She flitted over to the handrail running into the hot tub and perched on top of it. “Well, now, Cher, don’t cha go a judgin’ poor Camden. He’s just doin’ what he feels is best for his pack.”

  “Who’s Camden? You mean, CG?”

  She rearranged her little skirt. “Yep, that be one and the same. His initials stand for Camden Grant.”

  I pulled my feet up to rest them on the bench, so I could put my head on my knees. My severe go-to thinking pose.

  “Why would them being together help his pack?”

  “There’s not just the one war you got to win, Cher.

  “There are gonna be many battles before the huge war. All of us supernaturals who want to live in somewhat peace and co-exist with one another, well, we’re a part of the Lux. Sweet Camden is different than most of us supernaturals. He is one of the most powerful out dere, and yet he got a conscience.”

  I rolled my eyes because, really, I had nothing to say about “sweet Camden.”

  “Whatcha don’t know is that Celia, well, that girl’s father ain’t never picked a side between the Lux and the Degenerates. Probably because he likes the comforts of livin’ here on this plane, but then he has no qualm about using the Degenerates’ methods when he wants somethin’ bad enough. The man is a yellow-belly coward. A snake in the grass.”

  I lifted a shoulder. “It must run in the family.”

  “Ain’t that the truth. It’s rumored that Celia’s father, Merek, has somethin’ that Camden needs. It’s also rumored that Merek killed his brother for that somethin’ I’m speakin’ of.”

  Mr. Boring’s words came back to me. He had mentioned that a brother had killed his sibling for something highly coveted. “He has the key!”

  She gave a little shrug. “I ain’t sayin’ nothin’ about no key. But I can tell you that there are only a few kings in our supernatural world. Merek wants his daughter married to one of them because of the power and the prestige that comes with the title. All the kings, fae and demon alike, want what Merek has in his possession. All are willin’ to court Celia to obtain it, but Merek let his daughter choose which king she wanted to marry. And guess who she had to go and chose? Camden of course. I was all for Camden usin’ some brute force on Celia’s father and just takin’ whatever it was that he needed, but he was scared the old fart would take it to his grave instead of spillin’ the beans about where the desired object is.”

  I was trying to process everything Lil was telling me, but I was having a hard time.

  “What in the world—besides the key—would be so important to Camden for him to marry someone like Celia j
ust to get whatever her father has?”

  “I didn’t say that it wasn’t the key.” Lil fluttered over to the side of the hot tub, her hazel eyes sparkling with mischief. “I just said that’s a question for him to answer and not me.”

  Her wings beat faster, and I could tell she was ready to change the subject, so I let her.

  She flew closer to me and said, “It’s been forever since I had a girl’s night, considerin’ Celia is the only other girl here. And I can promise you I don’t need the company that bad. What do you say? You in for some hell-raisin’?”

  “Sure, I could use some girl time, but how much hell raisin’ can we do if we can’t even leave this place?”

  Climbing out of the hot tub, I wrapped my towel around me. She put both her hands on her tiny hips. “Oh girly, you just wait and see. Before the end of the night, we will have everyone in this place wantin’ to hang with us. We will bring the fun bus. Laissez les bons temps rouler. Let the good times roll!”

  My spirits were slightly lifted as we parted ways. She headed towards the kitchen; I went to my bedroom to change out of my bathing suit into a tank top and a pair of sweatpants. I put my wet hair into a ponytail, threw on some flip-flops, and down the stairs I went to meet my little friend. I was ready for whatever, as long as it didn’t involve demons, witches, or wolves with blue-green eyes.

  Chapter Fourteen

  By the time I got to the kitchen, Lil had jazz music cranked up and was blending a pitcher of mixed drinks. She placed a steaming plate of food in front of me. “Here girl, eat some of Lilly-Ana’s famous Cajun stir fry and put some meat on those bones.”