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Here is a sample from another story you may enjoy:
Prologue
Dear Reader,
It is with great pleasure that I present to you a brief introduction to the new world you have decided to enter, a new life you have decided to live. Let it be that it will only last for some chapters, but I hope you enjoy it until it lasts.
Let me introduce myself first.
Hi, I am Theia Anderson. I am just like any one of you, human, alive, and breathing. (Unless you are a zombie, in which case I am not, and I especially do not have brains!)
Just putting it out there!
I am eighteen, and currently a senior in Rosenberg High. (I’m what they call a nerd. But let us face it. Nerds nowadays are hot!) I have also only recently moved from the sunny state of California to a city called Peidmond, just beside Seattle. Needless to say, it rains here a lot.
When I moved here, I imagined finally living in a cold state and thought that it would be an amazing experience. Although, the fact that it was in the middle of the year, and I would have to settle in as the “new girl” was very well placed in my mind.
New friends, new teachers, a new environment—everything was new. But that all was well-known and understood. I had expected those.
However, what I certainly didn’t expect was to meet the man who owns the castle I gazed upon from my window every morning and night. Yes, a castle…A castle I am now living in.
This is my story. A story I am now willing to share but only if you can keep a secret.
Do you remember the stories your grandma used to tell you every night about cursed beasts, village beauties, girls in red capes, and wolves in disguises?
Well, maybe, just maybe…they actually do happen. Maybe beasts do exist.
They do. I would know. I am bound to one.
Whom, you may ask?
Well, I am mated to the Alpha King.
How?
You will see.
You will live through it with me.
I hope you enjoy the ride.
Best wishes,
Theia
Chapter One
Done finally!
Packing had never been my forte. In fact, I absolutely detested packing. Maybe it was because the amount of books and other things I possessed seemed impossible to place in tons of boxes.
Slapping duct tape across the box, I picked up a marker and marked it as Theia’s Books #3.
When the box was pushed aside carefully, I finally let out a sigh of relief as I wiped away a layer of sweat that had accumulated on my forehead. I lived in the warm state of California. It was summer. So naturally, the heat was killing me.
A single thing one should always know about me—I was not much for heat.
When my dad came home one afternoon and declared that we were moving from California to a cold city just near the outskirts of Seattle called Peidmond, I was actually very excited.
Well, that was until I realized that I had to attend a new high school in the middle of the year and leave my best friend, Casey, behind. And since it was senior year, with prom and all, well, it sucked.
Had I been in my old school, Stinson High, I would have at least had my best friend to accompany me. The thought of being home, all alone on prom, only helped me sweat more.
We were a small family—my dad, Arthur Anderson, a professor of history and literature; my mom, Maia Anderson, a designer and entrepreneur; and me, Theia, currently a senior student in high school and hoping to become a criminologist or psychologist—whatever came first. I also had a very strange fascination with history.
I guess Dad’s genes rubbed off on me that way.
Another soft huff of sigh left me as I lazily picked myself off the floor and dragged myself towards the bathroom. I only had two hours before we were to load everything and leave, and I knew, in this heat, I would need every minute of it.
Minutes later, as I stood under my cool shower and slowly observed my bathroom for the last time, I let a few stray tears flow with the water as I washed the tiny ache in my chest away.
It seemed like a day had passed when I found myself scrubbed and fresh, walking out into my bedroom in a towel.
A loud yelp left my lips when I suddenly found myself on the floor and a heavy weight on me.
“Don’t go!” Casey cried hysterically against me. I would have cried too, but the fact that I was currently sprawled on the floor with a towel on and my hundred-something-pound best friend was on top of me was a little suffocating. Especially in my part, I was merely five feet after all.
“Need…to…breathe, Casey!” I managed to gasp as I writhed under her, trying to escape her deadly grip. Immediately, Casey stilled above me.
“Oh, I’m sorry!” She apologized hurriedly, blushing beet red as she got off me, and stood. She gave me her hand and helped me stand up.
On my feet, I sighed as I brought her in for a hug. “We will talk every night on Skype or FaceTime, and then there is Messenger! We will always talk. It’ll be like I’m not even away, I promise.” I assured her as I pulled away. Losing my towel, I pulled on my clothes.
Casey sighed a little heavy and a little scared. “What if we don’t?”
I smiled a small, broken smile. My hand found Casey’s again, and I gave it a comforting squeeze. “No matter what happens, whether we talk every day or not at all for months, when we do talk or meet, we will always be the same best friends.”
A small tear dropped down Casey’s cheeks, and she nodded, chuckling.
“You better tell me everything when you get there!” she blurted out, smiling a bit as she folded and placed my towel inside a plastic before packing it into my suitcase. My room was nearly empty. It was literally stripped bare except for the built-in bookshelves and a few boxes and suitcases that were still lying around waiting to be hurled into the moving truck.
Smiling, I nodded and pulled Casey in for a final hug. “We’ll visit each other during breaks. I’ll miss you, you know.”
Casey nodded. “I’ll miss you too, Thi.”
The loud stomping noises alerted us both of someone coming up the stairs, and soon enough, there was a knock on the door. “Theia, are you done?”
“Yeah, Dad, come in!” I replied as I picked up my jacket—just in case it got cold—and slipped into my flip-flops, which seemed like an irrational choice considering the two contrasted each other, but I wouldn’t need my shoes in the car, anyway. I’d probably just tuck them under me throughout the ride.
The door opened instantly and in walked my dad with two bulky men. Smiling at me softly, they strode towards the boxes and picked them up.
Again, Casey and I stood in my empty room—a room we had dozens of sleepovers in, a room we played doll in, a room we gossiped, planned, and plotted in, and a room we did our homework and fangirling in. I sighed.
“I think we should go now…”
“Uh-huh.”
Casey and I walked downstairs hand in hand. I took a deep breath as I stood in the living room.
The place had a lot of my memories. I grew up in this area. Well, that was until I turned sixteen and got the television setup in my own room. My eyes were closed. I let out a deep breath and whispered, “I’ll miss you, home. Goodbye.”
“Theia, sweetie!”
My mom’s voice rang out to me like a fire truck’s siren. I instantly opened my eyes and walked out of the threshold, letting Dad lock the door and hand over the keys to our real estate agent, who had managed to sell our home for a very, very reasonable amount.
The day outside was bright and happy, vibrant and warm, yet the heat suddenly didn’t bother me anymore. I looked around my neighborhood and smiled. I would be taking all the good memories as I went. But as much as I was sad, truth be told, I was also secretly excited.
I didn’t know what it was, but I felt like something was waiting for me in Peidmond. An adventure was waiting to be lived—maybe a mystery waiting to be unraveled. The little kn
owledge about the new feeling in me was all the more alluring, and somehow, secretly, I couldn’t wait to reach Peidmond.
“Bye, Cas. I’ll call you when I reach there okay!” I muttered, suddenly holding back my tears as I was pulled into a hug.
“Uh-huh, we will always talk! And if we can’t, we will at least message when we can.” Casey assured me as she hugged me back.
Smiling slightly, I pulled out of the hug and with a final wave, climbed into our SUV, watching my best friend stand in my yard and my neighborhood for the last time as my dad drove off.
It felt like I was leaving a part of me here. But then again, I was going whole.
***
“Are you excited, darling?”
Mom suddenly asked me, cutting the silence that had been building up since we left seven hours ago. The ride from California to Peidmond was fifteen hours and thirteen minutes, and already in these seven hours, we had stopped twice to fuel up the SUV and buy some snacks for along the way.
“Yeah, Mom, are you?” I murmured back, knowing well that both my parents were extremely excited for this “new chapter” in their life. Dad would not stop talking about the amount of brilliant literature his new university had, not to mention the immense raise in wage and position. He was ecstatic. For Mom, her boutiques and salons around California were still running. And although she would have to fly back and forth occasionally, her excitement with opening a new boutique and salon in Peidmond was especially overwhelming.
“Oh, I am so excited!” She squealed, clapping her hands together before turning towards Dad and placing a loving kiss on his cheek.
It was normal for me to witness their weird romance, so I just rolled my eyes and looked at the passing views.
“The new house is bigger, Theia.” Dad chuckled and looked at me from the review mirror.
I knew he was trying to make me feel better about moving, leaving my old friends and life behind, so I just grinned at Dad and spoke the first thing I thought would make him worry less. “I get the room with the best view!”
Dad chuckled and nodded, making my grin widen. It was not hard to notice that I was a papa’s girl. And with me being the only child, he doted on me. I was his little Fuzzybottom—not that my bottom was fuzzy, but just because—well, he was my hero.
“One of the best things about the house is that it has great views all around the rooms. But you’ll receive the one with the best view, we promise. We should be settled by tomorrow. Hopefully, the day after, you and I could go shopping!” Mom said as she turned to look at me. Not excited at all, I somehow managed to produce a fake smile and plaster it across my face.
Nobody messed with Mom when it came to shopping. Nobody!
Once her attention was elsewhere, I turned around to see how far off our moving truck was behind us. Before turning around, I brought out a book from my backpack and plugged my earbuds into my iPod before playing “Davy Jones Music Box and the Rainy Mood.” Somehow, the rumbles of thunder together with the soft tunes created a more reading mood for me. Shoving the iPod inside my pants pocket, I flipped through the pages of my newest read, Indiscretions, slumped back into a more comfortable position and began journeying once again into a different time and a whole different world—this time, into the world of Lord Lockwood.
***
“Thi, we are here!”
I mumbled a few incoherent words before turning in my bed. Need sleep.
“Thi, wake up!” Dad’s voice urged before I was shaken on the shoulder and lightly tapped on my face. What the heck?
“Alright, alright!” I grumbled as I sat up on my bed and peeped my eye open.
I gasped. My face becoming warmer by the second as I finally realized that I was in our SUV and a couple of people were staring at me, smiling like a bunch of weirdos. My folks included.
My cheeks burned as my eyes rested on a blond-haired guy smirking at me, an axe in his hand as he rested it on his shoulder.
What was he? A huntsman? I rolled my eyes in my mind as I pushed any budding crush away. I was more of a Beauty and the Beast girl, anyway.
Finally managing to look away, I smiled at the rest of the folks smiling at me, two slightly elder couples.
“Oh, she’s so beautiful!” The red-headed one gushed as I shoved my iPod and book into my backpack and got out of the SUV.
“Thanks,” I mumbled back, knowing full well that the blond was still staring and smirking at me.
“Hello, dear. Welcome to Peidmond! I’m Jane, and this here is my son, Alex, and my husband, Hugh. We live just there beside your house. That one there is Mary and her husband, Grant. They have a son too, Matthew. He is good friends with Alex here,” Jane told me excitedly, and I smiled back, brightly mirroring her excitement.
“It’s nice to meet you all. I am really excited to be here,” I replied back happily as I extended my hand towards each one of them, shaking their hands softly but waving awkwardly at the smirking blond, Alex.
That boy seemed as beautiful as he seemed arrogant. But then, arrogance trumped beauty any day.
My new home stood tall and proud—red bricks and a posh-looking French door. It seemed to have at least three floors, including the small attic on the third floor. Even the front yard seemed beautifully cultivated. I waited for Jane and Mary to start talking to Mom and Hugh and Grant to start helping my dad and the movers place all our stuff into the house before picking up one of my smaller book boxes. I made a run for it.
Making a dash into the house as quickly as I could, I stopped only to grab Dad and drag him away, begging him to show me my room.
He grinned excitedly and exchanged a knowing look with both Hugh and Grant who led me upstairs until we came to a stop on the very end of the hallway. He unlocked the room and opened the doors, motioning me to walk in.
I walked in and froze.
There, in front of me was the most amazing view of a castle perched on a mountain, surrounded by pine trees and fog. Beyond it, I could see water, maybe a lake. Maybe a sea…It was actually hard to say through the fog.
I turned around, already readying myself to leap on Dad but frowned when I noticed that I was now alone in my room. The blond Alex was standing in the doorway with the usual smirk on his face and his axe missing.
I frowned. The urge of just smacking his smirk away seemed quite strong now, and it would be easy too.
“That is the Castle Dovelore, owned by His Grace, Alexander Whitlock. ‘His Grace’ because some say his grandfather was a duke, and that has now been passed over to him. He is also very rich if the castle isn’t proof enough. But not by heritage, most of it is self-made and all. We are supposed to visit that castle this year, you know. Mr. Whitlock is providing one lucky student with a full-time scholarship to any university he or she wishes to attend and another lucky student a chance to stay in his castle for the breaks with the full usage of his library and a full tour around the castle if he or she wanted to, that is,” Blond spoke, but his gaze did not once shift from the castle, which although looked quite brooding, looked equally inviting as if charming me into visiting. There definitely was something about that castle.
Suddenly very curious, I turned towards Blond and asked, “What would you like?”
He turned his attention towards me, and for the first time since the fifteen minutes that we had known each other, he smiled at me—a real smile.
“Although the most brilliant of literature are available in the castle library and I would love to roam the dungeons and secret pathways where the pirates were slain and beasts held hostage, I want the scholarship.” I nodded and turned back to look at the castle.
What beasts was Blond talking about?
The feeling of my feet pushing itself forward registered slowly before I found myself staring at the castle and my hands, sliding the window open.
Is someone living there right now? How many rooms can there be?
I swept my gaze along the windows of the castle but stalled when I saw someone sta
ring back at me. It seemed a he. His bulky built made sure of showing no confusion even if he was so, so far away. It was quite distinguishable that he was wearing a white shirt, but that was all that could be made sense of. The rest was a blur.
“Hey, Blond, come here!” I whispered, motioning Blond to move forward.
“Blond?” he asked quite confusedly and sounding outraged as he made his way to me.
The man was still staring. His stare seemed so intense it made hairs stand at the back of my neck. I turned towards Blond, wishing he could see the strange man just as I did. Castles were always haunted. But the one I would see day and night could not possibly be haunted, could it?
“Can you see the man?”
“What man? I see no man,” he whispered back, scrunching his eyes as he looked in the direction of the castle.
I turned towards the castle, and the man was gone.
“He was just there! I promise!”
He looked at me frowning for a second before his smile came back.
“I can help you decorate your room.” He offered, looking as if he really were interested in sorting out my mess.
I smiled as I brushed a stray of brown hair behind my ear, silently thanking God for his sudden offer to decorate my bedroom. It would have taken me all day and night, otherwise.
“Let’s do this.”
If you enjoyed this sample, look for
Mated to the Alpha King
on Amazon.
BOOK YOU MIGHT ENJOY
CATCHING GENESIS
Nicole Riddley
“I, Logan Carrington, future Alpha of Shadon Geirolf Pack, reject you, Genesis Fairchild, as my mate and future luna of my pack.”
Rejected and broken-hearted, Genesis Fairchild turns to her best friends and come up with a plan to give Logan, the school’s major player, and future alpha, a taste of his own medicine.
One Operation Payback later, a silver-gray eyed lycan joins in the picture and like a moth to a flame, Genesis feels the instant connection between her and the Lycan Constantine.
The Princess and the Alpha: A Shifter Romance Page 25