Royally Charmed: A Royal Bad Boy Shifter Romance

by Lea Jade

  I’m royally screwed.

  Tasha gives a low growl and crouches. The rest of the lionesses do the same, making a prey circle.

  I take a step back. “Tasha, don’t do this.”

  Eyes flitting to gold and back, she flicks her hair and launches herself at me. I have enough time to duck to the side, blocking her rather than anything that would really hurt her. Sedona is next, kicking me in the chest. Then Violet behind me, sweeping at my feet. I kiss the ground and roll to a crouch, panting. The three other lionesses spread wide, in case I run.

  I do the only thing I can do.

  I fucking run.

  My legs move like pistons, sprinting me into the woods around the back of my house. Lionesses right on my tail. I’m not faster, and I’m definitely not 100% after Haile almost stopped my heart, but I know these damned woods like the back of my hand.

  I elude all six for a good solid time, by circling back and running through streams. When a figure steps out of the dark wood and a sting hits me in the neck.

  What the hell?

  Tasha steps into the light, smirking. Holding something long and thin in her hand. A blow-dart?

  For a second time, the world fades to black, and I slump on to the remains of fallen tree.

  When I rouse, I’m cuffed in the back of the SUV. Tasha is driving, chauffeuring me to my father’s royal residence. Violet and Sedona stare at me with distain from the rear facing seats as I lay prone on the back ones. Every time I stir, a low growl springs from one of them so I stop moving and just lie there. Body and mind in a world of pain.

  Great. Just what I don’t need right now.

  I’m not worried about where they’re taking me. My father is many things, but I’m still his son. I just don’t need to be doing this right now. How long has it been since Haile disappeared? Too long. The thought of her lost or hurt has my lion rearing forward again. The lionesses must notice because one of them, Violet, puts her legs on top of me. Clearly, enjoying that I’m wrapped up like a holiday gift for the Alpha.

  I need to get back home. I need to find her. Now.

  “What’s the time?” I croak.

  “Time you knew your place, Beta,” Sedona drawls.

  Hilarious as it sounds, I give her a warning growl. But I can wait. Speak to my father and then get back to finding Haile. She can’t have gone far.

  Unless…

  No point in thinking what if. I’ll cross that bridge if it comes to it. I trust my brother. He’s still out there. He’ll find her and bring her back.

  Back to what? She tried to kill you.

  At the very least, bring her back to her people. It’s better this way. There was never going to be a future for us. She’s a witch and I’m a lion. Once I find her, I’m going to let Kaiser and the lionesses look after her and stay the hell away this time.

  When we reach the palace—a sprawling estate in the hills set-above acres of vineyard—there’s no one around. Not that that’s unusual. The staff are most likely overwhelmed with guests arriving for the summit. Every paranormal leader in the country is expected to arrive in the next few days and sign the Imperial Treaty—Something my father has been working on for a long time.

  I’m halfway being escorted up the main staircase when my father appears on the balcony of the mezzanine level, ushering guests to the second-level terrace. An entourage of inner sect council and coven officiates behind him. His gaze passes over me, and I sense his rage like a blade between us. Not a new thing. He’s been angry at me for an age or more. Although, it gets sharper with every passing day.

  I may not get to talk to my father until later, which doesn’t bode well. I’m painfully aware of how many hours have passed since Haile disappeared. I demanded that Tasha tell me the time on the drive up, before I shifted in the SUV and tore the car apart. Begrudgingly, she obliged.

  If I can’t get out of this… I don’t like to think what will happen.

  “I need to speak to my father.”

  Tasha looks at me and rolls her eyes. “Where do you think I’m taking you?”

  I let her lead me to the terrace, watching every step I make, even though I know the way.

  “You know, you don’t have to hold my hand every minute.”

  “Trust me. I’d rather not. However, it’s more than my life is worth if you go missing again.”

  I glance over and catch her mid-scowl. The lead lioness’s usual facade in business hours, rather than the amused glint of hers I also come to know. Tasha would have had my father at her throat the moment I skipped out. “I’m sorry,” I say, not needing to explain what for.

  She eyes me sideways and shrugs. “You did what you had to do. Call it Alpha’s prerogative.”

  I raise my brow. “So, I’m Alpha now?”

  She scowls again. “Don’t push it.” But the tiniest smirk spreads from a corner of her lips.

  A debate is underway, arbitrated by my father, when we get to where the group is seated. Tasha takes the place of my shadow, just behind me. The oldest and most powerful of the Coven and the Shifter Council, Javis, Gabrina, Saroc and Lucien, are all gathered around my father. He looks up, momentarily fixes on Tasha, then carries on.

  Jarvis sees me second and pastes on a smile.

  “Caleb, just in time to join us. What do you say to all this?” he asks, as he pours himself a glass of a red wine.

  “Say to what?” I ask.

  My father folds his arms and sits back, and sends a cursory glance my way, no doubt keeping his emotions in check over my recent Houdini act. Finally, he speaks. “Rumors, about the Dragons. It’s been over a century since they presented a new heir. Javis has reason to believe the purity of their line has been contaminated.”

  Lucien sighs. “It wouldn’t surprise me. Argento’s mother was human, wasn’t she?”

  “That doesn’t mean their line isn’t pure,” I say as I perch on the edge of a planter. I’m uninvited to the meeting, but I don’t care.

  “Not just any human. A witch,” Jarvis concludes.

  Gabrina, one of the coven’s three leaders, rolls her eyes. “She’s a witch, so what? That doesn’t dilute power, if anything it substantiates it. Isn’t that right, Raynard?” She peers at my father.

  He shakes his head. “Not always. Although, I can see your point. Her heritage is not the reason for his inability to produce an heir. No, this is something else.”

  While he won’t say it outright, my father has always believed power should be earned, not something you’re born into. Hence, he’s exactly not a fan of witch-kind. Luckily, Gabrina is a mage, not one born to magic but taught—the only reason father tolerates her staying at his home. She’s also a coven leader, which makes her the ideal candidate for these diplomatic affairs. Just as well, given the circumstances. A witch was said to have cursed my great, great grandfather. No one believes the legend, of course. Mostly, witches just like to stick their nose in my father’s business affairs, which infuriates him no end.

  “Argento has taken the throne then?” News to me. Argento is older than I am but Dragons live a lot longer. If he has ascended, then it won’t long before all other royals follow suit.

  Everyone regards me for a second, and then my father gestures to the display of wine and fresh fruit adorning the pantry table. “Are you hungry, thirsty, Caleb? We’re just about to have lunch.” His sudden attention makes me wary.

  “Thank you, but no. I need to talk to you in private.”

  “Now is not the time. We have guests,” he says, dismissing me with a wave of his hand.

  I have to bite my tongue to save saying something I’ll regret. House arrest was his idea to please and satiate the coven leaders. Me being here should soothe them no end. Enough so my father can at least take the time to speak to me for a few minutes.

  The smell of herbs wafts over, and I sense Gabrina’s attention prickling the back of my neck. Her gaze is assessing but much less judgmental than I’ve been used to in the last few weeks. I know for a f
act it’s because she has a thing for younger men.

  “Like what you see, Gabrina?”

  Her dark eyes narrow at me. “You are lucky I respect your father too much to respond to that.”

  “Caleb. Let’s be civil, shall we?” my father says.

  My throat burns with a growl, but I suppress it. Now is not the time.

  “Father, I really need speak to you.”

  “Fine, fine.” Anything to get me away from his guests, to keep me from embarrassing him.

  Tasha knows well enough not to follow. We walk away from shifter ears and eyes, and then I bring him up to speed on the witch, leaving out any mention of Trey. For all I know, she ran away and my brother is out looking for her. Or my father is working with him.

  Raynard’s expression is collected the entire time, until at last, he nods.

  “So, you’re telling me another witch is missing, and once again you were the last one to see her alive?”

  “It’s not how it seems.”

  “You disobeyed an order, Caleb.”

  “And, so what of it?” It comes out harsher than I expect.

  For an instant, his eyes are piercing, the color of a pale-yellow moon. Then they’re back to being grey once more. His lion doesn’t like that he can’t control me. Alphas need control like they need air. I should submit right now, kneel to my king. But I can’t. It must be to do with my own forthcoming ascension to the throne.

  I’m no longer his subordinate.

  I’m his competition.

  “Without a mate, the throne is still mine, Son. Remember that.”

  “I remember,” I growl.

  “My advice, go back to your quarters. The witch will turn up.”

  “And what if she doesn’t. How will that look?”

  He sighs, seeming old and grey to me all of a sudden. “Okay, maybe you’re right. You will ascend me one day. I need you at my side after this. No more deviations, no more drinking. Get your lion in order. Your mate is gone, I know how that feels. But if you break again, I will disown you and you will be on your own.”

  Harsh but fair. Something in his voice and eyes reminds me of before, when Sienna was alive, and I decide I should try and trust him. My father may openly despise the witches, but I’ve never once thought he was a killer. I nod at him.

  “Good. Now, what do you need from me?”

  “I need to find her before it’s pinned on me again.” I look back at Tasha. “I need your best hunter…” And I add as an afterthought, “And a ride.”

  My father gives a slow nod. “Fine. Leave discreetly, take what you need from the garage. Make haste, I need you back here by the time the summit starts.”

  He turns and strides back to the others. As he gets to his halfway to his chair, he leans into Tasha, talking to her under his breath. Her eyes glow as she frowns, and at the last second look my way.

  She stalks over, a powerful lioness ready to tear me apart, and cocks her head with s smirk.

  “Lead the way, Alpha.”

  Chapter 9

  CALEB

  After we acquire a car from my father’s fleet, I call Kaiser using my phone rather than the dash intercom. As much as trust Tasha, she doesn’t need to hear this.

  He answers on the first ring.

  “I want the deal we discussed.”

  “That’s not on the table anymore. Not after you lost the witch. Do you have any idea of the shit-storm you’ve left me in?”

  “I’ll find her. She can’t have gone far.”

  “In the rain?”

  “Trey is already out tracking her. I haven’t been able to reach him yet.”

  “You put way too much faith in that brother of yours.”

  Kai’s voice crackles on the other end as I grip the phone a little too tight. After an insult like that I should hang up. Though I can’t shake the feeling that Kai is right.

  “Maybe,” I say after a pause. “But blood comes first.”

  Throughout the drive, I attempted to reach out to Trey through our connection, or to sense him at least. There’s an awareness I have of any members of our pride when they’re nearby. More so now that I’m about to become Alpha. But he’s gone, disappeared. Just like Haile.

  Even if he was shielding, able to hide something from me, he’s still my brother.

  “Bullshit. Blood leads to nothing but obligation or obstruction. Why do you think I joined the Brotherhood?”

  “I don’t know, so you can get paid for screwing around with one of the coven leaders?”

  Sienna was the one who found out about Kaiser and Gabrina, not me. I never told him I knew but it’s obvious the way Gabrina hangs off Kai at council meetings, him and every other young male she can get her claws into. I’m guessing about the payment part, but warlocks are notorious for it. Doesn’t take much to put two and two together. His silence on the other end gives it away more than anything.

  Tasha throws me a look as she drives like a maniac up the driveway to my house. We get out of the car and into the rainstorm that started up again as soon as we left the palace. She immediately stalks to the spot that they took me from and she bends down to put her nose to the dirt.

  It’s a good thing I thought to ask for Tasha, she’s the best tracker we have. I’m hoping we, or she, can pick up Haile’s, or at least Trey’s, scent if we find it again.

  I walk around with the phone to my ear, telling Kai what we’re doing while trying to find the scent trail I picked up from the jeep, but it’s gone, washed away in the freak flood. Tasha stands moments later and shakes her head.

  “We need to wait until the rain stops!” she shouts over the noise of the downpour. She’s right. We don’t stand a chance of finding her right now, not in the rain. Even if we shifted, it would be a waste of time and energy.

  We traipse back to the house, soaked to the bone. Tasha heads straight into the closet, no doubt to raid my wardrobe. The smell of Haile lingers in here, intensified by the rain outside, and it drives me crazy to smell her and not be able to touch her. There’s a mounting pain in my chest. The same feeling as when Sienna left. A vital part of me missing. Gone. Never to return. My beast prowls the edge of my mind at the thought, urging me to shift.

  Let him take control. Find her!

  The desire is strong, but I hold back. I’ll need my energy later and running around in the storm now without a trail will burn me out faster than anything. And If that happens, I might lose control.

  Plus, Kaiser is still on the phone.

  “Kaiser?” I don’t know if I can’t hear him or he’s still not talking.

  “I’m here. I’m thinking.”

  “What’s there to think about?”

  “Do you have anything of hers on you?”

  “Yes,” I say, looking around at the mess. I pass Tasha coming out of the bathroom with a towel around her head and wearing my clothes, as I head to the bedroom. I come out again straight after. The smell of Haile in there was too much for my beast to handle. The bedsheets are gone, strangely, and so are her clothes. Otherwise, I might have rubbed myself all over them like a dog in heat.

  Then I see it, on the floor. Her phone.

  “I have her phone,” I grunt.

  “Technology has a way of interfering with my magic, do you have anything else? Something more personal?”

  I shake my head, even though he can’t see me. “No...” I’m about to jump down his throat but then stop myself. “She took her clothes.”

  “Are you sure it was Haile who took her clothes?”

  “No, I don’t know.” I growl. Stop asking useless fucking questions. I take a breath clam myself. If I lose control now, it’s over. “You think she’s with my brother?”

  “No, but it’s a start.”

  “Can you track him instead?”

  “If you have some personal items of his.”

  Trey stayed here recently. I have a lot of his things here. “I do.”

  “Good enough,” he says, and hangs up. Thank f
ates for that.

  When Kai arrives, dressed head to toe in his signature black, the first thing he does is stalk over to my drinks cabinet and pour himself a glass of something golden. Whiskey probably. Tasha, seated on the sofa, gives him a look of disgust. She’s never been his greatest fan.

  “This is the best we could find,” I say, throwing Kai one of Trey’s jackets. He doesn’t wear it any more but it reeks of his scent.

  Kai grabs it and nods. “This will do.” Out of trench pocket he pulls an ornate-looking ceremonial dagger, which draws a warming rumble from both lions in the room. “I’ll need a map and more of your blood,” he says, brandishing the dagger in front of me.

  I was expecting this. I raise my sleeve. “Take what you need. Take all of it. Just find her.”

  After Kai takes my blood and we find a map, Tasha and I watch in silence while he works, setting up a makeshift altar at the northernmost point of the room. The rain hasn’t let up yet and my lion is stalking, pacing up and down inside my head. Raging because we haven’t left. I don’t blame him. I’m sick at the thought of what could be happening while we sit here and play with goddam potions.

  “What’s taking so long?” I bark.

  “Patience. I can’t rush blood magic, or I’ll make a mistake and accidentally kill you.”

  “Just hurry the hell up.”

  My vision flickers from red to black, and back again. There’s a sick feeling in the base of my stomach, working its way through my limbs. I’m clutching at the armrest. Sweating like a bastard as my skin itches and burns, heating up way beyond human temperatures.

  My beast is trying to take over.

  Occasionally, Tasha looks my way. Worry creasing her face, in case I’m not in control and she has to wrestle me down or blow-dart me again. This is not the first time she’s been out to haul my rogue ass back in. Back then it was vampires that got me riled. This time, it’s a craving to find my mate.

  “Are we done?” I growl. I'm not sure if I can hold it much longer.

  “Done.”

  Finally. “Where?”

  Kai stand up and shows us on the map. “Your brother is approximately seven miles north of here. On Fern Creek road, just before the turnoff for Hangman Caves.” Without waiting, I’m out of the door. Tasha trots up behind until she's jogging beside me clenching her fists.