by T. S. Ryder
Avalon couldn't help but smile.
"Now," he continued. "Why don't you get dressed and come socialize while we wait for the ceremony? I think your mom is as nervous as you are."
She nodded and kissed him once more before he left. When he was gone the flutter of nerves churned her stomach again, but it wasn't so bad this time.
Soon she would be the guardian of the keys to Albian. After that, she would go to Oxford University and brush up on her history of the world. She would start attending formal conferences and diplomatic parties in a more official capacity than she had before.
All that would work itself out. She knew it would. Vaughn would be with her, protecting her and comforting her, while her mother would help her navigate the political field.
"I am a Lady Grey and I come from a noble heritage," Avalon whispered to herself, straightening her shoulders and raising her chin. "I will not be cowed by my own fears. What will come will come and I will be ready for it all."
***
The attending press went crazy as soon as she entered the ballroom. Avalon smiled and waved, but when they asked how she was feeling, all she'd tell them was that she was confident and excited for her future. She spent only ten minutes with them before her mother came and rescued her, pulling her to meet the guests.
The next hour seemed to pass in a blur. Before she knew it, Avalon and her mother were being led down a garden path, lined with late-blooming geraniums, to a small pond. This was where the ceremony had always taken place from generation to generation.
Avalon's father squeezed her hand as they got to the pond. Clear blue water was edged by cattails and the full moon hung low in the sky. It was a good sign, the full moon landing on the Samhain Eve when she would receive her birthright. Frogs croaked and crickets chirped.
Stane and Vaughn helped Elaine and Avalon into a small rowboat and gently pushed them adrift in the pond. Elaine leaned over, brushing the water with her fingertips. A thick mist rose, shrouding them. Soon the shore could not be seen and the sounds of whispering died away.
The boat stopped with a gentle thump and Avalon gasped. They had landed on an island. It seemed like just a tiny patch of land, but on the ground were a set of intricate golden gates. Rubies and sapphires winked at her and the whole gate seemed to glow.
"These are the gates to Albian," Elaine whispered. "The keys aren't a spell or a physical object. They're the ability to come here, to find this place wherever you are. It's easier via water, though. Come."
Elaine stepped from the boat and led Avalon to the gates. Peering through the worked gold, Avalon saw a land too beautiful for her to comprehend. Every fiber in her body ached to step through and be in that land. In the distance a figure lay atop a table, sleeping.
"King Arthur," Elaine said, putting a hand on Avalon's shoulder. "He sleeps for the day when he's meant to return."
"How will I know if he wakes?"
"You'll know. That's part of the magic. But you do more than guard the gates, Avalon. You guard that land. Can you imagine what would happen if the people of our world walked through them? Trampled the grass, cut down the trees, turned that beauty into profit margins? There will be people who try to tempt you to abuse your authority. There will always be those who want to take and take and take. It's your job to keep this place unsullied."
Avalon nodded. She knew she couldn't enter these gates, ever, lest she open them for others to follow. The longing to go through to that beautiful land was almost overwhelming, but a fierce desire to protect it was even stronger.
Elaine turned to her daughter, smiling. "I have always known you were strong enough for this task, Avalon. I have worried about how to let you know that."
"I know now."
Elaine kissed her forehead. "Give me your hands."
Avalon obeyed and her mother held her hands tightly. She began chanting a spell and though Elaine had never heard the words before, she was soon chanting with her.
***
When they returned to their guests, both mother and daughter were all smiles. Avalon's gaze sought out Vaughn at once as Elaine went to her husband. It seemed everybody who had waited for them had dark circles under their eyes. Though it had been dark when they had gone onto the pond, the sun was high in the sky now.
Avalon forced herself to smile and respond politely to the congratulations that came at her from all sides, but all she wanted to do was lie down and sleep. She hadn't slept for more than twenty-four hours, after all.
Vaughn led her back to the castle, putting himself between her and the press, who kept trying to ask her about what exactly had happened. Soon they were back in her room and Avalon collapsed onto the bed.
"Are you okay?"
Avalon nodded, a grin breaking over her face.
"More than okay. I'm amazing. It was amazing. But I'm also exhausted," she laughed and held out her arms. "Snuggle me?"
Vaughn grinned. He removed her dress, kissing her body as he did so, but when she yawned he slipped her under the blankets and curled up next to her. Avalon stroked the smooth skin of his chest and smiled sleepily. No words were needed for this moment. All was right, all was peaceful.
She had her dragon, she had her birthright and was ready to face the future.
*****
THE END
Bonus Book 3: The Alpha Wolf's Baby
Description
A curvy secretary with a new job PLUS her hot shifting boss who is leader of his pack PLUS a deadly duel!
All Bianca Jamison was looking for was a job, but what she found when she entered McKenna Enterprises was danger, intrigue and the kind of passion she was certain would never happen to her...
Men never looked at her the way Eric McKenna did – and why should they? With so many fit and slender beauties out there, who would want to give her curves a chance?
Billionaire and Alpha of the New York Pack, Eric McKenna, is going through some rough times. The Law of his Pack states that an Alpha who cannot produce a son within the first year of his rule has to cede the position – and his year is almost up...
And then Bianca Jamison appears with her Rubenesque beauty and a scent he cannot resist, and the next thing he knows, he’s fantasizing about taking her in the elevator of his office building mere seconds after they’d met!
When Pack politics take the turn for the bloody and betrayal puts both his and Bianca’s life in grave danger, Eric knows he has to keep her safe.
The only question is: will he be able to restrain the powerful passion blossoming between them?
Chapter One
Once security cleared her, Bianca Jamison ran towards the elevator, desperate to catch it. If she didn’t reach the 11th floor within the next five minutes, she’d be late for her job interview. It was the first one she had been invited to in the past three months, and she wanted to do everything in her power to make the best impression possible... which, for her, was difficult enough to begin with. People usually took one look at her 230 lb. body, and everything else about her – the fact that she had graduated at the top of her class, the excellent references she had got from every internship she did during college, the two foreign languages she spoke – immediately became invisible.
So when McKenna Enterprises called, Bianca knew she had to come in all guns blazing, decked up in her most professional duds, determined to make them see her, and not her weight... but then her bus had got caught in a traffic jam, and now all her efforts would go to waste if she didn’t catch the damn elevator.
She could see the door beginning to close and frantically called, “No! Please, stop!” To her immense relief, a hand extended from inside to stop the door from closing, just in time for her to reach it. Her shoes slid against the marble floor as she came to a sudden halt.
Taking a moment to regain both her balance and her breath, Bianca looked up to thank the kind stranger who was still holding the door open for her...
...only to meet a pair of pale blue eyes observing her with
unbridled interest.
Bianca gulped, suddenly understanding how prey felt when face-to-face with a predator. There was nothing inherently frightening about him. He was a handsome man in his early thirties, about half a foot taller than her, cut lean but strong, dressed in clothes that were understated but obviously expensive – a russet suit and crisp white shirt, unbuttoned at the top, and no tie. His sandy hair was cropped into a Caesar cut and he had the kind of tan that spoke of hours spent in outdoor activities.
But that look in his eyes like he was wondering what she tasted like... yeah. That made her shiver.
“Well?” he asked, his brow raised quizzically, as if he was daring her to step inside. His voice, a little on the rough side, fit him perfectly, and Bianca thought that she wouldn’t be surprised if she found out women were lining up at his bedroom door – they’d literally just met and she could already feel the heat rising under her skin. He had a presence that went beyond attraction, something almost primal that she could not help but respond to.
But then she remembered the reason she was there and mentally slapped herself for losing her concentration so easily. She nodded and stepped inside, scurrying off into a corner of the elevator. The man smirked and moved his hand, letting the door close.
“Which floor?” he asked.
“11th, please,” she replied.
A wolfish grin appeared on his lips as he pressed the button, his eyes not leaving her even once. Bianca had a feeling that she should be afraid... and yet, instead, she felt heat pool between her thighs, making her frustrated with herself. He was dangerous – he looked dangerous – but, for some reason, that realization only made her want him even more.
Chapter Two
Meanwhile, Eric McKenna was exercising more self-restraint than he had thought was possible for any werewolf enclosed in such a small space with a woman at the peak of her monthly cycle, let alone for a fully-fledged Alpha on the first day of the full moon.
Granted, her pheromones weren’t the only thing wreaking havoc on his control. In fact, he was wondering if there was a man alive who could see how beautiful she was and not want to take her on the spot.
She had a sweet, heart-shaped face with large brown eyes and small, full lips. He was already fantasizing about them being wrapped around him while she was on her knees. Her chestnut hair was bound in a tight French bun, and both her makeup and her nails were well done, using only natural tones. She wore no perfume, for which his highly sensitive nose was very grateful.
And her body... the charcoal sheath dress that encased her from neck to knee did nothing to hide the generous curves of her voluptuous figure. She was built like a pinup, though with much thicker padding, with large breasts, a pronounced waistline despite the roundness of her belly and wide hips with a juicy bottom stacked on top of thick, strong thighs.
The wolf in him whispered to the most primal of his desires, demanding he take her, but the man forced himself to stay where he was. The only thing on the 11th floor was his own company, which most likely made her a potential client – and, more to the point, she was a complete stranger. He did not need this complication... though his Beta would probably disagree.
“You know your year is almost up,” Brian had reminded him just last night, for what seemed like the millionth time, “Might and issue, Eric. Those are the requisites, and you’re stalling on the issue part.” Eric had argued him out of his house not even a full hour later, but for all that he hated to admit it, Brian was right. In his pack, an Alpha had as many duties as he had privileges, but even the worst Alpha could still legitimately hold a claim to his title if he met two conditions – defeating any pretenders to the position who issue a formal Challenge, and proving his fertility by having a healthy son. For the previous Alphas of the pack, who had already had families before they assumed the position, this had not been a problem, unless they had only daughters. In that case, they had three years to produce an heir.
A childless Alpha had one.
Knowing that he had no choice, Eric had done his part and, ever since he obtained his title, had knocked boots with pretty much every willing she-wolf he could find, even though the forced nature of those couplings bothered him greatly. Sex was supposed to be fun and emotional; what he had been having for the past year could only be called clinical.
And he couldn’t blame the ladies, either. It wasn’t their fault that the same magic that gave werewolves their heightened senses, the ability to shapeshift and many other perks made werewolves far less fertile than humans – which was a loophole he could’ve taken advantage of if the idea didn’t make him sick to his stomach. He had too much honor to knock up some poor woman who had no idea what she’d be getting into and convince her to keep the baby he would then have to take away. Even when one parent was human, a child of a werewolf was always a werewolf.
To prevent any accidents, Eric had stopped having sex with human women altogether. It was a decision he was currently very tempted to revoke, especially when he caught the sweet, sweet scent of arousal from the woman across from him. The beast inside him fought to take control with a vengeance.
With a stifled growl, Eric closed his eyes and let his head fall back against the wall of the elevator, praying that whatever business this woman had in his firm had nothing to do with him...
Chapter Three
With a loud ding, the elevator stopped, and Bianca fought the urge to flee as soon as the door opened. The fact that the man in front of her made her feel both aroused and apprehensive was no excuse to be rude, especially since, for all the teasing, he hadn’t actually done anything that would justify her nervousness. He had just stood there and... watched her, without blinking once, until he had closed his eyes and rested the back of his head against the elevator door a few seconds before they reached the 11th floor. And, when they did, he was courteous enough to politely gesture for her to exit the elevator first. She nodded and stepped out, doing her best to hide her relief.
She’d heard him step out as well a moment later, but she didn’t dare to look to see where he went, heading straight to the reception desk instead. A glance at the clock behind the receptionist’s back told her that she’d arrived just in the nick of time, which took some of the nervousness away, and moments later a secretary arrived to take her to meet with the head of HR.
The interview went much better than she had anticipated. Faster, too, since the woman Bianca was going to temp for had left abruptly, and they needed someone to jump into her shoes as soon as possible. “Mr. McKenna’s personal assistant broke her ankle and will be out for two months,” Ms. Fonseca explained, “His secretary will be taking over for her, but we need someone who will aid her since she’ll basically be doing two jobs at once. She personally handpicked the candidates, so you’ve come pre-approved, and if you can start right away then the job is yours.” Bianca was a little disappointed. The original job posting did say that this would be a temporary position, but only two months? That was far too short a time.
But she was desperate, and a good reference from McKenna Enterprises could potentially open more doors for her, so she decided to accept the offer. An hour and a mountain of paperwork later, Bianca had the pleasure of being introduced to her new (albeit temporary) boss, Janet Hutchinson.
Ms. Hutchinson was a kind but firm woman in her 50s, and Bianca spent the next few hours running through the ins and outs of her new job with her, taking notes and trying to memorize as much as she was able to in such a small amount of time. “I’m so happy you’ve decided to take the position,” she told Bianca, once they were done and making the necessary plans for the next day. “You were my first choice on the list.”
Bianca felt her cheeks redden a little. “Thank you,” she replied, and was just about to ask about the minutes she’d be taking during one of the next day’s meetings when Ms. Hutchinson looked somewhere behind Bianca’s shoulder and exclaimed, smiling, “Hello, Mr. McKenna.”
She turned around to see a handsome youn
g man with a cheerful look on his face. He looked around thirty and had those classically handsome features often favored by the fitness modeling companies: manly, but well groomed. He was tall and cut a fine figure in impeccably tailored attire, with a gold Patek Philippe glinting on his wrist and his entire pose that of a man confident in his style. Bianca found herself envying him; he had the air of a man who was always satisfied with what he saw in the mirror, something she was sure she’d never achieve.
“Janet, please.” He smiled to the secretary, and took her hand for a kiss. “You know you don’t have to stand on ceremony with me. That’s Hector’s gig.” Ms. Hutchinson chuckled.
“In the office, you are Mr. McKenna,” she told him, in a motherly tone that told Bianca Ms. Hutchinson had probably known Jason McKenna since he was a boy.
“So strict,” he sighed dramatically, before his eyes moved to Bianca. “And who is this lovely lady?” Mr. McKenna asked, sizing her up. Despite his charm, she couldn’t help feeling uncomfortable about him, which struck her as strange. Jason McKenna was a very handsome man, even more handsome than the man she had met that morning, and yet she didn’t feel the least bit attracted to him.
“Meet Bianca Jamison,” Ms. Hutchinson said. “She’ll be assisting me while I cover for Mrs. Jackson. Ms. Jamison, this is Mr. Jason McKenna, head of the company’s financial sector.”
Bianca nodded and took the hand Mr. McKenna offered for a shake. “How do you do, sir?” she said politely, “I look forward to working with you.”