Queen of the Lycan, Karina Espinosa [accelerated reader books .TXT] 📗

could tell he wanted to. I hobbled out of the room and followed my silent escorts out of the castle through the back exit that led to acres of luscious green pastures that bordered the woods. I glanced in the direction of the stables, itching to go and see Shadow, the horse Alexander had gifted me, but that would have to wait. I was in no condition to go for a ride.

Once we crossed the bridge and stopped at the edge of Caledonian Forest, Bash helped me remove my clothing. In a matter of seconds, I was naked and the change was already beginning. Before I knew it, I was running through the forest in my wolf form, enjoying myself for the first time since arriving in Scotland.

Shortly after returning from my run, evening fell and Bash and I were summoned to the dining hall for dinner with Alexander. We had dinner with the King every night, so this wasn’t out of the normal, but I’d assumed he wouldn’t want to see me after the events earlier in the day.

Bash and I strolled into the vast dining hall and took our customary seats, me beside the King and Bash on my other side. Helena, my grandmother, sat across from Bash, but the other chair beside Alexander remained empty. It had been since we arrived. It was where Ivana, his ex-wife, used to sit. We hadn’t spoken about it, like ever, but I knew her betrayal during the Freedom Wars hurt him a lot. Hell, her betrayal when it came to Adaline probably hurt the worst. Even after all that, there was still a part of him that loved her. I was sure it wasn’t easy dealing with all those feelings. And don’t even get me started on Andrew, his son who ended up not being his son. That was a whole other cup of noodles. Alexander had never confided in me about that part of the story, and I wondered if I should bring it up one day when it was just the two of us.

“How was yer shift?” Alexander asked cordially as he took a spoonful of soup.

I nodded. “I feel good. Like I said, brand new.”

“I heard what ye did to Jacob’s boy, chickie,” Helena gushed. “Good for ye!”

Alexander eyed his mother warily like he wanted to disagree with her strongly, but their relationship was still mending so he wisely chose to remain quiet.

I bit my lip to keep from laughing. “Yeah, Granny, but William was actually really nice,” I admitted. “I probably should have backed away from the fight.” My eyes traveled to Alexander and then back to Helena. It was fairly obvious I was looking for his approval.

Helena snorted. “Nice?” she scoffed as if the notion was absurd.

“Yes. He didn’t want to fight me because I’m a luna, and especially when he found out who I was,” I explained. “But I forced his hand.”

“I figured the lad was just like his Grandda,” he mused.

I shook my head. “Nothing like him.”

“Still,” Bash interrupted, “he nearly knocked her out.”

I kicked Bash under the table and gave him the evil eye. I wasn’t trying to throw the guy under the bus and Bash certainly wasn’t helping. Truthfully, William was actually pretty decent compared to his grandfather.

“I knew it!” Helena shouted as she took a mouthful of her soup.

I cleared my throat and attempted to change the subject. “How are the ceremony preparations going?”

My grandmother was in charge of mine and Bash’s mating ceremony. I looked down at my engagement ring and twisted it around my finger, loving how the light caught on the stone.

Her face softened and her eyes glittered. “Oh, hen, yer going to love it,” she said. “I have everything ye wanted and all the invitations have been sent out. All that’s left is a cake tasting and then we’ll go over a few minor details like the music playlist, the first dance, decorations, and whatnot.”

“You had me at cake,” I interrupted with a broad smile. “When can we do that?”

“Of course ye want to eat cake,” Alexander chuckled as he sipped his wine.

“After the coronation,” Helena announced. “We still want ye to fit into yer gown this Sunday.”

I glanced down at my soup and rolled my eyes. Much to my chagrin, I had no say in the gown I would be wearing for my coronation. The thing was huge! Pretty, but massive. It was mainly the skirt that was the real hassle. I couldn’t imagine having to pee with that thing on. And knowing me, I would have to pee right before the ceremony, and there was no way to lift all those skirts. But, as they’ve told me over and over, it was tradition, and this was one I couldn’t go against.

“We have a meeting after dinner,” Alexander announced.

I looked up at him, hoping against hope that he wasn’t talking to me. “Are you serious?” I groaned.

“Ye wanted to lower security, didn’t ye? Well, we have to set everything up for the village.”

Of course, I mentally grumbled. There wasn’t a button you could press that would make everything power down on its own. We actually had to work on it.

“Fine,” I sighed as I handed my empty soup bowl to the waiter while another waiter whisked in to place another plate of food in front of me. I still wasn’t used to being waited on hand and foot. I tried to pretend it was no different from being at a restaurant, but it didn’t always work. The only thing that helped was knowing it wasn’t just lunas working as staff anymore. Now, there were male Lycan as well. I thanked them and started cutting into my rare steak.

“We’ll also be in town tomorrow,” Alexander said as he started slicing his steak. “There will be a ribbon cutting ceremony for a new clinic and they’ve asked us to attend.”

“A ribbon cutting ceremony for a clinic? That’s part of your job description?” I raised a