Secrets in the Library

LIANA

Once we’re dry and dressed, we walk through the ornamental gardens, chatting and holding hands. I can tell that Lucian is feeling stressed about something, though. Suddenly, Kia appears and the two of them talk privately through their link. I’m not offended. Lucian and his beta must handle a lot of confidential matters.

“Apologies, my darling,” Lucian says, and his shoulders are strangely stiff. “I have a meeting I can’t put off.” Then the two of them head off to the office to deal with whatever it is. I hope it’s nothing serious. I don’t like the tense look on Lucian’s face.

He was in such a light and happy mood in the pool. Out there in the water, it seemed as if his pain had eased, and after he’d dealt with his arousal by swimming those laps, I could feel the calmness of his soul. I hope I can stick to my plan not to get hot and heavy with Lucian. We still need to get to know each other—and if we keep going with these intimate moments, sooner or later we will be doing a whole lot more. To be honest, I don’t know if I’d have been able to turn him down had he wanted to mate me right there in the pool…

What would our mating be like?

I know he said he would bite me but I don’t know what else to expect… He said it would hurt when my change began. How much, exactly? I’ve never been the best with pain.

I decide to have a wander around the library in hopes of finding some information on the wolf-to-lycan transition process. I know, though, that being changed by Lucian would likely be different from the usual experience, given that Lucian has royal blood.

As I rummage through the stacks, the smell of sweet daisies suddenly fills my nose. I frown, turning around at the sound of soft footsteps. At the end of the aisle, a beautiful woman is poised, looking at me. I recognize her from earlier. Kia’s mate.

“Princess Liana.” She bows sweetly. “Our king told me I might find you here,” she says with a smile. She really is beautiful.

“Hi…yeah, it seems he knows me too well already,” I reply with a chuckle, and she strolls a little closer, chuckling too. When she looks me up and down, I instantly get self-conscious and squirm slightly, trying to suck in my belly.

“I apologize for staring,” she says. “Our king told me of your beauty, but I didn’t expect you to be ~this~ beautiful.” Her smile is so bright that I actually believe her and blush.

“You don’t need to say that just because I might one day be queen,” I say with a nervous laugh, but she shakes her head.

“I am very honest, Princess. Status or not.”

And, somehow, I believe her.

“Please, call me Liana.”

I glance back to the endless shelves of books, and it seems to prompt a question from her.

“Anything I can help you with? I’m very familiar with this library. It’s one of my favorite places to be.” She gazes around dreamily.

“I was looking for some information on the transition process, you know…to get an idea of what to expect.”

She nods and beckons with a finger. I follow her into another aisle. She glances over the books for a moment, then pulls one off the shelf.

“Here, this is the one I read when I was in your situation.”

~She was in my situation.~

I take the thick, leather-bound, hardcover book and turn it over in my hands. The leather is embossed with a wolf’s head beside the head of a lycan. I run my fingers over the delicate detail, feeling its intricate pattern.

“Thank you… I’m sorry, I didn’t ask your name.”

“Charlotte, but everyone calls me Char or Lottie.” She pauses. “If you want any more information, you can always talk to me. Like I said, I went through the same thing.”

“Thank you! I’d love that. You want to join me for lunch or something?” I ask, and she nods.

“Sounds great.”

***

The head matron makes us some lunch and, of course, I have plenty of red meat, as I always do. We sit on the patio deck, eating and chatting.

Charlotte reveals that she’s 178 years old. Despite her age, she only met Kia a few years ago, at a function she bravely attended—an event held for rogues and outcasts in the hopes of finding them a pack that would accept them.

She tells me how she ran from her old pack when she was being forced into a marriage she didn’t want. By pure chance, Kia bumped directly into her at the function, just as she was trying to hide from members of her old pack, who were also in attendance, looking for wolves to rehome. The second they saw each other, they knew they were mates—and the rest is history.

She tells me the X-rated version of how, shortly after that encounter, they claimed each other in a spectacular fashion, with Kia taking her right in front of the man she was supposed to have married. The story is really quite spicy and has me blushing. Kia is rather sweet, from what I’ve seen, but she says this was not the case that evening. He glared at her fiancé, snarling, while he fucked her out of the planet, and bit her right in front of him, marking her as his.

He held off on biting her with his venom until later, though, so she could decide for herself whether she wanted to be changed.

Wow. Well, she said she was honest, and I definitely believe it, now. I tell her something about myself too: that before I met Lucian, I was due to take over from my father as pack leader in time, and that I’m now unsure of what the future holds for me.

I don’t tell her about Zeke.

“My belief is that we belong with our mates or we wouldn’t have them,” she says. “It’s why I refused to marry even when it was expected of me. The Goddess sees all, and she has a plan for everyone, for reasons we may not even know of, yet. I knew I wasn’t supposed to marry anyone other than Kia. We just have to trust her to know what she’s doing. I’d never have met Kia if I hadn’t run from my pack. Everything happens for a reason.”

“That’s a good way to look at it, actually,” I respond, letting her words sink in.

“Oh, I am wise too,” she jokes, and I can’t help laughing. She ~is~ wise, though.

Maybe I just need to trust in divine destiny. The Goddess has a plan in the long run, and I need to believe in that.

~Maybe.~

“So…the transition…” I sigh, sitting back in my chair and mentally chewing it over. “I have no idea what to expect, and I don’t like that.”

She nods. “I can sympathize; I felt the same.”

“Do I dare ask what it was like?”

Her smile turns slightly solemn. “The transition itself…” she grimaces a little and I shiver. “It took me three days, and I was completely wiped out, but it’s fine if you have someone to take care of you during that time.” I nod, listening carefully. “It’s like the most intense, uncomfortable growing pains accompanied by the sweats and shakes—a little bit like withdrawal symptoms.”

“Oh Goddess…” I pull a grim face and she smiles sympathetically.

“The bite itself, though? Earth-shattering! And once you’re through the transition, you’ve honestly never felt better. The way they bite can be a little scary, though, before the whole euphoria sets in. Then it’s like nothing you’ve ever felt before. It makes it all worth it.”

“How…do they bite?”

She smiles. “They shift to hybrid form first.”

“Oh…” I answer nervously, but she chuckles.

“Trust me when I say it’s actually hot as fuck. It’s the whole mix of danger and sex that just rockets the whole experience to a whole new level.” She winks and I blush again.

Of course, with perfect timing, Kia and Lucian join us at that exact moment, Lucian’s eyes meeting mine with immediate heat.