Shifter Royals 3: The Crown Read online

  SHIFTER ROYALS 3: THE CROWN

  LEIGH WALKER

  CMG PUBLISHING

  Contents

  1. The Final Countdown

  2. Dashing

  3. Calm, Cool And Collected

  4. Charmed

  5. Tremors

  6. Ready For It

  7. Crash

  8. A Chilly Reunion

  9. Stay With Me

  10. Up In Here

  11. Creature Comforts

  12. Flouncing

  13. Quickly, Too Quickly

  14. Unfortunate

  15. A Steady Rain

  16. Posturing

  17. Actually

  18. Spectator Sport

  19. Sacrifices

  20. Faking It

  21. A Woman Scorned

  22. In Retrospect

  23. Bleeding Out

  24. The Gathering

  25. Face Off

  26. The Crown

  Epilogue

  Also by Leigh Walker

  Dear Reader

  About the Author

  Copyright © 2020 by Leigh Walker.

  This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, and incidents either are the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously, and any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, business establishments, events, or locales is entirely coincidental. Purchase only authorized editions.v.2.29.2020.

  This book is dedicated to my mom, for always being there through thick and thin.

  I love you.

  The Final Countdown

  Without the benefit of tea or one of Nan’s freshly baked scones, the vampire host Mira Kinney ushered us into the palace’s chilly library. She closed the door as Dae, Joely, and I stumbled to our seats. The three of us were the remaining contestants in reality dating competition called The Realm: The Bachelor King. The show was almost over; only one challenge remained. At the end of the competition the werewolf Bachelor King himself, King Rhys, would choose one of us as his bride.

  We’d been woken before the sun had risen, which was quite uncivilized. I was not at all prepared for a meeting. Yesterday had been a long day. Then I’d had a long night with the werewolf king in my bed…

  Mira smiled at us. “Good morning.”

  I’d known the vampire host for ages, but her outfits never failed to surprise me. She was dressed formally for such an early hour. Her long-sleeved hot-pink satin jumpsuit was pressed to perfection, and her white-blond hair brushed her shoulders in calculatedly loose waves.

  The vampire peered at us. “You don’t look like you’re awake.”

  “That’s because we’re not.” Dae yawned. She was dressed in a cute black frock, her long dark hair was pulled into a high ponytail, and her makeup was expertly applied, but my friend still looked like she was half asleep. “The sun isn’t up yet, Mira. What’s so important? Is Rhys feeling be—”

  “We are not speaking of that topic.” Mira fake-smiled so hard, it looked as though her face hurt. “Let’s keep it to the contest, please!”

  The king, Rhys, had been ambushed by vampires and was wounded. He was out of danger, but the attack was still fresh in all of our minds. But apparently, Mira refused to discuss it. “What’s important, darlings,” she continued, “is that His Highness is announcing the order of the overnight dates today. We are back in business! This is the homestretch, ladies. Once we’ve filmed the overnights, the king will make his final choice. He will tell no one, of course, until we host the final ball. He will propose to his choice at the ball, and then the rest will be history. One of you will be a bride, then queen, and then live happily ever after!” She clapped her hands together.

  “It’s an awful lot to take in before we’ve even had our tea.” Joely shivered in her ivory muslin gown. Her auburn hair was pulled back into an elegant bun, and her makeup was tasteful and dewy, making her pale complexion glow. “I’m not sure I’m ready for the contest to be over. I feel like it’s gone too fast, and so much has happened.”

  Dae nodded. “We’re still getting to know His Highness, but I don’t feel as though I’ve had the opportunity to spend enough time alone with him.”

  Joely sighed. “Me either.”

  I didn’t say a word. Even though it was expressly forbidden by the contest rules, His Highness had slept in my chambers last night. I didn’t have a lot of room to complain.

  “When exactly will the king announce the order of the overnight dates?” Dae asked.

  My cheeks heated. The idea of spending another evening alone with the werewolf king was intriguing. Just last night, I’d slept with my head on his massive, warm chest, listening to his heartbeat. The other girls murmured beside me, and Mira continued to talk, but I didn’t pay attention. I kept thinking about Rhys’s chest…

  “Tamara?” Mira snapped her fingers. “Earth to Tamara. Did you hear me?”

  My cheeks blazed. “No. I’m sorry. What did you say?”

  Mira tilted her head and inspected me with her ice-blue eyes. “I said that King Rhys will make the announcement after breakfast.”

  I nodded. “And what exactly will these dates consist of?” We’d never done overnight dates on The Pageant, the dating competition filmed in the settlements that I’d previously starred in. I had no idea what the expectations or parameters were.

  “That’s up to each of you—and His Highness, of course.” Mira paced the front of the room. “You will have dinner and perhaps take a walk with the king or play a game. Or maybe you will enjoy a digestif by the fire. It all depends on what you’re in the mood for.”

  “What about the other part?” Joely asked. “The overnight part?”

  “The cameras will film every moment of your evening for the audiences at home. We’ve taken a poll, and the overnight dates are what the audience is most excited about. They cannot wait to see you spend the night with His Highness!”

  Dae furrowed her brow. “Um…”

  Joely frowned. “Er…”

  “Isn’t that sort of inappropriate?” I asked.

  Mira ignored us. “What’s lovely about this, and different from what we’ve done before, is that there’s no time limit on your evening. The production staff has prepared a special, romantic luxury suite just for this occasion. You will spend the night there with the king. Every second will be filmed, of course, and edited for the family audience at home.”

  “But what does that mean?” Joely cried. “Are you suggesting that we have relations with His Highness? Is that what needs to be edited out? Are you seriously asking us to do this before we’re married? Before we even know if he’s going to choose us?” She looked so scandalized, I thought she might fall out of her seat.

  “Not at all,” Mira said quickly. “Please do not feel pressured to do anything that makes you uncomfortable. The point of these special dates is to allow you more time than you would normally have—time to spend with the king and really get to know him better. That’s the only point.”

  Dae’s cheeks were bright pink. “But there will be a special suite, like you said. A romantic one. There’s only one bed, I assume?”

  “Yes. But you can end the date whenever you choose. You can also ask His Highness to sleep on the couch.” Mira smiled at us. “There’s no pressure to do anything, except exactly what you want to do and what makes you feel comfortable. I can speak for His Highness when I say that he isn’t interested in making you uneasy, and he certainly wouldn’t want you to do something that contradicts your beliefs. So rest assured, there’s no hidden agenda. And there won’t be any penalty for your choices. He only wants to spend time with you.”

  Dae nodded. “Thank you. That makes me feel better.”

  “As it should
.” Mira put her hands on her hips. “But I’m not going to lie to you—there is a salacious element to these dates. The episode’s going to be great for ratings! The viewers at home will be dying to see whether you kiss the king, and what else might happen. It’s all everyone’s been talking about, of course.”

  Joely’s eyes were huge in her face. “It is quite salacious. That’s exactly what I’m saying.”

  “You don’t have to spend the night,” Mira assured her. “It’s only if you want to.”

  It was Joely’s cheeks that flushed then. “Yeah, right. Dae and Tamara will both sleep over, and I’ll be left in the dust.”

  “You need to calm down.” I patted Joely’s hand. “You just won the Contestant’s Challenge, remember? You’re the front-runner. You don’t need to worry about being left in the dust or anywhere else.”

  Joely had recently been announced the winner of the Contestant’s Challenge, a portion of the competition designed personally by King Rhys. She’d proposed a children’s center for the Realm, the first of its kind. The king had been thrilled with her presentation. His men were about to break ground on the new building, and her vision would be realized.

  “It’s true, Jo.” Dae smiled at her. “Don’t worry about a thing. Do what’s in your heart. That’s worked pretty well for you so far, hasn’t it?”

  “I suppose so.” Joely sniffed. “It’s just that we’re down to the wire, and it’s so much pressure. I don’t want to say goodbye to the king. I don’t want the time to pass so quickly, but there’s nothing I can do about it.”

  “The end of the competition can get emotional,” Mira said. “It’s completely normal to feel things on a deeper level, and there is a lot of pressure. But what we don’t want is for any of you to do things that are out of character. That serves no one. The king must make his choice, and it must be based on the truth of who you are. He can only have one queen. It’s imperative that he chooses the right woman. Be true to yourself, and his choice will become clear. Now, off to breakfast with you. You need energy to tackle the day and the rest of the week. It won’t be long now.”

  Dae raised her hand. “No offense, Mira, but isn’t this a bit rushed? I thought that we’d have several more weeks, at least.”

  Mira’s cheerful mask didn’t slip an inch. “We’re doing everything right on time. Now go and see Nan in the kitchen! She’s making frittatas, or so I’m told.”

  Dae and Joely filed out into the hall before me, and Mira leaned in to whisper in my ear. “We need to wrap the competition up, and soon. Please help me encourage the other girls and assure them that everything’s completely normal.”

  “But is it?” I asked. There’d been problems with King Black, with the rebels, and with errant vampires roaming the countryside, not to mention the fact that King Rhys had been attacked only yesterday.

  Mira shook her head. “Of course not. Just do your best and don’t say a word.”

  I went and joined my friends in the hall.

  “What was that about?” Joely asked.

  “It was nothing exciting, I can assure you.” I linked arms with both of them as we headed to the kitchen. “Mira just wants me to encourage you two and assure you that everything’s going to be okay. I remember at the end of The Pageant, we were all about to lose it. It’s very stressful, of course, not knowing what the future holds. But all we have is today, ladies. So let’s enjoy ourselves, shall we? I could do with a frittata to start my day off right.”

  Dae looked around the hall before she spoke. “How do we think the king is this morning? I can’t believe Mira didn’t mention anything.”

  “Giuliana told me he was much improved,” I lied. I’d seen Rhys that morning in my warm bed. Werewolves recovered much more quickly than humans from illness and injury. His wounds had mostly healed, and he’d seemed to be back in his normal good humor. “And Mira didn’t talk about it because she probably can’t. We should follow her lead, don’t you think?”

  Joely stopped walking then motioned for us to follow her into a small study. She closed the door before she spoke. “I’m troubled by all this. Rhys was injured so badly, and now we’re moving at warp speed to finish the contest. I don’t like it. Something doesn’t feel right.”

  Dae nodded. “I got wrapped up in the conversation we were having about the overnight dates, but Joely’s right. Why the rush? Especially after His Highness was injured…”

  “Maybe they don’t want to put it off any longer because he got hurt. Perhaps they believe that wrapping the show sooner rather than later is, I don’t know, safer for all of us.”

  Joely looked at me sharply. “Safer how?”

  I shook my head. “I don’t know. But Rhys was attacked. That’s the thing we need to remember.”

  Dae took a step closer to me. “But we know who did it. Rhys has taken the vampire prisoner, so we should all be safe.”

  “The vampire is in custody.” I nodded, even though that wasn’t exactly the whole truth. We did have a vampire in the dungeon. It just wasn’t the vampire—or rather, vampires—who had attacked Rhys. Those vampires were still at large, perhaps roaming the countryside neighboring the Realm.

  Rhys thought the vampires were working with the rebels on behalf of King Black. I hadn’t quite wrapped my head around his theory, mostly because I couldn’t bear to think the ramifications through without the benefit of a strong cup of tea.

  I wanted to tell my friends what I knew, but I also wanted to keep them safe. “I think this vampire attack, along with the rebel activity, is enough of a reason to finish the show as soon as possible. Less room for error, you know?”

  Joely and Dae nodded, but I could tell they knew I was hiding something.

  Dashing

  The frittatas were fantastic. The tea warmed my insides and gave me strength. Dae and Joely were kind enough not to badger me with more questions during our meal, and instead we discussed the new children’s center and made plans to visit the construction site later that afternoon.

  We were instructed to go and freshen up before the king’s announcement. I was lost in my thoughts as I left my friends, mulling the state of affairs in the Realm. What was it Rhys had said? His words came back to me as I climbed the stairs to my room.

  “The king loves himself more than anything. He loves himself more than he hates them. And if the rebels were able to conquer the Realm, it would take their focus off the settlements. They might not get their country back, but they’d get a country. And then King Black could go back to rule the settlements and not have to worry about the rebels and a bunch of pesky werewolves who’ve gotten too big for their britches.”

  I cared neither for this explanation nor the logic behind it—it made too much sense. Rhys believed that King Black had betrayed him. He believed that he’d been given a country by the vampires, only to have it snatched away and offered to the rebels who still haunted the settlements. The rebels would never get their country back. The vampire royals were too strong. The werewolves had fought beside them for years, helping the vampires keep the human rebels at bay. The mortals were no match for the supernaturals.

  But what if it were true that King Black had sent vampires to help the rebels? The wolves would have a real fight on their hands then.

  “There you are!” My pretty young vampire maid, Giuliana, pounced on me as I walked through the door. “They’re making the announcement about the overnight dates soon. We need to get you ready!” She plunked me down in a chair and started working on my eyebrows before I could protest.

  “I already did my makeup,” I mumbled as she groomed me.

  “I know, but you need a full face for the cameras. I can’t wait to hear more about the dates,” Giuliana chirped. “By the way, Elsa was whining a bit earlier. She seems to have gone back to sleep, but I thought you’d like to know.”

  I glimpsed my pet gnome asleep on her satin bed on the floor. “She misses Beast terribly, of course.” Beast was her gnome-BFF, and he was staying with my f
riend Blake at the Northern castle. “I’ll take her over to see him later this morning.”

  Giuliana nodded as she worked on my brows. “I’ll see if the kitchen staff has any treats for her, poor thing.”

  “Thank you, and thank you for looking out for her. I’m surprised at how tolerant everyone’s been of the gnomes.” Historically, vampires and gnomes did not get along. I’d heard tales of gnomes attacking vampires, although I couldn’t quite picture my small, adorable, furry pets doing anything of the sort.

  “Well, you know, isn’t it something? I’ve never been around them before, but they’re quite sweet. Growing up, I was taught to kick them if I saw them out in the gardens because they were thought to be pests. I never did, of course. That seemed a bit brutal. Now that I live with one, I think they’re lovely.”

  I nodded. I used to think werewolves were pests—one werewolf in particular. But things had changed. What was it I’d said to him last night? My words suddenly came back to me: Yes, I love you. And yes, even if you love someone else or simply don’t love me back, I still love you.

  Oh dear. I’d gone and done it. I’d told the werewolf the truth about my feelings. As a result, I wasn’t sure if I should laugh or cry.

  “What’s the matter, miss?” Giuliana peered at me. “You’ve got a funny expression on your face.”

  “Oh, nothing.” I forced a smile. “I’m just getting ready for the announcement.”

  “I can’t wait for you to have your overnight date. It’s going to be ah-mazing. I just know it!”