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  Lysander carefully pulled his ring off and handed it to Aluin.

  "What's this for?" the other man asked tightly.

  "Apparently..." Lysander's tone turned ironic. "My quest requires that I find myself a mate."

  "Don't you mean a bride?" Alain asked with a frown.

  The prince's lips tightened. "I mean exactly what I said." Because when this was over, and assuming he survived, he would no longer be the kind of man for whom a mere bride would do.

  The Princess

  Estrella Moretti - Allard: A Modern-Day Penelope...But For How Long?

  by S.J. Wells

  If I had told you that we would one day live among blood drinkers, shapeshifters, and faeries, would you have believed me?

  Probably not, and honestly?

  I wouldn't have believed myself either.

  But that's exactly what our world has come down to, and for many of us, acclimating to this new reality wasn't as inconceivable as one would've expected.

  Then again, the clues had been around us all for ages. There's a reason why Game of Thrones was such a massive hit. It's the same reason why people dug Westworld even if they only understood a fraction of it, and it's also why The Walking Dead still isn't, well, dead.

  Life as we knew it had become unbearably and uninspiringly mundane, and it used to be, Hollywood was the only way to even remember what words like adventure and magic meant. Or at least it had been so...until the preters.

  Preters are the most commonly used term nowadays to refer to beings who look like but are not quite humans, and though they've been "out" for over two years now, our insights about them are still vastly limited.

  Just as we have different races, so do preters, who - despite being vastly smaller in number - are a lot more diverse. We've got Lyccans and the Caros, the Souris and the Fae, and - if the rumors are true - a few more that remain hidden. Regardless of one's race, however, preters in general are viewed by many of our kind as the closest thing to having gods walk among us. And who can blame them, really?

  Preters are faster and stronger, their senses a dozen times sharper, and in all honesty, I've yet to see a single preter who's unequivocally unattractive. So yes, it's understandable why they have humans so enamored...to the point that men have online shrines dedicated to female preters like, say, Estrella Moretti - Allard.

  Despite being one of the younger sisters of billionaire heartthrob Domenico Moretti, Estrella had managed to lead a fairly private life. This all changed, however, when the preters' existence became public knowledge.

  Aside from being a Lyccan princess by blood, Estrella had also become the ruling princess of the Faes and Faeries by virtue of her marriage to Lysander Allard. According to my sources, Fae society remains one of the most archaic among preters, and a good example of this are the factors that determine the legitimacy of a persons' claim to the throne.

  Following the dissolution of the High Circle, the Fae had elected Lysander to become its ruling prince. This also meant that his bride, Estrella, could rule in his stead if the situation called for it...but only up to a certain point.

  A female consort may only rule the Fae for twelve lunar eclipses. Afterwards, if the princess is unable to submit unquestionable proof that her husband still lives, she is to marry another before the thirteenth - or be forced to relinquish the throne.

  In Estrella's case, eleven eclipses have already come to pass since Lysander last appeared before his people, and this had both humans and preters alike see the princess as some modern-day Penelope. With Estrella's Odysseus showing no signs of returning, the entire kingdom of Faes is now up for grabs, and the only way for any man to become its ruling prince is to have Estrella wear his ring on her finger.

  Self-proclaimed experts of preter politics say that Estrella's Moretti upbringing is likely to have her choose a malleable male who wouldn't make the mistake of challenging her rule. And while such news had been scathingly dismissed by the princess' reps, it caused a stir nevertheless, with men (mostly humans) lining up outside the gates of her residence in Coral Springs.

  To date, no official announcement has been provided by either the Lyccan or Fae camp, and so the world continues to wait with bated breath. Will Estrella choose to give up the throne in order to remain Lysander Allard's bride - or has the taste of power become so addictive, she would not hesitate to forsake her alleged first love in order to remain queen?

  1

  "Go home, mutants! Go the fuck home!"

  A mixture of cheers and boos followed the angry chant, with the crowd unevenly divided between the paranoically hostile minority and the worshipful, gawking majority. A small number went as far as attempting to get past the stoic-looking uniformed individuals forming an additional barricade in front of the hotel's steel gates, but as soon as they heard a wolf howl from close by, they backed away, blustering and cursing in a comical attempt to hide their cowardice.

  It was obvious the humans thought they were listening to some Lyccan battlecry, but actually it was just the hotel pet, a red wolf trained to intimidate potential troublemakers with its howling.

  The scenario was hilariously pathetic, and it would've been worth more than a few laughs...if only such a thing didn't happen every time L'Alliance had a publicized gathering.

  The commotion continued for several more minutes, and throughout it, the Fournier twins watched quietly from the third-story balcony, their stances alert despite their dislike of the situation.

  Similar to most of their kind, the Fourniers' distrust towards any other race but their own ran hard and deep, and the only reason they were here, suffering the presence of fools and traitors, was for duty's sake alone.

  A small scuffle broke out at the edge of the crowd, but another howl from the hotel pet instantly quelled it.

  "Wolverine's here," Aluin heard someone yell, and his distaste towards humans grew. Clearly, the hundreds of thousands of dollars that L'Alliance had spent on its awareness campaign was all for naught, with the way humans insisted on acting as if life now was a scene straight out of an X-Men movie.

  L'Alliance had hired the most celebrated professionals of the human race to disseminate facts and get rid of fake news. They were not immortals like Edward and Bella. They did not require wands like Harry Potter. And they were not, for fuck's sake, mutants in any way, and Domenico Moretti sure as hell was no Charles fucking Xavier.

  They had everyone from Nobel Prize winners to former war heroes to Olympian gold medalists speaking such truths over and over, and yet none of it had obviously made a difference, if the crowd outside the hotel was anything to go by.

  "It's best to ignore them like we always do," Alain said in response to his brother's visible derision. "We've always thought humans were idiots. Now, they're simply proving us right." He glanced down one last time as he spoke, knowing but not really caring what others thought of their overzealous attention to security. It might seem overkill or even inappropriate, considering they now possessed the lofty-sounding title of defense ministers. But as far as the twins were concerned, Lysander's last command remained their most important responsibility.

  Protect my bride at all costs.

  But unfortunately for both of them, the princess made this an extremely difficult task, with the way she constantly insisted on exercising her independence---

  Something's coming.

  His guts had clenched hard for no reason, and Alain's head snapped back to the crowd, gaze narrowing as he scanned his surroundings. It was the usual, or rather the new norm: bigots and groupies, activists and fanatics - all present and accounted for, but...

  Something was coming.

  He could feel Aluin tensing similarly beside him and knew that his twin had sensed the same thing. The last time they felt like this, it was when vampires had razed their old realm to the ground, and they had been thousands of miles away - too damn far to be of any help.

  "You feel it, too, don't you?" Aluin's voice was taut.

  Alai
n gave his brother a clipped nod. "I'm trying to get a sense of it..."

  "But it's different," Aluin finished for his twin. "Isn't it?"

  "Yes."

  They looked at each other.

  Something was coming.

  The hairs at the back of their necks suddenly shot up, their instincts roaring out a warning. Without another word, the twins began to run, hands reaching for their swords...just as all of the lights inside the hotel went out.

  Something...was already here.

  Estrella had always considered herself as the peaceful sort, someone who genuinely enjoyed being quiet and submissive. She had never been the type to blow a fuse like any of her short-tempered siblings, and she had certainly never been tempted to resort to physical violence.

  But apparently, that was what politics could do.

  It really did have the power to change people - or at least reveal one's true colors, and in her case, that was how all her years of etiquette training went up in smoke, the moment she was confronted by horrendously self-serving conscienceless sleazebags like Toby Riddick.

  "What do you think, my dear?"

  Did he really have to ask that? And if he insisted on having an answer, would kicking him in the nuts do? Would that be clear enough for him, or maybe she had to crush his balls with her bare hands, just for him to really, unequivocally understand what she thought?

  "It's a good deal, isn't it?"

  Estrella managed to lower her gaze in an act of demure hesitation, when in truth all she could still think about was planting a good solid kick to his nards. In the almost fifty minutes that Tony had condescendingly enumerated all the benefits that came with his marriage proposal, he had also managed to insult the Faes - her people - at every turn.

  Weaklings, to have lost their land twice. No better than stateless immigrants now, scattered like dumb sheep. Need a strong hand, not like your missing husband.

  Estrella closed her eyes. Remember, she told herself. Remember what you've sworn.

  A rainy night, the twins knocking on the door to her family home, Aluin handing her Lysander's ring, and Alain pressing a torn piece of fabric to her hand, with the prince's note written in his blood.

  Keep my kingdom safe for me.

  I trust you.

  When Estrella lifted her head, she was able to summon a smile for the hyena. "You honor me greatly, Lord Toby. However..."

  And so it went on and on and on. Would-be suitors seeking a private word with her, and Estrella would always acquiesce and force herself to listen to whatever they had to say. Most of them were like Toby, with the way they expected Estrella to be selfish and greedy enough to do whatever it took to keep the throne. That kind, she could readily handle, even if they did annoy her to death. But the other kind?

  "My beautiful princess," a voice leered from behind.

  Speak of the devil, Estrella thought, even though in this case, she might be doing the devil himself a disservice. She turned around, her smile already in place as she curtsied in greeting. "Prince Pierro, good evening."

  "You're even more stunning than I remember."

  "You're too kind."

  "I'm only saying what's true." And as if to emphasize his point, Pierro's gaze immediately went straight to her cleavage...and stayed there.

  She pulled a fan out from the pocket of her skirt and snapped it open. "These things can be so suffocating, don't you think?" Estrella started fanning herself, which effectively prevented the hyena pack leader from ogling her breasts.

  "Ah, er, yes." Pierro reluctantly raised his gaze back to Estrella's face. "Would you like some fresh air? Perhaps I can walk---"

  Estrella quickly shook her head. "I appreciate the offer, but it might make people talk---"

  "About what?" Pierro's voice had become petulant. "It pains me to remind you of this, but your husband has been gone for over two years."

  "But he's still my husband," she countered lightly.

  "And was he even a good one?" Pierro asked snidely. "Fae are supposedly worse than the most cold-blooded fish of shifters."

  The mermaids would kill him for that, Estrella couldn't help thinking.

  "The Fae are pretty to look at, sure, but inside the bedroom..."

  And this, Estrella thought, was why she always ended up having to go to confession every time she met one of Pierro's ilk. She hated, just absolutely hated the way they made Lysander sound like some sexless dandy, and it always had her feeling positively murderous.

  Just because Lysander was more beautiful, elegant, and charming than all of the reigning beauty queens combined didn't mean he was any less male.

  "Estrella, my princess..."

  I'm not your princess, you jerk. Estrella wanted to snarl the words out loud, but she managed to hold on to her temper and feign a look of distress. "We've known each other for a long time, so I think...it's time I should tell you the truth."

  Five minutes later, and Pierro couldn't get away fast enough, his tongue practically stumbling over an excuse to leave her company. She let out an audibly forlorn sigh as he turned his back on her, and it was only when she lowered her gaze to the floor that Estrella allowed herself a grin.

  Sucker.

  As with all the other men that had tried to woo her into marriage, Pierro had changed his mind as soon as he learned of Estrella's worries about being barren. Keeping one's bloodline from dying out might no longer be as important for most humans, but for their kind, it still remained (albeit unreasonably) a symbol of one's power and strength.

  It was close to midnight when the ball officially came to an end, and Estrella cupped a hand over her mouth to hide her yawn. While socializing was no longer a vomit-inducing torment the way it used to be at the start, she still found it particularly draining, and most times, it also made her want to take a long, hot shower. There was just something about having to be friendly with smarmy men like Pierro and Toby that made her feel icky all over.

  Taking her phone out, she was about to dial Aluin's number when everything went completely dark.

  Screams and cries of terror rose amidst the unmistakably violent noise of a well-planned ambush - the scrambling sound of people trying to escape, the heavy thud of bodies falling to the ground, the swish of metal slicing into flesh. And above it all, another sound rose---

  "LET GO!"

  The twins tore off towards the sound of the princess' voice, unstoppable and cold-blooded in their pursuit even as they had to fight their way past what seemed like dozens of mercenaries. Heads rolled down and lifeless bodies crumpled in the twins' wake, but despite the impressive speed in which they had disposed of their enemies, by the time they finally found the princess, an armored truck had rammed the steel gates open, and masked abductors had already managed to shove Estrella halfway inside it.

  Gunfire exploded as the princess' attackers tried to hold the twins off, and the two men disappeared from view in an instant. Invisibility was their race's most precious skill, but as it also consumed huge amounts of power, time was of the essence, and both men knew they had to find a way to get the princess to safety before they completely exhausted their powers.

  Almost there. Aluin focused on dodging bullets. Almost---

  A powerful growl rose in the distance.

  What the hell?

  Another roar followed. Louder this time. Nearer. Fiercer.

  Estrella heard it, too, and just like the twins, she found herself turning immobile with shock, all thoughts of struggling free forgotten.

  That sound...

  There was something about that sound...

  Almost as if...

  "WHAAAAAT THE FUUUUU---" One of her abductors let out a scream of terror as he suddenly went flying in the air, almost as if someone had flung him away like he was no heavier or better than a piece of carcass. And it happened again and again, with Estrella only managing a startled gasp as the same fate befell the rest of her attackers.

  A moment later, she saw the twins shed their invisibility, a
nd she started to call out...when she realized it wasn't just them who was in the process of materializing.

  Oh my God.

  In front of her, another creature was revealing itself inch by inch - a beast that stood over twelve feet tall, with thick sharp horns and fangs and claws as sharp as blades. Its fur was as thick and rich as sable, and with the beast able to hold itself upright, one would be forgiven for imagining the beast might be the Minotaur coming to life.

  But it wasn't.

  Her heart started to race, and her feet began moving on its own. She saw the twins tense the moment she moved, and she shook her head at them even as her gaze remained at the beast.

  Reinforcements came to arrive, but they were too late, and the twins sharply signaled for the men to keep their distance.

  As Estrella came to stand just a few feet away from the beast, it slowly turned its head to look at her.

  Violet.

  Its eyes were violet.

  And she would know those eyes anywhere.

  Oh God.

  Estrella's body started to shake.

  "H-Husband?"

  2

  She was a young slip of a girl, slender and dark-haired, with a face that held the promise of stunning beauty. Almost like a pearl still cocooned in a shell of insecurities, he mused absently. And her meekness and innocence, it was like her second skin, a juvenile fragrance that didn't attract but didn't quite repel either.

  Regardless, she was not the type of girl that appealed to him. He wouldn't even have noticed her, much less given her the time of the day...if not for his first glimpse of her, hair perfectly coiffed even as she seemed hell-bent on escaping today's soirée by climbing down from the clubhouse's second-story terrace.