Anthony reclined on a penthouse sofa at an Indonesian hotel not far from Epara as his father yelled at him yet again.
The King of Wolfcrest paced by the window overlooking the private pool as a cool breeze rolled past him, ruffling his salt and pepper hair. He paused mid-stride and glared at Anthony while stroking his thick beard. “You should have brought the goddess to me.”
“Taking her to the temple is the law, Father.” Anthony shook his head in annoyance. He’d expected this from his father, but even still, he’d hoped for the better. “Why would I have brought her to you? Did you forget it’s an act of war not to take a newly fused god or goddess to their temple—”
“I don’t care,” the king snapped. “You aren’t king yet, boy, and you should have brought this decision to me. The ritual happened in my kingdom, and by default, she belongs to Wolfcrest.”
“A goddess doesn’t belong to anyone,” Anthony snapped. “You know what would have happened if the other kingdoms found out we’d kept her.” He took a step forward, glaring at his father. “They’d be marching on us right now, desperate to get her.”
“Perhaps.” The king turned on his heel and began pacing once more, muttering about rituals and rightful ownership, but Anthony tuned him out, his mind already wandering to the dark-haired goddess he’d helped save. The last time he’d seen her, she’d been dressed in nothing but a white silk robe, and despite everything he’d done in his life, the sight had made his inner wolf stir.
It wanted her.
And not just because of her beauty. Everything about Tina intrigued him, her loyalty to Amy, her courage, her allure. Here was a human in shifter territory, surrounded by werewolves and still committed to saving a friend with nothing but her phone and a can of mace. That took guts.
A sharp knock at the door interrupted Anthony’s thoughts. Richard, the gray-haired human servant who faithfully tended to the Wolfcrest royal family opened it a second later and stepped inside.
Anthony stood as he took in the normally jovial man’s frown. “What’s wrong, Richard?”
“Another dignitary has gone missing,” the old man said, worry leaking into his voice.
The king snorted. “So? What do I care if another dragon emissary disappeared in the cat’s kingdom, or another eagle dignitary disappeared from the demigods’ island?”
“This time, it’s one of ours.”
Dread shot clear to Anthony’s toes. He had been afraid this would happen. Since the first one had gone missing two months ago, he had been asking for resources to investigate the matter. His father had refused each time, assigning him to useless tasks to keep him busy.
And now, his fears had been realized.
His chest tightened as his wolf snarled to be let loose, to break bones until he got answers. “Who is it, Richard?”
“Emmett Williams, ambassador to the eagles.”
Anthony nodded solemnly. He didn’t know Emmett very well, but the ambassador was still a wolf shifter and a citizen of Wolfcrest. It was his duty to find the man and bring him home.
Richard wrung his hands nervously. “Emmett’s room was ransacked, and there was so much blood—”
“I never thought it would happen to us,” the king interrupted, rubbing his chin, clearly upset by the news.
“We have to send out a search party at once,” Anthony said as he rolled up his sleeves.
“No,” the king ordered.
Anthony stopped dead in his tracks and stared incredulously at his father. “What do you mean, no? This is a citizen—”
“I know damn well who and what he is,” the king snapped.
“Then why—”
“We need to handle one emergency at a time. These disappearances have been happening for months, but the goddess’s arrival is the first in centuries. She is more pressing. The other kingdoms may already be at her temple. Hell, they may have already convinced her to leave with them.” The king shook his head. “As much as I liked Emmett, we can’t let Damara fall into the enemy’s hands.”
Anthony grimaced. “We haven’t been at war for a hundred years, Father. Ours may be a tense peace, but ‘enemy’ is too strong of a word.”
The king met Anthony’s eye without so much as flinching “You’re not that na?ve, boy. Anyone with power to match ours is a potential enemy.” He sighed, stroking his beard. “Maybe we should withdraw our other ambassadors until we figure out who is behind Emmett’s disappearance.”
Anthony rubbed his face in frustration. “They’re necessary to keep the peace, Father. Every time a kingdom has withdrawn its dignitaries, war and bloodshed has followed.”
“You make a valid point, son, but with the rise of Damara, it is a risk we must take, unless you’d like to lose more of our people.” The king waited a beat and when no one said anything, he turned toward Richard. “Please draft the order, Richard.”
“Y-yes sir.” The servant hesitated, his eyes flitting nervously to Anthony as though wondering if he’d say anything, but when he didn’t Richard nodded, spun on his heel, and raced out of the room, pausing only long enough to close the door.
“I know you don’t approve, Anthony…” The king hesitated, his eyes narrowing. “We have a goddess on Earth, boy. I can guarantee you there will be a war regardless of the missing dignitaries. As my heir, it is your duty to protect Wolfcrest and keep our kingdom thriving. I sometimes suspect you have forgotten that.”
Anthony hadn’t forgotten. He knew full well his loyalties lay with Wolfcrest, but they did not always lie with his father and his hot-headed decisions. This had always been their fundamental argument: doing what was best for the kingdom, rather than for the king. Every argument ended with the king fuming, and Anthony eager to take the throne and fix what his father had broken.
“Your plan might start a war, Father. I hope you have prepared accordingly.” Without another word, he left. Hands in his pockets, he headed to find Richard. He couldn’t undo what his father had done, but he could stall for time and order a few of their spies to begin looking for information on Emmett’s whereabouts.
If he couldn’t run the search party himself, he could at last coordinate one from afar.
His father was right about one thing though. With a goddess on Earth, war was a possibility. Now that Tina had the power of a goddess, she would have a target on her back.
5
Tina
As Tina walked through each of the four rooms adjacent to the main chamber of her bedroom, she couldn’t help but smile. Sure, she might have been infused with an all-powerful goddess she didn’t quite understand, but at the same time, the goddess’s suite had a living room, a dining area, a closet, and a bathroom the size of her old apartment.
Technically, none of this was hers since it all belonged to the goddess who lived inside her, but at the same time the goddess lived inside her. Tina got to call the shots.
Amy sat cross-legged on the bed and finally let out an exasperated sigh. “Tina, stop drooling over the square footage.”
“I can’t! I’m freaking out!” She turned and looked at her friend. “I went to bed penniless and now I’m a billionaire.”
“It’s going to be okay.” Amy smiled. “And if you’re worried about how to spend your newfound riches, don’t be. I’m really good at spending money. I’ll show you how.”
“It’s not really the money …” Tina swept a hand down at her body. “This is fucking amazing, but it’s not me. It’s Damara, right? It’s me and her, forever, until the day I die. But what if I lose control of my body? What if the goddess takes over? What if—”
“Tina, breathe.” Amy jumped off the bed and pulled Tina into a hug.