Chapter 1 - Lily
The worn floorboards of Lily's bedroom creaked as she paced back and forth in front of the closed door. There was no one outside, no looming phantoms imprisoning her in her room, but there might as well have been. For although she was no one's prisoner, she'd all but made herself one when she agreed to marry the goblin prince.
What the hell had she been thinking? Surely she'd lost her fucking mind in the few hours that she'd traveled to the goblin stronghold with some of her pack members. The way they'd looked at her, the way they'd treated her ... like she was a nuisance, not a proper, functioning member of their pack ... it had made her angry. Irrational. Desperate to prove herself to others.
If only she'd tried to prove herself by picking a fight with one of the men in the safety of Kaldron's town limits, rather than throwing herself into a cursed arranged marriage with the enemy of her species. What would become of her now, all alone in the goblin stronghold? Would she ever see the wolf pack again, or would she be trapped here forevermore?
Lily crossed her arms and threw her head back with a laugh.
"I can't believe the fucking mess I've made of my life," she groaned aloud, to no one but herself. Because she was alone.
She always had been.
Left and right, the wolves of Kaldron were finding their mates, their forever partners, and Lily hadn't so much as been able to hold a stable boyfriend since her twenties, and she was well into her thirties now. Everyone she'd pursued had been disinterested in her and ended up with another wolf, or worse, they'd preferred to be alone than with her. It might have made her spiteful.
Just a little.
Just atiny bit.
She'd wrapped herself in that spite and worn it like a blanket, sharpening herself so that even if no one wanted her, she could stand up for herself and bite them back for hurting her. In the end, she only ended up hurting herself the most.
With a sigh, Lily glanced at the suitcase she had half-packed on her bed. In it she had an assortment of clothes and trinkets and odds and ends, all the things that made her who she was. Her closet was crammed full of neatly hung clothes, boots and beautiful peep-toed shoes, plastic tubs holding scarves and gloves, knock-off purses, used books and notebooks, and old diaries. She loved the stuff. It made her feel safe, and she could bring only a fraction of it with her.
She was supposed to be leaving with her brother and a small assembly of wolves first thing tomorrow to arrive at the goblin city in the forest north of Kaldron just days before the wedding was supposed to take place on the new moon.
The goblin prince had offered her a place in his kingdom, a throne beside him as queen of his people and territory. He was offering her so much more than what she had here in Kaldron and yet it was still difficult to imagine walking away from everything she'd ever known and loved just for the chance at something new.
Because in the arms of the goblin prince, there was no guarantee she would find any of the things she was truly missing in Kaldron: love, respect, belonging.
She didn't love the prince. She didn'tknowhim.
He was herenemy.
She could still change her mind, she told herself. She could run from the goblin prince and never look back.
Of course, it wouldn't be that simple.
Lily's fingers absently traced the emerald green lines that ran along the back of her hand and wrist like a tattoo of vines and leaves. For something that had come from the goblins—the crude, disgusting creatures that they were—the mark of the goblin prince was beautiful, just like him.
His cold, piercing blue eyes had haunted her for the three weeks since she last saw him. Every night, he came to her in her dreams, that cold stare making her restless and fearful. His lips were always set in a firm, disapproving line as he silently judged her. For what? For making a rash decision?
As beautiful as Theo's smooth, even features were, he did not seem like a kind man. Perhaps he was fair, and perhaps he was good, but kind? A kind man would not demand that one of the female wolves of the Kaldron pack marry him to prove the validity of their peace pact. What was this, the fucking 1300s?
He even marked her, like she was a slave! A piece of property to be claimed and bartered!
But Lily was the one who agreed to the wedding. Thrown herself at him willingly, all in a foolish attempt to prove her loyalty to her pack. Her rationale had been partially out of frustration that the pack alpha, Ryel, was so eager to make peace with the goblins after they'd slaughtered so many wolves.
Her plan, from the very beginning, had been to prove that Theo and the goblins had no real desire to be peaceful with the wolves. She wanted to prove that he was just as scheming, manipulative, and horrible as his father, the former goblin king, had been. There was no way that the goblins could be anythingbutscheming and manipulative.
Theo had a plan, and Lily had wanted nothing more than to find out what it was and rip it to shreds so her pack would come out on top. So they'd praise her and acknowledge her.
Lily's hands curled into fists at her sides, but she kept on pacing. If she canceled the wedding, she couldn't prove a damn thing. She'd still be looked down on by the other wolves, stuck in her miserable, dead-end life.
But that didn't mean that throwing herself face-first into danger was a good idea either. Because of course, in the heat of the moment, she hadn't considered how dangerous it would be to infiltrate the goblins and extract information from them and their prince.
Lily couldn't say with utter confidence that she was prepared for that, either.
The door creaked open, and Lily stopped her pacing to find herself staring up at her older brother's warm gaze. He had the same matching forest green eyes as Lily, and bright red hair to match. But while Lily's face was pinched into a worried frown, Daniel's features softened into a smile.