Wild Magic One: By the Light of the Moon-- A Wolf Shifter M/M Romance

2- Behold the Monster Become the Man

LHIAM—

The carnival had rolled into town almost a week before, and I had yet to bring Lacy to see it. She nagged me relentlessly, every day, but along with the carnival were the visitors from Kar'a, and I had spent every waking moment trying to fend off the advances of the Kar'a princess, Kalee. She was a beautiful woman, almost 12 years younger than my 30 years, and her clear, dark skin was a testament to the pure, royal blood in her veins.

But my frustration at her even being there shone through, I knew, because she was just another in a long line of women lined up by my council to try to get an heir off me. Ever since I had officially named Lacy, the daughter of my cousin, as my heir, the council had been frantically trying to shove women of marriageable, breedable age at me, and there was little I could do except smile, entertain the poor creatures, and send them on their way.

The council knew my preference for men, and apparently, they cared not. Stefan, one of my father's oldest friends, and the speaker for the council, had even confronted me about it just before Kalee's arrival.

"I don't care who you fuck on the side, Lhiam. You must marry a woman of royal blood, beget an heir, and then you never have to see her again!"

I didn't know if there was something broken inside of me, because none of the council members or their wives seemed to have a problem with the idea, but even the thought of marrying someone who didn't appeal to me, and then never seeing them except to breed them, made bile rise in my throat.

I couldn't do it. And if not marrying someone I could truly care for, be attracted to, meant I would be alone for the rest of my life, then so be it. I would bear that rather than live a life that made me want to vomit everything I had eaten.

The morning the princess of Kar'a left, her disappointment at my refusal to her advances obvious, Lacy sought me out, and I knew I would have no choice but to take her down to the village.

My kingdom is small, but we are wealthy. Teren is one of seven kingdoms that make up the Wer'ren Empire, of which Kar'a is another kingdom. Each kingdom is ruled by a prince, all answering to the Emperor. I was little more than a figurehead; my line had been for a long time. The Emperor made the state decisions, I followed through with them. It was something I was comfortable with, because the Emperor had never been a cruel master to serve. His taxes were fair, and his law just, never mind our personal relationship— we'd been friends since childhood. Emperor Riece at the helm left me free for projects I would rather spend my time on. Like the school I had started in the village just below my keep, or the daily rations I had Chef prepare for the homeless, widows, and orphans. The things my council called a waste of time, frivolous, feminine pursuits. Those were the things I wanted to spend my life doing, damn the men on the council. I had wasted enough of my life fighting wars my father sent me to fight, killing men my father sent me to kill. I wanted to spend the rest of it doing something that actually meant something.

And if that meant I was mocked as feminine and soft behind my back, so be it. I had more than proven myself capable on the battlefield, and none of the men who spoke ill of me would dare face me with a sword in my hands.

I allowed Lacy to drag me to town, and into the chaos of the festival. I spent the entire day being dragged from one cart and table to another, from psychics to mystics, to animals doing amazing tricks.

Lacy was my late-cousin's daughter. My cousin, who had been raised as something like a sister to me, had died giving birth to Lacy. Tragically, Lacy's father was killed in a sea raid as he made his way back from a diplomatic meeting at the Emperor's palace— coming back to meet Lacy, and to be with his wife during labor.

The moment I had looked into the bassinet holding my little cousin 12 years ago, she had wrapped me around her tiny finger and I had never been the same. She was more my daughter than my cousin, although as she got older our relationship had evolved into siblings rather than father and daughter. She was my everything.