Hunted Princess: A Paranormal Dark Romance (Feline Royals Book 3) Read online

  Hunted Princess

  Feline Royals

  Book Three

  Alexa B. James

  Hunted Princess

  Copyright © 2019 Alexa B. James

  First Edition

  All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without the express written permission of the publisher, except in cases of reviewer quoting brief passages in a review.

  This book is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents are used factiously. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, business establishments, and events are entirely coincidental. Use of any copyrighted, trademarked, or brand names in this work of fiction does not imply endorsement of that brand.

  Published in the United States by Alexa B. James and Speak Now.

  Cover design by Kadee Brianna.

  ISBN: 978-1-945780-68-4

  Table of Contents

  Prologue

  (Note: This was the epilogue of book 2.)

  One

  Two

  Three

  Four

  Five

  Six

  Seven

  Eight

  Nine

  Ten

  Eleven

  Twelve

  Thirteen

  Fourteen

  Fifteen

  Sixteen

  Seventeen

  Eighteen

  Nineteen

  Twenty

  Twenty-One

  Twenty-Two

  Twenty-Three

  Twenty-Four

  Twenty-Five

  Twenty-Six

  Twenty-Seven

  Twenty-Eight

  Twenty-Nine

  Thirty

  Thirty-One

  Thirty-Two

  From the Author

  Academy of Sorcery Chapter One

  Prologue

  (Note: This was the epilogue of book 2.)

  Shadow

  Keeper, Panther Nation

  The others slept, but I sat up, keeping watch even when the only dangers to us lay in peaceful slumber. Itzel’s body curled against mine, her head on my chest, her lips parted in sleep.

  My mate.

  I had never entertained the possibility that I might find a woman to be my mate, let alone a True Mate. But here she was, cradled in my arms. And even though I knew Kwame thought she was his mate, too, he hadn’t made a fuss. In the end, he probably wanted exactly what I did—to see his True Mate happy.

  It didn’t matter that she somehow belonged to both of us. I’d already shared her with Balam. Seeing her with him didn’t diminish my love for her. There was no jealousy in me when it came to her. Jealousy was selfish, and what I felt for her was unbound by selfishness. I would have shared her with the whole world if it brought a smile to her face.

  I leaned down, pressing my lips to her forehead. She gave a sigh and nestled closer. Somehow, in this ridiculously extravagant helicopter over the Arabian Sea, mated to the human daughter of a king who had executed my parents, I found a contentment I hadn’t known since childhood. The odd assortment of shifters with royal titles didn’t intimidate me. Though I was nothing more than a poor panther orphan, with my True Mate in my arms I felt like the richest and most important man in the world.

  Too soon, the helicopter began to descend. Sir Kenosi straightened in his seat and picked up the headset he’d used to communicate with the pilot.

  “Thank you for taking us,” I said. “For letting us use your helicopter.”

  The cheetah’s eyes flicked to my mate, who stirred restlessly as the chopper began to descend. I understood that look even if he quickly covered it with a casual grin.

  “Anything to be rid of those cold-blooded ocelots,” he said with a shrug.

  Itzel sat up, stretching her beautiful body before sagging against me again. “I left her,” she said dully. “I left Camila.”

  Right where she belonged, I thought as the helicopter lowered. I knew nothing about the other nations, but the Lion Nation probably had some sort of transportation. Camila would probably find a way home—or come after us.

  I hoped she had to suffer a little on the way. Itzel had done far too much of that for her sister already. From now on, now that we’d gotten rid of the biggest obstacle on the trip, maybe things would go a little easier for my mate. Maybe her turn to suffer was over.

  Ahead of us, what looked like a lush green jungle spread out in all directions. A gorge cut through it, probably cut during one of the earthquakes that had wracked the world for the past several decades. A river ran through the gorge, and dotting the edges, I could just make out small grass huts.

  “Camila will be fine,” I told my mate.

  “Maybe not when she sees this,” Kenosi said with a grin, picking up a quilted bag from the floor next to a seat.

  “The amulets,” Itzel said, a hand flying to her mouth.

  “Will she come after them?” I asked.

  “She’s probably already on her way,” Itzel said. “Oh god, what have I done?”

  I pulled her in to comfort her, but this time she struggled free and jumped to her feet.

  “You did the right thing,” Balam said in his deep, thick accent.

  Itzel turned to us, her eyes rounding. “She’ll be coming here with only one guard after all.”

  The helicopter gave a slight lurch before settling, and Kwame reached out to steady our mate. “She will be fine,” he said. “My parents will make sure of it. She’s the sister of their future daughter-in-law. They will give her every protection and comfort.”

  “You don’t understand,” Itzel muttered.

  “If she comes after you for revenge, we’ll protect you,” I said.

  “Welcome to the Tiger Nation,” Kenosi said as the door lifted. We all stepped out, and the hair on the back of my neck raised. I dropped to all fours, my panther out before I could question it with my human mind, convince myself that there was a logical explanation for the watched feeling.

  “Whoa, what the fuck,” Balam said, burying his hands in my fur as if to hold me back.

  “He’s right,” Kwame said, glancing around. “There’s something here. Something not of this world.”

  “What is it?” Itzel asked.

  In answer, a massive tiger streaked from the trees. Itzel screamed. Kenosi shot across the space between us with unearthly speed, slamming into the tiger. But it was at least twice my size, even in my panther form. Without effort, it flung Kenosi’s body aside.

  All around me, I heard ripping cloth as the other men shifted. I leapt, but the tiger was already sailing through the air. In a single bound, it cleared my form and slammed into Itzel, knocking her to the ground. I threw myself at its back at the same moment that Balam and Kwame dove in, now fully shifted. But it was too late.

  It was too late for all of us.

  The tiger closed its powerful jaws around Itzel’s neck and ripped her throat out.

  One

  (Trigger warning: This book features material that may be more than most readers can handle, including violent dubcon and EXTREME taboo. If you have hard limits, I recommend returning this title for a refund).

  *

  Itzel

  Princess, Ocelot Nation

  My death was quick, if not painless. The pain came at once, like a blow, so intense that it obliterated my entire being. One moment, I was a human, scared and screaming as an enormous tiger leapt at me. The next, I was
only pain. There was no scream. No sound could give voice to the pain of a dozen dagger teeth sinking into my throat at once. My voice was gone the next instant, my throat ripped from my neck in the smash of teeth, the sanity-erasing wall of pain.

  And then it was over. The teeth. The pain. My life.

  Darkness.

  Darkness.

  Darkness.

  “No!” The voice was not mine. The sound startled me back to a reality I shouldn’t exist within. It wasn’t a sound at all, not one I could hear with my ears. It was more of a sensation. The knowledge that someone was protesting my departure. Or…

  Arrival.

  The world came back into focus around me, but it wasn’t the world I knew, the one I should inhabit. At least not the one I thought I should inhabit. There was nothing around me but vague shapes, like shadows shrouded in fog.

  I was myself, and yet… Different.

  “Itzel.”

  A familiar voice spoke my name, one I had never forgotten, one I thought of every single day.

  “Mom?” My voice quavered like the little girl I had been when I lost her. I’d had one moment with her before I’d had to go the last time. This time, I had a feeling my time in this place might last a bit longer. My throat threatened to close, but I wouldn’t think of all I’d left behind. I’d only think of her.

  Suddenly, my mother was in front of me, taking my hands in hers. “What are you doing here?” she asked, her eyes full of anguish. “You shouldn’t be here. Not so soon… Surely not yet.”

  “Where am I?”

  Her gaze turned sympathetic, and she pulled me into her arms. I didn’t remember the smell of her until that moment. When I’d walked in the spirit world before, my sense of smell must not have accompanied me. Now, I was enveloped by the sweet, slightly spicy scent I’d forgotten that I’d ever known, like cinnamon and oranges.

  “You’ve just come through the veil between worlds,” she whispered into my thick, dark mass of hair. “You’re in the spirit world now.”

  “It’s not possible,” I said, the ache of tears building behind my eyes. “I was just alive. I was going to get the next amulet. Everything was…”

  I couldn’t finish that sentence. Everything hadn’t been good or normal. I’d just shoved my sister, the heir to my nation’s throne, out of a helicopter. I had stolen the amulets halfway through her Amulet Tour. I had become the thing she’d accused me of—a traitor.

  “What happened?” Mom asked, stroking my hair.

  Tears filled my eyes, spilling over my eyelids and down my cheeks. I was sure they did because I knew I was crying, but I couldn’t feel their wetness against my skin.

  “I don’t know,” I said, my breath catching. I didn’t want to know. I couldn’t. One minute I’d been alive, and now I was… Here.

  “It’s okay,” she said. “You can remember later, when you’re ready.”

  “There’s nothing to remember,” I said. Hearing myself, I sounded like the petulant child who had pretended she didn’t care that the other shifter kids wouldn’t invite her to their exclusive shifter-only parties. Denial was a survival mechanism for me, which was ironic considering that I was still doing it even though I hadn’t survived. Apparently, I didn’t cope well with my own death.

  “Do you want to go somewhere to talk?” Mom asked. “Is there anyone else you’d like to see or speak with?”

  I remembered my last visit to the spirit world, how rushed it was. I hadn’t had time for questions then. Now, I had time until eternity. For a moment, I thought of Tadeu. I’d tried to summon him last time, but he’d refused to come. The rejection still stung, and I shook my head, refusing to think about what that meant. Denial seemed to be the theme of my death, and I was sticking with it for now.

  “No,” I said. “But let’s go talk. Can we eat here?”

  She smiled. “Of course. Anything you want.”

  She took my hand and squeezed. I had been so focused on her that I hadn’t noticed that our surroundings had stayed sort of… Vague. Now, as she pulled me along, everything filled in around us. Suddenly we were on a narrow, winding path that led to an open wooden gazebo next to a blossoming cherry tree. It was nothing I’d ever seen before, and I wondered if my mother had conjured it from her past, from a world she’d known before I existed.

  Inside the gazebo, which was shaped a bit differently than the ones I’d seen before, we sat on a bench made of woven bamboo. Mom patted the spot between us, and I looked down to find two plates with small cakes on them, and two saucers holding full, steaming teacups.

  “One of the benefits of the spirit world,” she said with a small smile. “It’s not all bad here, Itzel. I don’t mind it. You should know that. I’m happy here.”

  “Is that why you didn’t want to go back?” I asked, picking up the tea. It felt weightless in my hand. I could taste the tea, and I knew that it was hot, but it didn’t burn my tongue as real tea might.

  “Prince Kwame should have protected you,” she said. “I thought he would do it better than I ever could. I don’t know why that didn’t happen.”

  “It’s not his fault,” I said. “He would have protected me. It happened too fast. Like an ambush.”

  Mom sipped her tea and looked pensive. “I don’t suppose I could have saved you from that, either,” she said. “At least we have some time together now. I hate to say this, but I hope it isn’t too much time. I hope he can find a way to bring you back, just as you did him.”

  “Is that possible?” I asked, tears aching in my throat as I reached out to squeeze her hand. I loved my mother, and I wanted to cry like a baby because she was here, but I didn’t want to stay here forever. If there was any chance that I could go back, I’d do it in an instant. I knew that with every ounce of certainty I possessed. I didn’t belong here. I wasn’t ready.

  But was anyone ever ready? That wasn’t the sort of thing people got to decide.

  “Itzel,” Mom said, setting down her tea and taking my other hand in hers. “In case we don’t have much time, I want to tell you something. I should have told you last time, but there are laws that govern me even now.”

  “Don’t tell me the spirit world has something scarier than an ocelot guard,” I said, trying to lighten the moment. I could feel the impending truth pressing in, a heavy truth that would soon be mine to bear. Fear made me want to turn away from what was coming.

  “An ocelot guard is a kitten compared to Lilith,” Mom said with a small smile.

  “The queen of the spirit world?” I asked, remembering Kwame’s elusive answer when I asked if someone ruled here.

  Mom nodded and squeezed my hands. “If we have all the time in the world, I can answer every question you ever have,” she said. “But if we don’t, I want to tell you what I think is most important first. If you have a chance to go back, I want you to know who you really are.”

  I waited for my heart to hammer in my chest as I held my breath, but with a shock of horror, I realized that I couldn’t feel my heart beating.

  “Who am I?” I whispered, too disconcerted to collect myself. So many times, Balam had told me that I was more than human, that I had magic, but it had hardly seemed important with all the other things happening around me.

  “That is something a mother cannot define for her daughter,” Mom said. “Only you will discover who you truly are. But know that you are the child of great magic, Itzel.”

  “Because my parents are both shifters,” I said carefully.

  “A shifter possesses a great amount, it’s true,” she said. “To be able to shift from man to animal, and their other abilities depending on what type of shifter. But there is hidden magic everywhere, the kind you don’t see with the eyes alone.”

  “You’re saying I have… Magic of some sort?”

  “Surely you must know that by now.”

  “It was mentioned a time or two,” I admitted.

  “Have you seen its effects for yourself yet?”

  I shifted m
y position, angling my knees toward hers, wanting to hold onto her and stare into her kind eyes forever. “I gave someone the True Mate mark.”

  Mom’s eyebrow arched, and she gave a small smile. “Really?”

  I nodded, feeling unaccountably shy, as if I were showing off high marks from a tutor and waiting for her praise. “Apparently.”

  “Prince Kwame said as much,” she conceded.

  I nibbled at the corner of my lip. “It’s possible I gave two men the mark.”

  Her eyes fixed on me with greater intensity. “Two?”

  “Well, it marked them. It only hurt like hell for me.” I pulled up my sleeve as I spoke.

  My mother froze, a gasp escaping her lips before her fingers covered them.

  Slowly, I raised my eyes to hers. “What the hell does this mean?”

  Apparently, I had been marked. I’d been so drugged and out of it that I hadn’t even looked at what had caused the searing pain up my arm. It had been covered by Camila’s cardigan, and then a pair of pajamas that someone had put on me. Someone who knew that I had the True Mate marks, too. And not just two of them.

  Climbing my arm like a procession left by a vicious cat were four glowing pawprints.

  I swallowed hard, panic rising in me. “What the hell does this mean, Mom? You told me to surround myself with men, not just one man. But how can I have True Mates? I’m not even a shifter.”

  I was breathing hard by the time I stopped speaking and stared up at my mother with wide eyes, so grateful she was here to comfort me and give me answers when no one else could.

  “Perhaps it takes four shifters to protect you,” Mom said, wrapping her hands around mine and squeezing.

  “Obviously it takes more than that,” I grumbled.

  Mom shifted on the bench and slid a gentle arm around me. “Tell me about these men you’ve marked.”

  “Well, I barely know Prince Kwame,” I said. “Before the tour, the last time I saw him, you were still… In our world.”