Mischievous Prince Read online

  Mischievous Prince

  Captured by a Dragon-Shifter: A Qurilixen World Short Novel

  Michelle M. Pillow®

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  Mischievous Prince © Copyright 2017 by Michelle M. Pillow

  First Electronic Printing July 2017, The Raven Books LLC

  ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.

  ISBN-10: 1-62501-103-2

  ISBN-13: 9781625011039

  Published by The Raven Books LLC

  * * *

  ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.

  This book or any portion thereof may not be reproduced or used in any manner whatsoever without the express written permission of the publisher except for the use of brief quotations in a book review.

  This novel is a work of fiction. Any and all characters, events, and places are of the author’s imagination and should not be confused with fact. Any resemblance to persons, living or dead, or events or places is merely coincidence.

  Michelle M. Pillow® is a registered trademark of The Raven Books LLC

  Contents

  About Mischievous Prince

  Captured by a Dragon-Shifter Series

  Michelle’s Bestselling Series

  Author Updates

  Note from Author

  Chapter 1

  Chapter 2

  Chapter 3

  Chapter 4

  Chapter 5

  Chapter 6

  Chapter 7

  Chapter 8

  Chapter 9

  Chapter 10

  Chapter 11

  Chapter 12

  Chapter 13

  Chapter 14

  Chapter 15

  Chapter 16

  Chapter 17

  Chapter 18

  The Series Continues…

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  About Michelle M. Pillow

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  About Mischievous Prince

  Shape-shifter Romance

  * * *

  He’s a dragon-shifting prince, and she’s a human. What could possibly go wrong?

  Dragon-shifter Prince Finn will do whatever it takes to save his people from extinction, even if that means sneaking through a portal to Earth to find a bride. With dragon men disappearing and threats to cut off their supply to eligible women, he knows the portal is their only hope of survival. And it might be his only chance to find love.

  * * *

  “First meets are easy. Staying is hard.”

  Food blogger, Sadie Harcourt isn’t one for commitment. Her job offers the perfect excuse to keep moving. Never did she expect that her love of adventure would accidentally catapult her from Faulkner Alley in Oxford, Mississippi onto a planet of Alpha shifters looking to marry.

  * * *

  When the elders discover that Finn accessed the portal, all hell breaks loose. Factions pounce on the opportunity to overthrow the royal family. Now everything he holds dear rests in the hands of a captivating woman who arrived on his planet by mistake.

  Captured by a Dragon-Shifter Series

  Click on the title to purchase or learn more

  Determined Prince

  Rebellious Prince

  Stranded with the Cajun

  Hunted by the Dragon

  Mischievous Prince

  Headstrong Prince

  Can’t find the books?

  Updated Reading List and Links here: MichellePillow.com

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  To learn about new releases: Join the Mailing List

  Michelle’s Bestselling Series

  Qurilixen World Novels

  Dragon Lords Series

  Barbarian Prince

  Perfect Prince

  Dark Prince

  Warrior Prince

  His Highness The Duke

  The Stubborn Lord

  The Reluctant Lord

  The Impatient Lord

  The Dragon’s Queen

  Lords of the Var® Series

  The Savage King

  The Playful Prince

  The Bound Prince

  The Rogue Prince

  The Pirate Prince

  Qurilixen Lords

  Dragon Prince

  More Coming Soon!

  Captured by a Dragon-Shifter Series

  Determined Prince

  Rebellious Prince

  Stranded with the Cajun

  Hunted by the Dragon

  Mischievous Prince

  Headstrong Prince

  Space Lords Series

  His Frost Maiden

  His Fire Maiden

  His Metal Maiden

  His Earth Maiden

  His Woodland Maiden

  Dynasty Lords Series

  Seduction of the Phoenix

  Temptation of the Butterfly

  Having trouble finding the books?

  Updated Buy Links Here

  * * *

  To learn more about the Qurilixen World series of books and to stay up to date on the latest book list visit www.MichellePillow.com

  Author Updates

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  http://michellepillow.com/author-updates/

  Note from Author

  If you’re new to my books, the Dragon Lords are my bestselling futuristic shape-shifter romance series. The stories became reader favorites, and so I wrote things from their enemy’s point of view in a spin-off series for the cat-shifting Lords of the Var®. Then they ventured off into the stars in the series installment Space Lords. Now, I’m time traveling with them back to our time with the series Captured by a Dragon-Shifter, which you are now reading book one of. Don’t worry, I have the series reading order on my website to help you figure it all out, http://michellepillow.com/.

  To those of you not new to my books, readers have emailed asking Dragon Lords cultural questions since the first dragon-shifting prince released years ago. I have teased you with a lot of little hints of how the Draig found brides in “the old days”. Many of you have expressed wanting to climb aboard the space ship and sail away into the future—which would probably take some cryogenic freezing and a lot of icy waiting. Well, before you start packing those sweaters… I don’t want any of you going to that extreme, so I’ve brought your favorite dragon-shifters and cat-shifters to modern-day Earth. They don’t live on our planet, but they have recently started to revisit.

  For Dragon Lords and Lords of the Var® fans, Captured by a Dragon-Shifter is a modern-day prequel series to those first books. They take place long before the princes you know and love ever found their mates, long before The Dragon’s Queen, in a time when the dragon-shifters and cat-shifters actually—wait for it—liked each other and hung out as friends. They also don’t have Galaxy Brides to bring them women. There’s no one left to marry on the planet and things are starting to get desperate.

  Author recommends reading series installments in order of release for the simple fact she likes hiding little tidbits in the books as she goes and it’s more fun that way, though each book can be read as a standalone if you prefer.

  To my new hometown.

  Hotty Toddy!

  1

  Draig Northern Mountains, Planet of Qurilixen

  “Admit it, Ivar, you’re intrigued.” Prince Finn hoped his mischievous smile and lighthearted approach would convince his good friend to relax. Most cat-shifters were known for their untamed ways, but not Prince Ivar of the Var. If Finn hadn’t known the man since childhood, he would have been intimidated by Ivar’s frozen, stoic expression, and dead stare.

  “This is highly irregular.” Ivar folded his arms over his chest. “We should not be meeting like this
before the royal assembly with the elders.”

  Finn’s expression fell. For a cat-shifter, the man was uptight and lacked any sense of adventure. He would have preferred Ivar’s more carefree brother for this plan, but Rafe had married already and wouldn’t be of any help. Ivar and Finn were the only unmated princes left on the planet.

  The soft green-blue light of evening threw shadows over the valley. It wouldn’t get too much darker. With three suns, the planet was cast in almost constant daylight. Finn liked the stillness of the valley, the gentle sway of the yellow-tinted grasses.

  “I love our home world,” Finn sighed in frustration. “I love my people. This is where I want to raise a family. I would do nothing to jeopardize any of this. And that is why I will fight for this place and my people.”

  Finn’s words seemed to hang in the air. Ivar didn’t move.

  “Gods bones, Ivar,” Finn swore, losing all pleasantry. “You know what will happen at that meeting—our parents and the elders will close the portal to Earth. They will demand it buried under a mountain so deep that no one will ever remember that it’s there. What do we tell our people in a hundred years? In three hundred? When our parents are gone, and they are looking at us to fix things as the last of shifter kind is dying out because the one viable option we had to find them wives was closed due to fear mongers and political maneuverings.”

  “Do you think their fears are unjustified? Already dragons have been sneaking through to Earth and not returning. You worry about the population? Yours is walking off this planet willingly. How many men have you lost to that portal? How many slip through and do not come back home? How many want to but can’t come back, or don’t know how? Each night it opens in a different location. We do not want to see our cat-shifter population dwindle over promises of a better life on Earth, promises you and I both know are exaggerated. Humans have not changed. You saw their films glorifying alien destruction. You have seen their taverns and their streets. They cannot even feed their own kind. People whisper that the portal leads to some great valley full of unmated woman waiting with open arms. We both know that is not the truth, but a false hope spread by opportunists.”

  “We opened the portals with the plan that we would show them it could work. All four of us would go through and find mates. Kyran and Rafe have succeeded. We at least have to try. If all four princes show a united front. If we prove to the people that Earth women will come if we do it correctly. If we—”

  “I seem to remember you not being all that eager to marry the first night we went through,” Ivar interrupted. “Or the several times after that. It was a game to you. You had your chance. You could have grabbed any number of women if that is what you wanted.”

  “I thought we’d have more time to decide. What is wrong in wanting to have a little fun first? Everyone says that when you see your mate you’ll know. I’ve not felt anything concrete.” Finn sighed. “I’m still waiting for the gods to speak to me. And I know you’re waiting for them to speak to you. No man seeks a lonely life.”

  “I am not convinced the voices of our gods can be heard on Earth,” Ivar stated. “There is too much noise, too much clutter.”

  “They spoke to our brothers.” Finn took a deep breath and closed his eyes. He wasn’t telling his friend the whole plan. He wouldn’t. Not yet. Not until they were through the portal and on the other side. “Ivar, I’m asking you to come with me tonight. Let us prove this portal is a solution, not a problem.”

  Ivar’s eyes turned toward the sky as if he contemplated the wide space beyond. “We have been building relations with alien cultures through our intergalactic contacts.”

  “Any that are compatible with shifters?” Finn questioned. The Draig did not like associating with space travelers. Often, the only reason aliens landed was because they wanted something—to steal resources, to sell their religions, or to take advantage of the locals.

  “I’m not saying I don’t think the portals could work, but…” Ivar’s scowl deepened.

  “What?”

  Ivar lifted his chest. “I think they are mismanaged. If the portals were under Var guard, people would not be slipping through. They would be regulated.”

  “The valley entrance is locked. There are only a few keys. The palace entrance is guarded and reachable through a long tunnel.” This was not the conversation Finn wanted to be having—a debate between royal families. “It could have been one of your guards, as easily as it was one of ours, that let the men through. That’s what happens when you tell men you have the solution to their biggest problem but aren’t ready to share it with them. Our parents and the elders are too busy arguing over the details, but nothing is being done. Now they want to close it because it’s easier than dealing with it.”

  “You did not call me to this valley to argue.” Ivar motioned to the cave. “I assume you want to go to Earth to look for brides?”

  “Yes.” Finn lifted two satchels from the ground. “I checked the charts and brought us supplies. We’re going to,” he paused, having to focus on the word to pronounce the foreign name, “Miss-is-sip-pie.”

  “And you think that if I go with you to Miss Pie, and we both bring back the women ordained by the gods to be our wives, we can show up at that meeting and convince the elders and our parents to keep the portals open?”

  “Yes. If they see that we are well matched.”

  “Why will this trip be any different from the others?”

  “The gods will bless us. I know they will. We need this. Our people’s future needs this.”

  “And if they don’t?” Ivar cut straight to the point as always. “You know the odds are against us.”

  Finn stiffened and forced himself to meet Ivar’s gaze. “Then we make them bless us.”

  Ivar arched a brow. “You want to lie about the will of the gods? You would be willing to spend an eternity with a woman who was not your true mate?”

  Finn nodded. “If it means the survival of the Draig, then yes, I will make that sacrifice. No one will ever know the truth beyond the two of us.”

  Ivar’s mouth curled up at the side. It wasn’t a smile so much as approval. The look took Finn by surprise since the man rarely showed approval of anything. “I did not think you had it in you to put our people before yourself. I misjudged you. Yes. I will go with you tonight to bring back brides so that we may ensure the future of our population. I will make this sacrifice with you. We will take half mates and never let a moment’s unhappiness show. But I want something in return.”

  Finn was not delusional in believing that tonight would be special. Dropping the pretense of destined mates and love didn’t make that knowledge any easier. “What?”

  “Once we do this, we push for regulations for portal travel. We stop the flow of shifter defectors before the cats join the dragons. Staying on Earth cannot be an option.”

  Finn nodded. “Agreed. The Draig have discussed only going on the one night of Quirlixian darkness a year and making it a mass wedding celebration. It can become a ritual. We go, get brides, bring them back and celebrate those who are chosen. Men will have to be trained before they can go through the portal. It will become a rite of passage.”

  “One earned through honor,” Ivar added.

  “And in twenty years no one will question the tradition.”

  “I want Var access to the portal. We will build an embassy on Draig land, right here in the valley where both families will have a joint say over travel. My people need to know that we are not at the mercy of the dragons.”

  “And my people need to know the cats respect the fact that we have guarded these portals since our ancestors came here to escape Earth’s tyranny. We took the risk by being the closest. If the human hunters ever found their way through, it was our people who would be the first in their path.”

  Ivar lifted his hand to take a satchel. “Then it is decided. Tonight, we enter through that portal to find brides by any means necessary.”

  Finn had never wanted h
is people to kidnap women. What if they didn’t want to come? What if they were unhappy? What if he and Ivar never found peace in their marriages? They could be signing on for hundreds of years’ worth of misery. Then again, what did the fate of four people mean when countered against the survival of thousands?

  2

  The Square, Oxford, Mississippi

  “How is it the weather is both chilly and humid at the same time? I didn’t think that could be scientifically possible.” Sadie Harcourt mustered a smile for the waitress before turning her attention to the street scene below as if the bright sunlight would hold the answer. She sat alone at a table in the middle of a balcony. On her left were rustic walls weathered by time and to her right open air.