Headstrong Prince Read online

  “My brother has been there with his wife. When Eve was kidnapped by a cat-shifter from the Nutef faction and brought there to die, Kyran went after her. I have traced the time when the dragon-shifters left, and it seems to point to that location. We have extra guards assigned to prevent future problems. If I can get them to come home, it will calm many of the fears and rumors about Earth.”

  Ivar didn’t speak.

  “I know this was my idea, and I’ll understand if you change your mind,” Finn said.

  “I will not change my mind.” Ivar again did not hesitate. He knew what needed to be done. “I don’t like the idea of taking women against their will, but I have not changed my mind.”

  “Kidnapped brides are not what either of us wants, and I pray it will never come to that. I keep asking myself, what if the women don’t want to be married, or if they make us miserable? What if they are unkind or driven by vanity and ego?”

  As much as he didn’t like Finn’s impetuous attitude, seeing him worried was almost worse. “Then we will have to smile, and lie, and pretend to love our wives for the rest of our hundreds of years. We agreed, and I do not wish to change my course. You were right. This is the only way to force the elders to keep the portals open. Without brides, our people die out. This will be the secret we carry to our graves. It is a sacrifice we must be willing to make.”

  “I don’t think Lord Montague will ever be convinced to keep the portals open,” Finn said. Lord Montague was not only a dragon elder but also the stoic leader of the dragon council of elders. He was the most outspoken when it came to closing portal travel forever.

  “If you convince the other elders, then there’s nothing he can do to stop it.” Ivar had never seen Lord Montague with anything but a look of disapproval and disgust on his face. He doubted the man liked anything.

  They had sneaked through the portal for a reason and could not lose sight of that goal. Tonight was not about love. The odds of the gods blessing them were not great. They’d tried so many times before with no luck. Yes, they hoped to find their true mates, but if that didn’t happen—one way or another—they would be leaving with women.

  The plan was to defy tradition and create their own blessing. They would take half mates, ensure the future of the shifter population, and never let a moment of discontentment show.

  Cat-shifters had taken half mates in the past, but those were marriages of convenience. Ivar wanted a love like his parents had, like his brother had, but this wasn’t about his wants. He was a prince. He had a duty to his people as did Finn. What mattered more? The fates of two princes? Or the survival of thousands?

  “I keep hoping women will walk up to us and say, ‘The gods sent us to you. We are your true mates. Take us home and prove to the elders that human women make viable wives and the portal should be left open so that others may come and be happy.’ But I know that is unlikely,” Finn said.

  “If only it were that easy.” Ivar agreed the fantasy had appeal, but he did not want to be drawn into fanciful daydreams. “We should not place our bets on such horrible odds.”

  A young man walked past them and gave them a strange look.

  “We should use the Earth language.” Ivar hadn’t realized they’d slipped into their native tongue. They initially had learned to speak the Earth languages from the television transmission waves floating around space and then furthered their vocabulary as those first scouts came to investigate the portal openings.

  “Like our talking about the decreasing population of dragon-shifters and cat-shifters due to a lack of females would draw less attention than our foreign words.” Finn laughed. “Maybe we should announce ourselves. Perhaps the women would line up to marry us.”

  “I’m glad you find amusement in this.” Ivar’s tone expressed the opposite. He wasn’t glad. Not about any of this. He couldn’t help the sternness in his voice. The future of his people was not a game.

  “I’m sorry, Ivar. I do not mean to make light. I know you do not want to be on this planet. You have made that clear on every trip to Earth we have taken.” Finn took a deep breath. “I don’t want to do this either. I want a wife, but not like this.”

  “There is nothing down this road but houses and traffic,” Finn said. “We should turn around.”

  “Agreed. We do not want to wander too far from the portal.” Ivar followed Finn’s lead, and they moved in the other direction. “We will stay close to that central location where there are many gathering places and hope that more women appear.”

  They quickened their pace to hurry back toward the center of town. Turning down a small inlet with tables, they heard people talking. Children screamed, running with their hands in the air as they carried colorful ice cream cones.

  Ivar lifted his hands wide to the side. “I did nothing this time to make them scream. I didn’t even look at them.”

  “I think that sound is excitement, not fear,” Finn said.

  “You have to come back here for a football game this fall,” a boisterous voice demanded. They turned to watch the commander from the balcony pass by the inlet. “We might not win all the games, but we never lose a party. The fun starts at the tailgating and doesn’t end until dawn.”

  “I think ol’ Donald here secretly works for the tourist board,” one of the commander’s men teased. The group walked on, and Ivar let go of his captured breath. He did not want to be blamed for frightening more children.

  “What is football?” Finn asked.

  Ivar gestured that he did not know.

  “Perhaps we will have better luck if we take different paths,” Finn suggested. “We do not have much time, and we can cover more ground apart.”

  Ivar nodded. “The sound does carry here. Stay within shouting distance to the center. If that portal closes, we’re trapped for a year until it reopens. We both need to be gone before that happens.”

  Finn’s expression turned unusually serious as he looked around. “No. Of course we wouldn’t want that.”

  “The commander has left.” For some reason, Ivar was drawn to where he’d seen the woman in the white skirt. Perhaps if he followed in that direction, there would be more women. “I’ll head back the way we came. You can explore here. If either of us finds suitable brides, we will meet in the middle.”

  “A fine plan,” Finn agreed.

  Before the man could leave Ivar placed a hand on his arm to stop him. He wanted to say something comforting, but there were no words. “We have to believe that kindness in a mate will be enough and that happiness can be found in duty.”

  Finn didn’t answer.

  Ivar had seen the look on his brother’s face each time Jenna entered the room. He saw their love, their devotion, and their contentment. As pleased as he was for Rafe, their happiness over the last few years had made Ivar’s loneliness worse.

  “We will not have that mad rush of passion that others talk about,” Ivar continued, “but in the end, our pleasure will have to come from seeing others find mates. If that is the sacrifice the gods demand, then we will pay it.”

  “Yes. We will pay it.” Finn nodded sadly.

  Before Ivar could say anything more, Finn took off through the inlet in the same direction the children had come from.

  Ivar wondered if the dragon prince was reconsidering their decision. He couldn’t say it would surprise him. When the time came to decide, he wasn’t sure how Finn would act.

  2

  “Y’all, some guy just asked me to marry him.”

  Beth Watson glanced up from the viewing screen on her camera to look at the college-age girl who spoke to her friends. The girl had brunette hair that fell nearly to her waist and shorts that had been cut a little too high.

  “Who?” the boy with her asked. He puffed up his chest as if he’d do something about it. He was also a college student if his fraternity t-shirt and cargo shorts were any indications. Beth would have guessed him to be a freshman or sophomore at her alma mater.

  The girl laughed,
enthusiastically leading her friends. “Some guy.”

  “I don’t think he was talking to you, Jenny,” a woman with short blonde hair put forth. Her shirt read, “Stacy,” and she sounded like she came from Louisiana. Her wry tone deflated some of her friend’s ego. “I think he was talking to the waitress.”

  “But she was old,” Jenny protested.

  “Yeah,” Stacy said. “And so was the guy.”

  “Whatever. Let’s get ice cream,” Jenny quickly changed directions, forcing the others to do the same.

  It had only been six years since Beth had been roaming these very streets in groups like that, but what a difference those six years made.

  She had come back to Oxford to visit a couple of her favorite professors. And if the truth were told, ask for career advice and perhaps a boost of encouragement. The real world was hard and trying to make a go with her art was even more challenging. There were times she thought about stopping altogether and trying her hand at teaching, or some full-time office job. But at the end of the day, she still picked up her camera and paintbrushes.

  The kids’ banter reminded her of simpler times when she first moved to Mississippi to attend college from upstate New York. It had been a culture shock. Strangers had talked to her and shown her kindness, and their laid back approach to life wasn’t anything she’d experienced growing up. Not that any place was perfect, but even the insults in the South sounded polite. People waved, and she had a neighbor bring her a welcome gift when she moved into her first off campus apartment. It was this feeling of positivity she wanted to capture on film and translate into her paintings.

  After college, Beth had moved to New Orleans with the idea that she would soak in the creative atmosphere to fuel her art. What she’d discovered was that the city had plenty of artists doing the exact same thing and if she wanted to feel original, she had to leave New Orleans for places like Oxford to gain inspiration. She could then return home, using the creative energy to realize those visions.

  “Lovely evening, isn’t it?”

  Beth turned her attention from the settings on her camera to the friendly voice. The man was handsome, with kind dark eyes and a playful smile. She nodded before turning back to her camera. “Yes, it is.”

  “I see you are not shackled.”

  At that, Beth turned her full attention to the man. He wore a hippie kind of outfit that looked more like loose pajamas, or the lightweight white beach pants guys sometimes wore when walking next to the ocean. His words had an unfamiliar accent, but the college hosted international professors, so that wasn’t necessarily unusual.

  “Shackled?” she asked.

  He held up his hand and pointed at the ring finger. “Married.”

  “Oh,” Beth gave a small laugh. “I’d never heard it put quite like that before. Yes, actually, I am married. My ring is being cleaned.”

  A lie was nicer than shooting the man’s forthcoming offer down.

  “I see.” His expression fell. “Would you happen to know women who are not married?”

  “You might try the bar just down there.” She gestured down the street where a couple of bars could be found. “And, uh, I’m sorry, I didn’t catch your name.”

  “Finn.”

  Beth smiled, wondering if this was the same guy Jenny had been talking about. “Finn, my advice would be to start with asking for a date instead of a wedding. You’re more likely to get a yes.”

  The man nodded and moved in the direction she indicated. Beth found something about his expression to be charming, but she wasn’t in the market for a complication. She needed to focus on her work.

  With purpose, she set about making the most of her trip. She lifted her camera and focused on happy couples like a voyeur peeking into the window of other people’s lives. Ok, so maybe that analogy wasn’t exactly right. She wasn’t invading privacy on a public street, but she was capturing moments.

  Seeing a cheerful couple, she sighed. They looked a little too perfect, like actors on a movie casting call, and she lowered the camera. Normally she was fine being single, but there were small moments when a longing struck her, and she wanted what other people had. What person wouldn’t want that kind of perfect, happily ever after love?

  Beth didn’t dwell long. She lifted the camera with renewed determination, intent on finding her vision for the next collection.

  3

  “Divide and conquer,” Ivar muttered to himself, without knowing the true meaning of the words as he hurried off in the opposite direction. He’d heard the phrase in a movie, like everything else he knew about Earth.

  He and Finn had divided to cover more territory, but Ivar wasn’t doing much conquering. He’d tried to follow down the same path the woman in white had gone earlier, but it only led him to a parking lot. Hopefully, Finn was having more luck.

  As the hours stretched, Ivar knew they didn’t have much time before the portal closed. “I found two,” Finn said, clearly excited as he jogged to catch up to where Ivar stood. “They’re waiting for us at the portal.”

  “What?” Ivar asked in surprise. He began walking toward the portal, hoping to catch a glimpse of them. His heartbeat quickened. “Where?”

  “They’re of the right age. They’re pretty. They appear kind,” Finn said, walking at a fast pace. “They are perhaps a bit too delicate, but—”

  “All Earth women are fragile,” Ivar dismissed. Kind was good. He wanted a princess who was kind to the people. “That is to be expected.”

  “The hour turns late.” Finn rushed ahead toward the passageway labeled, “Faulkner Alley,” and said, “They are waiting near the portal for us.”

  “I don’t understand.” Ivar hurried to keep up. They had a few moments before the portal closed. Finn was clearly eager if his urgency was any indication. “How did you convince them to come?”

  Finn paused before crossing the street and grinned. He made a sweeping gesture with his hand to encompass his full length. “What woman can resist the smooth charm of a dragon?”

  Ivar fought the urge to respond to the grandiose claim. They didn’t stop as they crossed the circular street toward the central white building before crossing a second time to reach the shadowed passageway. His eyes shifted to better see into the dim light. The passage was empty. Luckily, the locals appeared to keep to the lit streets. Ivar glanced over the immediate area for the women Finn spoke of but saw no one who seemed to be waiting for them. He moved through the passageway to the other side. Again, no women were waiting.

  Ivar moved toward the black door with the metal skull hanging from it in the middle of the passage. His senses tingled as a suspicious feeling came over him. “Where are the women? You said you found them for us.”

  “They were excited. I bet they already found their way through.” Finn motioned that Ivar should go into the portal. They used the door as a landmark since it was right next to where the portal manifested. “Just beyond the black door. You should go in after them. The caves will be dark on the other side of the portal, and they might be frightened.”

  The women should not have gone through alone. Ivar frowned as he moved toward the black door. He made sure no one watched him as he lifted his hand. The tips of his fingers grazed the brick wall, activating a soft light for the barest of seconds. He couldn’t shake the feeling that something was wrong.

  “Hey, are you guys in line for that secret grilled cheese place?” A young man called down the alley. Ivar jerked his hand back, to keep the portal from being seen. “I don’t think you can get in this early.”

  “No,” Ivar and Finn answered loudly in unison.

  “Oh, doesn’t look like you’re dressed for it, anyway.” He left.

  “This place is odd.” Ivar lowered his hand and didn’t go through. He trusted his instincts and right now they said Finn was hiding something. The dragon-shifter was acting strange, and it made no sense that he would let the women out of his sight. Ivar narrowed his eyes and motioned that Finn should go. “You
first.”

  “What?” Finn gave a dismissing laugh. “Go ahead. I’m right behind you.”

  Ivar crossed his arms over his chest. “I insist.”

  “It will close soon.” Finn tried to give Ivar a small push. “Stop playing around and go.”

  Ivar barely registered the man’s shove. At that moment, he read everything he needed to know in Finn’s gaze. “There are no women, are there?”

  Finn looked guilty. “No. You’re right. There are not. I had hoped that fate would smile on us, and we’d find the ones we were meant to be with, but I wasn’t forthcoming about the plan in coming here.” He again tried to get Ivar to go through.

  Ivar held his ground. He was disappointed that the mission had been a failure, but did not know why Finn felt the need to lie about it. The hour was getting late, and they needed to go home. If both princes did not return, chaos would erupt on the planet. If only one prince returned and people found out the other was left behind, it could be war. “Get in the portal. We will discuss this on our home world.”

  Finn shook his head. “I’m not going back. I’m staying for the next year. I need you to tell our parents they can’t cave in the portals. I am a prince. They will not leave me behind. This is the only way to negotiate more time for our people. You know as well as I what the elders are going to demand at that meeting. They have been seeking an excuse to cut off Earth since the directions to the portal were first unearthed in the Draig royal library. They are scared of things that are no longer threats.”

  Ivar couldn’t believe what he was hearing. Was Finn insane? Taking unfated brides was one thing, but choosing to live on Earth like the other defectors? There was no way he was abandoning Finn to this planet. He started to protest the foolishness of the plan when Finn cut him off.

  “Look at this world, Ivar. There are no more shifter hunters. There are no more knights. There aren’t even the castles the old ones talk about. We don’t exist in this world but in fairy tales and fantasy. Convince them that this is for the best for both cats and dragons. When the portal to this place opens back up, I will be here, waiting.”