My first instinct was to lie to the prince. As strange as it was, I didn't feel even the slightest desire to explain my theory about Jake. Deep down in the back of my mind I knew that I could not let this particular royal learn that, "Jake may be the first male Luna. He hasn't shifted visibly, but he has shown subtle signs of it behaviorally. I did not notice the change in his scent until it was pointed out."

As the words left my mouth, my heart skipped a beat and my jaw felt numb. When I tried to take another step, my legs almost collapsed under my weight. The prince stopped shortly ahead of me while I tried steadying myself in the hallway we'd entered.

"What just happened?" I croaked with a strained voice.

Prince Bastian turned his head back a bit so that I could see his smiling profile. "I see you are not as bright as your sister. At least she knew better than to lie in the presence of her superiors." Suddenly an old story of an ancient shifter who burst into flames after lying and stealing from the queen surfaced from my childhood.

The thought of opening my mouth to speak at all became uncomfortable. The prince continued walking down the hall and I stumbled along behind him.

"There are many reasons why my family is above all other werewolves and shapeshifters. So many small reasons that I would not be able to name them all if I tried. So, I will sum it up as one reason: Power."

He made a turn around any icy corner that opened into a grand bedroom. Just like everything else in the fortress, it was made from walls of solid opaque ice. There was no bed, but a pile of black feathers and string lay in the middle of the room instead. It looked like a very large bird's nest which wasn't too surprising. I had never seen any royal other than the queen in human form, so it made sense for them to have beds custom crafted to their preference.

"In addition to being everlasting and pure of heart, we have the power to do anything and everything that one of you lesser beings can. We can shrink to the size of a kitten, use simple magic, or transform into a great wolf. As he said that, the prince stood onto his hind legs. With his back still facing me, Bastian's arms spread wide and grew large until they resembled a large human. He grew further, larger than I ever could by become a 17-foot werewolf right before my eyes.

Then Bastian turned to face so that I could see his neon eyes gazing down at me as well as the bulging muscles cascading down from his chest to thighs. With no strain or effort distorting his expression, he began to shrink again till he was the size of an average young man. His fur and fangs retracted into his body until luminous white skin glowed subtly on his naked human form. He smiled coyly and pushed back to fall casually onto his bed of black feathers.

It was harder to look at him as a human. While I hadn't been attracted to any other guys after Jake, the prince was unnaturally beautiful. His hair was still as white as snow, but it flowed effortlessly. It was almost as if his face was enchanted to look flawless and perfect to my subconscious. For a moment, it reminded me of the charm that radiated off of the Blake twins. I didn't need to think about that.

"Did you need something from me, prince Bastian? I do not know what the plan you mentioned entails," I said with my eyes fixed on the floor to the right of the prince.

Bastian laughed, his voice resonating like a delighted symphony. "Come now Sin. Is war all your class is capable of thinking about?"

I wanted to tell him that it was all we could think about when a demon horde was just waiting to invade the town and murder my family. To point out that the only reason I wanted the Lycans to come here was to fight a war. But I just shrugged and kept my jaw locked.

"My sister is in charge of all the counter-moves against the demon filth. My mother is controlling the humans. I, however, am left here to manage all defenses and coordinate. All of the Alpha and battle-ready Beta will work with my sister tonight in the counter-attack."

"Then I should be with them!" Irritation and annoyance nearly got the better of me. "I mean...if that is where you need me to be, prince Bastian."

"No. Come sit. I don't have as many subjects to toy with in Viridian, but you interest me. If the redness of your skin is any indicator of your warmth, I could do well with the company." He raised an arm and gestured for me to come lay against him.

A year ago, I doubt I would have thought twice about obeying his command. When it came down to it, being naked is more of a human concept than a werewolf one. But after my time alone with Jake, I've gotten used to looking at the male body in very different ways. Looking at Bastian's perfectly sculpted body threatened to create all sorts of inappropriate thoughts.

But he was still my prince, and I could not disobey so casually. So I climbed onto the impossibly soft bed of feathers and let his hand reach behind my head. from there he directed me closer until I laid with my head on his chest with an arm draped just above his waist. Through the inevitable skin contact I could feel the smooth hardness of the prince's body and almost feel the power beneath it.

A surge of displeasure twisted in my gut as I realized what this must look like from anyone else's perspective. I could only imagine how Jake would react, and it made me want to rip myself out of the Bastian's grip.

Without warning, he lifted my head so that our eyes met. "I believe I would like to keep you here...forever."

So, the Lycan prince has shown his hand for real now. The question is: How much self-control does our big bad Alpha have in the presence of royalty?

I was recently asked on my other story why i regularly allow my sentences to begin with 'And' or 'But' at times. It occurred to me that other people may also have wondered about that, so i'm explaining here as well. There is no grammatical rule against starting a sentence with those words in adult writing. The usage of those words in early writing is typically to encourage exploring new ways to form a sentence. Plus i make plenty of actual mistakes that seem to slip under the radar sometimes lol ;)