Their Hidden Princess (Zora) novel Chapter 101

Two weeks later…

I slammed the car door shut with a force that echoed in the stillness of the campus parking lot. The driver, a faceless blur in my peripheral vision, continued on his way, leaving me to wrestle with my thoughts. To my right, a towering figure emerged from the front seat—a wolf clad in a sleek, jet-black suit. Our eyes met for a brief moment, and he offered me a curt nod, a silent acknowledgment of our shared reality. I turned my gaze away, letting out a heavy sigh that felt like a weight lifting off my chest, if only slightly.

This was my life now.

After the harrowing attempt on my life, I had been whisked back to the castle for the winter solstice. The last two weeks had been a blur of isolation, with only my maids and this new bodyguard for company. His name was Bubba, a gruff ex-warrior hailing from a pack in the Northeast United States. He embodied the Hollywood stereotype of a Marine—intimidating and stoic, with little inclination for conversation. His preferred modes of communication were grunts and nods, which suited me just fine, though I couldn’t shake the feeling of being trapped.

As Bubba moved to retrieve my bags from the driver, I found myself grappling with the absurdity of my situation. How was I supposed to navigate life at Alpha Academy with a bodyguard shadowing my every move? The whispers around campus painted me as a nobody, an inconsequential presence. But deep down, I was anything but that. Beneath the layers of normalcy and the facade I maintained, I was the Luna Princess, destined to fulfill a prophecy that marked me as a weapon against the remnants of vampires from the Great War.

My uncertainty about the prophecy lingered until my mother, Queen Victoria Luna, had taken me to the prophecy room. The moment I laid eyes on the shimmering gold ink sprawled across the parchment, my heart raced. It was as if my entire existence had been laid bare before me:

“Born of royalty, bound to five,
The collision of dark and light,
Remaker of olden times,
Night to his knees,
Light to rise,
Balance is once again in sight.”

I stood there, my mouth agape, absorbing the weight of those words. When my mother gently tapped my shoulder, her voice trembled as she told me I was destined to save us all. That had been the last conversation we’d shared over the holidays. The morning before my return to Alpha Academy, we had breakfast together, but the air between us was thick with unspoken words. I sensed her guilt for the years of pain she had caused, leaving me in a human orphanage until I turned eighteen, only to return and attempt to marry me off. She believed that being with my fated mate would awaken my hidden powers, and it was only through my defiance that I found myself at Alpha Academy. Graduation was my ticket to freedom, a means to escape the clutches of the High Alphas’ sons.

But it turned out that was all a ruse. To unlock the power needed to vanquish the vampires, I indeed had to be with a fated mate. My mother’s marriage candidates were her way of orchestrating that union. The High Alphas she had allied with during the war all had sons, and she had presumed that one of them would be my destined partner.

With another sigh escaping my lips, I realized I hadn’t seen any of those candidates since the kidnapping attempt. I had grown familiar with them, some more than others, and the thought of them sent a shiver down my spine.

Maximus Wolfham, kind yet stern.
Valentin Lunerly, polished and mature.
Thorne Blywitch, intelligent and protective.
And then there was Kairos Moonraiser, harsh and violent.

I bit my lip to suppress a groan. Kairos was a constant thorn in my side. He had once tried to kill me for being wolfless, yet something in him had shifted. He was one of the two who had come to my rescue during the vampire attack. Now, while he still had an edge to him, he seemed softer in my presence. This only made the impending challenge of sparring with him a week from my return to campus all the more daunting. I was expected to fight him, or risk being “volun-told” to leave the campus if I didn’t comply.

As Bubba hefted my bags into the dorm, I hesitated, feeling a sudden wave of uncertainty. He turned and frowned at me, his brow furrowing in concern. “Princess?” he asked in a low voice.

I quickly raised a hand, brushing it over my face in exasperation. “I told you, Bubba,” I replied, my tone firm yet weary. “You can’t call me that on campus.”

“Sorry, Prin—er—Miss Smith?” he corrected himself awkwardly.

I managed a soft smile, grateful for his effort. “Thank you,” I said, exhaling once more. “I think I’d like to stay outside a little longer, if that’s alright?”

“Of course,” he replied, nodding. “I’ll take your bag to your room and stand by.”

“Thank you,” I murmured, watching him as he lumbered away.

Bubba grunted in acknowledgment before dragging my bag inside, the door slamming shut behind him. I sighed again, letting the night air fill my lungs as I gazed out at the campus lawn.

It was late, nearly eleven o’clock, and most students had retreated to their dorms. The January winds were gentle, caressing the fresh layer of snow and sending it swirling around me. I buried my face deeper into my scarf, taking a few steps onto the lawn. My boots crunched against the underlying layer of old snow, a comforting sound in the otherwise silent night.

I wandered to the center of the lawn, tilting my head back to gaze at the stars twinkling above. Part of me yearned for some cosmic guidance, a manual that could instruct me on how to maintain my cover, juggle the affections of four determined suitors, and somehow manage to keep my grades afloat.

VERIFYCAPTCHA_LABELVerify