Courting the Prince of Moonlit Shadows

Courting the Prince of Moonlit Shadows

Claire Wilkins · Ongoing · 107.8k Words

838
Hot
838
Views
251
Added
Add to Shelf
Start Reading
Share:facebooktwitterpinterestwhatsappreddit

Introduction

“You're ridiculous…” I muttered, watching him chuckle with amusement.

“Perhaps, but your body gives way to my touch so easily.”

There was no denying the way he made me feel, but at the same time, if I wasn’t careful, he would eventually break my heart.


Raquel of the Crimson Blade has been waiting for this opportunity her entire life: to be a member of the infamous King's Guard. Unfortunately for Raquel, the good King Tiberius was taken by the Yellow Blight last fall, leaving his only remaining heir—Prince Regulus—to inherit the throne. He’s ill-tempered, foul-mouthed behavior is a problem and Raquel hates him with a passion. But when a failed assassination has trapped the pair behind enemy lines, the two must learn to put aside their differences if they want to survive.

Courting the Prince of Moonlit Shadows is created by Claire Wilkins, an eGlobal Creative Publishing signed author.

Chapter 1

Raquel’s POV

It was always autumn in the Everwood northwest of the Spires, a tawny shade of butter squash blanketed the trees where pumpkin mellow and blood beet hadn’t filtered through yet. The grass was a neutral green, neither dying nor full of life, and I thought that static seemed on par with the rest of the Faewild, where Gaia’s great hand never parted the seasons. Time was lost to us here, centuries bleeding like minutes, and it was only when we crossed over the Spires to human lands, that we saw how much had changed.

The curse of being Fae—Or, gift, if you weren’t so fatalistic.

“Raquel! Raquel!” The wind shifted, full of childish laughter and mischief. Invisible hands tugged at the studs lining my ears, the tips of clawed fingers careful. “We have a message!”

Ah, damn, there went my lunch break.

I stretched, feeling joints pop along my back courtesy of Mal’s impromptu sparring session yesterday, and tossed my apple core into the lake. There was a flash of darkness under the murky surface of the pond, and I knew the kelpie kid was thrilled at his little treat. He was still too young to hold a land-dwelling form for long, or risk drying out, and the apple grove was miles from here. He liked the cores best and savored the potential of life found in the young seeds. The darker attributes are found in the unicorns' Unseelie kin.

But, from the corner of my eye, I did see a lick of a tail, dark with a dusting of scales. His version of a wave. Adorable. I did always have a soft spot for children.

Hands tugged at my earrings again, harsher this time, and I blew air out of the side of my mouth to dislodge the little troublemakers from my person.

The last thing I needed for today was a hex.

Not this close to the Quartering.

“What is it?” It wasn’t that I disliked harpies, but I just wasn’t in the mood for their brand of gossip. “Is this about the paddock again?”

They loved to tell me about who was fucking in the paddock.

“Noooo!” There was a chorus of high-pitched giggles and the wind changed course to pitch my cape over my head, which elicited more laughter. I rolled my eyes at the fine joke, throwing my cape back and my hood down. Remember Raquel, spirits of the air were always young at heart…

I held my tongue, irritated by the number of hands pulling at my ears and cape until one gust of wind blew my bangs up. One of the women solidified in front of me, the feathers of a blue jay framing a sharp face with the blazing orange-yellow eyes of a bearded vulture.

She opened her mouth, wider than her human-like lips would suggest, and whispered, “There’s a human in the meadow!”

I froze, hand already on the pommel of my sword.

Fuck.

“What type of human?” I asked carefully, making sure to not spook Nanica, who was grazing gently by the pond. For a war steed, she was shaping up to be the most cowardly of creatures. But I suppose that was a yale for you... “And in what meadow?”

“Favor,” the little minx chirped, sunset eyes jubilant. “We want a favor!”

There was no way in this world or the next that was happening.

“I promise you will leave with all your limbs intact.” She pouted, cutely in the way all harpies practiced before they set out for human lands at night to feed. It was easier to skewer the stupid ones who mistook them for interested human women in the night. It would do her little good here. I grew up in the Faewild, I was privy to all their tricks. “That’s my favor. Take it or leave it.”

“This is why no one likes you, doxy-bane!” I knew this one. The next harpy to materialize was older than the first, a matriarch. Linette as she liked to be called. “You never play with Mother nor her children!”

“I’ve seen the way you ladies entertain yourselves.” They laughed, circling me like I was carrion already, eyes looking for an entry point. A moment of weakness. Let them try it. Let them see why I was called the Crimson Blade. “I’d be a fool indeed to take you up on your fun.”

“Your liver will grow back!” Claudia. I’m surprised she hadn’t been slayed yet, to be honest. What was left of her right eye still bore the mangled scars of where I’d fought her all those years ago. It clashed terribly with her lilac and blueberry feathers. “Come on, doxy-bane! Let us have a taste! Pretty please?”

“You try it and I’ll finish the job,” Claudia hissed, arching up to fly with her sisters where I couldn’t reach her. Damn. “Why do you even want a favor from me? You know how well the Court likes me…”

“The Air talks,” Linette cooed. “Mother knows all the secrets of what could be and what will, and the tides are turning, little one.”

“What do you mean?”

The only reason King Tiberius let the harpies get away with as much as they did was due to the fact that they were gifted with the sight of premonition. They were the only creatures in The Court of Moonlit Shadows that could. Only, these visions, though accurate, were scarce at best.

As far as I knew, the harpies hadn’t had a vision in almost a hundred years since the Queen had passed off into the next life.

Linette flew to one of the low branches of the tree I had previously rested under, her daughters alighting beside her until the willow was more harpy than leaf.

“…Wouldn’t you like to know, dearest?”

I did not have time for this…

“You know as well as I that it’s treason not to tell the King of any visions you receive.”

“He will be no more Mother’s master than he will be yours soon enough.” Linette pecked at her plumage, the resplendent white of a swan’s, bare breasts swaying with the effort. “Mother would say more, but too much would spoil the ending!”

The harpy matriarch tossed her head back and sang, light and enchanting and scarily bewitching. The reason why I wore as many enchanted studs in my ears. These women and their hexing. “Little Ruby, sitting in the Great Gods’ Garden! Slayer of the Dread One’s Beast! Gentle Heart, you will be given Pardon! We cup our hands to the High Priest!”

She took a bow, little chicken foot leading on the branch, and all her children followed suit. Ridiculous.

“Are you quite done?” That was the other issue with harpies. Their visions, though true, were the stuff of nonsense. There probably wasn’t even a human—

“HELP!” The voice was hoarse with age or exhaustion and tight with fear. “SOMEONE PLEASE! HELP!”

“We are not done yet,” I said, casting an irritated finger at the harpy matriarch.

Linette chirruped, grabbing one of her chicks to feed as I whistled for Nanica. Her daughters cackled in the trees, knowing my threat was mostly empty while the other half of them had already settled down for a nap before sunset. “We will have words later, and depending on those words, you may be brought in front of His Majesty for questioning!”

“Promises, promises, light-bringer,” Linette cooed. “Mother looks forward to your next visit!”

Well, that was a new slur I hadn’t heard before. Heeding my call, Nanica trotted forward on glass hooves, eyeing the she-beasts warily. I hopped up on her saddle and charged toward the wood, keen on helping whomever it was screaming its bloody head off.

Gods, I hoped it wasn’t too late…


Wargs, night-dogs, the Hounds of the Wild Hunt. As cruel as they were intelligent and ugly.

And there were two of them. Lovely.

“Stay back!” The old woman I almost mistook for a discolored hag, swung her medicine bag at the pair, nearly throwing herself off balance. Her gnarled hand slammed her walking staff down without any real power. As intimidating as a mouse in a den of cats. “Keep away, fiends!”

The wargs huffed at each other, splitting up to circle the poor woman and extend their hunt longer. With the perytons gone east on their annual migration to the Sumerisles, the beasts had grown aggressively bored. Which would probably make the woman’s death particularly painful…

“What should we do, ol’ girl?” I gave Nanica a nuzzle, her soft fluffy pelt tickling my cheek. “Leave the human to fend for herself, or…?”

Nanica was already charging with a ferocious bleat.

Away from the woman and her warg problem.

“Coward!” Fuck, her incessant bleating had brought me to the beasts’ attention. So much for the element of surprise. “Damn you all to the emptiness of the Void!”

It wasn’t much of a war cry, but it did disarm the wargs.

Or, perhaps my physical nature did.

Certain Fae and monsters alike didn’t know what to make of me. Clearly, a wildling born of magic but not like one they’d ever seen. Too tall by a mile to be a proper pixie, not stocky enough to be a dwarf or gnome. Not green enough for goblin-kin. An anomaly, an aberration—I’d been called many a thing in the Faewilds, but never by the truth. Half-blood. Mortal-quickened.

I didn’t blame most for not knowing. Many half-breeds barely survived their first year out in The Wilds let alone a doxy-borne.

Still, I was not one to be taken lightly. I was as dangerous as any of them.

I’d slit the one warg from throat to belly using the momentum of my run to slide underneath it. Warg fur was tough, thicker than the skin of an elephant, but it parted like butter against the obsidian of my blade. Red obsidian to be exact—exclusively made in the volcanic heart of Izgand, the Dwarven Capital. Unfortunately, I lost momentum about a part way out from underneath the beast, and a shower of organ meat and ichor washed over me.

“Fuck!” I might as well be trying to strip molasses from my face for all the trouble I was doing. I was blind as a newborn hare! “Shit!”

“Watch out!”

The wind knocked out of me with a rattle that damn near loosened my fangs from my head. I lay there, dazed, sprawled against the forest floor, spread eagle. But, I did manage to dodge the beast’s jaws. Infinitely more important. The warg spat blades of grass at me just as I managed to clear my vision of its friend’s guts.

“Motherfucker,” I cried, blinded, and only had a moment of foul breath blowing hair away from my face before I reared my arm back and punched with all my might.

Fun fact, wargs have the most sensitive snouts in the Faewild. They make for wonderful targets.

The warg fell back, writhing with its paws peddling in the air, as it fought the censor overload. Which left its belly exposed. I took no chances. I drove my blade through the beast until it bit into the soft earth, holding until the last of its death throes ended.

“Curimos!” Right, the woman. I should check on her. I turned, hair matted to the sides of my face, a wet squelching in my boots that told me the black blood had traveled down to my toes. Lovely.

“Ma’am, are you all right?” I spoke as gently as I could, hoping to not spook her into fleeing. Humans could be so strange. “The beasts didn’t bite you did they?”

“No, my Lady, they did not.” Good, wargs weren’t venomous but their bites were toxic and prone to quick infection. The old woman smiled at me, and I immediately distrusted her by how white her teeth were in that aged lined face of hers. “How do you fair?”

“Well.” What was her angle? Was she human or some other beastie I hadn’t had the privilege of meeting yet? Gods only knew what the Night Realm held once her shadows fell upon the Court. “Thank you for asking.”

“Of course.” She smiled again, securing her bag to cross over her feeble shoulders. She was tall—even for a human woman. “I think perhaps a boon for my tiny savior is in order.”

“That won’t be necessary, ma’am.” The more she talked, the more warning bells went off in my head. Dangerous, this woman felt dangerous.

“Don’t be so humble, girl.” She tilted her head, and her eyes…shifted. Turned milky from the brown they’d been a moment ago. “Take this gift. My appreciation from a fellow outsider…”

My stomach turned, nausea settling in as I lifted my sword at her.

“Wait—”

Cold, her hands were cold! Like melted ice upon the moors, frigid like the first fingers of frost from an unforgiving winter. I wanted to slap her away, smack myself for being so careless about a human woman when an Elder voice spoke through her thin lips. The type all Fae had to listen to. Paralyzed, I was forced to look into her blind eyes, trembling in her unnaturally strong grip as forever extended in her vision.

“Danger—you are in danger, Raquel Crimson Blade!” Of course, I was, look who had a hold over me! “The veil is breaking! Look for the red sparrow for guidance!”

There was a flash, brighter than the sun, and I shrieked, expecting the worst.

Nothing and she was gone…like she’d never been there at all.

“What the actual fuck…” Hag—she had to have been a hag. Gods, how could I have been so careless? I was lucky she didn’t take my soul! I swallowed, my heartbeat the only sound I could hear at the moment as warg guts dried on me

Two prophecies. Two. In one day. That was practically unheard of.

“I needed to tell the Knight-Commander.” I whistled for Nanica, fingers shaken as I pressed them to my lips. “And I need a bath and a sit-down and maybe a drink or six.”

Nanica burst through the underbrush, her little stubby tail wagging as a trail of wet seaweed dragged from her mouth to the forest floor. None the wiser to her master’s state of mind. I should have trusted her instincts, she was never wrong. I should always follow the bloody yale…

“Ah, there you are, my mighty and noble steed.” Nanica blinked slowly, no thoughts in that pretty little round head of hers. She licked the salt and guts from my cheek, still chewing on her find, perfectly at peace while my mind was scattered. No, get it together Raquel. Shepard, bath, food, and drink. Maybe not in that order, but close to it.

You could do this. You would be fine. Two prophecies didn’t mean shit.

I withdrew my blade from the fallen warg, wiping the blood on the edge of its fur, and settled myself with a long exhale. “Let’s go home.”

Last Chapters

You Might Like 😍

Violent Little Thing.

Violent Little Thing.

284.3k Views · Completed · sheridan.hartin
Fuck off? I lent over to her side of the car, grabbed her hips and ripped her over to straddle my lap. This girl was something else, I knew it from the start. Now I needed her to know just who I am and what I am capable of. I held one hand firmly on her waist and the other to her throat. It wasn’t tight enough to hurt her, but it would keep her in place for now.
“Angel, you have a filthy fucking mouth”, I whispered low into her ear.
“Luciano…” Finally, an expression on her face. A real one she wasn’t hiding from me. It wasn’t fear though. It was lust. My girl likes this. I pulled her down further so she could feel just how much I was liking it too and the most enchanting gasp came from her mouth while her eyes rolled back for a moment.
————————————————
Do you enjoy a damsel in distress and a knight in shining armour? If so, then this book is not for you. This five foot nothing, FMC, Ariana Salvatore is a ruthless assassin, trained and tortured to be the most deadly weapon. She's got a heart of gold, a filthy mouth and a will to survive. She's on the run from her father's heavy hand and deadly demands. What happens when not one but three powerful mafia men pine for her? Will they be able to share? Will her past catch up to her? And what about her ex fiance? The ruthless, beast of a man her father had arranged for her to marry? This book is a whirlwind of events, violent, spicy and not for the faint hearted.
Omega Bound

Omega Bound

202.9k Views · Ongoing · Veronica White
Ayla Frost is a beautiful, rare omega. Kidnapped, tortured, and trafficked to rogue clans and corrupt alphas to do with as they pleased.  Kept alive in her cage, broken and abandoned by her wolf, she becomes mute and has given up on hope for a better life until one explosion changes everything. 

Thane Knight is the alpha of the Midnight Pack of the La Plata Mountain Range, the largest wolf shifter pack in the world. He is an alpha by day and hunts the shifter trafficking ring with his group of mercenaries by night. His hunt for vengeance leads to one raid that changes his life. 

Tropes:
Touch her and die/Slow burn romance/Fated Mates/Found family twist/Close circle betrayal/Cinnamon roll for only her/Traumatized heroine/Rare wolf/Hidden powers/Knotting/Nesting/Heats/Luna/Attempted assassination
Surrendering to Destiny

Surrendering to Destiny

197.1k Views · Completed · Allison Franklin
Catherine is not only a rogue half-breed, she is also the result of mate-bond infidelity, was abandoned as a baby and, to top it off, she can only shift during the full moon. When Catherine left the only pack she'd ever known in order to escape the new alpha, the last thing she expected was to find her mate... let alone for him to be the mouth-watering, heavily tattooed, lead warrior of the most feared lycan pack on the continent.

Graham MacTavish wasn't prepared to find his mate in the small town of Sterling that borders the Blackmoore Packlands. He certainly didn't expect her to be a rogue, half-breed who smelled of Alpha blood. With her multi-colored eyes, there was no stopping him from falling hard the moment their mate bond snapped into place. He would do anything to claim her, protect her and cherish her no matter the cost.

From vengeful ex-lovers, pack politics, species prejudice, hidden plots, magic, kidnapping, poisoning, rogue attacks, and a mountain of secrets including Catherine's true parentage there is no shortage of things trying to tear the two apart.

Despite the hardships, a burning desire and willingness to trust will help forge a strong bond between the two... but no bond is unbreakable. When the secrets kept close to heart are slowly revealed, will the two be able to weather the storm? Or will the gift bestowed upon Catherine by the moon goddess be too insurmountable to overcome?
The Ex-Wife's Redemption: A Love Reborn

The Ex-Wife's Redemption: A Love Reborn

142.9k Views · Completed · Emma Blackwood
When my son was hospitalized with a high fever, Henry Harding was with his ex-lover—a final betrayal that shattered what little remained of our marriage.
The pain of my unwed pregnancy is a wound I can never speak of, as the child's father vanished without a trace. Just as I was about to take my own life, Henry swooped in, offering me a home and vowing to treat my fatherless child as his own.
I've always been grateful to him for saving me that day, which is why I've endured the humiliation of this lopsided marriage for so long.
But everything changed when his former flame, Isabella Scott, returned.
Now, I'm ready to sign the divorce papers, but Henry demands ten million dollars as the price of my freedom—a sum I could never hope to scrape together.
I looked him in the eye and said coldly, "Ten million dollars to buy your heart."
Henry, the most powerful heir on Wall Street, is a former heart patient. He'll never suspect that his so-called shameful ex-wife orchestrated the heart beating in his chest.
The Human Girl Who Tamed Alpha King

The Human Girl Who Tamed Alpha King

263.1k Views · Completed · Amelia Rivers
Don't stop," I begged, my hips bucking against his touch, every nerve screaming for more. "Fuck, Jace, please…"

"Eyes on me," he growled, voice thick with lust, practically vibrating through me. "I wanna watch you lose it when I make you come."

My climax slammed into me, wild and unstoppable, as he rasped, "That's it, baby."

The next morning, my heart shattered into pieces. There was Scarlett—throwing herself into Jace's arms, her body pressed intimately against his chest, her hands possessively claiming what I thought was mine just hours ago.


Raised by werewolves, human Aria Silverbrook has always lived as an outsider. When her adoptive father flees with her to escape a dangerous Alpha's advances, they find sanctuary with the powerful Moon Shadow Pack. But Aria never expected the overwhelming connection she feels to the pack's mysterious Alpha, Jace Carter—or how his young daughter Aurora instantly claims a piece of her heart.

Jace's royal Primal bloodline makes him exceptional among Alphas, his wolf Phantom towering over others. When Aria enters his territory, something stirs within him. As the Blood Moon approaches, he debates revealing the truth: she is his destined mate who will unlock his full potential.

Near her eighteenth birthday, Aria notices disturbing changes. Her wounds heal unnaturally fast after saving Aurora from a rogue wolf. A strange voice whispers warnings of transformation, while her lifelong wolf-paw birthmark takes on new significance.

Is Aria truly human? What secrets will the Blood Moon reveal? And as she falls deeper for Jace despite jealous pack members threatening their bond, can she embrace a destiny beyond anything she imagined—becoming Luna to a Wolf King?
You Rejected A Silver Wolf

You Rejected A Silver Wolf

180.4k Views · Completed · Princess Treasure Chuks
After being hated and rejected her entire life, for a mistake she made in the past, Lady Rihanna, daughter of the Beta decided to leave Black Hills.
Wandering off as a rogue, she heightened her powers and became the fearsome dread called Your Silver.
Accompanied by her silver wolf, she was ready to unleash hell on all who rejected her but then she meets her second chance mate, Alpha of Black Rose, who she couldn’t refuse.
An evil is rising that'd need the blood of the silver wolf to succeed. Would Rihanna forsake her pain and work with her mates, old and new?
Or would she charge head-on to the evil risking her own life? Enjoy this enthralling read!!
My Husband Wants An Open Marriage

My Husband Wants An Open Marriage

192.6k Views · Completed · Elysian Sparrow
It’s true what they say about marriage: one partner’s always happier than the other.

Julie's world is shattered when her husband, Ryan, reveals that he wants an open marriage. His reason: he needs a child as they've been unable to have one. Julie reluctantly agrees to save her marriage.

The next day, Ryan returns home with his secretary, confirming Julie’s long-held suspicion that their affair was taking place behind her back.

Julie, heartbroken and enraged, seeks solace in a bar, where she meets a fascinating stranger named Luke, who changes the game. Julie confides in Luke over drinks, and he proposes a risky plan: he will act as her "boyfriend" to turn the tables on Ryan.

Julie agrees, setting off a chain of events that will challenge everything she thought she knew about love, loyalty, and herself.
The Alpha King's Human Mate

The Alpha King's Human Mate

386.7k Views · Ongoing · HC Dolores
“You must understand something, little mate,” Griffin said, and his face softened,

“I have waited nine years for you. That’s nearly a decade since I’ve felt this emptiness inside me. Part of me began to wonder if you didn’t exist or you’d already died. And then I found you, right inside my own home.” 

He used one of his hands to stroke my cheek and tingles erupted everywhere. 

“I’ve spent enough time without you and I will not let anything else keep us apart. Not other wolves, not my drunken father who’s barely holding himself together the past twenty years, not your family  – and not even you.”


Clark Bellevue has spent her entire life as the only human in the wolf pack - literally. Eighteen years ago, Clark was the accidental result of a brief affair between one of the most powerful Alphas in the world and a human woman. Despite living with her father and her werewolf half-siblings, Clark has never felt like she really belonged in the werewolf world. But right as Clark plans to leave the werewolf world behind for good, her life gets flipped upside down by her mate: the next Alpha King, Griffin Bardot. Griffin has been waiting years for the chance to meet his mate, and he's not about to let her go anytime soon. It doesn't matter how far Clark tries to run from her destiny or her mate - Griffin intends to keep her, no matter what he has to do or who stands in his way.
Mated To The Cold Hearted Alpha

Mated To The Cold Hearted Alpha

251.6k Views · Ongoing · Alice Tumusiime
Warning 18+ ⚠️MATURE READERS ONLY⚠
"You want me to fuck you, I know it"
"As much as you don't like me, you're my mate and you can't deny it."
He stood up behind me, one hand holding my hip, and leaned down, his breath ragged against my neck, his voice was husky,
"You'll listen to your body... what it wants... and my body... what it needs. Only the pleasure that a small bite can bring."

At the age of 15, I was shocked to hear the ruthless Alpha claim that I was his mate.
To make matters worse, he killed my father, who was trying to protect me. At that time, I successfully ran away from him.
However, when I turned 18, I fell into his trap again.
I hated him and wanted revenge, but the moon goddess had a different plan for me.
I was his mate, and we were fated to be together. No matter the circumstances, my body couldn't resist him.
The Luna's Vampire Prince

The Luna's Vampire Prince

143.2k Views · Completed · Bella Moondragon
Prince Rafe leans over me, holding himself up on one elbow as he gazes at my face. I feel his eyes wandering over every surface from my brow to my eyes, down my nose, to my lips and chin, and then returning to hold my gaze for a second. The small smile at the corner of his mouth makes me think he likes what he sees.
His hand is cool when it brushes a loose curl from my cheek, but I don’t jerk away from him. I have no idea what’s going on. I don’t understand why I’m here. I don’t know what will happen tomorrow. It seems like a lot of powerful people want me—dead or alive. And yet, all I can think about right now is how badly I want this vampire’s hands on my body.


I live in a desolate village on the edge of the Vampire King’s lands. This used to be wolf shifter territory, but now, we are just trying to survive.
When I mess up and find myself in a culling, I know I’m dead. No wolf shifters ever survive these events.
And after the stunt I pulled in the middle of the village, Prince Rafe probably wants me dead.
Is it a good thing or a bad thing when a vampire looks at you like you’re a snack?
Something tells me, once I reach the castle, I’ll be missing my miserable existence in the village.
But then—it turns out I have no freaking idea who I even am, and when the royals start referring to me as Princess Ainslee, I realize my life is about to take a turn—for better or worse.
Stuck With My Three Hottie Boss

Stuck With My Three Hottie Boss

159.6k Views · Completed · Oguike Queeneth
"Your pussy is dripping for us, begging for us to use it." His deep voice sent shivers down my spine.

"Do you want that, buttercup? Do you want us to give your little cunt what it craves?"

"Y…yes, sir." I breathed


Joanna Clover's hard work through university paid off when she got a secretary job offer to her dream company, Dangote Group of Industries. The company is owned by three mafia heirs, they don't only own a joint business, they are also lovers and had been together since their college days.

They are sexually attracted to one another but they share everything together including women and they change them like clothes. They are known as the world's most dangerous playboys.

They want to share her but will she accept the fact that they fuck each other?

Will she be able to navigate business and pleasure?

She has never been touched by a man before let alone three, all at the same time. Will she oblige?