The Wolf's Royal Baby: Paranormal Shifter Romance: Howls Romance Read online

  He got up from his desk and left the office. He’d asked for the rooms facing the garden to be prepared for Harper. She wasn’t going anywhere and he wanted her to learn to like it there. After he told her what she had to do, he had a feeling she’d want some solitude.

  3

  Harper gulped back the acid riding her throat. Throwing up was not what she wanted. It took her ten minutes the last time they stopped to get her stomach to calm down. She eyed the guy to her left. He pushed at the door like she was made of snakes. Ugh. They should have just let her drive. That was the only way she didn’t get car sick.

  She had a feeling her abduction had to do with her father and the money he owed. Fucking hell! She wished he were around so she could kick his ass into next week for being such a piece of shit father and pushing his problems on her.

  She cleared her throat for the thousandth time. The guy to her right handed her a water bottle. A quick glance showed he was still looking forward.

  “Take small sips,” he said softly.

  She nodded, her stomach warning her that if she put water in there, she’d end up remaking the green vomit scene from the Exorcist in that vehicle. Fuck!

  She took a tiny sip and was grateful it didn’t come right back up. The cool water was refreshing and the bottle gave her something to hold on to other than gripping her knees.

  Glancing out the window, she saw a massive iron gate with initials. Guards stood at the gates and once they verified the driver and the other men, they opened the metal bars.

  It was another ten minutes before she finally saw a castle. Wait, what? Holy fuck! A real castle? How was that possible? Where were they? They had driven from her house for almost an hour, but she hadn’t seen any strange signs. Of course, she’d been focused on breathing and not spewing all over the suits in the SUV.

  When they reached the front of the castle, they all got out. Her legs felt like jelly and she worried she might pass out. Not from fear, hell no. From nerves. Why was someone sending people to escort her here and what did they want from her?

  She took a deep breath, grateful her stomach was now calm and followed the guy guiding her inside. Two others flanked her sides and one at her back, like she might try to escape, and they were ready to chase her.

  It was laughable. She was a midget compared to them. She had short legs and was so out of shape, it was sad. Just the thought of running made her lungs burn.

  The castle was magnificent. Not that she’d ever been in a castle before, but it was gorgeous. Something straight out of a fairy tale. She loved fairy tales as a kid. She glanced around, wishing she would see a phone, but of course, there wasn’t one.

  Who the hell had landlines nowadays? Everyone had cell phones. Unfortunately, she hadn’t gotten a chance to grab hers before the men at her door were rushing her to puke all over the state.

  She steeled her back and squared her shoulders. She wasn’t a wussy. Her mother had taught her to face things head on, even if she wouldn’t like the results. They went down a hallway and stopped in front of a door. Three of the guys walked away, leaving her with the cutest one who had offered her water.

  Glancing up at him, she caught the press of his lips into a thin line before he met her gaze. “My name is Kellen. I’ll be around.”

  Okay, now she was worried. What did he mean by that? He opened the door and motioned for her to go inside. Her palms slickened with sweat but she made her legs carry her into the room. She blinked a few times because she could hardly believe what she was seeing.

  “Oh my god!”

  It was the most amazing library she’d ever seen. Books from three floors up came all the way down. Some were in different languages and some looked really old.

  She gaped around her, turning in a full circle while staring up the walls. The ceiling was a dome shape of glass. She wondered why there was glass if it was covered. It would make more sense to only have glass so a person could have sunlight streaming in.

  A soft growl made her stop dead in her tracks and glance around until she stared at the desk. There was no one there. Then she continued around the room as if looking for a predator. A man stood by one of the windows. His back to her.

  “Hello?”

  He turned slowly, pinning her with a strong golden glow. Holy hot tamales! Her throat went dry and she begged her knees to keep her upright.

  “Harper.”

  He said her name like a dirty word. It went perfectly well with the look he gave her and the tense set of his body. His very large body. A body that appeared to be so muscular and sexy under his black T-shirt and jeans.

  She gulped and took a quick step back. His features looked familiar but she couldn’t be sure. There were scars on his face. Lots of scars. But they didn’t detract from the powerful alpha standing in front of her. Oh, she knew he was a shifter. She’d learned about them in college and even had one for a friend once. No one like this…imposing figure. His looks sucked the breath out of her lungs. “Do I know you?”

  “Your father, Christian Burns, has a problem only you can solve.”

  She frowned at the ghost of a smile on his lips. Was the man actually happy her father was in trouble?

  "Look," she started, her anger rising. "I don't know what kind of deal you have with my father, but I am in no position to get him out of anything."

  "You can," he said in a low rumble. "You will."

  She wasn't known for having the patience her mother did, so his words only pushed her fury further. As he walked toward her, his pace intimidating, she stood her ground. "Who the hell do you think you are? You can't tell me what to do!"

  "Your father may be a piece of shit, but you wouldn't want his death on your hands, now would you?" he asked, only a few feet away.

  He was even bigger than she realized, but that didn't make her move away. She met his gaze full on, her heart thudding painfully in her chest. No, she didn't want her father's or anyone's death on her hands.

  It took all she had to learn to stand up for herself once her mother passed away. Especially to the likes of her dad. Seeing as how he still got money from her whenever he needed, she was clearly doing a fucked-up job of saying no to him.

  "Look, Mr..."

  "Sebastian," he said, the softness of his voice making her arm hairs raise.

  "Sebastian? Got a last name?”

  “Roarhart.”

  Nothing. There was nothing familiar about it. “So, what are you, like royalty or something?”

  He gave a sharp nod. “The Roarharts are wolf shifter royalty. My father was king of our kind, and now, I’m in charge.”

  She gulped. A real king. Oh god. And he was so good looking, it was scary. “What exactly do you want from me?"

  He raised a hand and picked up one of her long brown curls and rubbed it between his thumb and forefinger. "A child."

  Her heart stopped. "A what?"

  "You heard me, Harper. I want a child. I need a child. You're going to give it to me."

  Maybe he was one of those single men that wanted a woman to donate her eggs so he could have kids. God, please let that be it. She might not want to do it, but she could handle that a lot better than the other implications. "You want me to be an egg donor?"

  A wide, sinful grin spread over his lips. So devilishly sexy, she gasped at how good he looked.

  "You are something else," he said with amusement. "No, beautiful Harper. Try again."

  She gulped, her hands curled into fists at her sides. "If not that, then you must want a surrogate. If that's the case, I can't help you."

  He was shaking his head before she even finished talking. "Not a surrogate."

  "Well, what the fuck do you want then?!" she yelled.

  "You."

  4

  The single word dropped with so much possession, it stopped her cold.

  "You're going to be mine. You're going to have my child." His bright golden eyes focused on her lips. "You'll do as I say or your father will die. His life is
in your hands. You see, he traded you for his life. You’re mine now."

  He was crazy. Insane. Certifiable. And she was stuck in this place with him. Alone with a madman. Her mind raced as she tried to come up with a million and one ways to escape the massive palace.

  The sound of knocking on the door had her turning to see who was coming in. Maybe someone was finally going to rescue her.

  "Sebastian," a young woman said as she walked in with a stack of papers and stopped in her tracks. "Oops. I'm sorry, Seb. I didn't realize you were busy."

  "It's fine, Sarai," Sebastian said with an impatient tone.

  The woman he referred to as Sarai came forward, a wide smile on her lips. "Hi, I'm Sarai. Sebastian's sister." She frowned as she held out a hand. "You look familiar, have we met before?"

  Harper moved to her right and away from Sebastian, putting breathing space between them, and took Sarai's hand to give a firm shake. "I...uh...don't think so. I'm Harper."

  "It's really nice to meet you, Harper." She turned to Sebastian. "I can take her to her room to change if you don't need her any longer."

  Harper glanced at Sebastian and saw his gaze drilling into hers. "Go ahead. Harper and I will continue our conversation later, once she has a moment to think about my proposition."

  She couldn't wait to get out of the room. Away from him. The way he looked at her, as if he could see through her clothes, made her feel dirty. So, so dirty. And scarier than dirty? Sexy, too.

  That just went to show she was clearly unstable when a man was promising to kill her dad if she didn't give him a baby and she was getting physically turned on by him. What was wrong with her?

  They left the library and as soon as Sarai closed the door behind them, Harper turned to her with hope. "You need to let me out of here," she whispered, looking over her shoulder at the library door they left behind. "I'm sorry to tell you, but your brother brought me here as a prisoner."

  Sarai's brows rose before she started giggling uncontrollably. "Sebastian would never do that. He'd rather cut off a limb before he let anyone into our home."

  Harper growled and grabbed the other woman by the shoulders, stopping her from walking. "Are you crazy? He said he wants me to have his baby!"

  Sarai's eyes widened. "Oh my god. You?"

  She frowned, her gaze darting all over the massive castle. "What? Yes!"

  "Then you can't go and I won't let you. He needs you and you're staying here."

  Oh god. She was in one of the bad scary movies. A really hot shifter was going to use her as a breeding machine. She should be disgusted, not considering the idea, for cripes’ sake!

  "Look, Sarai, I can't have your brother's babies. I don't even know him!"

  Was she the only person thinking logically in this damn place?

  Sarai shrugged. "Get to know him. He's really a nice guy. He just needs you to give him a baby. Not like you have to stay here forever."

  Right. What woman in her right mind would have a child and leave it behind? Not her. Not when her mother had been the only parent she could depend on. These people were lunatics.

  "But why me? Why a baby?"

  Sarai gave her a sad look as the woman dragged her up a large winding staircase. "He needs you to give him a child. You're the only one who can do this."

  "Or what?"

  "He'll die," Sarai said, her eyes filling with tears. "You have to do this. Give it a little time. You're sure to fall in love with him."

  Highly doubtful. The fact she found him visually appealing did not mean she was ready to start popping furbabies out for him like it was the eighteen hundreds and there was no TV.

  They reached a door and Sarai opened it and pointed inside. "This is your room. I hope you like your stay here, Harper. If you were in my place, you'd understand why I can't help you leave. I love my brother. I don't want to see him die."

  “You can’t keep me prisoner!”

  Sarai sighed. “You’ll soon realize you’re not a prisoner here. You’ll be free to come and go and even leave if you wish, but the consequences of your actions will be dire for Christian. If you leave, you must know his life will be on the line.”

  “There are guards all over. How can you say that?”

  “If Seb thought you really wanted to leave and were miserable here, he’d let you go. Even if it cost him his life.”

  Harper went into the room and bit back the words that jumped to her lips. She couldn't know what drove Sarai to approve of Sebastian's actions. Her saying he would die didn't make sense. What man died from not having kids?

  "Dinner's at seven. I hope you join us. Just go to the end of the hall, down the stairs, and it's the large dining room to your right. Should be easy enough to find."

  The door closed with a shnick behind Sarai and Harper was left to think about the insanity she was in alone.

  Fucking Christian Burns! Fuck him! Fuck him! Fuck him! He'd ruined her childhood and now he was ruining her life. She picked up a pillow from the giant bed and threw it across the room at the massive glass window overlooking a gorgeous garden.

  She was stuck in paradise with a gorgeous shifter who she assumed was a wolf just from how domineering and alpha he was. On top of all that, his sister seemed like a genuinely nice person.

  Someone she might have wanted as a friend had this situation been different. Then there were her hormones. Stupid lust. Why him? Why now? This was so far from normal she didn't know what to think. It was insane.

  Disgust filled her as she glanced around the opulent bedroom. It was gorgeous. Like something out of a dream. Pale blue and white decor and furniture made the room feel light and airy.

  The massive panoramic windows let so much light in, it looked like lamps were on. There was a button beside the windows and curiosity drove her to push it. Blackout drapes came down from the ceiling, wrapping the room in complete darkness.

  She pushed it again to get the sunlight back and wondered who would need the drapes when all she could think was watching the stars from that window must be magical.

  A glance to the right and she saw a tea tray. Someone had been kind enough to bring her tea as a welcome. This was ridiculous. She shouldn’t feel like she was on vacation when abducted.

  She picked up the tea and sniffed. She’d expected some lovely lavender or fruit but this tea smelled weird. Her stomach recoiled. Maybe she shouldn’t put anything in her stomach just yet. She put the cup back down untouched. Hopefully whoever put it there wouldn’t get upset she didn’t drink it.

  5

  Harper needed to figure out what she was going to do with this situation. First, she had to know what Christian did. Second, what did Sarai mean that Sebastian would die if he didn't have a child? Third, do something about that damn physical attraction she had toward the man.

  His aura of restrained power pulled her right in. It was like waiting to see when a wild animal would lose control. She should feel horrified, but instead, she had never felt so interested.

  She walked to a closet and opened it to find a whole wardrobe. She frowned at the fact these clothes appeared to be her size. With a yank, she pulled out a top of the softest material and stared at it.

  They were her size. Heck, they were exactly her taste. A sick sensation settled at the pit of her stomach. Just who was Sebastian Roarhart? And why had he chosen her?

  As much as she wanted to say this whole thing was insane, she was curious to see what was behind it all. This was the most action she'd had in every way possible for a long time. Not to mention, she hadn't had any type of action in a certain department in years.

  Now was not the time to think about being so sexually inadequate, she’d only done the deed twice. Nope. But Sebastian was so imposing, and even scarred, he'd turned her on, something a lot of the men she'd dated hadn't done with their sloppy kisses and roaming hands.

  The garden below was gorgeous. Perfectly manicured and she could probably spend hours sitting out there reading a book or mediating. Guards walked
the perimeter every few seconds. She stood no chance of sneaking away.

  These were shifters. Big, bad, hairy shifters. With canines the size of her fist. Her best bet was finding out what was really going on and deciding her course of action then, praying for a miracle of epic proportions.

  The fastest way to getting out of this fortress was talking to Sebastian again. That meant she had to go to dinner. Or go looking for him.

  With a pretty pair of black capri pants and a flowy red top that was a bit more dressed up, she slipped into the most comfortable sandals of her life and went looking for food and her captor.

  Ignoring the excited shudder that raced through her, she tried to tell herself she didn’t want to look pretty for him. No way. She was just trying to be civil.

  The dining room was still empty when she arrived but the table had been set. She started to wonder if maybe she did have a chance at escaping. But first she had to know where Christian was and other details.

  She groaned as the smell of food reached her. Maybe she could find the kitchen and talk someone into helping her find her way out of there. Then what? He'd send men to get her again. No.

  She needed to solve this problem and once and for all; cut all ties with Christian. For a man to trade his daughter for some debt, unforgivable.

  She poked her head into the room next to the dining room and gasped. There was a massive glass figure collection. They were all over. In displays but everywhere. She walked in quietly, hoping her steps wouldn't vibrate the floor and break anything.

  It was stupid, but the collection was flawless. All types of tiny animals and their babies. Mother bears, giraffes, cats, dogs, wolves, everything on the planet cuddling their offspring. Her heart melted at the cuteness.