#6 Chosen by the Vampire Kings: BBW Romance (Part 6: New Moon) by Charlene Hartnady Page A

unacceptable.” Although he glanced Brant’s way, he noticed
that most of the prince’s animosity was directed at Zane. It wasn’t the time to
think on it.
    Katar
grunted. “The agreement was that my daughter would mate vampire royalty,
anything less would be taken as an insult.” His eyes grew hard as he squared
his shoulders. “I had not wished to bring war to my people, but you will force
my hand.”
    How
should he proceed? Should he inform the king of his daughter’s wishes to date and
to choose her own mate? The elven king would have little understanding for her
desires. Glancing at his brother, he noticed how grim and ashen his expression
had become, like he was about to be put to death. Xavier briefly inclined his
head in acceptance, his respect grew for his brother. Brant ran a hand through
his hair. He suppressed the urge to sigh. “Xavier is royalty, he will mate your
daughter but it will happen in due course. It would be preferable if they could
have some time to—”
    “No,”
low and evenly delivered. The elven king’s eyes narrowed. “Tomorrow is the new
moon, the prince will mate her or I will declare war on the vampire species.”
    “That
would not be wise Katar, many would die,” Zane stated.
    Katar
locked his jaw.
    “Your
species would be hardest hit,” Brant added. “It is not our wish to slaughter
the elven kind, do not force our hand.”
    “It
is you that forces my hand.” He turned to Xavier and locked eyes with him.
“Mate my daughter.” His voice had a hard commanding edge. For a moment he
looked like the man Brant remembered, then his shoulders sagged again and he
seemed to age before Brant’s eyes. “You have wronged me, both of you.” He shook
his head.
    “We
will make this right, Katar, you have my word,” Brant said. They could not
enter into another bloody war. He did not wish to decimate a species. His
female must be rubbing off on him because he wanted what was best for the elven
princess as well. She may not realize it, but having Xavier as a mate would be
for the best in the long run. Brant knew that his brother would do right by
Esral, even if it killed him.
    Xavier
reached for a jug of wine, he filled the glass in front of him and downed the
contents. The buzz from the alcohol would be over in a few minutes, hardly
worth the effort. Yet, if he was in his brother’s shoes, he would probably do
the same.

Chapter 6
     
    Tanya
had just finished running a brush through her hair when a knock sounded. She
was still dressed in her flannels, only she’d taken the time to put on a bra.
It wouldn’t be right to address the elven king without underwear.
    “Come
in.”
    Stephany
entered followed by the king. Behind him, trailed a large robe toting, pointy
shoes wearing guard. It reminded her of the night the elves had breached the
castle in order to kidnap her so that the alpha could mate her. She mostly
remembered how she had been forced to kill two of them in order to survive. She
shivered, feeling that this may not have been such a good idea after all. Tanya
took a deep breath. The fact of the matter was, she’d promised to help Esral
and she would damn well do everything in her power to do just that. Tanya swallowed
down her fear.
    “Ah,
you must be Tanya,” he locked eyes with her and smiled warmly. “This delightful
young lady mentioned that you were unwell.” He looked concerned.
    “I’m
on the mend. Thank you for agreeing to see me. Please”—she gestured to a seat
next to the bed—“take a seat.”
    The
king smiled and did as she asked. “Stephany told me that you are to be mated to
one of the kings, but won’t divulge which one. It’s all very cryptic.”
    “Both.”
Not that she was going to mate either male. They weren’t even together but she
wasn’t about to go down that long winding road with the old king. It wasn’t why
she’d called him here.
    He
raised his eyebrows for a second before chuckling. “Excuse my reaction, elves
are a little