Prince of Love

Life had a funny way of turning sharp corners with no warning. Sorin Sinclair thought he had learned to adapt in his search for his mate, but no matter how many times he thought he couldn’t be surprised again, he was.

He stared into familiar hazel eyes and wanted to shout for joy. With a smile and a throat clogged with emotion, he looked at his eldest brother and heir to the kingdom of Drahcir. “Keiran? Is that really you?”

Keiran jerked Sorin against him for a hug, slapping him on his back. “Aye, brother, it’s me.”

Sorin stepped back and looked into a face he feared he might never see again. “How?”

“I doona have time to explain, and it doesna matter anyway,” Keiran answered. “It’s good to see you.”

“I would’ve thought you’d have returned home by now. Have you no’ found your mate?”

Keiran sighed as his smile slipped and weariness settled on his face. “Nay, but no’ for lack of searching. It seems, little brother, there are forces working against us.”

“What forces?”

“I had a visit from a Fae who warned me the Tnargs are looking for our mates. They’re trying to find them before we do so they can kill them.”

Sorin loudly expelled a breath and leaned back against the building feeling as if the wind had just been kicked out of him. As if they didn’t already have a heavy burden to carry in finding their mates and returning to Drahcir with them, now the Tnargs.

The alley was deserted, giving them the privacy they needed. Sorin shook his head in disbelief. The Tnargs were beasts who had one mission—kill any mate of a prince or princess of Drahcir. His brothers had used the scare him with stories of the Tnargs when he was small, but it was the ferocity, the strength of the creatures that made a chill run down his spine.

“This can no’ be possible. It’s damned difficult enough to find our mates and convince them to leave their families behind. And now you tell me the Tnargs are trying to find them before we do?”

“Everyone thought after all these centuries the angered Fae princess would have forgiven – or at least forgotten – our family. It seems she wants to end it all. Aimery tells me the Fae banished her from their realm for what she did. I doona think even Father knows of this latest news. But that isna important. We need to find our mates, brother.”

Sorin ran a hand down his face as he absorbed the news. “Shite. If our mates are killed, we can no’ fulfill the curse upon our family. That’s why the Tnargs are trying to locate our mates before us. The princess sent the creature,” he finished, as he comprehended who was behind it all.

Keiran nodded grimly.

“The Fae who visited you, are you sure you can trust him?”

“Of course. It’s Aimery,” Keiran said. “You might no’ have seen him the times he visited the castle, but I did. He can be trusted.”

Sorin accepted his brother’s word. “Have you seen Elric or Lucian?”

“Nay, but Aimery helped Elric find his mate. I have to assume that our brothers are home.”

“Of course,” Sorin said. “We’ll make it, Keiran. I know it.”

The smile Keiran gave was forced, tight and the barely concealed doubt shown in his hazel gaze. “Aye. Keep your eyes opened for the Tnarg. You willna be able to miss the beast, and it willna hesitate to kill your mate. Once you find her, convince her quickly and get her to Drahcir post haste.”

“You’re leaving?”

“Our time is running thin, little brother, and I’ve yet to find my mate. Be safe. I’ll see you soon.”

Sorin clasped his brother to him, almost unwilling to let him go. It had been so long since he’d seen any of his family, and parting again was torture. He released Keiran, and after one more wave, his brother disappeared into the crowded street.

With a deep breath, Sorin turned to the inn he had been about to enter when Keiran stepped in front of him. Knowing that the dreadful Tnargs were hunting their mates sent a chill of foreboding through him. His family meant the world to him. He would gladly give up his life to ensure their survival, but the curse wouldn’t allow that.

The damn curse that sent each of his brothers out of their magical kingdom to search for their mates. They were given until the fifth moon of the harvest year to return to Drahcir with their brides or the kingdom and all who inhabited it would cease to exist. Sorin and Keiran had less than two months to return home.

Two months to find their mates and then persuade them in any way to return to Drahcir.

Two months.

Sorin clenched his hand into a fist as frustration consumed him. He’d crossed Scotland multiple times, but hadn’t come any closer to finding his intended than he had the moment he stepped out of the gates.

“I can no’ let my family down,” he mumbled to himself.

All he could think about was his family and his people who counted on him to bring his mate home. Ever since he learned of the curse when he was six summers, he’d thought about completing his mission.

Lucian had often chided him for thinking more about the curse than of his intended mate. It was true. No matter what his father told him of how he’d feel when he found his woman, Sorin had always felt the heavy burden of not failing the kingdom.

The excitement of finding his mate had never taken hold of him. Was that the problem? Was it because he was more concerned with the kingdom than being happy? Could that be what was keeping him from finding his mate?

For all he knew, he’d stood right beside her but had been too preoccupied with the curse to even notice.

Sorin wanted to punch something. Hard.

He had to get his head on straight and push aside the worry of fulfilling the curse and think more of his mate. With that in mind, he moved through the village leisurely. His gaze searched every female face of marriageable age. And felt…nothing.

With disappointment hounding him, he began to wonder how Keiran had come to be in Invergarry. Each time they left Drahcir, it was a different year, for time moved much slower in their magical kingdom. The odds of any of them encountering each other were very slim indeed.

As Sorin stood and looked around him, he was amazed at how few people actually saw him. They were so busy with their own lives, that few noticed anything other than what was right before them. It was so different than Drahcir where everything moved at a slower pace and everyone knew everyone else. People stopped in his kingdom and spoke, not hurry past without so much as a smile.

The congestion of the village did afford Sorin the time to survey everything. He had been searching for his mate for over a year. Seeing Keiran had given him renewed hope, especially learning that Elric and possibly Lucian had found their women and were in Drahcir at that moment.

Not even the knowledge that the Tnargs were out there could dampen the happiness he felt for his brothers. He couldn’t wait to see them and his parents again. A smile pulled at his lips as he thought of the tricks he and Elric had played on each other.

That was when he heard it. A laugh that was musical and sweet, rich and vivacious. It hit him square in the chest so that he took a step back from the impact. It was a laugh that made him long to find its owner. He wanted to know what would make a woman laugh so. And he needed to know what kind of woman could gain his attention with such a delightful sound.