The Warrior Princess (Made For Each Other: The Dragon Shifters Book 3) Read online

  The Warrior Princess

  Made for Each Other: The Dragon Shifters

  (Book 3)

  By

  Renee Carr

  © Copyright 2019 by Renee Carr - All rights reserved.

  In no way is it legal to reproduce, duplicate, or transmit any part of this document by either electronic means or in printed format. Recording of this publication is strictly prohibited and any storage of this document is not allowed unless with written permission from the publisher. All rights reserved.

  Respective author owns all copyrights not held by the publisher.

  Table of Contents

  Title Page

  Copyright Page

  Chapter 1

  Chapter 2

  Chapter 3

  Chapter 4

  Chapter 5

  Chapter 6

  Chapter 7

  Chapter 8

  Chapter 9

  Chapter 10

  Chapter 11

  Chapter 12

  Chapter 13

  Chapter 14

  Chapter 15

  Chapter 16

  Chapter 17

  Chapter 18

  Chapter 19

  Chapter 20

  Chapter 21

  Chapter 22

  Chapter 23

  Chapter 24

  Chapter 25

  Epilogue

  Author’s Note

  Prologue

  Chapter 1

  Chapter 2

  Chapter 1

  “I don’t know what you’re talking about,” Cory stared at his brother in confusion. Joshua resisted the urge to punch Cory in the face. He loved his younger brother, but some days, life was difficult.

  “I’m talking about the Jubilee mission,” he said. “The same thing I’ve been talking about for three days.”

  “Oh,” Cory shrugged. “That’s why you’re captain of the guards. You talk about the boring stuff.”

  “You think running off to save the planet is boring?” Joshua looked at him in disbelief. Cory grinned.

  “No,” he said. “But most of the time, what are you doing? Boring escort duty or something. I’m telling you, from my vantage point, I have the best deal.”

  “Perhaps,” Joshua said. “Until anything exciting happens. And then, you’re hidden in a back room until it’s safe.”

  “That is the downside of being the last heir to the throne,” Cory said. “But I’m sure Nathan and Ivy will have a child soon and then I’m no longer a concern.”

  “You think?” Joshua asked. “Because I don’t think either of them are leaning that way at all.”

  They were discussing their older brother, Nathan, who was currently king of the Dragon Kingdom in which they were the princes. Nathan was a good ruler, a strong and powerful Alpha, who took the throne only because their oldest brother, John, had passed on. Nathan had recently caused an uproar when he married a human from Earth. It wasn’t just that she wasn’t a shifter that caused such controversy. His wife, his fated mate, was a famed concert singer, with a bluntness that most people kept private. It broke all the rules that they once lived by. Ivy was a well-recognized figure on Earth, which meant that humans were in danger of learning about shifters. Many of them suspected, of course, but the various shifter Alphas worked hard to make sure that it was just a rumor, as far as humans were concerned. Ivy also was as far from regal as someone could be. With long limbs and flaming red hair, she made sure to show off her figure and express her opinions with her extensive and blunt vocabulary at every opportunity. Many questioned why Nathan would allow himself to be married to such a queen, fated mates or not. However, he was stronger because of her, and together, they were a force to be reckoned with.

  “Come on,” Cory said. “They have to. Don’t they?”

  “Not necessarily,” Joshua said. “I mean, currently Nathan has two male heirs to the throne, in us. Anything else is a bonus. And Ivy doesn’t seem to be attracted to the position of queen just because she wants to put her bloodline on the throne.”

  “Hmm,” Cory said. “Maybe that means you need to get on it.”

  “Me?” Joshua’s eyes bugged out. “What about you?”

  “There’s no one who I’m interested in,” Cory said. “At least you have Leah.”

  Joshua very nearly did hit Cory at that point.

  “Leah and I are not in a relationship,” he said. “She’s my deputy captain of the dragon guard. And my best friend since I was 3. I really don’t think I’m going to be proposing to her.”

  Cory shrugged.

  “Suit yourself,” he said with a grin. “I’ve got some business to take care of, but yes, I will go to the archives and get you the records of the last time we attacked in that territory.”

  “Thank you,” Joshua said. “I appreciate it.”

  “See you,” Cory said, and swung out of the room. He was always full of energy, and it seemed like he could explode out of excitement at any moment. Joshua had more natural energy than Nathan, but he envied his little brother sometimes.

  “Well, hello there.” He spun around to see Leah standing there.

  “Speak of the devil,” he said. “Cory was just talking about you.”

  “Was he?” Leah asked as she approached. Tall and full of lean muscle, with her brown hair up in a bun and her eyes wide and full of constant watchful energy, there was no doubt that Leah was beautiful. To Joshua, though, her presence was comforting rather than exciting. They had grown up together, as Leah’s father had been a high-ranking council member, and they often spent time running and jumping in the palace. When Joshua inherited the position of captain of the guards, he knew there was no one better suited to be his deputy. After all, she was strong and fierce, and in his most secretive moments, he admitted she was a better fighter than he was. She seemed to be in constant fight-or-flight mode, thriving off adrenaline and hypersensitive. It was a good trait for a warrior, even if he wondered when she managed to sleep for a few minutes. “All good things, I hope?”

  “It’s Cory,” Joshua pointed out. “So probably not. Anyways, he’s going to search the archives, so we don’t have to do it.”

  “Excellent,” Leah said as she handed him a tablet. “I know we are planning this big thing and we’ve been talking to our troops for months, but I think we should consider this.”

  “Consider what?” he asked, glancing at the tablet. It was an email from the training academy, where new warriors spent the first three years of their career. Joshua’s eyes scanned the email and saw that the head of the academy, Nolan, was requesting they attend in order to approve the graduation of several new warriors. Since Joshua had taken over the position of captain, after his father died, Nolan and Joshua often disagreed about who was ready and who was not. “You want to bring a bunch of newbies on this mission?” he asked.

  “Not a bunch,” Leah said. “But we rarely have such extensive missions, with so many different departments involved. I think it would be a good idea to grab a few new graduates and place them in the less important roles. Just for experience.”

  “I don’t know,” Joshua said. “I’m a fan of the troops the way they are.”

  “Joshua,” Leah fixed him with a stare that she seemed to reserve only for him. “One day, we aren’t going to be here. And if all we do is keep the people who we are comfortable with, there will be no growth.”

  He sighed.

  “You’re right,” he said as he handed the tablet back. “It’s just a pain in the ass.”

  “Of course I’m right,” Leah said. “Because I actua
lly see five seconds into the future. But seriously, it’ll be worth it.”

  “Well, I’m certainly not taking as many as he suggests,” Joshua said. “Nolan always said that he has 60 people and there are only 3 that are worth it.”

  “He’s an optimistic person,” Leah said with a grin. “Anyways, I can arrange it. When do you want to go?”

  “Monday should do it,” Joshua said as he glanced at his watch. “Arg, I have to get dressed. Nathan is insistent that I don’t walk into the banquet straight off the training field.”

  “Lucky,” she said, looking down at her uniform. “I wish I had an excuse to have a ballgown, just for once.”

  Joshua shrugged.

  “I’m sure you could come as my guest rather than...”

  “I could, of course,” Leah said. “But if you are wining and dining, then someone competent should be watching over things. But maybe you can sneak me a cookie when you pass me?”

  “Ha,” he said. “Never. I won’t risk you being distracted from the boredom of visiting ambassadors by a delicious cookie.”

  “You are the worst,” she said. “What are you going to wear?”

  “Haven’t thought about it,” he said.

  “You have to be there in 20 minutes!” she cried. “What do you mean that you haven’t thought about it?”

  He shook his head.

  “Okay, Leah, since you are an expert in fashion, what should I wear?”

  “Wear the blue suit,” she said to him. “It’ll make your eyes pop.”

  “Make my eyes pop?” he repeated.

  “You’re looking for a mate, aren’t you?” she asked as they headed out of the room. “You can’t show up to any event looking like you just got off the training field, even if it is just an ambassador dinner. No woman is going to look twice at you if you aren’t wearing the blue suit.”

  “I didn't realize it was that magical,” he said. “And I’m not particularly looking for a mate, you know that.”

  “You can’t stay unmarried forever,” she protested. They had had this argument half a hundred times before, but it didn’t stop her from bickering with him again.

  “Why can’t I?” he asked. “The guards keep me busy, if I want to do something social, I’ll take you, and then the rest of the time, I’m my own person. I see how busy Nathan is, and how he and Ivy have to discuss everything before they do it. Who wants that?”

  “That’s called a good marriage, Joshua,” Leah said. “I hate when people say that they don’t have a good marriage. The two of them match in so many ways but the obvious ones.”

  “Ever the optimist,” he teased her as they made it to his room.

  “Please just change,” she said, practically shoving him inside. “Don’t make me send a patrol around to approve your outfit.”

  “Yes, Your Majesty,” he teased her.

  “That’s right,” Leah said, heading off down the hall. Joshua chuckled and went inside his room, going to find the blue suit. This was why Leah was his best friend. Even in the moments that were silly, he appreciated her advice. He doubted he would ever find a mate that he got along with as well as he got along with her, even if his fated mate moved his soul in completely different ways.

  Joshua knew that his fated mate might come upon him one day. He believed in the concept, because he had seen it with his parents, with Ivy and Nathan, and countless others. The legends said that once one came upon their fated mate, they would never be able to be apart from them, no matter how well their personalities matched or what station of life they came from.

  Joshua also knew that there were thousands of planets in the solar system, and billions of beings. The chances of him actually finding his fated mate were low, and he wasn’t dwelling on it. It would be nice, yes, but it wasn’t his life’s purpose.

  He found his blue suit and put it on, looking at himself in the mirror.

  It did make his blue eyes pop, he realized. They looked bigger and sharper.

  “Good job, Leah,” he muttered to himself and headed out the door. Today, he had been captain of the guards. However, this evening, he needed to be Prince Joshua, second in line and therefore heir to the throne.

  Chapter 2

  “Why have I never heard of any of these people before?” In a room down the hall, Queen Ivy scanned the list of attendees, complete with their pictures. As she had only been on the throne for eight months, she wasn’t quite well versed in all the matters of the kingdom.

  Dressed in a plunging, yellow gown with a firestone crown on top of her head, and her hair curling down her back, she looked like a vixen. King Nathan resisted the urge to kiss her, because he knew that he wouldn’t be able to stop once he started. His wife was the sexiest thing in the world, and he had felt that way since the moment he had first laid eyes on her. With long limbs and a body filled with lean muscle, he doubted there was a man alive who didn’t want her.

  “Because the ambassadors talk to the councillors, mostly,” Nathan said. “A state banquet for them is a rare occasion.”

  Dressed in a dark suit that matched his dark hair, and with a new haircut, the king looked sharp and ready to host a banquet that may well lead to alliances with many new planets. Only Ivy knew that her husband had slept in that morning, and snuck away that afternoon as well. Nathan had little natural energy, and combined with the fact that he constantly felt the need to be in control of every aspect of his life, from clothes to food to how often he transformed into a dragon, he didn’t often make it through the day without a few moments alone. When they had first met, he had once tried to explain his complicated mind to her in a series of drunken conversations. She had stopped him, though, because Ivy had never been one to judge. Whenever he got into a strange habit, she simply shrugged and said that he owed her no explanation. He had never felt more comfortable than when the two of them were alone together.

  “So, why do it now?” she asked him.

  “Several of the ambassadors are reaching their retirement,” he said. “So it’s a good idea to do it now, when they can head back to their planets with a good report about us. Their new ambassadors will arrive with a positive mindset and relations will only continue to grow.”

  “I mean... maybe,” she said, looking at the list again. “Or maybe it’s a waste of time.”

  He cocked his head.

  “How do you mean?” he asked.

  “When the director of the musical company in Russia retired, no one wasted time trying to butter him up in his last days,” Ivy said. “We focused all our energy on the new one.”

  “That is a different perspective,” he said. “So you think we should hold two banquets, one now and one in a few months?”

  “I mean, I’m always looking for an excuse to wear dresses like this,” she looked down at herself and then up at him for approval.

  “That’s my concern,” he said. “If you keep wearing dresses like that, no one will get any work done.”

  “Mmm, you’re sweet,” she said as she sat on the bed. “Do you have time for a quick romp in the hay?”

  This was another reason he loved Ivy. Nathan had spent most of his life around prim and proper women, who didn’t dare say anything so brazen. Ivy was a breath of fresh air, a reminder to be oneself before worrying about anything else. Despite her crass and brazen ways, she had a sharp mind and offered a unique perspective to the kingdom. She always managed to make him look at things differently, even when tradition dictated that it be done in another way.

  She reminded him of the previous queen, Sarah, who had been King John’s wife.

  Nathan didn’t often think about his brother John, because the memory of him was painful on a good day. John had been his mentor and his best friend, on top of being his older brother. Nathan had watched the weight of the crown become too much for John. The oldest dragon brother had slowly lost his mind, slipping into darkness. Sarah had outlived him by many years, but her body eventually rebelled against her. She had been chronically ill mo
st of her life, and John’s death seemed to slowly suck the life out of her.

  Both of them were gone now, and Nathan hoped that they were at peace. He hoped that wherever they were, they were looking down on the new rulers of the kingdom, and he hoped that they were proud.

  A knock came at the door then, and the deputy captain of the guards called through it.

  “Escort,” Leah said and Nathan sighed.

  “I wish,” he said, and Ivy smiled.

  “You know, you could just send her away.”

  “I could,” Nathan said. “But then we’d be late for the banquet.”

  Ivy pouted but got up, straightening out her dress.

  “Alright, alright,” she said. “Let’s go.”

  “That’s my girl,” he said, before calling to the door, “We’re coming, Leah.”

  The hallway of the palace was incredibly busy. Not only were the ambassadors already here, and all their staff, but there were several extra hands hired to help with the massive feast. Nathan was glad for a guard escort, just so they could get through the crowd without being interrupted several times.

  Leah was dressed in full dress uniform, which consisted of red from head to toe. Her red pants had dragon scales on them, and the jacket had brass buttons that went up to her collarbone. The uniforms were chosen to display power, but also to display the dragon fire that filled each one of them.

  “You look nice,” Leah said to Ivy as she dipped. “Your Highness.”

  “Thank you,” Ivy said. “I thought someone should wear a different color in this sea of red.”

  “Joshua is wearing blue,” Leah said and then corrected herself. “Sorry. Prince Joshua.”

  “He’s wearing blue?” Nathan asked. “That’s... surprising. Why?”

  Leah wasn’t about to give the king the same reason she gave her best friend, so she just shrugged.

  “Don’t know,” she said. “I can ask, if you wish, and deliver the message?”

  “Don’t worry,” Nathan said. “We’ll all be gathered in the antechambers soon enough.”

  Sure enough, Joshua and Cory were already there waiting for the queen and king. They were all to enter any royal function in a specific order, announced by the footman, as their ancestors before them had been.