Wild Heir
Dani Wyatt Nikolai Andrew
Copyright © 2020
by Dani Wyatt & Nikolai Andrew
All rights reserved. This book or any portion thereof
may not be reproduced or used in any manner whatsoever
without the express written permission of the publisher
except for the use of brief quotations in a book review.
This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, businesses, places,
events and incidents are either the products
of the author’s imagination
or used in a fictitious manner.
Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead,
is purely coincidental.
Cover Credit Pop Kitty
Editing Nicci Haydon
Created with Vellum
Dedicated to the fighters and the runners.
Contents
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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
Chapter 26
Chapter 27
Chapter 28 - Epilogue
Stolen Princess
Masked Prince
Royal Obsession
Other Titles By Dani Wyatt
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Chapter 1 Valeria
“If you want to survive, you’ll learn to obey him.” My father’s words sounded like an incantation, not loving advice to his daughter in preparation for her wedding day.
I stared outside, feeling dazed and distant, watching the snowflakes dissolve on the carriage window as I pressed my finger to the ice-cold glass, dragging a line through the steam where my breath condensed on the beveled pane.
The snow was falling harder now, and the sound of the horses’ hooves was growing more muted as we wound our way down into Greengallow Valley.
The light in the carriage was on that cusp of shifting from the stark blue of winter afternoon to the sinister shadows of frigid dusk. I wished I could throw the carriage door open and run, but I knew I wouldn’t—I was in a dove gray silk ball gown, and horribly tight buttoned shoes made from a matching impractical silk. The heavy quilted velvet cape I wore might protect me for a while, but not for long. My fate was sealed and the carriage rumbled on.
I had been dreading this day for months. Today I was to meet my fiancée; reminding me of the impending loss of my freedom, the end of my own life.
My dreams of marrying for love, as my parents had done. Of living happily, raising children. Mapping the stars in the sky. Traveling to far off exotic lands on the search for all sorts of adventure. All of that was gone.
The end of everything had arrived. And I felt as cold inside as the air outside.
“Valeria,” my father snapped, whacking his cane on the carriage floor to get my attention. “You hear me? You’ll learn to obey him. In everything.”
I sucked in a freezing breath and turned to face my father. His cheeks were ruddy with too many years of hard living—drinking, smoking, and gambling. God, the gambling.
What a ruin my life had become because of his gambling. If it hadn’t been for all his losses, I wouldn’t be in this position at all.
“I will never forgive you for this,” I hissed.
I ground my teeth together as I stared at him. What I wouldn’t give to slap his chubby, red cheek. I clenched my fist, and my white, calf-leather glove stretched over my knuckles with a squeak.
He kept his eyes on mine as I finished. “Paying off your debts with me. Like some brood mare.”
Now it was my father’s turn to look away.
I knew he felt guilty about it all; he wasn’t a monster at heart. I knew that every time I reminded him of what he’d done, it stung him deeply.
Finally, he was going to face a consequence for his actions. One that would continue to confront him, day after day. A living, breathing reminder of what he had done to himself, to our family, and to me.
“You’re a princess, Valeria Valentine. Time to start acting like one,” my father said. “You come from noble stock.” He pecked at his chest with a chubby finger. He wore no rings because he had lost them all over the years. So easy to gamble away five hundred years of family history on a losing hand. “An arranged marriage was always your fate—it’ll be a good match, for you and for the Greengallows.”
“Save your excuses. You did this for yourself. To save your hide. If you hadn’t had me to marry off to Petre Greengallow, they’d have killed you. You know it and I know it. But instead, I get to call this godforsaken family of criminals my in-laws. Well done,” I snarled, and turned away again.
I snatched my purse from the seat beside me and carefully opened the clasp so as not to break the small, delicate hinges. Like everything in my life, my little purse only gave the appearance of wealth. But look closely and you’d see the frayed silk and the missing beads.
We were titled and land rich yet cash poor, as the saying went. Despite everything, my father was still a prince. His family disowned him when he married my mother against their wishes, ironically, for love as she was the daughter of an unwed scullery maid that worked in their manor.
Such a scandal it was. Especially when it was discovered, my mother was already with child when they ran away and were married in secret under the mid-night moon.
His family sent him away to the least loved castle in the harshest corner of the kingdom and forgot all about him, but they didn’t strip him of that damned title..
My “fine clothes” were mended; my “jewels” were glass; our “castle” housed more
