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The Soldati Prince

English

One moment, Riley Murrough is living a normal life working in a coffee shop, and the next, he’s running for his life from demons, learns he bears the mark of a shape-shifter king from a magical realm, and—worst of all—he’s destined to become the mated prince to the arrogant tiger-shifter he would rather strangle.

Khalon, the shifter king, is equally distraught at the idea of being bound to a human prince, and along with his Soldati warriors, he sets out to return Riley to his own world, where he belongs. On their journey, they might discover why the goddess brought them together—if they can escape the demons and make it to her alive.

First Edition published as The Soldati Prince in Charmed & Dangerous by JCP Books LLC, 2015 as a short story. Second Edition is novella length, has been re-edited and extended with additional new content.

CHAPTER ONE

Who would be slaughtered next?

Riley studied his prey, his eyes narrowed and focused on his first potential victim before he moved his gaze to the next one. He had to choose. Or did he? He curled his lips into a wicked grin. Who said he couldn’t have both?

“Sorry, fellas. Looks like you’re out of luck.”

Riley stuffed the remaining slice of lemon cake into his mouth and moaned in delight as the frosting melted on his tongue. God, these were so freaking good. He washed it down with the frothy cappuccino he’d made while cashing out the register. Once the lemon cake was no more, he moved on to the old-fashioned glazed donut. He could never choose between the two.

The café’s front doors opened, and Riley swallowed the remainder of his donut. He took a quick sip of coffee before addressing the two men in dark jackets and jeans.

“Hey, guys. I’m really sorry, but we’re closed.” Hadn’t he locked the door? He was pretty sure he’d locked the door. Maybe he should’ve been paying more attention to his closing duties and less to stuffing his face. It wasn’t like his manager, Clara, minded if he took the leftovers home. Getting rid of the remaining stock at the end of the day was one of his many responsibilities at Tiger…