Free Winter's Dawn by Kele Moon Page B

King Maxwell thanked you for your contributions.”
    Max left before he could hear their response. Instead he attempted to make his way through the crowd that filled the grand ballroom to capacity. He guessed that there were easily six hundred werewolves in attendance for the Winter Solstice Running, the grandest running celebration of the year because of its close proximity to Susie and his birthdays. Thankfully the full moon came a full week after their birthday celebration. The years when the two parties merged were almost more than Max could handle.
    As it was, he searched blindly for something stronger than champagne as he slowly moved through the crowd, heading in the general direction of Susie. Though he could not see her, he could smell her easily, even in a crowd of hundreds.
    “Your queen is radiant this evening.”
    Max nodded out of habit, unaware of who had even addressed him. “Thank you.”
    “A belated Happy Birthday, Your highness,” said a blonde haired female, bowing as she spoke. “Your queen is radiant this evening.”
    “Yes, thank you.” Max nodded again, trying not to groan.
    Everyone bowed to him as he walked past. He stared at the top of dozens of heads. Females with their long hair hanging long and loose. Males with neatly styled and parted short hair similar in fashion to Max’s hairstyle of the evening. An invitation to the Winter Solstice Running was the most sought after invitation in their world. Most were the werewolf leaders from around the globe, and as such the whole ballroom was an array of wolves with different coloring and exotic clothing.
    Aunt Emma was extremely choosy about who she invited. Their people didn’t judge based on race as humans did. Their social value was based solely on the power a wolf exhibited. Only the most influential werewolves were in attendance. Yet, Max was still suffocated with the heat caused by a grand ballroom filled with hundreds of hormone-induced werewolves as the full moon made its way to the center point in the sky, bringing the running into full effect, ending the civilities and sending hundreds of hormone crazed werewolves free on the Winter Palace’s expansive property to have sex and hunt for the next three days.
    “Happy belated birthday, Your Highness.”
    “Your queen is radiant this evening.”
    On and on it went and Max said thank you more times than he could count until he finally recognized one truly familiar face.
    His cousin Adam dutifully bowed. “Your queen is radiant this evening.”
    “Yes, yes, I know, she is radiant and lovelier than all the females in attendance despite the fact that she is only fifteen and has barely grown breasts.” Max quickly pulled Adam away from the crowd. He pointed to Adam’s glass and sniffed. “Whiskey?”
    “Yes.” Adam frowned when Max took the glass from him and downed the entire drink in one gulp. “Would Your Highness like something to eat with that?”
    Max looked at Adam’s plate, which he had offered Max without hesitation. “Gods, no, Adam.” He tried not to look repulsed. “I have yet to acquire a fondness for raw meat.”
    Adam smirked, his amber eyes sparkling. He looked all of twenty-one in human years with his shiny copper hair and freckles across the bridge of his nose. But, he was not twenty-one. Adam was a little over a hundred years old, making him one of the younger werewolves in attendance. “You’re drinking on an empty stomach?” he asked, sounding amused.
    “Yes, for all the good it’s doing,” Max grumbled, but turned when a server walked by with a tray of champagne. He grabbed one crystal flute, thanking the server before he turned back to Adam. “With our birthdays and the Winter Solstice Running, I may lose my taste for champagne forever.”
    “I doubt that,” Adam said, still smiling as his mate Danielle came up to them. “How are you, love?” he asked, looking concerned as he wrapped his hand around Danielle’s waist. She was wearing a long,