A warmth in front of her and laughter somewhere near woke her from a sound sleep. If she’d had been dreaming, she couldn’t remember. As her eyes blinked open a bright light infiltrated her sore pupils, so she pushed herself to try and stand to move away from the burning sensation. As she did, pain seared through her shoulder bringing back into memory the fight with the bear to save the life of a stupid human. But then… the man, he’d taken her, hadn’t he? So, why was she alive? She lowered herself back onto something soft. And where was she? She shook her large furry head and blinked, trying to clear her vision. When that failed, she pawed at her face and eyes and shook again. Finally, her vision cleared, and she saw that the warmth in front of her was a fire made in a brick fireplace. The soft ground she was laying on was a sheepskin rug. She pushed off the floor, this time succeeding in fighting against the pain. She limped as she turned her body around to get a better view of where she was being kept.
It was a large room with curtains on a window leading to a balcony on one the left side of the fireplace. In the center of the room was a large, wooden bed made up of red and gold sheets and a large comforter. There was an armoire, a dresser, and bowl on a stand for face washing also scattered throughout the room. If she had to guess, she was in the prince’s chamber. But why? She limped closer to the door at the far end of the room. If it was unlocked, she should be able to escape.
As she approached, she could hear voices getting louder. Some of them angry, some humorous, and some defensive and pleading. She continued to limp closer until shadows flashed under the door. Whoever was arguing outside was now just on the other side of the door.
“How could you bring a wild animal into our home?” Said a bellowing male voice.
“She’s not a wild animal! She saved my life!” This was the voice of the prince.
“She?” Laughed another male voice, smooth and mocking.
“Yes. It’s a she.” Stated the prince rather defensively.
The key in the door turned and she struggled to back away from it. The door flung open and in stepped three men and one woman who looked much too young to be a queen. The first man obstructing the doorway was tall and broad. He had a purple cape with gold trim draped over his wide shoulders covering a white tunic with an equally purple vest. The broach at the collar of the cape had the same insignia of the lion and dragon. His face was covered with a white beard and his head in shoulder length white hair. Atop his head sat a thin gold crown. This man was King Aaron. Two men stood on either side of him. On his left was the prince who had brought her here. On his right was another man, slightly older with dark brown scruff on his face and wavy dark hair that sat in a mess atop his head. This man was the tallest of the three with a dark green vest accenting his already broad shoulders, making him look like a towering threat. While it must have been him responding in the mocking tone, his dark eyes held great suspicion as he stared at her. His tall boots and tan pants suggested that he’d also been out hunting when the young prince found her. Her eyes traveled down his right hand and yes, there sat an identical ring that the young prince wore. This man, too, was a prince and judging by his age, he was the one to inherit the throne. The woman struggled to see past the three men in the doorway, bobbing up and down with her red curls bouncing loose from the bun on her head. A queen would never act that way. She was either a sister or a betrothed. Her gold necklace jingled as she moved and her light pink gown swayed around her delicate ankles. If the she-wolf could roll her eyes she would have.
“So this is it.” Stated King Aaron. The young prince pushed his way past his father to stand in front of her protectively.
“Yes, this is the wolf who saved me from the bear.”
“And I see you’ve already patched her up, Philip?” Philip, so that was his name.
“Yes. She was bleeding out.”
“You should have left her there.” The king shook his head side to side.
“She is not a threat! If she is willing to save the life of a human, does she not deserve to live?” Pleaded Philip.
“Are you planning on keeping her as a pet?” Asked the older prince so calmly it unnerved her.
“Yes, watch,” chimed in the woman, “she’ll become his hunting hound!” The two chuckled to each other and the king curled his lip disgusted at the idea.
“Of course not!” shouted Philip, startling her and sending a pain down her leg. “Once she is well enough, I plan to release her back into the forest. She likely has a pack she belongs to who will be missing her, but there is no way she’ll heal if she has to hunt on her own.”
“So how do you plan to feed her, then? From our kitchens?” Asked the king. The prince was silent and the woman and other prince began to whisper to themselves and giggle behind the king. “You’d better release her once she is better, son. I’ll not have a wild animal living under my roof killing everything.” With that, he turned on his heel and she watched his cloak float gracefully behind him as he turned down the hall and left.
“You know she will, don’t you?” Asked the older prince.
“I don’t need your opinion, Morgan.” Retaliated Philip.
“She has an instinct to hunt. You can’t fight that. For all your efforts to stop her, she will do it. If she kills one of Father’s…”
“I SAID I DON’T NEED YOUR OPINION OR YOUR ADVICE!” Morgan stood still, unphased by his brother’s outburst. His eyes moved from his brother’s face down to hers and he gave her a hard stare directly into her eyes. Her body gave an involuntary response and her blood pulsed harder in her veins turning her eyes green as they had with the bear. Her ears perked straight up and her body became rigid, matching Morgan’s intensity.
“Hmmph.” He grunted, turned and walked from the doorway and down the hall more slowly than his father did. The woman stayed behind and the she-wolf noticed that Philip’s body relaxed slightly. He let out a heavy sigh and rubbed the back of his neck with his hand.
“What are you planning to do with her, Philip?”
“As I said, I plan on helping her heal, and then letting her go.”
“What if she doesn’t want to go?” Asked the woman.
“I don’t see why she should want to stay.”
“Perhaps she decides she likes it here?”
“Like you did, Evangeline?” The woman only smiled. Philip walked closer to her, seeming to forget the wolf behind him. Evangeline giggled a little as Philip leaned against the wall by the doorway and stretched out a hand to brush her face. “You were cruel to me earlier, you know that.”
“So, punish me later.” She smiled. The wolf’s stomach turned. Clearly these two were more than they should be. Morgan’s scent was all over her, but the wolf could smell the woman’s biological response to Philip touching her and cooing at her. She began to wish there was another way out of the room.
The wolf turned and limped to the opposite wall where the window to the balcony was and sighed in relief that the doorway was open. She limped out through the curtains and onto the marble tiled platform where she could see the stars and feel the breeze. The air was different here, crisper, and full of the smells of cooked food and smoke from ovens surrounding the castle. Behind her, she heard the chamber door shut. She was trapped again. Reluctantly, she laid down on the marble, willing it to cool her frustration and uncertainty about what the days ahead would bring.
Her eyes flickered open, and the morning light shown through her eyelids blinding her for a moment. Squinting and blinking, she gave her blue eyes a chance to adjust to the invading light before pushing off the ground and stretching her body out for a long and satisfying relief of tension to get her blood moving. She looked around at the stone and tapestry covered walls. The same walls she’d seen every day since being brought to this dreadful castle. How did they do it? How did they live day after day in this boring place with their boring routines? She walked to the balcony grateful Philip had left it open for her. She missed the breeze whistling through the trees of the forest. She missed the hunt, though she couldn’t entirely complain about having a full stomach every day. She even missed hiding from the other packs and the sense of adventure and slight danger.A rattle sounded behind her, so she spun her he
CHAPTER 4:A rustling somewhere nearby jarred the white wolf from her sleep. She yawned with a wide-open mouth and let out a little whine at the same time. Rich laughter caught her attention and pulled her from her lingering yawn and she blinked to focus her eyes. It was Morgan, standing shirtless in front of his armoire tying his trousers. She let her eyes drift over his beltline at the toned chiseling that teased her. His laughter stopped, pulling her eyes up to his face.“I’d better get you some food. That intense stare tells me you must be hungry.” If he only knew what she was hungry for, just now. She let her icy blue eyes drift down, again, enjoying the chisled curves that led to somewhere she'd only explore in her dreams.As he pulled his tunic over his head, a cluster of voices chorused in the hallway and traveled away from the door, pulling her from her imagination
She had spent the day wondering the castle and avoiding people. Occasionally she’d hear a gasp from a servant as she’d pass them in the hallways, but she was used to it now. One would think they’d be used to seeing her and know by now she wasn’t interested in eating anybody except the castle feline, though she did vow not to kill anymore of the king’s pets.It was getting colder, and the stone floors of the castle were starting to make her toes numb, so she headed to Philip’s chamber to rest for the night. She would have rather gone to Morgan’s room, but the air between them felt awkward to her now that she had damaged the relationship between him and his father. As she approached the chamber door, a familiar scent hit her nose, then she heard the giggling of the tramp that was supposedly Morgan’s betrothed. She scrunched her nose, wrinkling her snout in a canine grimace. Better see
Morgan froze after passing through the doorway and Aria watched from behind as his shoulders heaved up and down. Then, to her surprise, he calmly and quietly announced, “The engagement is off.” With a quick turn on his heel, he brushed past Aria out the door and started down the hall.I’ve angered him. Aria thought as she stared after the stony figure of Morgan as he marched down the hallway. Shouting from the bedroom followed after him, but Aria was too engrossed in thought to comprehend what words were being said. I’ve hurt my friend. I’ve failed him. I need to leave. I shouldn’t even be here. I belong in the forest.Morgan stopped his march and turned toward her. A quick surprised look crossed his face before a somber and thoughtful expression replaced it. His mouth opened and he started to say something, but his words were drowned out by the
Aria lay alone on a stone bench in the garden. Morgan had let her out of the castle, hoping it would help calm her nerves, but her mind swirled as she strained to grasp at memories that might explain what had happened in his room that morning. Only foggy remnants came to her. Flashes of a little girl running through some forgotten forest. An old woman with long silver hair. A village of little wooden houses. Was the little girl her? And how long ago did these flashes of memory take place? Were these memories even hers or were they things she’d seen as a wolf? Aria groaned in frustration and adjusted her position on the bench. Her thoughts now turned to the events in Morgan’s chamber. His body had responded to her advances… but why? He knew she’d been a wolf. Was it possible that he could yet love her even as she was? The idea was ridiculous. She had been naked and what man wouldn’t take
Aria spent the better part of the day wondering the catacombs of hallways above and below the castle. She’d found many fascinating rooms including dance halls, torture chambers, prison cells, the armory, and trap doors in the guest rooms. The only place she didn’t seem to find was the library. Back on the gallery upon exiting yet another maze of hallways, she sat thoroughly frustrated and heaved a sigh. Perhaps this castle didn’t believe in keeping records on its various rulers and their accomplishments. It would be nonsensical, but they could be entering a change in times where such things didn’t matter. Come to think of it, she hadn’t ever seen a scribe in the king’s study or recording any of his meetings. If this was the case, her plan had just flown out the window.She decided to wonder outside the castle. It was a cool day but not too chilly, so the front doors of the fortress were
Confliction filled her as she paced outside Morgan’s chamber door. She knew he was inside, but couldn’t bring herself to scratch on the door this time to be let in. After he’d stormed away in the archives, she’d left the building to clear her thoughts in the garden and had been avoiding him since. She’d been so angry with herself for causing him so much frustration. How could she tease him like that? How cruel could she be? And then she’d had the nerve to be angry that he’d finished the deed himself. What was he supposed to do? Mate with her as a wolf? She gave her large head a violent shake. She was so foolish! She paced with her paws hitting the stone harder now. She didn’t have control of the transformation, yet. Did she really think she could offer him enough time? She’d gone after him with no thought of what it would do to him. She’d only been thinking of herself. She had no
The next morning a shiny black carriage trimmed in gold was pulled through the gates by six black horses in golden trimmed harnesses. The carriage was escorted by eight mounted knights wearing engraved armor and behind them entered three more carts drawn by four horses each, piled high with various shiny treasures, foods, and gifts for the king. Whoever this was, desperately wanted to show off their wealth and impress the royal family. Watching from the portico, Aria was passed by King Aaron as he breezed by her to welcome the guest. From the front carriage emerged a tall woman decorated in the finest blue silk and black lace, with a full head of plumes and dark, shiny braids. “Good morning, King Aaron.” She said through bright red painted lips and offered a curtsey as he took one of her hands and kissed the top of it. She offered a crooked smile and began explaining briefly the contents of their finest that occupied the three carts that had fol