“Making sure you are safe is the right thing to do, Sarah,” Zelin agreed. “We are able to protect you, and that makes it our duty. Our responsibility.”
“This isn’t about us,” I added. “It’s about stopping assholes like Logan, who think their status in life gives them the right step over everyone in their path to get what they want, without a care to who gets hurt.”
“If there's something wrong, those who have the ability to take action have the responsibility to take action,” Emory eloquently added.
Sarah gazed at him intrigued. “Independence Day?” she asked.
“National Treasure,” Emory answered with a grin, loving that she recognized his movie quote. He was a film buff.
An easy smile stretched Sarah’s lips. “Thank you guys so much. I don’t know what to say.”
“Well, for starters, you can give me your address so we can drive you home,” I added.
“Okay.”
Holding her hand, I guided her towards the door while Zelin and Emory walked behind us.
My body fell onto the bed, slightly bouncing as it hit the mattress. I was exhausted after the turn of events the evening had taken. I couldn’t rip the image of that asshat holding Sarah against the wall of the alley, and the single thought made me want to sink my claws into him, slicing him up for good.
When my gaze had fallen on them, the terrified look in Sarah’s eyes cut through me and I almost lost it.
It had taken everything not to shift right then and there, and lunge for him. I had to force myself to say the words, demand he let her go, and that scared me. I may be a Moon Prince now, but I wasn’t born one—like my mom, the queen—and sometimes I feared that the darkness that once thrived in the RavenWolves’ hearts lived inside me.
I feared the Great Moon hadn’t made me a Moon Prince because my soul was pure like that of her true children, but because she had wanted to save me. To eradicate the shadows she saw in me, with the brilliance of her light.
Though I had never admit it out loud, I felt it inside me. The darkness was in there, lurking around, lying in wait for the right moment to burst out of me and consume me, but I was determined not to let it.
I would fight it with very ounce of my being, but even as I lay here, thinking of how much that man could have truly hurt Sarah, I wanted to kill him.
Taking a deep breath, I sat up on the bed, staring at the wall before me while I took deep, calming breaths, pushing the feeling and unease as far down as I could. Checking the time on my cell, I stood and walked into the dressing room, changing into my drawstring Pj pants to prepare for bed.
On the way to Sarah’s house I finally remembered to text Kevin and apologize to him and Zack for our abrupt departure. Once I explained to him what occurred, he had been as horrified as we were, which only confirmed to me that I had to find that Logan and stop him from doing that ever again, to anyone.
I was glad the knights were here with us. Zelin had ordered three of them to be Sarah’s guard for the next few days, just to make sure she felt safe, and nothing else happened to her. Then there was Sarah’s behavior after I infused my essence into her to help her stop hurting from what had occurred.
When she got out of the car she kissed me goodnight again, on the lips. It had been a chaste kiss, like the first, but it didn’t seem like something she would do after just being through what she’d been through tonight. I liked her. I couldn’t deny that. Sarah was funny, sweet, and beautiful. The girl next door. And she had left an impression on me since I had seen her that morning.
Her eyes spoke to me.
Let’s be honest, I wasn’t going to complain about a beautiful woman kissing me, I wasn’t an idiot, but I wanted her to do it for the right reasons. Because she was attracted to me, and wanted to kiss me, not because my healing had left some weird side effect on her.
After washing my face and brushing my teeth I went to bed, but when my head hit the pillow, another face inundated my mind. Zelin. She had been acting strange tonight, and I feared what had happened had affected her too. I wasn’t sure what to do about it. Case in point, she wasn’t here now. She’d gone straight to her room after we arrived, something she never did. Ever.
A guardian never left its charge’s side like that. Zelin and I always hung out, and I usually had to carry her to her bed each night, because she fell asleep next to me while we watched TV. She always waited to the last possible moment to leave my side, and her presence was so strong that it made the moments when she wasn’t near truly noticeable.
Something inside me constricted, and my hand moved to my chest. A wave of emotion pressed down on me—all my thoughts converging into a feeling—and I rubbed the spot as though the pain was real. Yet, I knew a large part of that emotion was being projected into me.
Zelin was hurting.
It was so strange to have such connection with someone to the point that felt like part of you. I didn’t think I would ever truly get used to it.
Standing from the bed, I walked towards the door just as it opened, and she walked into the room, silent. Remaining where I stood, I watched my guardian stride towards me, mumbling something unintelligible in German. She lay in my bed, getting under the covers without saying a single word.
The emotion in her continued to pour into me, mixing with mine, and I took my place beside her, knowing that she felt the troubling emotions that plagued me tonight.
I turned on the TV while Zelin snuggled closed, her head rested on my bare chest as I searched for her favorite show on Netflix. Friends began to play, and I set the remote down, holding Zelin to me, hoping to give her comfort.
“We need a door on that stupid dividing wall,” she mumbled against my skin.
I smiled, gently caressing her cheek as I moved a few strands away from her face. “I’ll ask Audrick to please get put one in tomorrow.”
When my lips kissed the tip of her nose, her eyelids fell closed. She was a spoiled Guardian. She’d totally gotten her way.
My irises began to glow, and my essence soothingly flowed into her—like I had done many times before. We shared a soul, and I knew exactly the effect my ability would have on Zelin—calming and restoring. I placed my cheek on her head, securing her in my hold, and my eyes closed.
The voices in the background mixed with the sounds of the night, slowly disappearing as we fell asleep.
4
My right-hand claws were stuck in the wooden floors when I woke up the next morning. Fighting the sleep that still clung heavily to me, I frowned, realizing that I was on my stomach, but the right side of my body was hanging off the bed.
I had partially shifted.
SIGH.
Restless nights did that to me. After the day we had yesterday I needed a good night’s sleep more than ever, but I guess that wasn’t in the cards for me. My muscles were rigid, and my body felt tired, groggy, heavy.
Caffeine it is. LOTS of it.
Grunting, I pulled my claws out of the wooden board they had called “home” last night, flexing my stiff fingers, and willed the right side of my body to return to its man form. I found Zelin curled up on the top left corner of my bed, on the pillow like a pup. My lips stretched into a smile and I slid closer to her, pulling her to me and snuggling as sleep called to me again.
I was a natural-born snuggler.
The shrill beep of the alarm blared through the room then, making me jolt, startled. Zelin stretched next to me, smiling, and jumped eagerly off the bed, like she was in some Disney movie. For a second, I was afraid she was going to burst into a good morning song.
She was such a morning person.
I hated morning people.
“Make it stop…” I grunted, covering my ears with the pillow she had used. Her familiar scent drifted through my nose, making me want to stay in bed even more.
The pillow was wrenched from my face and Zelin’s face came into view as I forced myself to blink awake. Her favorite glare was back, and I smiled.
“Now, that’s the Z I know and love.”
“Get up! You are going to make us late for class, and I’m never late.”
With the words, she grabbed me by the ankle, and began to drag me off the bed, like I was a plucked chicken about to be chopped for stew.
“Ouch.” My back slammed against the floor as I fell off the bed, while she continued to drag me all the way to the bathroom. Still, I couldn’t muster the will to fully wake up…
Holy husky puppies, this was going to be a long-ass day.
* * *
After picking up Sarah, we drove towards the university. She sat next to me, snuggled to my side while the guys sent weary glances at me. Taking the last sip of my extra large coffee, I handed the empty cup to Rod, who sat in the copilot seat, and he handed me a second one. I accepted it relieved, Rod had just become my favorite person. I was going to need all the help I could get today, and caffeine was my savior.
Restless nights made me tired as all hell, which made me moody, and trust me, you did not want to cross my path when I was in a bad mood. My other favorite person in the world—always with a scowl coloring her beautiful face—frowned at me as her gaze swept over Sarah then me. I hadn’t told Zelin about using my gift on Sarah yet, but I feared she already knew.
Her glare today was a new brand I hadn’t seen before, there was reproach, worry, and fire in it. Yay me. She was going to tear me a new one the second we were alone. It wouldn’t be the first time.
Zelin was like the little Devil and Angel we had on our shoulders. Except, she was always the Angel, but the Angel was ALWAYS pissed off, and the Devil ran for his life a long time ago.
Making a face at her I took a sip of the hot miracle in my cup, just as we parked outside Sarah’s building for her class. As it turned out she was studying Journalism.
“My dad is a famous reporter, so he inspired me… there was no other choice for me,” she explained as we asked about her major.
Great. Just great.
Her father had won a Pulitzer for an article he did uncovering political fraud, and here I was showing my secret wolf shifter powers to his human daughter, and possibly getting her love drunk as a side effect.
SIGH.
There wasn’t enough coffee in the world.
I hoped that wasn’t the case and she was naturally attracted to me, because I liked her, and I would like to get to know her better. There was nothing wrong with kissing, I decided, maybe there was be something here, and I just needed to let it flow.
I had to believe that if there was anything influencing her attraction to me, maybe it was just the fact that I had saved her from getting hurt.
Girls liked hero-type guys, right?
Stopping my mental guy-rant I stepped out of the SUV, walking around to open the door for Sarah, while Zelin began barking orders to the guys. Cradling Sarah’s face, I leaned closer and placed a chaste kiss on her lips, like the one she’d given me.
Her emerald green eyes sparkled as she looked up at me, as though the kiss had made her body tingle. “Will I see you at lunch?”
“Of course. We’ll grab lunch together, then I’ll walk you to your next class.”
“I only have one class this afternoon then I can go home.”
“Oh, do you want to hang out this afternoon? I have a full game center at the house. Zelin and I slay at Destiny, and the guys play too. You can join us, if you want.”
“Sounds fun.” She grinned, standing on her tiptoes to kiss me again.
I leaned down, meeting her half way, then walked with her to Len, Ivo, and Geron’s side. Zelin’s choice for Sarah’s guard was flawless, like everything decision she made. I knew I could trust them blindly to take care of her.
Len’s nickname was Lion Heart. He was the noblest, and most honorable among our knights. Ivo was our Little Archer; the nickname was literal since Zelin had selected him from the Archery Division of the royal army. Our archers’ special ability was their keen vision and precision. They could zoom in on a target a thousand miles away with ease, and they never missed a shot.
Finally, as an empath, Geron was our kindest spirit. He would make sure Sarah felt comfortable, and safe with them watching her back.
“Thank you again for doing this, girl,” Sarah offered smiling at Zelin. “I’m sorry your cousins will miss classes, but I can’t deny I feel better having them by my side.”
“Anything to help,” Len assured.
“Yeah, don’t sweat it,” Geron added nonchalantly. “We’ll get all of our notes from Gustav. It’s cool.”
Sarah’s gaze warmed as she nodded, and she threw her arms around Zelin in a heartfelt hug. Zelin froze for a moment, but then a small smile grazed her lips. With one last glance at us, Sarah left with the guys.
Taking Zelin’s hand in mine, we began to walk with the rest of the guys towards our building. My brows gathered in confusion when the sunlight bounced off her nails, noticing for the first time that a metallic polish covered them. I lifted her hand, dragging my thumb over her fingertip. The surface was cool to the touch, and sleek.
“Since when do you use nail polish?”
Her lips curved into an evil grin, as her nails gleamed. “You like? I did it last night, since a certain ‘someone’ doesn’t let me carry my sword around. This way I’m still as dangerous as if I had my sword.”
“I don’t understand,” I admitted, shaking my head.
A mischievous look entered her bottomless onyx eyes. “It’s liquid silver.”
Oh shit. I wrenched my hand away from hers, startled, and she laughed.
Silver was like fiery poison for wolf shifters. If we were stabbed with a silver dagger, or spear, it would kill us instantly, burning us from the inside out. Yet, the pain itself would make us want to die even before the silver fully killed us.
“Don’t be an idiot. It does nothing like this.” She scratched my forearm with her nails playfully, tickling me.
Nothing happened.
“It’s only when my claws come out that it activates.”
With the words she let her index finger shift and her claw shot out, except this time it wasn’t the shiny onyx claw I was used to seeing, the special nail polish engulfed it, making it seem like it was made of silver.
She reached for me again, pressing her claw slowly along my forearm as she pressed, and the acidic burn instantly reached me, leaving a raw mark along my skin. My eyes widened even as my healing kicked in, and my skin healed the next moment—it was too small an injury to truly harm me.
My shocked gaze went to hers. “That’s brilliant.”
“Thank you.”
She smirked while I rolled down the sleeves of my shirt, just in case she got any other ideas, and wanted to demonstrate further.
“Monkey,” I urged, and she jumped on my back. My hands clamped on her legs as we headed to class.
Leaving the knights inside the restroom to finish, I stepped out, and fixed my messenger bag around my back. I was walking towards the women’s restroom—to wait for Zelin to come out—when a scent drifted through my nose, and my whole body went rigid.
The smell of a strong cologne splashed onto the skin irritated my nose, my extra sensitive sense of smell catching the scent before it was even in the corridor. My hands fisted and nostrils flared as ire began to course through me.
I remembered that scent all too well.
Whirling around, my gaze fell on the asshole that had attacked Sarah just as he turned the corner, walking in my direction.
Three other guys walked behind him as though they were his lackeys, and the students literally moved out of their way to let them pass, like they were movie stars or something. The girls whispered excitedly as they walked by, drooling with the their presence. If they only knew…
The guy Sarah had called ‘Logan’ stopped in his tracks when he spotted me standing in the middle of the hall, blocking his path, and his jaw tensed.
“You…” he seethed.
I snapped.
All thought left me as I rushed him. My shoulder crashed against his stomach, knocking the air out of him, and smacking him into the wall behind him. Girls screamed behind me while Logan looked at me half in pain half shocked. He probably thought his popularity status made him untouchable.
My hands fisted on his jacket, and I pulled him away from the wall only to slam him against it again. “You are a piece of shit, you fucking rapist!”
The people around us gasped at my accusation and his eyes grew wide, filling with rage. He pushed me off him, finally reacting to my attack, but my fist flew towards his mouth the next second. It barely connected with his skin, however, as I was pulled away from him.
My ass hit the floor harshly as I flew back, but in a split second I was on my feet, expecting his three friends to gang up on me. Furious onyx eyes stared me down instead, as Zelin stood before me.
“What the hell are you doing?!” she roared. “This is not the time nor the place.”
“Listen to your little girlfriend,” Logan spat scathingly, wiping blood from his lips. “I don’t know who the hell you are, but you’d be wise to fear me. You don’t know who you are messing with. This is my territory. So, go if you don’t want me to hand your ass to yo—”
Logan’s words cut off as Zelin slammed him against the wall again. Cracks spread like veins on the plaster behind him.
“I don’t like repeating myself, so listen carefully…” Zelin’s voice dropped dangerously low with each word, the beginning of a growl hiding just under the surface. “Sarah is under our protection now, and if you so much as look at her, you are going to have to deal with me. Trust me, you don’t want that.”
Her hand arched on his chest, and I noticed her nails begin to elongate, puncturing his shirt. Logan urgently pushed against her wrist, trying to pull her hand from him when her nails reached his skin, but Zelin was like a steel wall before him, unmovable.
“Consider this a warning.” Her hand slightly dragged down his chest to his abs, the movement so subtle and swift, I knew human eyes hadn’t seen it. To them it looked like she’d dropped her hand, but I saw it clearly.
Wolf Prince Page 7
