Chapter Four:The Lost Princess

​Aurelia’s POV

​The largest rogue wolf lunged straight at me, its jaws snapping just inches from my face, and I scrambled backward on the dirt path, scrambling to find any weapon or rock to defend myself. My fingers brushed against a thick branch, but before I could lift it, the second rogue snarled and bit deep into my calf, tearing through my clothes and skin with absolute brutality. I screamed out in agony, the pain from the bite mixing with the lingering ache of the broken mate bond, and as the third wolf stepped up to tear open my throat, I closed my eyes, completely certain that these few seconds would be my last.

​A massive, dark gray wolf crashed out of the thick brush, slamming into the rogue above me with enough force to snap its neck instantly, and the loud sound of bones cracking echoed through the dark path. Two more massive wolves, one jet-black and the other a light silver, leaped into the clearing right behind him, and they moved with terrifying speed, tearing the remaining two rogues to pieces in a matter of moments. I watched in a daze as the three newcomers shifted back into their human forms, revealing three tall, muscular men who looked like powerful Alphas, and they quickly pulled cloaks over their shoulders to cover themselves.

​"Check her vitals, Tristan, she is bleeding heavily from that leg wound," the black-haired man ordered, his voice deep and commanding, and he stepped closer to where I lay trembling on the ground.

​"She is barely conscious, Jax," the silver-haired man named Tristan replied, kneeling beside me to examine my leg, but as he reached down to inspect my injuries, his hand accidentally brushed against the collar of my torn shirt, pulling the fabric down.

​Tristan froze completely, his fingers hovering in the air, and his eyes went wide as he stared intently at the dark, irregular birthmark on my collarbone.

​"What is wrong with you, Tristan, we need to move her before more rogues show up," the third man said, stepping forward with an impatient frown on his face.

​"Look at her collarbone, Ethan," Tristan whispered, his voice shaking with an emotion I could not understand, and he pointed directly at the mark I had spent my entire life trying to hide from the Blackthorne pack.

​Ethan leaned down to look, and the moment his eyes landed on the dark patches of skin, his face went completely pale, and he immediately dropped to his knees on the dirty path right beside me.

​"By the Moon Goddess, it cannot be," Ethan muttered, his hands trembling as he reached out toward me, though he did not actually touch my skin. "Jax, look at this right now, look at the pattern of the mark."

​Jax stepped closer, his intense gaze shifting from my face down to my collarbone, and the commanding expression on his face completely melted away into absolute shock. "Is she... is this really happening after all these years?"

​"Who are you?" I managed to croak out, my voice incredibly weak, and my head rolled to the side as the blood loss from my arm and leg finally caught up to me.

​"Do not worry, you are perfectly safe now, and nobody will ever hurt you again," Jax said, his voice surprisingly gentle as he leaned down and carefully lifted me into his muscular arms, holding me tightly against his chest. "Tristan, get the horses ready, we are taking her back to the kingdom immediately, and we cannot afford to waste a single second."

​"Should we send word to father first?" Ethan asked, pushing himself up from the ground and walking quickly alongside Jax as we moved deeper into the unknown territory.

​"No, we do not say a word until we are within our own walls, because if the enemy finds out about this, she will be in even greater danger," Jax replied firmly, keeping a tight grip on me while the world around me began to fade into a dark blur.

​I lost track of time as they carried me through the dense forest, but when I finally opened my eyes again, the dark woods were gone, and I was lying on a soft bed inside a massive, stone-walled room that looked like a royal chamber. The three men were standing near the foot of the bed, talking in hushed tones, and beside them stood an elderly man dressed in long robes, holding a small bowl of medicinal paste.

​"She is waking up," Tristan noted, stepping closer to the bedside, and the elderly man immediately moved forward, adjusting his spectacles as he looked down at me.

​"Let me see the birthmark, young princes," the elder said, his hands shaking slightly as he gently parted the collar of my clean shirt to inspect the dark skin near my neck.

​The old man stared at the mark for several long seconds, his breath hitching loudly in his throat, and he stumbled backward a step, dropping his medicine bowl onto the floor where it shattered into small pieces.

​"Impossible," the elder whispered, looking up at Jax, Tristan, and Ethan with wide, tearful eyes as he pressed his hand against his chest. "The ancient prophecy is true... the lost princess of our bloodline is alive.”