FREEDOM, I COULD TASTE IT AFTER SO MANY DAYS

PROLOGUE

22 Years Ago

ELERA'S POV

They always said wolves were dangerous. That their teeth were sharper than our blades, that their hearts knew no love, only hunger, and that their kind would tear through our skies if given a chance.

But what they never told me was that curiosity could silence fear. And that mine would lead me straight into the heart of the one thing I was taught to hate.

I was nineteen, still more girl than woman, with a crown looming over my head like a shadow I couldn't shake off. Daughter of the great dragon queen, heir to a throne carved from molten rock and legend. Everyone expected me to be fierce, wise, and unbending. But truthfully, I was bored, restless, and terribly curious.

The war between our kind and the wolves had lasted for decades. They lived beneath the mountain ranges, away from our kingdom. The dragons ruled the skies, breathing fire and guarding treasure hoards, but I guarded nothing.

My days were filled with etiquette lessons and strategy sessions, none of which included answers to the questions I really wanted to ask:

Why do we hate them? Have we ever tried talking to one?

So, I started sneaking away.

There was a small crevice beyond the hot springs, where the mountain thinned and the sky grew soft. My mother thought I went there to clear my mind, but I had other plans. One evening, I slipped out of the palace with a loaf of bread tucked under my cloak. The guards never questioned me, princesses are rarely suspected of mischief.

I didn't know what I expected to find. I just wanted to see one, a real wolf. Not the monstrous creatures described in war stories. Not the shadows my tutors warned me about, just one.

And I did.

He was locked in a small cage made of obsidian and spells, deep in the base of the valley. I still don’t know how I found him, it was like my feet knew the path before I did. He was injured, and dirty.

His chest rose and fell like he was holding onto breath by force. He looked more human than beast, his body caught mid-shift, claws half-formed, eyes the color of storm clouds. He looked up when he sensed me.

And I... froze. Not out of fear, but because he wasn’t like anything I'd imagined. There was pain in his eyes, not malice. And when I stepped closer, he didn’t growl. He didn’t bare his teeth, he simply watched.

I remember whispering, "Are you real?"

He didn’t speak, but I saw his lips twitch like he wanted to answer. So I unwrapped the bread and slid it through the bars, he didn’t move for it at first. Only after I stepped back did he reach for it with shaking fingers and eat like he hadn’t tasted food in days.

I came back the next day, and the day after that.

I brought more food, water, and a thin blanket. I didn’t tell anyone. The more I visited, the less I saw a monster. I started to see the man. His name, I learned, was Karl.

He used to be a pack leader, before the dragons captured him. I didn't know what to say to that, it made something in my chest twist painfully.

But he never blamed me, he listened when I spoke. He asked questions, he smiled when I said something funny to him. And God, when he smiled, I forgot everything else.

One night, I asked him, "Why don’t you hate me?" He looked at me like I was the one in the cage.

"Because you see me," he said. "Not the stories."

That night, I didn’t want to leave. I stayed until the stars blinked tiredly over the horizon, and the wind turned cold. He reached through the bars and touched my fingers.

"Let me go," he whispered.

And I did.

I waited until the guards changed post before whispering the undoing spell I'd stolen from a scroll. The cage cracked open, and for a moment, he stood there, free, but still.

Then he looked at me with those stormy eyes. "Come with me."

My breath caught. "I can't."

"Why?" he asked. "Because you're a dragon? Because you're a princess?"

I didn’t answer, not with words. I looked back toward the kingdom, the palace towers peeking above the cliffs. I looked at him, then I followed. No crown, no guards, no fire. I left everything behind and followed the one person I shouldn't be seen with.

Just a girl, and the wolf she was never meant to love.

Kael's POV

I didn’t know how long I’d been chained to the cold stone walls, but my body had grown used to the sting. Pain became something like breath, constant, necessary. It reminded me I was still alive, even when this world wanted me gone.

The dragons had captured me days ago or maybe, weeks. I lost count after the first beating.

I wasn’t caught because I was weak, I let them take me. I was out in the woods when I spotted them.

They were headed toward my people, my home. I made myself a wall, a target. I let them see me, let them fight me, and when they surrounded me with blades drawn and teeth bared, I dropped to my knees.

If it meant saving them, I’d do it again. A thousand times, but being noble doesn’t make you less of a prisoner.

These walls knew no mercy, the stone floor beneath me was slick with blood, and I knew most of it was mine. They didn't ask questions, didn't demand answers. I was a wolf, that alone was enough to hate me.

I leaned my head back against the damp wall, exhaling slowly. My body ached, but it was my spirit that throbbed worse. My people thought I was dead, maybe that was for the best.

Until I saw her.

The first time, she crept into the dungeon like a shadow with bare feet and wide, curious eyes. She couldn’t have been older than nineteen. Pale hair tied into a braid that slipped over her shoulder, eyes too soft to belong in a place like this. Her dress whispered against the floor as she moved, and I remember thinking she looked like light in a room made of nothing but dark.

She didn’t speak at first. She just stood there, blinking at me like I was a puzzle she wasn’t sure how to solve.

"Are you real?" I heard her whisper. That was the funniest thing I've heard in a while, it had left me speechless too.

Before I could say anything, she unwrapped a bread and slid it through the bars, I didn’t move for it at first.

Only after she stepped back did I reach for it with shaking fingers and ate it, I hadn’t tasted anything in days.

She left after she was sure I ate the bread.

I thought I wouldn't see her again, but she came back.

Every night.

Sometimes with food, sometimes just to look at me, to ask strange questions like why wolves smelled like pine or if we really howled at the moon. Her curiosity wasn’t cruel, it was childlike, she was so innocent. There was a time she came with a tiny blanket, but I was grateful.

I learned her name on the third night.

“Elara,” she said quietly, setting down a piece of bread and a water skin. “I’m not supposed to talk to you. My father would have me locked in here with you if he found out.”

“Then why are you here?”

She hesitated. “Because I was told your kind were monsters. But when I look at you… I don’t see a monster.”

Her honesty stunned me more than her presence. Dragons and wolves had hated each other for centuries. Her father, the Dragon King, and his people had made it a law to kill wolves on sight.

But Elara was nothing like him.

Each night blurred into the next. I began to wait for her, I counted the moments by her scent. Her voice became the lullaby I never knew I needed. I told her stories, she listened, she smiled and she laughed.

I was falling. Even when I shouldn’t have been.

Then one night, she came with food and laid beside my cage. Her cheeks were flushed and her hands shook.

"Why don’t you hate me?" I heard her asked. I stared at her for a while before answering.

"Because you see me," I said. "Not the stories."

That night, she didn’t leave like she used to. She stayed until the stars blinked tiredly over the horizon, and the wind turned cold.

I reached through the bars and touched her fingers. I needed to leave here, we both knew I didn't have much time left.

"Let me go," I whispered to her. She didn't reply me for a while.

But when the guards changed post, I heard her whisper some unknown words. The cage cracked open, and for a moment, I stood there, free, but shocked.

I was surprised she let me free, and that moment I knew I wouldn't be able to live without her.

I turned and looked at her with certainly "Come with me."

"I can't." My breath caught when I heard her whisper, but I still didn't want to leave without her.

"Why?" I asked. "Because you're a dragon? Because you're a princess?"

She didn’t answer, but looked back toward her kingdom.

I stood, weaker than I thought I’d be. Before I knew it, she looped an arm around me without hesitation.

We moved through the tunnels, silence our only ally. The guards were gone, or asleep. I didn’t ask how, she didn’t say.

Outside, the night kissed my face. Stars blanketed the sky. Freedom, I could taste it after so many days.

That night as we ran, I swore I'd spend the rest of my days making sure she never regrets her decision.