Chapter 1 - Runaway Bride

"Rot in hell, cursed mongrel! My king's fire will scorch your cursed hide to ash!"

The dark stone room was a warground and a shotgun was raised to head of the kneeling man.

The prince didn't flinch. Instead, his eyes turned darker.

"From the other side, whisper to your king. Tell him traitors may not cross my path." The prince replied in a deep rumble that was too calm for a situation like this.

It was the true voice of a warrior.

"I await the day you fall to your curse's clam. Nations wil burn you and you shall have no name!"

For a moment, the prince's silver-red eyes flicked with hurt....

And then, a sinister smile reached his lips.

"You will never know."

BANG!

The man's yells only ended the moment the lycan prince's bullets finally ran out.

He remained kneeled but half-dead.

The prince stood and watched until the man's heart stopped beating. Then the man fell with a thud on the marble.

When the prince spoke again, it was like the deepest rumble of thunder. It was dangerously gentle, rich and belly-tightening.

"Behead the traitor. Send my message to his king."

A dark hooded servant ran forward and took away the dead man who unconsciously shapeshifted into a wolf.

Another servant handed the prince a kerchief as he took off his gloves.

Servants in black remained knelt and bowing. Gallant giants who fought like stones.

"My lord." One said at last, raising his head. "Preparations are ready. By sundown, the girl will be delivered."

Prince Aramisius's silver-red eyes, slitted.

"Delivered like cattle? Does she come willingly?"

"No, my lord. They chose her.... because you said if they did not...." The servant paused. "....their children would burn. She is not agreeing."

For a moment, the Lycan prince froze.

And suddenly, his heartbeat began to thud heavily. It began to burn him from deep inside and for a moment he flinched. But he would not let his subjects find him finished.

Instead, he would go straight to the solution…. herself. Big mistake, he knew something was wrong with thinking of her tonight. Because his body recognized her without his mind understanding why.

When the beat of his heart fluttered higher than a lycan had ever witnessed, he gave a slow smile that didn't reach his eyes and spoke.

"I prefer her unwilling."

Torches danced. The servants remained bowed and waiting.

Aramisius turned, cloak black like night. His fangs gleamed when he spoke.

"And no, Azpen." he said, voice low like a growl now. "I will not wait until sundown. I am deeply unsettled."

He turned to the windows, staring out into the night and his eyes flashed hunger.

"She will not be delivered for courtesy's sake." He added. "She is mine. And I shall take her. Tonight."

"A custom... my lord..." Azpen began.

"Customs are for kings." He snapped, walking like a wildcat toward the door, hand settling on his hilt. "I am impatient."

His footsteps soon died away. The doors slammed, his final words echoing.

Meanwhile, in a hidden corner, a pale woman in a white overflowing gown had been watching through a window before she quietly and hurriedly disappeared into the night.

It was like she was carrying a message.

****

****

Aeryl folded into her sister’s arms, small and sobbing. Lilah rubbed her back, but the shivers would not stop.

"I can't believe father won't fight for me. Not even on this. He-he.... just sold me away. Like I'm some dog."

Lilah’s fingers trembled as they moved through Aeryl’s hair. "He can't fight the lycan prince. You know what they said. You're a chosen hybrid, Aeryl. If Father defies them.... if he refuses, he will cost us everything. He let the prince take.... uhm.... choose you to save the.... the village."

"Not chosen!" Aeryl spat, bitter and small. "Offered! Like a lamb."

Outside, torches shined as villagers prepared the road. Panic hurt Aeryl’s chest.

"I don't want to go. I can't go...."

Their mother stumbled into the room, apron stained, her face worn by the day's labor and grief. She fell to her knees and took Aeryl’s hands, gripping until her knuckles went white.

Aeryl reached for her, tears blurring everything.

"Please, Mother. Come with me. Please, come with me when they take me to the monster's kingdom."

"If I could, I would go with you into his castle," Ariana said, voice shaking. "But if I ask to leave, your father, he.... he won't let me. He can't allow me do that. I tried. The prince will believe I'm intruding. I'll pray for you."

Aeryl’s blonde hair fell into her face. "So I go alone? To his castle? To be used and maybe killed while you hide behind prayers?"

Behind her, Lilah forced a smile she hoped would lighten the tension. But instead, a little tear slipped down her left eye.

"Pray, little dove. Rest. If you sleep, you will not be too weak. I will pray till my voice fails." Ariana, the girls’ mother sobbed.

"Prayers won't save me!" Aeryl cried out, bitterly.

Her mother quickly pressed a letter into her palm, their last letter, folded, warm from her touch.

"Keep this, child."

Outside, the lycan prince’s silver-red eyes glinted somewhere in the dark, already preparing. He was coming for sure. There was no escape.

Aeryl held the letter to her chest as if it comforted her.

For a moment, it was only three of them and the truth which was that a twenty-year-old woman had been chosen so countless other villagers could live.

Aeryl and her mother sobbed.

Lilah tried to hold them all together as she fought her own tears.

“But, Mother,” she suddenly whispered. “Why is Aeryl offered to the prince like this? Can't he just let her be…?”

“Oh Lilah, my heart. He's her fated mate and time is running out.”

“But, they're supposed to be in love or more so….”

Ariana paused to wipe her eyes, swallowing hard.

“I cannot tell. The emotions they will share will be between them. It is…. It is complicated. But…. my child, the lycan prince's curse awakening draws near…. Aeryl is…. his only…. hope. His tamer.”

“Why does everyone want me, then? Why do kingdoms come offering payment?” Aeryl whispered hotly. “Is the world cursed too?”

Ariana sent a shaky smile and took her daughter's hands in hers.

“That's why the lycan prince is also our friend. He…. might be of a violent nature but….”

Ariana’s voice reduced into a whisper.

“....he knows your worth. You are so special. He will never forsake your significance.”

That only made Aeryl even more fearful.

She shuddered and remembered the lycan prince's hard face once again. Those silver-red eyes when he'd moved closer to study her face and draw her scent.

It was beginning to haunt her.

Then, she remembered everything the world said about him.

“THE KING OF FIRE. A CURSED MONSTER”

“THE CONQUEROR OF NATIONS. ALSO KNOWN AS THE CURSED.”

“HIS AGE DRAWS NEAR. HE MIGHT FALL FROM GLORY.”

“LORD OF THE WERE-EARTH. A MONSTER TO MANY ENEMIES. HE IS CURSED.”

The “cursed” ideology of him was never omitted in every mention of his name.

Aeryl wiped her face and forced herself to breathe steadily.

"You're right, Lilah. I'll rest, Mother. I'll need strength to survive him."

Her mother and sister were surprised af first. But then, Ariana kissed her forehead and tears soaked her cheek. Next came promises of love from Lilah and soft goodnights.

Aeryl lay down, eyes closed, breath slowed as she pretended like she was asleep. The door shut. Silence came.

Moonlight spilled across her face and she made a promise.

She would not wait for death. She had a plan. She would run.

****

****

The prince fastened his leather coat, rich fur laid heavy across his large shoulders. He entered the far chamber of wine, moans, and bodies.

Cushions, courtesans, bare bodies. His brother and his friends laid among them, sweat dripping.

"My, my." Santos, his younger brother, drawled. "Here to join us? Or still drinking dogs in the kennels?"

Everyone laughed but as the prince's iron gaze lifted, there was instant silence.

"I waste no night. While you drown in trash, I go to claim what is mine."

Santos smirked. "Ah, the hybrid lamb. Careful. Sometimes lambs bite."

A frown-like smile touched the prince's mouth. He remembered the wild girl again. "Then I will enjoy it all the more."

He turned and left, aura chilling.

"Farewell, brother." Santos said over the music.

****

****

The forest was so dark.

Horses snorted, wheels cracked over roots, black-armored guards rode with banners snapping in the wind.

To strangers, this was a scary parade. To the Furtville villagers, it was a life sentence for their hybrid princess.

In the first carriage, the prince read a book worn out by centuries. His silver-red eyes flicked gently across the page while soldiers outside rode.

His caged wolfhound barked once. The prince's lifted his eyes, then returned them to the book.

"Not conquest. Necessity. The girl has to be mine. Bite me or no bite me." He murmured to himself and turned another page. "One must feed and never beg."

****

****

Aeryl heard those exact words in her dream.