The Forest

The carriage disappeared into the trees and Aurora was alone on the edge of the forest. She stood watching it for a few seconds, her heart hammering against her ribs, the sound of the wheels getting further and further away taking the only people she had ever known as family away form her, not one looking back, not her father, not Malory and not even one of the guards who had escorted her here.

Aurora swallowed hard her throat burning. Her fingers trembled as she reached up to pluck the small golden crown from her head. She stared at it for a brief moment before tossing it onto the grass where it landed with a metallic thud.

Aurora flinched. She spent eighteen years thinking that this crown meant something that being Marcus Evan's daughter, meant that she had something to be a princess for that it would always mean something to her in her home country. Apparently she had been mistaken.

She angrily wiped away the tears gathering in her stormy blue eyes. “He doesn’t believe me,” she whispered, her voice cracking. "He's my father." She looked back toward the road expecting the carriage to return, but it did not. Taking a shaky breath, Aurora turned on her heel and walked toward the forest.

The forest engulfed her instantly, swallowing her whole as the sounds of the kingdom grew fainter with each step. Aurora never remembered walking this far into the forest the air thick with the scent of mossy earth and pine needles. She did not even know where she was going only that there was nowhere else she could go.

Hours passed before Aurora stumbled upon a small stream meandering between the trees. Her legs ached with the pain of walking, the worn soles of her shoes hurt, but she dropped without care next to the water and cupped her hands. The water was refreshingly cold as it slid down her throat.

It was the first time since she had left the palace that she allowed herself to cry. Her shoulders shook as she let her head hang limply between her knees. "Mother..." Aurora's voice was barely more than a whisper. If her mother were still alive would she have allowed this to happen would she have allowed Aurora to be hurt would she have fought her father to keep her daughter safe would she have stood between Aurora and Marcus and told him that his daughter had done nothing wrong. Aurora closed her eyes; missing her mother more than she had ever missed anyone in her life.

A small rustling sound came from somewhere behind her making Aurora quickly turn. A rabbit stood a few feet away its nose twitching as it watched her. She studied it with tear stained eyes. "Hello."

The rabbit didn't move. Aurora give a sad smile. "You're not going to leave me too, are you?"

As if it understood her the small creature carefully hopped closer and Aurora held out her hand. The rabbit sniffed her fingers before taking a step closer and allowing Aurora to stroke its head. Suddenly something strange happened. Warmth spread over her palm and for one brief second Aurora felt something that was not her own, fear, hunger and curiosity.

It vanished just as quick as it had come and Aurora quickly pulled her hand away, staring at the small creature in front of her. "What was that?"

The rabbit just continued to stare at her. Aurora shook her head. "I'm imagining things." She was tired, that had to be it.

She eventually came across a hollow space beneath the great roots of an old tree, sheltered from the rain and as tiredness swept over her once more, Aurora curled into a ball and hugged her knees. Tomorrow she would find a way to survive, tomorrow she would find food and a safe place to lay, but for now she had nothing more to lose. Aurora fell asleep with tears still clinging to her cheeks.

A howl woke her.

Aurora's eyes snapped open and for a moment, she didn't remember where she was. Then the forest came rushing back to her, the forest and her father and the carriage that had taken him and her family away from her.

Another howl echoed through the trees and Aurora sat upright with a start. What had that been? Aurora's heart pounded as she slowly crawled out from under the tree roots and peered into the shadows. Nothing. Then she heard the snap of a branch. A twig snapped under a footfall.

Aurora froze as something moved between the trees. Something huge.

A wolf emerged from the darkness and Aurora stopped breathing. She had seen wolves before, but never one like this, never anything so big. The animal was far bigger than any regular wolf should be, its dark fur drinking in the moonlight and its golden eyes fixed on her. Aurora's instincts screamed at her to run, but the wolf took a slow step toward her.

The wolf did not attack it simply watched her. There was something odd about the way its eyes were fixed on her, the way it looked at her like it was assessing her. This wasn't the first time that Aurora had been faced with danger, but never had she felt such an odd compulsion. To watch this strange beast.

A strange feeling brushed against her mind. It wasn't words not exactly but something else. Warm. Familiar. Impossible.

She shook her head. "No."

The wolf took another step toward her and Aurora choked down a startled gasp. Then suddenly just as quick as it had come the wolf turned and vanished into the trees.

Aurora remained frozen against the tree, listening till the sound of the creatures feet had totally disappeared. "What the hell was that?" she whispered, her voice barely more than a breath.

She had no idea. She had no idea that the strange creature she had encountered was not a normal wolf and she certainly had no idea that far deeper in the woods, the same wolf was still following her scent. Nor did she know that the man she was about to meet, was the same creature.

Far deeper in the forest the enormous wolf finally slowed. He had felt it the moment he had caught her scent. Something about this human girl had affected his instincts in a way he no longer understood. He stopped beneath the moonlight and shifted his bones cracking as his fur darkened into the color of the night sky. When the transformation was finished, a tall man stood in the shadows of the trees.

Ethan Kings lifted his head, his jaw tightening as the unfamiliar scent of the girl filled his nostrils. Inside him his wolf stirred.

Mate.

Ethan went completely still, his jaw flexing. A human girl in his territory and somehow ... his mate.