RAYA
It had always been the same, my nightmares of the woman in the red hood with claws for hands and her bloodied fangs extended dangerously from her twig-thin lips.
My mother had never said anything to me when she chased me through the fog, the crimson of her cape bleeding in and out of view until my breathing seized in my throat and I snapped awake.
Again and Again, night after night up until today, when I felt the thud of my heart pounding into the soft cushion of a comforter I felt under my back as her words rang in my mind’s ear.
“Run,” The woman had whispered when she’d suddenly burst through the fog to grip me with burning hands, her hot breath scalding my face.
My mouth fell open as I peered into the empty sockets where her eyes should have been, before I felt the weight of my body shoot up, gasping and twisting awake as a chill clawed at the seat of my spine.
“Are you alright miss?” A disembodied voice boomed so close to my ear that I let out a banshee scream, throwing my hands out in an arc around me and connecting solidly with what felt like bone.
“Christ lady! Watch it will yer!” The sound was harsher now, and I felt my eyes shift in the darkness as I groped about what felt like sheets, struggling to my knees before I heard rustling some ways ahead as the rush of bright white light filled the room.
“W-what is this? What am I doing here?” I sputtered, raking my gaze from the owlish-looking man hunched over with the thread of the overhead lightbulb between his fingers to the tall rake of a man looming so close that I let out another scream.
“Interesting,” The rogue-looking man with dark hair that fell around his face in tussled waves murmured derisively, leaning back as I choked more expletives, stumbling back until my back slapped against the cool stone of the wall.
What the hell was this? Where was I?
I whipped my head about the surprisingly well-decorated room, taking in the superfluous silver of the chandelier that swung slowly from the dome-shaped ceiling, the gold silk of ribbons that hung like tapestries from the walls, swirling and falling loosely over and around the silver iron of the canopy bed I was squatting on.
”Ugh,” I groaned, feeling my hands shoot up to grip the sides of my head as a sharp pain wove through to my eyes as my heart thudded wildly in my chest.
How had I let myself be kidnapped? I cursed under my breath, knowing the burly man I lived with would surely have my head for disappearing on him.
“My name is Nikolai lassie. I rescued you from the Burning Castle.” The dark-haired man murmured, his face an expressionless mask of angular lines as he watched me through the piercing orbs of his gaze.
I shifted uncomfortably before my eyebrows shot up and realization dawned on me, the heat of embarrassment rolling up my neck to my cheeks as I remembered where I had seen him before.
The Burning Castle was what the villagers called Alpha Toph’s palace, and something told me that the evil place was well worth the name.
I shuddered, allowing my shoulders to relax as I eyed the two men towering in the doorway warily, feeling a twinge of regret as the gaunt man with closely cropped sandy-blonde hair shuffled to snatch his coat from the rack beside my bed, muttering something about Nikolai having a penchant for possessed women.
”Thank you Igor, for everything,” Nikolai rumbled, throwing the grumbling man a faint, lopsided smile as he stormed out of the room, before he turned to face me.
Igor? So that was HIS name.
“What's his deal?” I murmured, shrugging into the soft white blankets as the unease seeped through my pores.
There was something about the mysterious man that made tingles erupt in my belly. The intense way he stared at me, the smoky cerulean blue of his eyes roaming seemed to strip the very clothes from my body.
”Where am I? What is this place?” I croaked, wincing at the weak squeaking in my voice, and flushing with embarrassment before looking about the room, more to avoid the pin of the man’s gaze.
Could you manage not to sound more pathetic? Goddammit!
“You’re in the Stone City Castle, Miss Banks,” The man started and I reared back as though I had been slapped, wheezing a surprised cough and snatching the silver chalice of a goblet he held out to me.
The feeling of my hands grazing his thick fingers sent a jolt of heat down my core and I choked more on the water before he took it from me, hooking one eyebrow over the smooth line of his forehead.
“You alright?” He rumbled, an amused smile lining his lips as I started holes into the space over his head.
“You should rest up here, then we can find out where you live on the morrow.” Nikolai murmured, clapping once and surprising me when a pale-faced maiden shuffled into the ornately decorated room.
”This is Judith, your handmaiden for as long as you choose to remain here,“ He murmured, stretching a surprisingly long hand to the girl who curtseyed respectfully, her hazel brown eyes shooting up from her wide face to glance at me before she fixed them firmly back on her open-toed sandals.
I nodded disjointedly, unable to keep up with the rush of emotions that swirled through my head as I watched the handsome lines of his gaunt face, the dark linen of his button-down and lose-fitted pants, and the way he crossed his hands confidently her his chest.
Who was he? I couldn't figure him out! And he had his own castle nonetheless? It felt like I was trapped in another fever dream!
“Well, I'll leave you, ladies, to it,” He intoned, effecting a graceful bow before crossing his hands behind him and storming out of the room before I had a chance to speak.
ALPHA NIKOLAI“Fucking hell,” I cursed under my breath as I shut the door behind me, catching my bottom lip between my teeth as the ringing in my ears faded and I spread out the wrinkled paper between my fingers.Rays Banks, the daughter of a merchant tailor from the main city was wanted for absconding from the royal palace.I balled the paper in my hand, gritting my teeth as the implications ran through my mind.My brother was as merciless as he was ugly, but you would never tell from his dastardly good looks, the straight line of his spine, and the lopsided smirk that seemed to be permanently etched on the line of his bow-shaped lips.I knew how the village maidens daydreamed of him in the fields and farms, wishing for a dark prince that would whisk them from their sad little lives, up until he pressed the pointy tip of his sword at their throats.He would not give up easily, not without a fight. It didn't help in the least bit that I was spoiling for one.I cast my thoughts back to
RAYA BANKSI shifted my weight on the soft comforter of the bed uneasily. The longer the maid girl stood at the threshold of the silver-lined room, the more I struggled to clamp down on the urge to bite into my finger beds, the stretch of silence hanging like a maiden’s tits in the space between us.”Judith was it?” I croaked, managing to clear out the rubbish at the last syllable and affecting a measly charge of authority in the time it took the girl to look up and nod dutifully, staring at me through the heavily-lashed rims of her soulful eyes.I shifted again, glancing around the richly-dressed space and feeling like a brown-nosed donkey in a wedding dress as the unease settled like lead in my belly.“I’ll draw you a bath Miss, it’s almost time for dinner,” Judith voiced suddenly, startling me into what felt like a disembodied nod, grateful when she disappeared into the washroom and left me alone with my thoughts.Had Nikolai filed that under her list of duties as well? The though
RAYA“What the hell is that?” I coaxed, hardly trusting myself to breathe as I exchanged wide-eyed looks with the slack-jawed handmaiden.It had stopped almost as soon as it started, the shrill noise of a woman’s scream that felt like it was coming from outside our doors. My hands shook as they shot out to grip the cowl of the girl’s maiden smock, forcing her back into a squat as she rose to go.“No! Judith, it might be dangerous! We don't know what’s out there!” I whispered harshly, searching the twin black pools of her eyes that seemed to lack emotion. I would have thought the lady quite strange, if I hadn't heard the rapid thudding of her heart under my iron grasp.”I’m sure it’s not a big deal miss, these things happen sometimes around these here parts,” She started, and I blanched instantly, snatching my hands away from her bodice as she had just told me she liked her coffee cold and stumbling back into the tub, feeling the soap suds of the water flop and slosh about me.Not a b
NIKOLAIMy feet hit the ground almost noiselessly as I bounded toward the gates, feeling the dense calcium of my bones snap and twist as I shifted into my wolf mid-air, leaping up to the fire-lit cubicle of the Keep’s guard stations.“Y-Your Highness-” One of the hollow-cheeked keep guards exclaimed, lowering the spear gun he had spun to face me and adjusting the oversized helmet on his bald head with brown-rimmed claws.“Status report Baldy,” I growled, feeling the pool of drool gather on the sides of my law as I peered down the steep wall to see the large beige-furred wolf that was writhing and groaning outside the castle gates.I felt my brows furrow with concern as the guard launched a long spiel about how the soldiers had to trap the wolf in silver-wrought chains to keep it from biting off any more of the guards heads.I could tell it was agitated, throwing the triangle of it's head this way and that with deep, sorrowful groans as the silver bit into it's fur, leaving angry red w
ALPHA TOPHThe balls of my eyes shifted in my head restlessly as I watched the thin flaps of my father’s lips open and close with something akin to irritation.“You have to learn to get along with your brother Tophas, it's never been heard before in our history that the pack brothers are sworn enemies! This rubbish you have with your brother simply must stop!” He roared in his alpha voice, the red-rimmed balls of his eyes sending a shiver through my spine before I looked away.I hated that he called me Tophas, why the fuck couldn't he just call me Toph like everyone else?It was shorter even, easier on the tongue. A part of me knew already that it was to spite me, to show that he still possessed some sort of twisted dominance over me.“Do you understand me? There are issues we must attend to as a pack! Our legacy is on the verge of -” He started again and I felt something in me snap as I jumped to my feet.“Enough father!” I deadpanned, the clenched bell of my wrists shaking slightly
RAYA BANKSI gulped reflexively, taking a step back as the dark-haired man stalked towards me and the tower of the castle loomed behind us.”What are you talking about?” Prince Nikolai rasped, quirking one dark brow at me as he folded the thick mass of his arms over the toned abs of his chest.My eyes rested on the stretch of his muscles that stretched fairly against the skin under his rolled-up shirt sleeves before I swallowed, snapping my eyes away and feeling the beat of a blush creep up my cheeks.What was it I had been saying again? Lady Artemis! Why was it so hard to think when the man was around me? I could almost feel the pull of his wolf simmering beneath the surface, the dark power lurking in his restive gray eyes as the heat of his gaze raked over me.“I, I don't want to be any more of a burden than I already am, Your Highness, I'll take my leave, if it so pleases you,” I whispered, wringing my hands furtively as an odd look passed over the man’s face, and he inhaled a lon
ALPHA TOPHGone. The woman I had locked in the cellar was gone!How had a merchant’s daughter managed to break through the reinforced iron of the castle’s keep? It was remarkable. “Raya? Bloody hell woman, Are you in here?” I screamed, whirling on my haunches to peer about the room with my wolf’s vision, but she was truly gone.I threw my head back and let out a loud roaring howl, hearing the guards rush into the cellar and dance about the room, the tension in their coiled spring of bodies sending shivers of delight through my frame until I was unable to hold it in anymore.“Raya Banks, bloody whore, you shouldn't have done this,” I raged, barking out a harsh, demented laugh and turning suddenly to catch the guards exchanging dumb looks, instantly sending a surge of irritation bubbling up my throat.“Don't just STAND there you bloody fools! Find the girl! I don't care how you do it! I want missing posters in every state and city by fucking sunrise, you hear me?” I thundered, watching
NIKOLAIIt took longer than I would have liked for my breathing to go back to normal after the woman had made her request.I allowed myself to take a deep breath, stilling the shift of my wolf bubbling to the surface as I collected myself, careful to keep my face neutral when It was all I could do not to take her right then and there.“You know what? Never mind, I-I’m sorry to have bothered you, what was I thinking? I’m only a common girl, surely I can't ask that I share your bed,” Raya whispered as I watched her shoulders fall, a pang of regret twisting in my chest.I had taken too long to respond, and it was now obvious that the woman had mistaken my surprise for offense.Could i risk it really? Bringing my mate into my royal chambers without an official announcement was not a crime, but something told me the woman might think it deceitful, the council would not be pleased when they learnt who else she was mated to.I knew for a fact that Igor wasn’t.And there was the matter of wha