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Chapter 4 - She reeks of silver

HADRIAN

My muscles are wired taut as I storm through the base and towards my sister. My wolf is pushing me to shift. Nero doesn’t like my sister either. Soldiers around me stumble backward as I pass them.

Yes, I'm angry. So fucking angry.

I charge into my cabin and face my sister. “What the hell is a human doing in my base?”

My sister ignores me as she takes a seat at the dinner table and drags her hand over the rough wood with a grimace before she shakes off the nonexistent dust from her hand and faces me. “Technically she is outside the base.”

I square my shoulders as I stare down at my sister. “You know what I mean, Morana.”

Morana is unfazed by my royal aura. Not only because she’s my sister, but also because she is the highest general in the army. At twenty-two, she is a true prodigy. I’ve fought tooth and nail for everything I’ve accomplished. Becoming the youngest general in the army at twenty-four, only to have it undermined by my younger sister a year later.

“What is this dear brother? Is our precious crown prince afraid of a mere human?”

“She reeks of silver, dear sister. What if she harms one of my men?”

“Then your men deserve it.” She bites back.

When the SUV arrived, I was just annoyed. I don’t like surprises, but when the human stepped out of the car, my wolf went mayhem. She was clearly hiding silver under her clothes. The fact that she was protected by guards irked me even more.

“You’re not allowed to take a human into the kingdom.” I remind her.

She gives me a wicked smile, showing her sharp teeth. “Just let me worry about that, dear brother.”

I’m grabbing at the end of my straws here. I have no authority over her. Even worse, she has a higher rank than me. I’m the crown prince, but she treats me like a lowly soldier.

“Father won’t be happy about this.” I grit out.

“Oh, he already knows.”

I clench my fists and try not to show my surprise. And judging by her smirk, I’m failing miserably. I don’t know what my sister is planning, but she always finds a way to get me in a bad light with our father. Even when we were children, I would get punished for something she did.

Nero is agitated and pushes me further to shift. I don’t know what he’ll do when that happens and I push towards the door before I can find out the hard way. The royal family prides itself on their self-control. I like to think I have more control than the average werewolf, but my sister always knows how to push my buttons. Making me feel fucking worthless.

I need to get out of here before I do something I’ll regret.

“Oh Hadrian, before I forget. Dad requests your presence at the palace tomorrow.”

I grit my teeth, push through the doorway and go straight towards the forest edge. I nearly rip my uniform off my body. The uniform of the upper rank has so many buttons and I growl out loud. When I’m finally naked I breathe easier for the first time since the SUV pulled up and I smell the human.

I take another deep breath and let Nero take over. My bones crack and snap. Large paws replace my legs and arms. Thick black fur grows out of my skin until I’m fully transformed. I’m the largest wolf in the kingdom. My human body and royal status affect the size of my wolf.

I push my paws in the soft ground and let the wind fly through my fur. My mother called me Hadrian, because of my raven black hair. My wolf has the same black fur. It doesn’t shine in the light and moves like a shadow through the forest. When I first shifted people started to call him Nero.

Nero pushes further into the woods. Were surrounded by ancient pine trees. Some of the fallen needles crush beneath our paws. This is the place I feel most content. This is where I feel strong.

The strong scent of silver reaches our nose and we wince at the pungent smell. Our sense of smell is stronger when we’re in our wolf form. Nero perks his nose towards the scent when something else catches his attention. Underneath the silver is another scent. Something sweet, like vanilla, custard and lemongrass. I let Nero push us towards the scent and away from the border.

The land surrounding the palace is vast and ever-expanding. I rarely ever go past the border, since there is no need for me to. My job is to lead the border troops to secure the safety of the citizens. We prevent rogues from escaping and humans from entering the kingdom. The kingdom is divided into many packs with an Alpha as their leader. But all the packs fall within the borders of the kingdom and under the jurisdiction of the Alpha King. My father, King Magnus.

The human girl wanders in the distance. Searching frantically around her and behind her. She stumbles over a fallen tree branch. Nero snorts, amused by the clumsiness of the human. I just think it’s stupid.

We keep our distance far enough so the girl cannot see us. Which is not so hard. Humans have terrible eyesight and are so slow.

"Where is that ducking river?”

“Did she seriously sensor herself?” Nero asks.

I grumble in agreement and then shake my head. The river is about ten miles away from here and she is going in the opposite direction. I’m starting to understand why Morana isn’t worried that this girl will harm anyone. If this girl can attack one of my soldiers, then that is their mistake.

“Is she supposed to breathe like that? Maybe she’s hurt.” Nero asks.

“Why do you care?” I bite back.

The girl is heaving, like she is about to pass out.

“She is human, maybe she is just too weak to walk.” I add.

Still, she keeps walking and Nero follows her. The girl is tiny and her pace is agonizingly slow. I roll my eyes when the girl stumbles again. This time she falls to her knees and stays there. The sun has set and the forest starts to darken. The girl must have been walking for a few hours already. The forest is fairly quiet except for the sniffles of the human.

Nero moves closer to get a better look and I don’t like this newfound curiosity from him. Leaves ruffle beneath our paws and the girl looks up.

“What was that? Who's there?” Her big gray eyes shine like the silver she is carrying and with a surprising amount of depth. Her white hair shimmers in the fading light.

Nero takes a step forward and I pull him back.

“What are you doing?” I growl.

He growls at me for stopping him. The sound vibrates through the air. The girl gasps and crawls back when she spots us in the shadows. Her eyes transform from defeated to terrified.

“Look what you did.” Nero growls.

I glare at my wolf.

The girl starts to breathe heavier than before and her movements get weaker.

“Maybe she is dying.” Nero says in a concerned voice.

He steps into the light and a high-pitched scream pierces through my eardrums.

“What the hell.”

Nero whimpers and covers his ears with his paws. The scream stops and when we look up, the girl lies still in the grass.

“Is she dead?” Nero asks.

“How should I know?”

I turn away from the girl as I take back control over my body. Pushing Nero to the background.

“We cannot leave her here.” Nero says.

“Yes we can.”

Nero whimpers in pain as we leave the girl behind. I don’t care if she dies here. She is only human after all. She means nothing to us. I push harder past the trees. His sad whimpers continue, giving me a pounding headache. I growl to make him stop. I can’t handle his emotions, because he enforces them on me as well and I’ll feel sadness for no fucking reason.

“Fine.” I turn back toward where the girl lies and easily pick up her scent again. Scrunching my nose at the silver. I seriously don’t get his interest in that human.

The human hasn’t moved and is still lying lifeless on the grass.

“Hmm, maybe she is dead.” I wonder out loud.

“We should take her with us.”

“Why do you even like her?” I ask.

“She smells good.” To prove his point, he presses his nose onto the girl's stomach. The scent of vanilla, custard and lemongrass intensifies. And I can’t help but agree with my wolf. She smells like fucking dessert. Her smell stirs something deep inside my stomach. Our nose moves up to her neck and we both hiss when silver burns our skin.

Her necklace is silver. Nero says.

I grumble. The blue glass charm slides out of her sweater and falls onto the hollow of her neck, exposing the silver chain that it’s attached to.

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