Wolf Prince

by Stephany Wallace

  Logan moved away from the wall when Zelin finally let him go, his shocked expression shaded with the pain that filtered through it. His hand pressed against the spot where Zelin’s claws had just been, and I caught the sight of blood beginning to seep through the fabric.

  She had sliced his skin open.

  Logan swiftly closed his jacket over the wound, the fury growing in his eyes. Whirling around, he began to push people out of the way as he left the hall. The three guys with him looked at us half stunned, half promising revenge, and they disappeared behind him.

  “What in the freaking hell, G!” Zelin barked, reaching my side while the humans around us stared at us in shock, and confused as to what had just happened.

  “You should have let me handle that!” I snapped back.

  “You call that handling it?”

  Her flaming gaze went to my hands, and it was just then that I noticed my arms had partially shifted. I plunged my hands into the front pockets of my jeans, my heart thundering against my chest wildly. Rage still coursed through my body. I willed my arms to shift back as the fur rippled up and down my arms, thanking the Goddess that the sleeves of my button-down shirt covered me.

  “If you had punched him like that, you would have smashed in his face, G.” Zelin admonished, “You know how strong you are. You could have fractured his skull, and killed him, in front of everyone.”

  Zelin was referring to my enhanced strength, which surpassed that of a regular wolf shifter, and she was right. The problem was that at that moment, I hadn’t cared. I wanted to kill Logan.

  “I don’t need you fighting my battles.” I answered instead.

  Her eyes widened. “Uh, have you met me? I’m your Iron Knight. That’s literally why I’m here.”

  Growling, I spun on my heel, pushing past the knights who stood behind us. The students still in the hallway moved out of our way. “Why are you on my case? You sliced his skin open with your claws.”

  “Handing out justice is my mission. I can hurt him, you can’t!”

  “Actually, he’s human. So technically, none of us can hurt him,” Emory clarified through the shared link.

  Zelin and I snapped our heads towards him. “Shut up!” we shouted, and he lifted his hands in surrender, following us in silence while we walked out of the building to search for Sarah and take her home.

  What a damn nightmare. I should have never gotten out of bed.

  Sarah’s screeches mixed with my laughter as her character got killed yet again in the game. We had been playing Destiny since we arrived from campus, and the guys were ganging up on her.

  “Can you stop killing me?” she yelled at Rod. “We are on the same team!”

  Rod faked confusion, scratching his Wolverine beard pensively. “That was you? My bad.”

  I lost it. My shoulders shook as I laughed while Sarah flung the throw pillows from the sofa at him. They crashed against his face and chest, as he grinned, not even bothering to cover himself from her cushioned attack.

  Sarah chuckled, giving him the evil eye. “I might not be an expert, but the whole point of playing on teams is to help each other in the game.”

  “Is it though?” Egon added from the gamer chair beside Rod. “Or is it so you can use the rest of your team to make it impossible for your friend to win the game?”

  She threw a pillow at him too.

  “She might have a point, but then we have totally been doing wrong all this time, Big Wolf.” Dale faked innocence while Rod nodded.

  “My bad.”

  “Playing with the guys means avoiding them as well as whatever other obstacles the game throws at you,” Zelin explained, lips twitching in amusement. “Because while you are playing, they are doing everything possible to stop you from winning the game.”

  “That’s how we roll,” Egon declared in a rapper voice, waving peace fingers before him.

  “Pretty much,” I added, biting into one of the chocolate chip cookies Ms. Elizabeth had brought as a snack.

  “Gee thanks, that would have been nice to know before we started playing.” Sarah’s elbow connected with my ribs playfully.

  I chuckled, leaning into her to kiss her cheek. “My bad.” I gave her the rest of my cookie and she took a bite. “You want to play Kingdom Hearts next? That way the guys can’t attack you anymore. We’ll just root for you.”

  Her eyes filled with excitement as she nodded, something told me she wasn’t used to playing violent games like we were.

  “Do you have the one with Frozen and the Toy Story characters?” she asked excitedly.

  “Buzz Light Year is the shit,” Emory yelled in response and we all laughed.

  “I would date Elsa,” Egon offered. “She’s hot.”

  “I’ll help you,” Dale offered, giving Sarah one of his signature smiles, and moved to her side. “I know all the tricks.”

  Emory proceeded to change the game for her as they engaged in a discussion about the do’s and don’ts of the game.

  My cell rang then, and I saw Kevin’s number flash on the screen. “It’s Kevin,” I sent into Zelin’s mind and excused myself, walking to the far corner of the game room.

  “Hey,” I answered on the third ring. Zelin walked closer.

  “Dude, second day here and you had to pick a fight with the four?”

  My forehead creased in confusion. “The four?”

  He sighed. “Logan, Samuel, Nathan, and Kyle. The four. Also known as the untouchables.”

  My whole body tensed, my anger returning at the mention of Logan. “I don’t give a fuck what they are called. Logan tried to take advantage of Sarah last night,” I snapped, feeling Zelin’s hand grasp my shoulder, wiling me to calm.

  “Shit! You are kidding. You didn’t tell me Logan was the guy you stopped last night.”

  “I didn’t know his name would mean something to you.”

  “Unfortunately, it means something to everyone in this town. The four, are sons to the four richest families in Chicago. It’s no coincidence. That is why they are freaking untouchable. People look the other way when it comes to them.”

  Zelin and I exchanged a loaded glance. She could hear our conversation clearly with her superior hearing. So much for coming here, trying to be normal, and not call attention to ourselves.

  “What did you hear?” I asked, referring to the reason he had called. I hadn’t told him about what happened today, which meant word had spread on campus.

  “You need to be careful. Word is the foreign students humiliated him today; and he’s not going to swallow that, Gustav. I bet my fine ass he’s going to seek retribution.”

  I was struggling between being pissed and laughing at him. “Your fine ass?” I asked skeptical.

  “What? I do a lot of squats. I have a nice bump.”

  Zelin’s lips twitched as she repressed her amusement. “He does,” she shrugged.

  My eyes narrowed at her dangerously, a low growl starting in my chest. WTF was it with all the growling?? Zelin let the smirk take over her lips as she raised a challenging brow at me.

  Scowling at her I focused on Kevin’s words again. “Listen. Let them come after me. I’m not afraid of them.”

  “Dude, you should be.”

  Zelin snorted. “Please. He should be scared of us.”

  “Is that Zelin? Am I on speaker?” Kevin asked, perking up instantly.

  “Yep. You are on speaker,” I lied.

  “Hey, beautiful,” he greeted her, his tone changing to a smooth Casanova tone.

  Zelin rolled her eyes, walking back towards the sofa without answering.

  “Is she there? What happened?” Kevin asked confused, while I joined him in the feeling. My brows deeply wrinkled at my guardian’s reaction.

  “She blushed,” I admitted.

  “Yes!”

  “Calm yourself down, okay. You got an eye roll and a scowl too, so don’t get too cocky.”

  He chuckled, but my weary gaze remained on Zelin as the pressure retur
ned to my chest.

  Did she like him?

  * * *

  My hand curled around Sarah’s as we walked along the internal garden of the house. The sun was setting, fading orange lights bleeding into the stone walkway with each step we took. In a couple of hours, it would be time for us to change, and prepare for the Alpha Supreme’s party, but I wanted to spend some time alone with Sarah.

  It felt like things were happening fast between us, and though I was attracted to her, she was human, and I had never dated before because our race didn’t do that.

  We chose. We claimed. We mated for life.

  That was a wolf shifters’ relationship in a nut shell, so this was all new for me. There was something about her that intrigued me, but I didn’t really know much about her—other than being close to her could probably expose the secret of our race. Yet, I couldn’t chase away this feeling that I should be close to her. Protecting her.

  I wanted to get to know her better.

  “Is it true you are royalty?” Sarah’s question caught me off guard, as we sat on one of the benches next to the black cherry tree.

  “Is that why you like me?” I answered instead, caution lacing my words, though I wasn’t sure why I felt that way.

  Her brows gathered in confusion. “No, I… I just heard that today, and the guys told me to ask you.”

  “Oh. Sorry,” I sighed. “It’s just that I didn’t want anyone to know that.”

  “Oh.” She cringed. “One of my friends is studying psychology too, and the professor mentioned it. She shared it with me when I told her about you. I don’t care about the titles, I just thought it was neat.”

  So much for discretion. Letting out a resigned breath I nodded. “Yes, I am a prince back in Germany, though I wasn’t born one.”

  “Are you adopted?”

  “Yeah, you can say that.”

  Her lips curved into a sad smile. “Me too. My parents died in a car accident when I was ten years old.”

  Sadness filtered into my chest, and my fingers tightened around hers. “I’m truly sorry to hear that.”

  She nodded as though she had heard it one too many times. “The police said my dad lost control of the car because there was black ice on the road, but my dad had always been extremely careful driving during winter, and he even had winter tires.”

  “I’m sorry. I can’t imagine how hard that must have been.”

  She slowly shrugged. “My mother’s cousin and her husband adopted me, and became my parents for all intents and purposes.” Sarah turned to me, and the smile returned to her lips. “They are amazing. My dad adores me. Unfortunately, they were never able to have children, so they spoiled the crap out of me.”

  We chuckled. “In all the good ways, I’m sure. You don’t seemed like a spoiled brat to me.”

  She grinned. “I have my moments.” Her green eyes sparkled as she looked into mine. “What was it like for you? Do you remember your parents?”

  The question caused my insides to clench, and I was forced to think about my answer for a little too long.

  “It’s okay if you don’t want to talk about it, I didn’t mean to intrude.”

  “No, is not that… I guess, I don’t really talk about them.” Her hand tightened around mine, offering me strength. “My mother she, um… she died during child birth.” I guessed that was the closest to the truth I would ever get. “My father raised me until I was about four years old, but he was assaulted and killed. He died protecting me.”

  “Oh my God. I’m so sorry.” Sarah pulled me into a hug, holding me tightly to her, and I accepted her embrace.

  “Were you there… when it happened?” she asked hesitantly, pulling away to look into my eyes.

  I shook my head. “No, I was with my uncle,” I lied. “He raised me afterwards, until the people that killed my parents became a threat to me too.”

  Letting go of me, she took my hand in hers again. “Wow, that’s crazy. Was it like a gang, or something?”

  “I guess you can call them a gang. He risked his life getting me out of the place we lived in, and we travelled to the mountain, to the ReinheitWölfe kingdom. We snuck onto the castle grounds unnoticed by the guard, and he left me standing at their door. He promised me they were good people, and they would be my new family. I had no idea how right he was then. I stood in front of the door, terrified, seeing him walk away. But he saved my life that night.”

  My words faltered when the memories flooded my mind, and I was forced to clear my throat. Fighting the emotion that awoke in me, the muscles of my jaw jerked.

  Sarah caressed my hand tenderly. “And the royal family adopted you?”

  I nodded, taking a settling breath.

  “Did you ever see your uncle again?”

  My lips stretched into a wide smile, as I happiness filled me whole. Finally, a good memory to have. “Yes. My mom, the queen, took him in too, and we all became a family. One beyond my wildest dreams, and yes, they spoil the crap out of me too.”

  We chuckled.

  “Luna has been an incredible mother to me.”

  “What a beautiful name.”

  “Yeah…” I smiled. “It means moon in Latin, and Spanish.”

  “Do you miss her, being so far away?”

  “I do. Mami gives the best hugs.”

  “Mama’s boy,” she winked, playfully bumping her shoulder to mine and I laughed.

  “To the bone,” I admitted without shame. I adored my mom.

  “It took a while for me to see Lauren and Brandon as my parents,” Sarah confessed. “They were patient though, and they gave me so much affection that it was natural for me to let them love me. They healed my pain, and I never felt like they were trying to replace my parents. I know it’s a gift that I have these amazing people in my life, and I know my real parents are happy for us.”

  “I feel the same way,” I confessed, feeling more connected to her than I imagined I ever would. “I was terrified when my uncle left me at the castle that night, but the amount of love my family welcomed me with overwhelmed the fear away. They took me in, protected me and I fell in love with them just as they fell in love with me. My life began that night.”

  “And now you area mama’s boy.”

  I laughed. “through, and through.”

  “What happened to the gang? Did they ever pay for killing your father?”

  A heavy breath left my lips, the pain still throbbing in my chest. “Yes. My mom, the queen, made sure they all paid for they crimes. They never hurt anyone ever again.”

  Her shoulder bumped mine again. “Don’t worry. I’m a daddy’s girl. There is nothing Brandon, won’t do for me. He says I light up his soul every time he sees me.”

  “Yep, he’s a goner. Totally in love.”

  She chuckled. “Yes he is. The truth is, I am too. There is nothing I wouldn’t do for him. He’s so sweet to me.”

  Tears suddenly glistened in her eyes and I cradled her check.

  “Are you okay? What happened?”

  She shook her head. “I’m fine, it’s just… when I realized what was happening with Logan, the one thought I had over and over was how I would face my dad afterwards. I didn’t think of how I would feel, or how I would live with that. All I thought about was how much it would hurt him to know that had happened to me. It would break his heart, and I couldn’t do that to him. I could never tell him.”

  A tear escaped her, but she swiftly wiped it away.

  “How messed up does that make me?”

  My other hand came up to her face, and I held it as I looked intently into her emerald eyes. “It makes you an amazing woman. Putting someone else’s wellbeing before yours is the noblest trait a human can have. And ironically, I know exactly what you mean. I know how much my parents love me, my whole family, and I would face anything alone, just as long as they didn’t have to suffer. I would never want them to hurt because of me.”

  “You put others before yourself too. Is that why you want to b
e a psychologist? Why you came here?”

  “In part. I know what it is to go through hardship, emotional or otherwise. The people my uncle and I lived with were abusive, emotionally and physically. I know how powerless that makes you feel, and I want to help people who have gone through other types of trauma to find the other end of the tunnel. To know that you can leave that behind.”

  “That’s beautiful. I’m glad you were able to get out of that bad neighborhood and that those people were punished.”

  I nodded. “Me too.”

  “What is the other part?”

  Another heavy breath left me, as I mulled over her question. I wasn’t sure I had admitted that to myself yet. “I want to find out who I truly am. The people that killed my father, they weren’t just a gang. In a very messed up way, they were my family. The crimes they committed…”

  I paused, shaking my head. I didn’t want to get into it—not that I could share that with her even if I wanted to do it.

  “After I became a prince, I was suddenly thrust into this other world. A world that saved me, but one sometimes I don’t feel like I belong to. Sometimes I wonder if that malice that thrived in those people also lives in me. My mom and the other’s are so pure of heart, such honest people that I…”

  “You feel out of place sometimes, alone?” she asked, as though she understood what it felt like.

  Shame and regret coursed through me but I nodded. “I do. Sometimes I feel so alone… I know no one could ever understand. I came here because I need to find myself. To figure out where I belong.”

  This time it was Sarah who cupped my cheeks, forcing me to focus on her, green eyes filled with emotion.

  “I know we just met, but if there is one thing that I already know about you, is you could never have that malice you speak of, Gustav. When you saved me from Logan, the look in your eyes, the need to defend me burst from your every pore. It took one look at you then to know I was safe, and that feeling hasn’t left me since. Even as I sit here now, I know you will never do anything to hurt me. You too have a pure heart, Gustav. You are a protector.”