Wolf Prince Read online

  “Let them go,” he roared. “This is between you and I!”

  “Convenient,” Emory retorted. “It didn’t look that way a second ago.”

  Logan stepped forwards, and Egon moved with him, daggers spun in his hands. “Please do something reckless. I hate waiting for my turn,” he taunted.

  “This is between you and I,” Logan growled again, his eyes carefully watching the wolf knights who were slowly approaching him.

  “Stop,” I ordered them, throwing the knights a low glance over my shoulder, as my Alpha power fueled the words.

  “Verdammt!”—fuck! Egon cursed as he and the others halted behind me.

  “I can deal with him on my own,” I assured them, my gaze returning to Logan.

  “Gustav…” Zelin warned from her place on top of Kyle. “Do not engage him. This is what he wants. He’s waiting for you to slip up, so he can blame you for the situation. Do not give him that. I am the Eisen Ritter. Leave this to me and my knights,” the last words were more an order than a reminder.

  Logan grinned as though enjoying this. “Taking orders from a girl, Prince?”

  “Oh, shut your fucking sexist mouth, and use the two inches of functioning brain you have left,” I snapped at him. “You have no idea what it means to be a man. Zelin would be a better man than you, without even trying. Any woman could, for that matter.”

  He growled, moving closer to me as he began to shift into his timber wolf. “I’m going to destroy you. This is my territory, no one gets in my way.”

  “Are you seriously challenging me right now? I’m an Alpha and you are a Beta, a poor one at that. You could never take me.” I stepped closer as my arms began to elongate, fur bursting out of my skin awkwardly—I was losing the battle to hold the shift.

  “You may be an Alpha, but I was trained by a freaking ex Seal. I know how to end you.”

  “Gustav!” Zelin roared, pissed out of her mind.

  “Stay out of this!” I ordered her, feeling my power slam into her. My eyes returned to Logan. “Leave now, and I’ll forget you came here to threaten me.”

  “Fuck off!” he growled.

  “I’m trying to save your worthless life!” I shouted. “Don’t be a fucking idiot, and leave, now.”

  Logan lunged for me.

  9

  Shreds of clothes exploded around me when my wolf form erupted out of my body in a split second. My skin ripped open in some places with the abrupt shift, and Logan and I collided mid-air.

  The silver spikes on his front paws dragged along my sides as we crashed against the ground, tearing into me. A half growl, half whimper left me as the scorching pain began to burn me from the inside out, but I pushed against Logan, falling on top of him.

  My sharp teeth pierced his thick coat as my jaw clamped around his shoulder, his painful cry reverberated through the cold air, while my onyx claws pierced his chest and I jerked my head back, snatching a chunk of his fur coat with my teeth. His hind legs kicked my stomach, pushing me off of him, and I crashed against one of the small boulders behind me.

  We both righted our selves instantly, growling at each other, even as he limped before me—his left paw barely touching the ground. Thick crimson blood seeped from the ragged gash I had left on his shoulder, muscles were visible, clearly damaged from the bite. I spit his skin to the ground between us, tasting his blood, and we began to circle each other.

  Logan had challenged me, and that was a grave offense. This was not my kingdom back in Germany, where sons challenged their fathers for Alpha as the simple cycle of life in a pack—fighting only until the opponent was defeated. Logan meant to kill me, but I wasn’t planning to give him the satisfaction.

  The messed-up part was I didn’t want to kill him, even after what he’d done. I just wanted to teach him a lesson, and for that I needed to hurt him enough so that he could no longer fight.

  The burning intensified along my ribs with each step, sending pain all over my body, and weakening me. I didn’t understand why. Yes, he had scratched me, but I had felt the burn of silver before—all part of my training with my father and the royal army. Yet, it had never been this debilitating. I had already built a small resistance to it.

  It was only then that I realized a very important factor I had failed to notice. The silver spikes from Logan’s gloves were detachable, and were now encrusted between my ribs. Blood trickled thickly over my fur and onto the grass.

  My grunting rippled into a full-on raging growl, and I shot towards him, unwilling to let him get the upper hand.

  “Gustav!” Zelin screamed trying to stop me, her voice filled with pain.

  Nevertheless, her pain wasn’t born from the silver she could feel scorching her insides because of my injury. She was hurting because I commanded her to stay out of this fight, not to protect me, actually using my power over her for the first time in our life.

  Leaping high, I moved for his throat. My body twisted mid-air, as I escaped Logan’s snapping jaws, mine clamping over his neck the next second, but I didn’t escape his front claws. I fell over him, his claws dragging down my stomach, but the moment I locked my canines around his neck he faltered in his attack.

  Yelping, he bucked underneath me, trying to get out of my deadly hold, but the pressure increased when I pressed my weight over him, cutting off his airways with the force of my bite.

  “Submit!” I roared into his mind, his eyes widening as I invaded his consciousness—apparently, he didn’t know I could do that.

  His blood seeped into my mouth, as his fight became more desperate, trying to knock me off of him. My right paw pressed against his chest, and the crack of bones reached me. His clavicle moved under me, and he raked his claws over my sides again, being the only form of attack that he still had.

  Something snapped inside my chest when Zelin’s enraged scream split the air, fighting my order, and she jumped towards us, now in wolf form. She had literally broken the magic of my command. The shock rippled through me, allowing Logan to escape my hold. He flipped upright, pouncing towards me, but he had no chance in hell.

  Zelin’s jaws closed around his tail, stopping him, and she pulled him backwards, throwing him on the ground. Her silver claws returned the favor, slicing his sides open, before he even had a chance to notice she was there.

  Raw fire from the silver infused injuries he had inflicted in me, consumed me whole, and I stumbled, taking a ragged breath while forcing myself to remain focused.

  But the rage fueling Zelin overcame any pain she felt from me. With a ferocious growl, she clamped her jaws around his neck and lifted him off the ground. Her head sook in the air, making his wolf form thrash like a ragdoll, with the force of her jerky movements.

  My guardian suddenly let him go, and his body soared through the space, crashing against a massive elm tree to our right. The crackling sound of his bones as they fractured on contact was jarring, but I couldn’t concentrate on him anymore.

  As the adrenaline of the fight left me, shocks of electrifying pain shot through me, like pure lightning originating between my ribs, and I collapsed on my side. My eyes widened while my wolf form writhed on the ground. I couldn’t breathe.

  “Gustav!” Zelin cried out, now a woman, and ran towards me. She knelt over me, clutching her torso from the pain.

  I vaguely noticed Logan’s body slumped at the bottom of the tree trunk. Had she killed him? “No. Don’t… kill him,” I desperately rasped.

  The knights gathered around us, but they were just gray blobs as my vision started fading to black.

  “What is happening to him?” Emory asked panicked, but I couldn’t answer.

  “Silver. He has silver in is body!” Zelin croaked in response, fighting my pain as it scorched her.

  Her hand gripped the wounds that had ripped open on her skin when Logan sliced into me—blood trickled through her fingers and slid down her chest. Because of our connection, every wound I suffered, she suffered too, hurting me twice.

  My
body contorted from the agony, and I fought the screams that wanted to erupt from my throat. Zelin’s face came into view as she swayed and fell to the ground beside me, weakened, no longer able to fight the agony.

  Pure fire coursed through us, burning us from the inside out, and my eyes stung.

  I couldn’t move. I couldn’t think. I wasn’t even sure I was breathing, and the darkness was closing in on me swiftly.

  “Gustav… shift back!” Zelin begged between gasps.

  “We can’t take the silver out like this,” Olis added, his arms already trying to hold me in place.

  I closed my eyes, visualizing my human form, and prayed my body followed the hint. The excruciating pain became stronger while I shifted, until it was overwhelming and a ragged scream erupted out of me, echoed by Zelin’s.

  “Dear Goddess!”

  One of the guys exclaimed, shocked, but I could no longer recognize the voices.

  “He has silver spikes inside him! Several,” someone else noticed, reaching for my sides.

  “I’m sorry, Brother. This is going to hurt like hell,” another man spoke, and the shadow of a dagger danced in my blurry vision.

  The next second the tip sliced into me, between my ribs, digging out the silver points stuck there. A guttural scream tore from my throat, but that didn’t stop him. He continued to carve out the silver points one by one, on both my sides, while the others restrained me, and Zelin.

  Zelin’s body shook next to me from the pain she was enduring through my injuries. Our blood slowly stained the grass beneath.

  A few heartbeats later I felt strong hands around me, and saw Zelin’s body being lifted off the ground. I guess they had successfully removed the silver, even though I couldn’t tell. I couldn’t concentrate on anything other than the vicious pangs inside Zelin.

  “Get the others,” someone ordered. “We are talking them with us.”

  My drowsy eyes saw them taking Zelin to the other car, while they placed me in the SUV, resting across the length of the now flattened back seats.

  “Mine!” I roared, but it came out like a ragged plea.

  The guys froze with the one word. Looking at each other and trying to make sure they’d heard correctly.

  “Mine...” I repeated, trying to draw in a full breath.

  Bringing her back, they struggled to get her in the back with me, until they rested her body on mine, both of us barely fitting in the space. With the last ounce of strength that I had left, I wrapped my arms around her, flushing our bare bodies together, and our forms shook against the other.

  Tires screeched as they finally hit the asphalt and we sped towards the house. “Call Audrick and tell him to have Curtis get everything ready, we are coming in hot,” someone barked.

  “Slam the damn pedal!” someone else shouted. “I don’t think there is much time left. Gustav’s healing is not taking care of it. The silver spikes might have been inside him for too long.”

  Sirens and horns sounded in the distance, but miraculously, I could no longer feel anything but Zelin’s soft body pressed to me while I held her.

  “Mine…” I whispered into her mind. My lips brushed hers and my head fell against the seat, until she disappeared from my hands and there was nothing left but overwhelming shadows.

  Hushed voices echoed in the distance as my senses began to awaken. They came to me and faded away, like waves, while my awareness became stronger and stronger. I suddenly jolted awake on the bed.

  “Mine!” the word became a growl as my hand flew to my stomach, the sting from the wounds making me violently tense—which only made it worse. “Where is Zelin?” I rasped as the others rushed towards me.

  “How are you feeling?” Audrick asked instead, sitting next to me. “We didn’t expect you to wake from the surgery so soon.”

  Surgery? “Where is Zelin?” I asked again, gripping the front of his shirt and pulling him closer. I growled as the pain increased. My eyes fell to my body while I panted. Bandages wrapped around my chest and torso; the stain of blood was still fresh on them.

  “She’s in her bed, resting. It’s been about four hours since you were brought home.” Curtis was the one to answer. “I had to perform sur—"

  “Bring her here,” I growled interrupting him. “I need her with me.” I gasped, falling against the pillows when Curtis gently pushed my shoulders down, urging me to lay back.

  “You need space to rest, you are healing very slowly, Gustav. I had to perform surgery on you, because the silver spikes they attacked you with were especially designed to melt with a shifter’s body heat. When Egon carved them out of you with his dagger, traces of them had already melted into your tissue and muscles. I had to open each wound and scrape the silver off your insides.”

  Fuck.

  “I. Need. Her. With. Me.” The words slipped between my gritted teeth as a clear warning, and my hand gripped his wrist, claws protruding from my fingertips, and slicing his skin. I hadn’t even processed his explanation fully; all I wanted was to see for myself that Zelin was okay.

  Audrick’s worried gaze went to someone that stood by the dividing wall, and the adjoining door opened. Olis crossed over a moment later, carrying Zelin in his arms, and a wave of relief crashed against my chest when I saw she was breathing. She just seemed weakened by the persistent pain of my injuries.

  The knight carefully laid her on the bed beside me, and her unfocused eyes settled on me.

  “Are you okay?” I whispered, turning on the bed to face her.

  “You are going to tear open your wounds again, Gustav.” Curtis urgently warned. “I had to stitch them all closed to help your healing take over.”

  I ignored him, pushing the pain away as my gaze desperately roamed Zelin’s face. Grunting, I moved closer, focusing my tired gaze on her body. Pulling down the straps of her cotton nightshirt, I found her breasts and torso wrapped in bandages too, though hers didn’t have crimson stains like mine did.

  Desperately, I pulled at one of the rows along her ribs to see the slashes she had suffered, in response to my own, were already healing. Only a puffy pink line to be found. My gaze shifted up her chest and saw the four pink lines that stretched from her clavicle down to the middle of her breasts from when Logan raked my chest.

  My heart split at the sight, and I placed a kiss on the pink streaks on her chest, even though they were almost fully healed. Lifting her straps again, I pulled her to me.

  “I’m so sorry, I put you in this situation. This is all my fault.”

  A different kind of pain inundated my chest while I held her. The sound of the door opening and closing reached me, and I realized the others had left to give us privacy. Yet, there was nothing else capturing my attention but her. Kissing her face tenderly, I tried to help her focus on me.

  Zelin blinked several times, finally focusing on me, and her eyes filled with tears. “Don’t ever order me not to protect you again, or I swear I will kill you myself.”

  Her lips trembled with the words, but I knew better than to think it was from sorrow. Her anger viciously slammed into me with every word.

  “Please forgive me for doing that, but I couldn’t let him fight you. I would die before I let something happen to you.” My arms tightened around her, and I pressed my forehead to hers. “I can’t be without you.”

  A tear escaped her with my words. “So instead he hurts you, and we both die. Brilliant plan.” Her hand lifted to my cheek while her eyes bore into mine. “Stop trying to protect me, you ignorant fool. It’s my job to defend you, not the other way around.”

  Sighing heavily, I lifted my forehead from hers, the same feeling that had awoken inside me the last time I had her in my arms returned.

  “I can’t help it. I need to make sure you are safe, and no, I’m not trying to be sexist. I know you are my Irion Knight and you are far stronger than I am, even with my enhanced abilities. I just… I can’t help but feel this way about you. You are too important to me, Zelin.”

 
She remained silent with my words, searching my gaze as though trying to discover something inside it. Something she seemed desperate to find. Leaning closer, I kissed the tear off her cheek, lips lingering on her skin. My arms brought her even closer, and her soft body grazing mine, sent ruthless sensations rushing through me, until my every cell sparked like a live wire.

  I swallowed while the sentiment overwhelmed me, taking everything I ever felt for her and magnifying it, until it was all consuming.

  “You are too important…” I whispered again.

  All thoughts faded when my lips brushed the skin of her temple, leaving a kiss there, and feeling the warmth of her seep through my lips. My devotion grew while I left gentle kisses over every inch of her face, nuzzling her cheek and continuing down to the sensitive curve of her neck.

  Swallowing, I lifted my face, and found her slighting trembling under me. Her chest rose and fell with her panted breathing—it had become ragged somewhere in between the kisses my lips left on her neck.

  Her breasts pressed against my chest, letting me feel their softness even through the nightshirt she wore. Instinctively shifting on the bed, I lay over her, pressing our bodies impossibly closer, and awaking a whole new wave of reactions. Need travelled through me so strongly, I wasn’t exactly sure if it was mine, or hers.

  Bottomless onyx eyes focused on me, all weakness or fog they might have shown before already gone. The wave that had once ruptured the damn inside me returned, its emotion becoming a tsunami within, and demanding one thing. Her.

  Mine…

  “What if this connection between us is more than we think?” I whispered, trying to put words to an otherwise inexplicable feeling.

  “I’m your Eisen Ritter,” she answered breathless, her soft chest pressing against mine with every ragged breath she took.

  My eyes fell to her lips, and I shook my head, listening to the thundering of my heart.

  “That’s not all that you are. You hold the other half of my soul, Zelin. I can feel you inside me as strongly as if you were part of my being. My thoughts are not mine; they are yours. My emotions course through you with my every breath, and there is no secret I could ever keep for myself because you can hear my every thought. You are with me, always.”