Page 51 of Their Princess

However, instead of hugging the quilled body of a hellhound, I ended up with my arms around a six foot tall, fleshy, humanoid male.

Jerking backwards from him, I blinked in shock as I stared into the familiar eyes of Dhun, in what appeared to be a human male’s body. His skin was dark with darker toned swirling tattoos along his arms and neck that looked like thorns, and his hair was made of a combination of hair and quills, both black and sparkling in the sunrise.

“Hello, Princess!” he greeted me with a warm smile. “Sorry my new appearance startled you.”

“Not just your appearance, but your power as well,” Mason commented from just behind me.

I flinched, not realizing Mason had moved to my shoulder, likely when Dhun had transformed.

Dhun smiled at Mason. “Yes, it seems I’ve gained a few bonus perks in my new role.”

“New role?” I asked.

He nodded and smiled even wider as he announced, “I’m pack leader of the hellhounds!” The gathered hellhounds howled and yipped excitedly. “Now, I have more powers including being able to shift into this form to easily communicate with others to help with the advancement of our kind.”

“I thought demons didn’t differentiate between themselves?” Kayden asked from my other shoulder.

Had they both run up when Dhun had shifted forms? Or had they just followed me and I hadn’t noticed.

Dhun shrugged. “Me neither, yet I was given the mantle and here I am.”

“Given the mantle by who?” Mason asked.

He looked at me and said, “Princess Liliana, of course! When she called me from the other world to help.”

How could that be possible? I didn’t know how to give people powers or anything like that! Plus, I hadn’t purposefully called him. I’d sent Azgon to free him, but … maybe I’d done it subconsciously. Maybe it was part of my powers as princess and Third to Reign’s heir?

“You seem shocked, though, I suppose that makes sense. It was shocking to me when I shifted for the first time as well.” He laughed and shook his head.

“Mama! Are … are you safe?” Elrith called from the doorway where he still clung to Trey, little body shaking hard and eyes wide in terror.

Dhun’s face softened as he faced Elrith. Shocking us all, he walked forward a few steps before dropping to a knee and bowing his head. “Greetings, Prince Elrith. I am Dhun, pack leader of the hellhounds. I offer you my sincerest and most heartfelt sympathies for the loss of your blood parents.” He raised his eyes to meet Elrith’s and continued, “We have punished the ones who killed them. Your mother and father’s souls are released and those who harmed them will never harm another.”

Elrith stopped shaking and tears sprung to his eyes. “Y-You killed them?”

Dhun nodded. “We will not tolerate unnecessary killings amongst our people. All of the hellhounds have been instructed as such. They also know that Princess Liliana, her mates, you as her son, and all her family are to be protected at all costs. If you ever need me, you only need to howl and I will race to your rescue.”

Elrith patted Trey on the shoulder and he set Elrith down. Taking slow steps, Elrith walked to Dhun and said, “Thank you.”

Dhun smiled at Elrith and said, “I also bring a gift for my apology to show our sincerity.”

My eyebrows shot up into my hairline as a hellhound pup close in size to Elrith trotted forward to sit beside Dhun. The pup looked up at Elrith with their tongue lolled out the side of their mouth.

“This is my daughter, Kora. She is your guard, assigned to stay by your side and protect you, no matter what world you may go to. She will learn how to fight from us, a shared mental bond we have, and will alert us if there is need for our additional aid.”

He was giving us his daughter?! While it was normal for a guard to be assigned to royalty, like Ezio had been mine, I hadn’t anticipated Elrith’s first guard being a hellhound pup, especially not Dhun’s child.

“Are you certain of this?” I asked Dhun.

He smiled at me over his shoulder and nodded once. “Yes. She will be a good guard and friend to Elrith. This will show the world we are working to mend our issues and unite our peoples.”

Well, when he put it like that, how could I refuse?

“Looks like we’ll have another mouth to feed,” Mason whispered to me. “She is a cute hellhound, much like her father was.”

Dhun’s smile slipped into a frown. “Kora is much cuter than I was.”

Mason’s smile turned into a serious expression as he nodded. “Of course she is.”

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