“W-what do ya mean?” Finley said, putting on his shirt. “She was with you. We haven’t seen ‘er.” My wings hadn’t left my body in a while now, but I could feel them twitch inside me, wanting to fly out of the house and search the area.

Alaneo, seeing my struggle, patted my hand, and I let him down. “We’ll find her. Come on.”

Alaneo started spouting out orders, and I immediately left the house. Running toward the woods, thinking whoever took her must still be traveling. She couldn’t have gone far.

Several pixies flew far away from me, seeing my state. My back was still twitching, but I kept them at bay. My teeth were sharper than I remembered, and I knew my eyes had gone black against my white skin. Hearing a twinkle above me, I stopped my pursuit to look up. It was a pixie named Nia. Nia quietly sat on my shoulder as I waited for her to speak. Tink, tink, tinkle, tink was all that anyone else could hear, but since I was bred to rule, I could understand all the fae creatures.

“She’s by the lake. She went with her friend,”Nia said. “They were laughing and skipping by not too long ago.” I nodded a quick thank you and sprinted in the lake's direction. You could hear squeals of screams and laughter until they halted.

Male voices infiltrated my ears as I continued to run forward and brush the bushes to the side. “Well, well, well, what do we have here?” I heard the voice of the familiar Carson. That wolf liked Melina. I could feel his disgusting aura of wanting a mile away.

“Melina, what are you doing here? The King will be pissed you are here…” The mumbling continued as my anger clouded my hearing. Pushing the last bush aside, I saw my Melina at the end of the pier, soaking wet, with her eyes as large as tea saucers. Fear was in her eyes as I looked at her.

She was afraid of me.

Carson stood back as he heard a roar come pouncing from the bushes on the other side of the lake. Alec’s wolf stood tall and circled back around where we were all standing. Tulip cowered in fear as Alec transformed in mere seconds. “Tulip! What the hell are you doing!” Tulip swam to the pier and grabbed her clothes, and put them on while she was still in the lake. Her body had been completely naked, and Alec’s anger was getting the best of him.

“All of you leave. This is a mate matter!”

Carson, Sean, and Rex turned and looked at Melina. She was still hidden under the pier and waved goodbye to them. Carson’s eyes hardened as he looked at me. “Don’t fucking scare her. I don’t care if you are a king of some fucking fairies.”

I grew my stature taller and bared my teeth at him, and hissed. I easily towered over the average-sized wolf. He might have had muscle and a wolf, but I was a king. I had more powers than he could even fathom.

My nails grew into golden claws as I gripped his neck. “Mind your business, pup.” I picked him up as he struggled. His friends stood back and slowly walked backward until they were at a safe distance.

“I know what is best for my mate. Get that through your head.”

For a wolf, he was quite scared of my appearance. Fae had been shunned into not releasing the anger of their true forms long before he was alive, so this was a first for him and his friends to see. Even Alec and Tulip stood stunned as they continued to back away.

Dropping the piece of bulky meat, I glanced over at Melina, who was shaking in fear. Controlling my breathing, I tried to calm my anger, but it was no use. Everyone had their backs turned to us and were walking away. Feeling afraid to speak, I motioned her to come to me, but she was hesitant. I turned around, giving her privacy. Hearing her pull herself out of the water, I continued concentrating on my primitive side to keep it still. The soft pitter patter of her feet came close, but I stayed turned around, afraid she would run seeing my face.

I knew my teeth were still razor-sharp, my eyes had been dilated, and my ears had even stretched farther than their normal size. It was primitive; it was animalistic, and that was what we really were on the inside. No matter how much my race and I tried to hide it, it would always be there. I was relieved my wings did not emerge; this would be a lot for her.

Melina’s hand slid into mine, and she looked up at me. Her eyes were glazed with tears fighting not to fall. I wanted to urge her to let them fall, let all her sorrow out, but I couldn’t. My voice was hoarse, raspy, like gravel rumbling in my throat. My darling had heard enough when I yelled at Carson.

“I’m sorry,” she whispered. “I was angry. I don’t have control anymore, and I wanted to have fun one last time.”

She doesn’t think she will have fun anymore? Gods, what the hell is going on in that head of hers?

I got on my knee and motioned her to sit, and she listened for once. Picking her legs up under one arm and supporting her back with the other, we headed back to the cabin.

It was late, and dawn would approach in a few hours. I laid her on the bed, her hair still wet as I covered her body with a blanket. I stood up to go downstairs until I could fully calm down, but she called for me.

“Osirus?” Turning around, the worried look on her face made me happy in a sick, twisted way. Maybe she cared about me. “Please stay.” Her voice was barely a whisper. Letting out a sigh, I came around the bed and laid down; she automatically glued herself to my side and buried her face into my chest.

“I’m sorry,” was the last thing I heard as we both fell into a deep sleep.

Melina

Instead of riding on Montu, Osirus had us ride in a carriage that Alpha Kane and Luna Clara let us borrow. All the dresses that Osirus bought and everyone’s luggage were stored inside with us. The seats were well-cushioned, and you could hardly feel the bumps along the road as we traveled.

Osirus had said nothing about last night, just that I should shower before we left so I wouldn’t be uncomfortable during the day. Osirus was mostly reading parchment paper and reading notes as I sat by the window and looked at the scenery.

We passed through most of the dense forest where most of the shifters stayed. Now we were in the plains area where there were still some shifters, such as lions and panthers. The occasional forest would come up, and bears and tigers would come trotting by. Several children would run up and pat on the carriage, and Osirus would groan at the loud noises. He was such a grump.

One child ran up to the carriage and gave me a bouquet of beautiful flowers, and I couldn’t help but smile and blow him a kiss, which caused the other children to complain. Pulling in the flowers, I smelled them; they smelled of citrus fruits like oranges and lemons. No flower could compare to this back on Earth. They were orange and yellow with hints of purple inside each petal. They stood out brightly against the olive green dress that Osirus had me wear.

“What do you think, darling?” he asked suddenly.