Page 9 of Protected By the Wolf Prince

By the time I reach the castle, I’ve already gone over what I’ll say to Father at least a dozen different ways. I know that I’m expected to participate in the chase tonight, but I do not want to. Not if Luna won’t be there.

Two guards bow low as I approach the heavy wooden doors of the throne room. “Is my Father inside?” I ask.

“Yes, my prince,” one of them answers.

He turns to the other and they each take one of the heavy metal latches and pull on the massive doors to open them. I study the scrolling patterns etched into the wood of a pack of wolves howling at a full moon, set against a star-covered sky.

When they are fully opened, I lift my gaze to find Father seated at the far end of the room on his carved throne. My mother sits beside him on the smaller one. I hate that it is this way. A queen is supposed to be equal to the king here in Winterhold, but it was a condition set by my Father’s father when he approved their bond.

Mother was born of a rival pack that makes their home in the mountains to the West. Their bonding ended the civil war between the packs. But my grandfather always worried it would undermine his own pack to allow her to rule as equal to my father.

And because this was agreed upon, it cannot be undone. A Wolf-Shifter’s word is tied to his honor. Once given, it cannot be rescinded for fear of facing the wrath of the moon goddess. If I were my father, I never would have agreed to such a condition in the first place.

As I approach the throne, Father’s green eyes fall hard upon mine. “You were out with the ambassador’s daughter last night.”

“Yes.” I will not deny it. “Luna is my friend. And I would make her my mate, if she will accept me.”

Father’s eyes widen and Mother goes pale beside him.

“You cannot bind yourself to her, my son,” Father states firmly.

“Why not?”

“Because she is the daughter of Ambassador Falen.” He leans forward. “I do not trust him.”

“What does that have to do with her?” I ask incredulously. “Do you think she’d be her father’s spy? That she would work to overthrow your power? That she would—”

“I will not chance it,” he grinds out.

I snap my gaze to Mother. Her hair is raven-black, like mine, marking her as an outsider—part of the Mountain Pack that my grandfather was so worried about. “You bound yourself to a member of a rival pack,” I point out. “And yet in all these years, Mother has never tried to overthrow you.”

Father growls low in his throat. “That is different.”

“How?”

“Your mother is a Wolf-Shifter. Luna is human. A citizen of Avalor, at that,” Father practically spits out the word.

He hates Avalor. The only reason he tolerates Luna’s father is because he wants to avoid a costly war between our kingdoms. He does not trust them. He never has, and I doubt he ever will.

“Luna grew up in Winterhold,” I protest. “She—”

“The answer is no,” my father snaps. “And that is final.”

“Your father is right, Malak.” Mother gives me a pitying look. “Besides, the chase is tonight, my son. You can find a proper mate there.”

“Proper?” I ask. “What is that supposed to—”

“A Wolf-Shifter female,” Father grinds out. “Nota human female.”

“Is it that she is human?” My brother Fredrik’s voice sounds behind me. “Or is it that she is from Avalor? Which is the problem?” he challenges. “Because I thought it was our right to choose who we take as a mate.”

I turn and smile at my brother, glad for his support. Fredrik claps a hand on my shoulder as he comes up beside me. He stands tall and proud, a younger version of our father with his short, brown hair and gray eyes.

Father growls low in his throat, baring his fangs. “It is both,” he says darkly. “I will not have an Avaloran in our pack. Nor will I tolerate a human.”

“There are many Wolf-Shifters who take human mates,” I counter.

“Humans are weak compared to our kind,” Father snarls. “I will not allow you to muddy our line with half-human offspring.”

---