The Wolf-prince's stolen bride

His silver hair...

He took his time and walked towards us at his own pace and in a slow and silent manner like that of a predator. He took his time to reach us but he soon stood before my father and still had that serious look in his eyes. I could see his eyes now and they stunned me as much as his face, he had the bluest set of eyes I had seen before. He had eyes like an early morning by the sea side. He brought his hand forward and so did my father as they shared a firm handshake like old friends.

“I hope you did not have to wait long for me King Soren, one of my men fell sick on the road so we had to ride at a slow pace for half a day.” He said in an attempt to explain why he had arrived much later than we had expected, his blue eyes still fixed on my father and totally unconcerned about my brother and me.

“I am glad you accepted my proposal and trusted me enough to ride here yourself. We can finally get on with our plans of a marriage alliance and give our people peace for many years to come.” My father said with a smile at the much younger Prince of Belfaire, Tristane gave a slight nod but didn’t smile back and showed no emotions on his face. I had no intention to just stand there and let him ignore me, especially not when I could not help but stare at him. I was the one he planned to get married to, not my father.

“It is nice to finally meet you Prince Tristane, I look forward to getting to know you better during this visit” I said as calmly as I could while I turned to fully face the man. I had finally gotten his attention as he turned to face me too and in that moment our eyes locked and I knew for certain that though I had never met the man before and was not ready to marry a complete stranger, to spend a night with him or let him do those things to me that no one else in the kingdom would ever dare to do to a royal Princess flashed through my thoughts as quickly and as brightly as lightning.

I stood there surprised by how wildly my body reacted to just our eyes with the man and how quickly my mind had moved, it was then I noticed the smile on his face. I looked at him and saw that in that very moment he held back a laugh as though he could read my mind and knew exactly what crazy thoughts currently ran through them which got me even more flustered. The smile was gone almost immediately and he looked cold and uninterested again as he covered the distance between us, I could swear that I saw him smile earlier but now all I could see was his tall body in front of mine, his blue eyes stared deep into mine as he took my right hand in his and planted a soft kiss on my knuckles that almost made me drop to my knees. I was barely able to think anymore.

“You must be the beautiful Princess Raya I heard so much about, even in my kingdom there are stories of your beauty and now I can see that they are all true. I also look forward to spending days and nights with you.” He said in a low voice that sounded almost like a growl and sent shivers down me. He held my hand in his for a few more seconds then let them go gently, he gave me a quick smile before then turned away from me to face my father again.

That was the first time I met the Wolf-prince of Belfaire and in just that minute we spoke; it was clear there was something primal and extremely dangerous about the man.

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There was no way I could stop the wild thoughts he had stirred up in me, I was completely and totally attracted to a complete stranger and I knew it.

He walked away from me with my father beside him as they spoke about their kingdoms, wars and people. He got to the door at the end of the room and turned to look at me one last time before he moved into a private room to discuss the alliance with my father, our eyes locked again and as my heart began to race and he nodded at me before he stepped out, I could tell that Prince Tristane knew exactly what he had done to me and he had enjoyed it.

I turned then only to realize that Tristane and my brother had not said a word to each other the entire time and had totally ignored themselves. I was certain then that there was some history between the wolf prince and my brother.

Royal Palace, Kingdom of Mari

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Two days had slowly passed since the Prince of Belfaire came to the palace as my father’s guest with clear intention to get married to me and yet, I had only seen the man once since he had arrived and that had been on the day arrival day. He had spent two days in my father’s palace already and I had persistently dodged and avoided him since our first encounter. I had my reasons, but even I did not understand them or know how to explain them in meaningful words.

The way he made me feel that day even with my father and brother next to us, and the things he made me think about, I had not forgotten them yet and I could not stop the thoughts about him that continued to fall like rain into my thoughts. No man had ever affected me so much, we were to be married in few months and were meant to become friends or at the least acquaintances during this visit but had only locked eyes or spoken to each other once in the two days he had slept in the guest rooms of the palace, and that was on the very first day when I stubbornly introduced myself to him in the royal court room. Since then, we had remained strangers.

The Prince of Belfaire had been a guest in the royal palace for two days already and had only seen me on the day he arrived. Since then, the decision to remain in my room and have my meals separately had surprised my father and everyone else in the palace.

My father must have thought I already hated the prince too much to share a meal with him, my brother must have thought I just couldn’t stand the man because of the stories about him, the maids who were surprised by what I had done so far also asked me the same questions. I was the only one who knew the truth and knew what the actual problem with the man was. I needed to stay away from him if I wanted to avoid any wild and stupid mistakes.

I could not stop my thoughts as they roamed to the memory of the long silver hair that touched his shoulders or the blue eyes that seemed so calm and yet so dangerous, even the way his armor fit his body had looked different to how I had ever seen armor on any other Knight before. I had even suffered crazy dreams about the man since the day I met him. It was clear to me after the first day that the only way was to stay as far away from the wolf-prince of if I intended to keep my thoughts under control, there was something about the man that I could not yet understand or explain.

I sat there late at night on the edge of my bed, unable to sleep and yet unable to put my thoughts together. I had been that way for hours and unsure of the reason why, but I was sure everyone else in the palace was asleep already, I couldn’t get myself to sleep yet, too anxious and excited to go to bed which was very strange because I had slept perfectly well every night up till that day when I saw those cold blue eyes. It was then, still lost in scattered thoughts that I heard a light knock on the door. It had to be my imagination, no one would come to my room so late at night, not even my father, it was against the rule to visit a single lady in Mari hours after dinner time when everywhere had become quiet and the city had gone dark.

I sat there, I listened and waited to hear the knock again, but there was nothing. The laughter that came from me reflexively was a soft one as I realized my mind had decided to play tricks on me ever since I met that terribly good-looking man who was to be my husband. The laugh came to a quick stop with a jolt of surprise when I heard the knock at the door again, this time much more clearly and twice in quick succession. Now I could not deny it, no confusions, there had to be someone at my door.

To get off my bed was easy, I walked to the door as quickly as my feet could carry me was also easy even as my breaths got deeper. I stood at the door and with one sharp breath, I turned the key and pulled the door open. I half expected my father to be there and half expected to see my future husband before me, but there was no one there. Relieved but disappointed as well. A weak smile crossed my face as I closed the door behind me and turned the lock close again, it would be disastrous if I were to meet Prince Tristane now when I couldn’t control my own actions or thoughts due to the lack of sleep I had endured for days since his arrival. I made my way back to my bed slowly again when I heard the knock come again as clearly as before, this time however I noticed something weird.

The knock had not come from the room door but from the door that led to the balcony.

It was impossible because my room was in one of the palace’s tallest towers which made it impossible for anyone to reach the balcony from outside. They would have to climb up the tower to reach the balcony from outside and no one had ever done that. I rushed to the door and swung it open, I was not scared in that moment, just surprised and excited because I knew who the person at the door would be. I stood there lost in his blue eyes that glimmered in the moonlight that shone down on us.

It would be a magical night, but a very long night.