The Rogue Princess

Friend?

Zander had been restless for the past week; his wolf had been on edge mostly and his temper flared much more easily than usual. He had woken up that morning in preparation for the daily warrior training. When he got there Jason, the head warrior started to irritate him as usual. Zander never lets this bother him; he was used to being the end target of dirty jokes. As he was coming to the training grounds, Jason immediately pounced on him from behind but because his senses were always on high alert, he was able to avoid being tackled to the ground. It was the only way Jason thought, he would be able to beat Zander, but yet again, he was proven wrong.

Jason was not ready to accept that Zander was better at him by far in fighting. He had trained for many years but was nowhere near as good as Zander; this was humiliating because Zander had no rank in the pack. He was an orphan omega who was brought in by the late Luna Samara – may her soul rest with the goddess – one late night after an attack on his pack. She found him abandoned at the edge of Grundolf kingdom, naked, wrapped in a blue woolen blanket with nothing else on him except for a pendant tied on his tiny left arm. The Luna had insisted - even after the alpha king Casper had made it clear, they should just abandon the child to die, – that he would grow up as part of the pack in Grundolf.

“Just look at his mismatched eyes, I can assure you that this baby will bring a bad omen to our pack.”

“Listen to yourself speaking, what kind of an alpha are you? This child will stay here, bad luck or no,” Luna Samara declared.

“Okay, do as you wish but I insist that the boy spells ill omen for our people,” Casper tried to make his mate see reason but there was nothing anyone could do to change her mind about adopting Zander. She was so protective of him that whoever dared to speak ill against the lost boy with mismatched eyes, would suffer the wrath of their Luna. With time, everyone learned to ignore Zander and avoided making any snide remarks about him. Because of the Luna queen’s over protectiveness of Zander, Casper the alpha king became extremely jealous of the young boy adopted by his mate.

He would pretend to be nice and cozy with Zander in the queen’s presence but the moment she left, the king would harass him reminding him that he was unwanted even by his own parents and that’s why they had abandoned him. Zander would only stare at him without saying a word. He always remembered how the alpha king would at times smack him on the head with his backhand. He would feel like his head was about to burst but because he was a man, he would quietly leave from the king’s presence to find a safe place to cry his heart out. His guardian mother always used to tell him that real men do not cry and always act tough.

Zander lived in the orphanage until he reached the age of thirteen. The Luna always threw him a huge birthday party even if they celebrated his birthday on the day he was found by Luna Samara. She liked celebrating his day on the day she found him, brought him home, and always went out of her way to make sure it was amazing. No other child in the kingdom had an elaborate birthday party such as the one Samara threw for Zander, one would have thought he was her real son.

Samara’s love for Zander caused Alpha king Casper to feel insecure because he felt that the Luna was paying him more attention than it was required. His indifference to Zander caused most of the pack members to treat him indifferently though no one dared openly cause trouble for him. His troubles started when Luna Samara was killed in a rogue attack as she strived to protect the children from a vampire attack. Zander remembered Samara shielding them from an attack from a wildling vampire. Before she had a chance to shift and kill the vampire, it bit her hand and injected some of its vampire essence into her system. The days that followed the attack were full of apprehension as pack members waited anxiously to see if their Luna would pull through.

On the seventh day, she woke up from her deathlike slumber but something had been different about her. Her scent had changed from the lavender essence Zander was used to smelling from her to a rotten flesh and woodsy one. He had also been scared of the Luna, something he had never done before. She had tried to summon him to her side but he was too afraid to go near her. The last memory Zander had of Luna Samara was one that she was shedding tears that had the color of blood. Her eyes had changed too from the bright sea blue ha was used to a grayish-green color that looked dead.

“Zander son, please forgive me. Live a long and happy life my child, keep your pendant safe and never show or give it to anyone. You are to guard it with your life, do not be careless with it. A time will come and it shall guide you on your way in life,” she was speaking almost in a whisper that had he not been a werewolf he would have missed what she was saying. Zander had broken down completely, not knowing what to do. He had always looked up to her as a role model even though she was a woman. In his young mind he thought that she would be going for a trip to come back in several days. Little did his young mind allow him to know that Luna Samara would never be coming back home.

Zander had been brought back to the present by a whirl of wind that blew just before his face. This showed that there was somebody who had opened the portal to travel to another dimension. As he pondered who it could be that traveled at will between the third and fourth dimensions, Mizpah rushed before his eyes that he thought he was hallucinating. On his back was a woman… no, it was a girl’s body that was securely fastened in place on Mizpah’s pack. Soon after, one by one the emperor's royal entourage made way from the outer dimension into their own. His heart skipped a beat when he caught a whiff of scent from the woman who seemed unconscious on Mizpah’s back. His wolf was pacing in his head and it was giving him a headache. Had he not known about her being the long lost royal princess, Zander would have thought he had found his mate. His wolf that had been dormant for the past few years also perked his ears up and started prancing in his head until he had a headache. He followed behind just to get a glimpse on the angel from heaven, captured and riding on Mizpah.

He followed from a far off all the way to the main manor where the emperor asked his guards to escort the duo captured from the earthly realm. Zander noticed a woman who looked older, twined magically with roots at the back of Jared’s beast. She was struggling to get out of the magical grip. With a wave of his hand, the woman fell from the beast and hit the ground with a thud. She was trying to say something but Jared would not allow her, as he seemed extremely pleased with her discomfort. Casper arrived a few moments later and ordered the woman to be thrown in the dungeons.

Zander’s focus went back to the other woman tied on the back of Mizpah but was surprised to see Casper carrying her magically using the air magic to lift her. He directed the dome-like energetic sphere towards the castle’s main entrance while he followed behind. A few seconds later, Zander’s view vanished in to the main house. He heard the howl of a wolf, it was so loud that he thought It was behind him. When he looked around, he realized that the guards that were with the alpha king were looking at him strangely. Shortly after, another howl was heard but this time it sounded too near to be from outside. It was such a powerful howl that it caused all the wolves in the pack to answer to its call. The guards left behind by Casper were cowering in submission to Zander, exposing their necks in total submission. Immediately he recovered from the initial shock, he went inside the palace to follow the girl with Casper. He wanted to know why she had such an effect on him that she managed to rouse his wolf who had been quiet for close to three years.

Unfortunately he had been unable to learn anything more from the palace guards and had decided to take his time exploring the part of the northern wing of the palace. He was sure he would meet her while as long as she resided in the northern wing; a part of the palace that belonged to the royal family only and a select servants. He did not have to wait for long as a few days later he bumped into the most beautiful woman he had ever had the pleasure of laying his eyes on. She had a fiery red hair, long legs that went all the way to her shoulders, button nose and plump lips that invited anyone looking at them for a kiss. He was just about to turn a corner when she bumped right into him, she was almost naked dressed in a transparent off-white silk nightgown.

The sight he beheld made his manhood come to life, his tongue stuck at the roof of his mouth. She seemed to be saying something to him but his senses were on high alert towards the beautiful female that he forgot to breathe. A deep pain shot up from his shins and that was when he realized that she had kicked him. He was shocked beyond words and all he could think of was how he wanted to be near her at all times. Would she accept his friendship or would she consider him an enemy judging from their first meeting?

He saw her shiver and thought she was cold but more than anything he did not want any man looking at her in her state of undress. He removed his cloak and covered her in it. On instinct he took her hand and ran towards the eastern part of the palace where the kitchens were located and where his chamber was. Their hands felt warm where they touched and neither wanted to let go.