The Werewolf and the Dragon King

Chapter 3

-SELENE-

The guards wore thick brown leather armor, the surface rough like scales. On their chests, a silver-and-red crest with a dragon coiled around a sword glinted under the starlight.

Pretty sure they were human. Not shifters like Lohe. If they were, those fancy outfits would be shredded in no time.

Lohe straightened up and stepped forward, an emotionless façade. The knight in front—clearly their captain—lifted the silver baton, spun it once, then dropped his arm.

It was a quick move. But the air around us was charged with power, then snapped back like nothing had happened.

I sucked in a breath, my hands trembling. Something changed. Not from the outside, but deep in my core.

I couldn’t shift to my wolf anymore.

Mona, my wolf, whimpered in my head. She was still weak from the crossing, and now some weird magic had locked her down tight.

"Hang in there, girl," I told her.

She whined, curled in a dark corner. She was also nursing a broken heart. Our mate had pushed us away, ignoring our bond. She felt it like a blade to the soul.

"Captain Rasmus," Lohe’s voice was sharp, but there was a hint of warmth in it. "Is my brother still making you freeze your ass off out here?"

The knight squinted, brow furrowed. "Prince Verelohe? I can't believe my eyes. You’re actually back?"

Lohe smirked, arms wide. "Verelohe?" His lips widened in an amused smile. "You must’ve thought I was dead, talking to me all formal like that."

He pulled Rasmus into a hug, clapping him hard on the back, eyes crinkling in the corners.

The guy was built like a fortress—tall, broad, all sharp angles and solid muscle. Light hair, a beard trimmed just enough to look intentional. Handsome, but not in a polished way. More like he’d walked through hell and come out with some serious stories to tell.

Not that it mattered. My mate was hotter. Obviously.

He gave Lohe a genuine smile, sharp teeth flashing like a wolverine’s. "We thought you were gone for good. Everyone crossed through the portals, except you. Then they stopped working. No one could trace you."

"Yeah, someone tampered with the portal I was supposed to use. It trapped me. Turns out the damage was a lot worse than anyone realized." Lohe shook his head, eyes dropping to his boots for a moment before meeting Rasmus’s gaze again. "But damn, it feels good to be home."

Rasmus turned to his knights, scowling. "Well? Do you guys need an invitation or what? Is that how you greet your Prince?"

The knights didn’t waste another second. They swung off their mounts, boots thudding against the ground like thunder. My breath hitched as they closed in—a wall of muscle and steel—then stopped just short of Lohe.

No words. Just silence and precision.

They dropped to one knee, heads bowed low. "Welcome back, First Prince," they shouted in unison.

Lohe straightened, his posture shifting from playfulness to command. His regal aura surged, strong and dangerous. I was sure he had grown a few inches, and if I squinted, a shadow of a black crown topped his head.

Even from a distance, I could see the yellow ring of his dragon's eye around his pupil.

"Please, raise," he ordered.

The knights rose as one, armor clinking like distant thunder. None dared meet his gaze.

Lohe stood tall, the dragon in him barely contained beneath skin and bone. That golden ring pulsed. Kullasim was awake, watching everything.

Rasmus stepped sideways, lips pressed into a hard line as he finally turned to face me.

"And who are you, lady?"

His voice was low, but the threat in it was clear. The Captain was ice-cold, the kind of man who lived by rules and enforced them with steel.

His gaze hit harder than the wind slicing through my long dress. It made fear settle deep in my gut.

My tongue flicked out, trying to wet lips that had gone bone-dry. "I’m... I’m Selene Stark. I came through the portal with Lohe."

His hand shot to the hilt of his sword. Eyes narrowed to slits as he scanned me like I was something rotten. "Are you a witch?"

I barely stopped myself from rolling my eyes. Seriously? This again?

"No! I’m his mate!"

"Prince?" he asked, glancing at Lohe, who stood there like a glacier statue, unreadable.

"I don’t recognize her," Lohe said, voice sharp as the blade Rasmus was carrying. "I have no proof of what she says. She was just... there. Beside me after the crossing."

Rasmus’s jaw clenched under his beard. "Then she’s a trespasser. And Tharval law is clear." His sword hissed free as he stepped toward me.

I gasped, my pulse skyrocketing. "Wait!"

Lohe moved fast—too fast to think. He threw himself between us, shielding me with his body. "Don’t you dare touch her!" he roared.

Rasmus froze, startled. Even Lohe blinked, as if shaking off cobwebs. His breath was ragged, his stance suddenly unsure. His actions had surprised him.

But before Rasmus could speak, Lohe straightened, voice steadier now. "I want to hear more of what she has to say. We’ll take her home. I want my father to meet her first. He’s always been able to see through lies."

"Your orders, General?" one of the knights asked. They all stood in line behind Rasmus, their hands gripping the hilt of their swords.

"General?" Lohe’s lips tugged into a grin. "About damn time my i.diot brother saw your worth and gave you a proper position. So, tell me... is he still running the army like a daycare instead of a war machine?"

Rasmus’s eyes softened, but something flickered behind them. A shadow. "Lohe... a lot’s changed since you left."

He paused, inhaled sharply. "A few years after you left, the tension with Zarvia spiked. Your father went to the mines to avoid an imminent battle. He... he was found dead. The entire comitive was slaughtered."

Lohe’s nostrils flared, and heat rippled off his skin, raising the temperature around us like a furnace had just kicked on. "Was it the North Kingdom's soldiers who killed him?"

Rasmus shook his head, slow and grim. "They were a few days ahead of him. Denied it. Your brother didn’t believe them at first, but we investigated. Their story checks out. We still don’t know who did it."

I gasped. Lohe’s father wasn’t just any noble. He was the king. Which meant... my mate wasn’t just royalty.

He was the throne.

And now, with his death... the next in line was Lohe.

My mate was a dragon king.

"You’re saying that while I was gone, my brother took the throne?" Lohe’s voice dropped low, biting into each word. His fists clenched at his sides, knuckles pale. His face was still granite, but a muscle pulsed in his jaw.

"Yes," Rasmus said, voice dry as ash. "And with tensions with the North Kingdom boiling over, new laws were passed. Trespassers and witches are no longer tolerated."

Lohe turned his chin toward me, slow and stiff.

My breath came in sharp bursts, each puff turning to smoke in the cold air. My knees wobbled, useless.

Even Mona had gone silent, curled somewhere deep inside me like she was afraid to breathe.

"You're saying..." Lohe started.

Rasmus didn’t flinch. "Exactly. The lady must die."