The Heir is Mateless

First Impressions

~Thorin~

Thorin saw her and instantly knew what she was. This beautiful jet black wolf fighting against 10:1 odds was his mate. The Prince was simply on border patrol this evening when his squad detected outsiders close by. He was certainly not expecting to meet his mate today, let alone arrive to find her fighting to stay alive.

It took only a moment for the shock to fade, and he jumped into action, ripping apart wolves in a blind rage. Amidst the chaos, he mind-linked his warriors close by "PROTECT HER!" There were a handful of fallen wolves on the ground already, causing a flicker of pride at learning his mate could fight properly. Soon, the enemy wolves realized the tables had turned, and they had become the outnumbered force.

Thorin's wolf was large, even for a royal. He was white as snow, which allowed him to blend into the mountains of his future kingdom. His eyes, however, were a rare light purple. He used his size to tear into the enemy wolves, causing blood to spill and wolves to die. Two wolves got cocky and tried to pounce on him together. He used a massive paw to pin the first on the ground and ripped out his throat. For the second, he trashed his back into a tree, causing his spine to snap.

Thorin heard a faint whimper, which caused him to turn and see a large brown wolf crushing his mate's head with its massive teeth. Thorin's wolf became feral, growling dominantly as he pounced on the rougue, nearly ripping him in half. After just finding his mate, he was not ready to watch her die. The outsiders were either falling or attempting to run now. The Prince shouted through the pack bond: "CATCH THEM! If any of them escape, you'll all regret it!"

Staying by his mate, Thorin moved her (now naked in human form) onto his back as he mind-linked his beta to bring the pack doctor and meet him at the forest edge immediately. He ran as fast as he could with her limp body atop him. In any other situation, his wolf would be thrilled to have their naked mate on them, but now was not the time.

Although it seemed like hours before Thorin breached the woods into his snowy mountain territory, the run took only a few minutes. Seeing the doctor approach, Thorin shifted to human form and carried her over without worrying about them both being naked. Although, he growled when the doctor tried to take her from him. "No one touches my mate without my permission. She was attacked by rougues, and we need to save her, " he said while bolting towards the make-shift doctors station close by.

After setting her on the operation table, he allowed the doctor to get to work, but not once taking his eyes off the dying mate. He couldn't bear to lose her even if they had just met. Several minutes went by, and he kept feeling a pull at his wall like someone was trying to mind-link. "What do you want?!"

His beta Finn answered immediately, "Sir, the others captured the rest of the rougues trying to run and locked them up in the dungeon. What should I do?"

"Wait until I can join you, but keep an eye on them. These bastards have some explaining to do." The doctor had finished stitching her wounds but was shaking his head. "What? What's wrong with her?!"

"Prince, I did the best I could, but she's suffered a traumatic brain injury, and we won't know what damage there is until she wakes up. My best advice is to spend as much time as possible with her for now. Since she's your mate, your presence will help the healing process. I'll call someone to bring an ambulance to come and move her to the main hospital." He walked off to call as promised, and Thorin looked down on his mate, gently cupping her face with his massive hand.

The two seemed to be polar opposites in appearance. Thorin was pale and had snow-white hair with eyes of a light purple, marking him as royalty in this kingdom. His mate, on the other hand, had flowing black hair, eyes green as emeralds, and skin a shade or two darker than his, like she was out in the sun often. Her face was decorated with a few light freckles, full lashes, and full lips of a pale pink color.

After ensuring she was safe and taken to the hospital, the Prince knew he had to go interrogate the intruders. As much as his wolf pushed to stay by the injured mate, he needed to know why this happened to her. While heading to the dungeons, Thorin mind-linked beta Finn a list of what he'd need. This was going to be a very long and deserved punishment for the ones who hurt what was his.

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Thorin hadn't learned much in the hours he'd spent in the dungeons. What he thought to be untrained rougues were apparently highly trained and from a neighboring pack. Apparently, they had come across the carriage on a run and smelled a young unmated wolf inside, thinking they could have her for themselves. He'd have to go to the scene himself tomorrow and see for himself.

After interrogating all of them thoroughly, he ended their lives. They had confessed to their plans, and the punishment for their actions was death. Considering the critical state his mate was currently in, Thorin was more than happy to issue this punishment himself. Speaking of mates, he needed to see her again to know how she was.

Looking down at the blood staining his hands and clothes, he realized a shower was needed before going to see her. He began to exit the dungeon, heading to the community shower close by when he ran into Finn. "Oh hey, I was just coming to check on you, man. You've been down here a long time. What happened?" Finn was an average looking young man of 5'8, with fluffy blonde hair and sky blue eyes, but the Prince couldn't ask for a better beta by his side.

Thorin let out a humorless chuckle. "It's a long story, my friend, and one that can wait. I need to shower and visit my mate in the hospital. I need to have your part of the report on the desk in my main office in two hours." Finn's eyes went wide at the mate part, but he still nodded and walked away to obey the order. Finally alone, Thorin stripped off his bloody clothes and quickly washed away the stetch of the earlier battle and interrogation.

Clean clothes were waiting as he finished, and he dressed in a hurry to go check on the girl. He'd have to meet his father at some point and arrange a visit to that pack, then weed out more wolves like the ones who died at his hands today. Despite everything, he was happy to find a mate, especially one as beautiful and strong as this stranger was.

The hospital was only a short walk away, so he was able to reach her room within ten minutes. He pulled a chair up close to the hospital bed and began lightly stroking her cheek. Her skin was so soft, and the feeling sent tingles into his fingers. Thorin knew he still had to file his part of the report, but he couldn't seem to pull away from her. Her scent of mint and citrus was almost intoxicating to his senses. The prince must have lost track of time because it didn't take long for him to fall asleep with his head resting on his mate's lap.