The Demon Princess and Her Powerful Alpha

Thank Goddess

 Valerian   

    After the feast I swooped my mate into my arms and carried her back to my bedroom as swiftly as I could manage. I let my wolf help fuel my speed. I could barely wait to descend on her and ravage her perfect body. Her strength and beauty stood unparalleled. I never laid eyes on a creature equal to her, and she was mine. 

    I didn't know exactly what to expect after my last confrontation with Vanessa. I was not surprised she wouldn't go quietly, but what stunned me was the way Ardenti reacted. I never imagined someone so confident and self-possessed. Her faith in herself and me, filled my heart and swelled my manhood nearly to bursting. No better Luna could stand beside me. 

    I threw the door open, crushing my lips to hers before we reached the bed. I just didn't have it in me to move a step more without taking her. Her soft warmth filled my arms and heated my lips. When I touched her like this, I didn't think of her being part demon. She was my Ardenti and however the universe formed her was perfectly fine, as long as she remained near me. 

    I traced the crease of her lips with my tongue, and she hungrily opened her mouth. Our tongues twisted together as the mate bond sent pleasurable electrical impulses along my body. She gasped my name in pleasure and then stopped cold. My every instinct told me to continue in the direction we headed, but her figure was so still. I pulled back to admire her. Her expression set in lines of fear and rage. "Something is wrong." She told me. Then her magic swelled on the air, and she disappeared in a swirl of dark and light magic. 

    A moment later I heard the alarm go up, a blasting siren carried through the pack house and the entire compound. Intruder my wolf snarled in my head. I barely had the time to register my anger. How could she leave me in my cozy bedroom while she ran head long into danger? I trusted she was able to handle it, but I was her mate. My duty demanded I stand between her and danger. She is quite strong enough on her own. Selene's words echoed through my mind. 

    We must have faith that mother knows best. My wolf answered. I couldn't deal with his faith now. My heart ran into danger and I wasn't beside her. I blocked him out as I moved down the stairs in search of the conflict. I ran into the great hall, seeing that all wolves of fighting strength and age filed in. Protocol was for young wolves and she-wolves to barricade themselves in the rarely used dungeons. The she-wolves were capable in a fight, but if it came to it, the pups needed to be protected above all else. 

    Caden met me as I entered the hall. "The scouts on the western edge reported demons breached the perimeter. There are five that made themselves known. The guards tried to hold them back, but only two were on shift." He dragged in a ragged breath. "One is dead, and the other is not far behind." I took a deep breath, composing myself before speaking loudly to my people. 

    "Wolves! Be calm! There has been an attack on the outer perimeter. There are only five. I and my ranked wolves will face them. The rest of you will remain here in the event that these five are a distraction for a larger attack." Several grumbles and noises of disapproval echoed around the room. "Wolves of Moon's Gate, you will do as your Alpha commands. Be where your pack needs you most. 

    The rumblings quieted as they made their way to the different fortification points around the pack house. Myself, Caden, Gamma Victor, and Delta James circled together to discuss our plan. I had enough hell fire obsidian for each of us to wield a weapon that would work against a demon. The only weapons mortals could use against them were volcanic glass forged in the fires of hell. It was certainly not cheap or easy to come across them. I counted us lucky to have four. We put our hands together in the center of the circle. "We will protect our pack with our lives if duty calls for it." 

    "Our duty is to our pack." They responded in unison. We broke the circle and shifted. We'd need to fight in our human forms with blades but the wolf outran the man any day. 

* 

Ardenti

    I knew what was coming the moment they popped into the air. Their toxic magic pricked at my skin. "Something is wrong." I spit out, poised to disappear. He'd be angry I didn't take him with me, but this was my fight. They came here because of me and I wouldn't allow him to be hurt cleaning up my mess. 

    I appeared at the western edge of the pack lands standing in all my glory with my magic swirling around me. I conjured a sweeping black gown with a plunging neckline to add to the visual impact. My blonde hair blew out from me in the breeze caused by my magic. I smelled wolf blood in the air, and I prepared for destruction. 

    My eyes fell on the creatures who dared to invade my pack. The blood of my wolves painted the skin of the four demons standing before me. Their skin was dark charcoal. Their black horns broke out from their forehead, far shorter than mine. The length of a demon's horns directly correlated to their position in the underworld. These were mercenaries, just a step or two above the bottom dregs of hell. 

    "Princess," the apparent leader of their group bowed before me. "You've changed." He had a hulking, brutish body. His voice rang with pleasure at the threat implicit in his tone. Most demons feared and revered me, but I differed enough from them that many always held me in disdain. They sensed that I was not one of them even when the curse hid my true form. They were base creatures and their instinct often proved out. They'd happily end me if they thought it would help them take my position as next in line to the throne of skulls. 

    "You should not have come." Valerian's scent hit me before I saw him. There three wolves stood beside him as he approached from the east and another approached from the north. "Stand down." I commanded the demon and the wolves. The wolves slowed, but I only bought a few moments before they came to my aid, putting themselves in unnecessary danger. 

    "There was no choice, Princess. The king himself sent us. A lot of time has passed since you left. He feared the worst." The whites were missing in his black eyes. They roved over me as a sickening smile spread across his face. "He won't be pleased when he sees you." 

    "He won't be seeing me. There's no reason to upset the poor darling." All four of their faces set in lines of outrage. 

    "Your impudent tongue won't help you now, girl. We will be taking you to him and you will finally meet your end." He stepped forward to grab me, his cronies followed beside him. Their putrid breath tainted the air and I felt the burning heat of their magic. They only performed offensive magic, smoke or fire judging by the stench. My father paid handsomely for the magic to send them here. I quickly decided my next move when my mate shifting shimmered in the air. 

    I lifted my hand and pushed Valerian and his wolves back with a relatively small burst of magic. His infuriated growls ripped through the air, but he couldn't break through. I turned back to the demons to end their miserable existence. I conjured a swirling ball of light energy, the perfect thing to cancel out the demon fire that fueled them. Just before it left my hands a small brown wolf, leaped at the leader from the north. His magic was so faint. I hadn't seen him stealthily moving closer. 

    The demon caught him in his giant mitts, and crushed his chest. The wolf let out a heart wrenching cry, then a sick gurgling sound. He turned back into a boy of no more than fourteen. The demon tossed aside his broken body. He landed on the ground near the other wolves with a dull thud.

     Part of my mind saw Valerian and the other wolves falling to their knees beside him. Rage and pain like I never imagined filled me. At that moment, I became something more than demon or wolf. Earth-shattering power filled me. The magic intended to end the demons formed into a glowing protective sphere and coalesced around the wolves. The image reminded me of something, but I couldn't place it now. 

    I turned to the demons; a sob wrenched from my throat as my power exploded out of me in a completely foreign way. Their anguished screams filled the air as the glowing white light slowly tore them to shreds. When it ended nothing remained of them but a foul odor on the cool breeze. 

    With the demons gone the protective shield around the wolves fell. I ran to them and dropped to my knees beside the boy who jumped into the clutches of a demon to protect his Luna. I sobbed above him; tears poured down my face. I needed to help him, but I didn't know how. I was no healer, and his breaths came so short now, his heart beats spaced so far apart. 

    I pressed my hands to his face and his eyes fluttered open. His soul started reeking like brimstone. The pit grabbed him, preparing to drag his soul to the depths. I couldn't let this happen. He stared into my eyes. The smell faded, and light magic swirled within him. "Thank you, Goddess." His soul separated from his body. It ran over me in something close to an embrace. I watched stunned as it drifted toward the moon. 

    Something inside me broke. I touched a mortal as he died, and his soul didn't go to hell for testing. My entire existence was a vicious lie. Worse than my own feelings, what wicked magic had been dragging innocent souls to hell all these years? What really happened to the mortal souls that left hell after "proving their strength"? I knew in my bones that nothing good befell them. The last bits of my allegiance to my father died, never to surface again. 

    The popping fizz of a demon transporting away interrupted my agony. There had been a fifth, and in the heat of the moment I let him get away. How many times did I fail those I was intended to protect in the last three thousand years? Why did that poor pup call me Goddess?