The Demon Princess and Her Powerful Alpha

The Alpha's Vow

Ardenti

I couldn't go back to hell. I didn't understand everything that happened, but I began to believe the vision I saw in Melisande's potion room. My father epitomized evil. I'd seen that reality often enough over the millennia, but foolishly I believed some part of him cared for me. I realized now, true monsters are incapable of such things

My new, untainted magic swirled around me, reeking of fresh crisp air, flowers, and vanilla. The dark and light worked in tandem creating a balance within my magic I never imagined. I couldn't come within a mile of him, or he'd notice the difference on me. Somewhere deep inside me recognized the woman spoke the truth when she said he would kill me or worse. He would use me for his wicked ends. I couldn't accept her as my mother, but I believed her.

I didn't remember being a child and the memory loss gnawed at me. How did I go so long believing I sprang up from the darkness formed this way? I was half demon and half wolf, one of the most powerful creatures in existence. What force locked the truth away from me and tainted my magic?

The girl in my vision was young, no more than seven years old. What happened to me in the time between seven and adulthood? Did I form into an adult upon being cursed, or more terrifying, was I a small girl raised in hell with no mother, and no love? A dam broke free inside of me, overflowing. The human emotions I scoffed at zapped inside me.

With them running wild I felt my magic growing stronger. I formed a ball of pure energy in my palm. It would bend to suit any desire I had. The limitation of darkness, didn't exist for me any longer. I never realized the failings of my demon magic. Emotion did not constitute the weakness I always imagined.

I tried to remember far back enough to a time when my father actually taught me things. He held the responsibility for the curse placed on my mind, and the way I viewed the world. Did he teach it to me or did I learn through observation? Perhaps, the darkness of the curse simply filled in the holes. They riddled me in the absence of the light that made up part of my soul.

My ego demanded I face him. I needed to get my answers and take revenge for all I lost. I burned to think of the thousands of years I spent as a calculating shell. Worst of all, the woman who'd given me life was no demon.

She was pure radiant light. She couldn't survive all this time. The eternal love she promised me withered and died in the sands of time without me knowing what I lost. A tear escaped my eye. I caught the drop on my finger tip and marveled at it. Blood and now tears, what else lay dormant inside of me?

At some point night fell and the moon shone above me. Like the night before, and in my vision, it warmed me like a sweet caress on my face. A sense of righteousness and peace filled me. I would get the answers I needed. I would end my father's miserable existence, but not until my destiny revealed itself to me. Failure meant my death and the bastard king of hell getting everything he waited for. I smiled up at the moon and vowed to never let him have it.

Soon after, I fell asleep in the grass and the leaves. I was more comfortable here than I ever was in my luxurious bed in hell. Once I defeated my father, I would renounce my title and find out what my true life offered me. I was a demon. That much was true, but for the first time in my life I realized neither that fact nor my title controlled my actions. I slept, dreaming of Egyptian musk and campfire. With the moon on my face and the scent in my nose I knew peace.

*

Valerian

My wolf and I spent a few hours working after I read the letter. Forcing myself to focus on the tedium was almost impossible, but my duty demanded it. My love for the gorgeous demon wolf did not prevent me from caring for my pack. I gave my beast space in the front of my mind so he could share the controls.

We laid in bed and stared at the waning moon; it was just a hint less than full. It's glow still filled us with the strength and love of the goddess. The beast inside me was more restless than me. His desperation for his mate was constant, while I resigned myself to winning her love in time. I thought of her beautiful body beneath mine and hardened. I understood his impatience.

He pushed himself forward and sniffed at the air. I swatted him back down not allowing him to shift. Mate he whimpered. She's out there. We have to go to her. I wanted to argue with him and tell him to be patient, but I caught the scent on the breeze that disturbed him.

My body tightened with sharp desire, physical need as well as emotional and spiritual. Her scent differed from what I remembered, but still undeniably her. The change drew me to my feet and out the door without ever making a conscious decision to go. Her gravity pulled me toward her, lilacs and vanilla, without the barest hint of brimstone.

We rushed into the night, my beast and I worked in perfect harmony. We did not shift, but we shared my mind in an almost meditative state. There was nothing we'd ever agreed on so totally as finding our delicious mate. We came upon her in a clearing. Her body lay still in a deep and peaceful sleep.

She laid curled up in a pile of leaves beneath a tree. The moon glowed above her. The light shined with such radiance a human could discern the details of the forest. I moved toward her desperate for her skin on mine. A ray of light reached out blocking my path. It materialized in front of me, forming the shape of a white wolf with a crescent moon set in her forehead.

She wasn't a true wolf; a phantom of the moonlight. She spoke, her voice sounding in my head beside my wolf. Alpha Valerian, your fate is upon you. I dropped to my knees and bowed before her. My wolf did the same.

"Goddess." I answered.

Your bond with your mate has been fated for a long time now. She was not gifted to you by accident.

"I would never suggest..." I began to defend myself. The Goddess would not make these choices lightly.

Shh, young wolf. I see how much she means to you. Her voice and silver glow were as comforting as the embrace of my own mother, but all wolves were the children and grandchildren of Selene. Your mate needs her full power to face the trials to come.

"I will protect her with my life." I swore. She looked over at her sleeping form wistfully.

Her body does not need protection. She is quite strong enough on her own. Her soul however, is damaged. It cannot hold her full power unless it is mended.

"I will protect her soul with my life if need be." I bowed my head before her.

The need will be. She agreed. The voice in my head and the light faded. I went to Ardenti without pause. I laid beside her and pulled her body tightly into mine. She completed me as soon as we made contact. As I suspected from my bedroom, her scent was purified. She smelled of lilac, vanilla, and brilliant magic.

Perhaps, the words of the goddess should frighten me, but they did not. I would gladly die for her if it meant she would fulfill her destiny. I wrinkled my nose trying to place why the magic seemed familiar. Light and shadow mixed, like the moon shining above us.