The Wolf King's Reluctant Mate

Adele The first scream came from my father. I dropped the glass cup. It shattered against the wooden floorboards, and the thick, silver liquid inside splashed across my bare feet. The toxic tonic hissed slightly against the cold wood, smelling sharply of crushed wolfsbane and battery acid. “Father?” I called out, but no one answered. Then I heard another scream; this one was shorter and sharper. It was a man’s heavy, guttural voice, and it did not belong to Sarlen. My heart slammed against my ribs as I ran back to the house from the shed. I had barely made it through the bedroom doorway before something massive crashed against the cabin’s thin outer wall. The wood groaned, splitting open, and I saw Sarlen fly completely across the main room, his fragile body hitting the heavy timber table with a sickening c***k. “Run, Adele!” he shouted, gasping for air. Before I could move, a wolf stepped through the broken window frame. It wasn't a normal animal. Its fur was matted with old, drying copper, and its eyes burned a depraved, unnatural red. The wolf shifted, I could hear the bones crackling, into a naked man who stood where the beast had been; his breathing was heavy and feral. “Where is she?” the man demanded. Sarlen struggled to his feet, gripping his ribs, his face pale under his silver hair. “I don't know what you're talking about.” The man smiled, baring long, sharp fangs. “You are a terrible liar for a human healer.” Another wolf jumped through the window. Then another and another. Four in total, they crowded our tiny cabin; the air stank of their rot and wet fur. My body went completely numb. They had found us. After ten long, quiet years hiding in the Whispering Wilds, the past had finally caught up to us. “Behind me, child,” Sarlen ordered, positioning himself in front of me. But I couldn't move; my feet felt glued to the floorboards. One of the intruders sniffed the air, his chest heaving. His yellowed eyes landed straight on me, turning manic. “There.” Sarlen moved faster than I had ever seen him move. He grabbed a silver-tipped skinning knife from the table and hurled it across the room. The blade buried itself deep into the first man's shoulder. The man roared in agony. “Kill the old man!” “Run, Adele!” Sarlen screamed. Suddenly, my brain spoke to my limbs. I turned toward the back door, but a heavy, calloused hand caught a fistful of my hair. I screamed as I was violently dragged backward, my scalp burning. “Let her go!” Sarlen lunged, driving his shoulder into the rogue holding me, knocking him hard into the stone fireplace. But another wolf struck Sarlen from behind; its claws flashed in the dim torchlight while Sarlen fell to his knees with a choked gasp. “Father!” I shrieked. I fought the hand gripping my hair, clawing at the man's wrists. He slapped me hard. My head snapped sideways, the metallic taste of blood pooling instantly in my mouth. The rogue lifted my face by my chin, forcing me to look at him. “Where is the rest of your family?” I only stared at him, refusing to speak through my trembling lips. He grinned as a look of terrifying realization washed over his face. “So, it is true. She's the girl.” Another man stepped closer, his breath hot against my cheek. “The last Erias.” I stopped breathing as fear took a fierce hold of me. Sarlen looked at me from the floor, his eyes wide with desperate terror. “Don't listen to them, Adele!” The man holding me laughed, a sound that made my skin crawl. “We have been searching the mountains for ten years for this blood.” Ten years. The words triggered a violent flash of memory in my mind. The midnight m******e at the village that led to my mother's lifeless body on the marble floor. My older sisters screaming as they were torn apart. The blood. The blinding fire and malicious red eyes. I had spent ten years pretending I wasn't that girl anymore. I lived my life as just a human apothecary's daughter, believing the dormant beast inside me didn't exist. Every single morning, Sarlen handed me the same silver-infused tonic. One bitter cup that weakened my internal wolf and masked my pure sovereign scent. It kept me invisible and alive. Today was supposed to be my eighteenth birthday. The day I became an adult and took my last dose, Sarlen had promised that I would not need to take the dose after today because my bloodline would be suppressed forever. My scent must have seeped out, or somebody knew where I was all this while for them to have found me. Now I am staring at the same monsters who had come to finish what they started a decade ago. “Take her,” the lead rogue ordered. The man behind me tightened his grip, dragging me toward the door. Sarlen, using the last of his strength, grabbed a burning log from the hearth. His hands were blistered, but his eyes were fierce. “Touch her again, and I'll burn you alive.” He lunged with the makeshift weapon, but a rogue transformed mid-air; his razor-sharp claws ripped across Sarlen's chest, tearing through his tunic and skin. He collapsed onto the dirt floor, the burning log rolling away. “NO!” A scream belted out as a surge of adrenaline tore through me. I bit down hard on the rogue's hand holding my hair. He barked in pain and released me. I fell to my knees, scrambling across the floor toward Sarlen. Blood was soaking through his shirt, bright and hot, and it was a fatal wound. “Father!” I cried, pulling his head into my lap. His trembling hand found mine, his skin turning deathly cold. “Adele…” “Stay awake, please look at me, Sarlen.” His eyes struggled to focus on my face. “Listen to me, child.” “No. Shut up; you are going to be fine. I can patch this.” I pressed both of my hands firmly against his chest, but the crimson liquid slipped between my fingers. “Listen,” he whispered, his voice fading into a rattle. “The tonic…” I looked over my shoulder toward the broken table. The main bottle of the silver-infused tonic sat upright, entirely untouched beside the shattered cup. “Keep drinking it,” Sarlen wheezed. “Hide.” One of the wolves laughed from the doorway, stepping over the threshold. “Don't bother. Once she's ours, the elders are going to drain every single drop from her veins anyway.” Something deep inside my chest snapped; the fragile, terrified human girl died in that exact second. I looked at the bottle of tonic, then I looked down at Sarlen’s dying face. For ten years, I had been utterly terrified of the beast inside me. I had swallowed poison daily because I believed my wolf would bring nothing but death. But tonight, that fear suddenly felt insignificant compared to the agony of losing the only person who loved me. I crawled away from Sarlen, moving straight toward the table. “Adele, no,” Sarlen croaked, realizing what I was doing. I grabbed the heavy glass bottle. The rogue wolves stopped, watching me with twisted amusement. “What are you doing, little lamb? Going to take your medicine?” I looked Sarlen directly in the eyes. “You told me my wolf would kill me if I let it out.” “I told you… what I had to tell you,” He gasped. “I know.” My fingers tightened around the glass neck. “But I don't want to hide anymore.”