The Crown Thief and Her Alpha Prince

CHAPTER 3 - THE CROWN THIEF

Edmund Harrow’s Point of View

Edmund had been running in the forest, the night air cool in his fur, when he had heard female cries, distant on the road to the village. Shifters' senses were far superior to human ones, which is the only reason he had been able to hear her in the first place. 

He usually did his best to avoid being seen when he went out as a wolf at night. Those were his only moments he could feel like himself, the only time he was truly free. He was a man of honor and of self-control, but letting his wolf out a few nights a month was the barest minimum he deserved. 

He did not want anyone to see him (in his wolf or in his human form when he was out at night like that . If someone did recognize him, he would be in a world of trouble. 

That was why he had been tempted to ignore the woman at first. However, he had smelled her fear in the air, and the despair in her voice had called to him as strongly as a siren’s call. 

She had been fighting with all her might when he had arrived, but she was a scrawny little thing, her dress hanging from her small frame. Her aggressors were big and there were three of them. She stood no chance. She was innocent in the ways of man, he could smell so on her. 

Humans really were despicable.

Disgusted and furious, he had not taken a moment to think before scaring the brutes off. He had shifted back into his human form. He had tried to contain his fury and give the oafs a chance to run, but they were too stupid to understand who they were up against. Their bones breaking under his fist had been the most satisfying thing Edmund had had the pleasure to hear in months. He was glad they had not run right away, that he got the chance to fight with them.

“Did they hurt you?” Edmund heard himself say, his voice coarse. 

She startled, surprised to hear him speak after those long silent moments. She was a small little thing, too frail, with big green eyes and messy red hair, her face covered with faint freckles Edmund would have never seen in the dark.

Edmund was surprised too. He hadn’t meant to talk to her. His own tone sounded sharp, angry to his own ears.

Common sense dictated that he should shift back into a wolf, run back into the forest and return to his home now. His work here was done. The little female was safe. He owed the human girl nothing. She had not manifested any sign that she had recognized him. If he left now, she never would.

But his wolf inside him refused to move away from her. It was as if she wordlessly called him to her. Edmund could not pinpoint why. It was pure instinct. He normally did not care much for humans but… Her enormous green eyes, their pupils dilated with fear… Her luscious curves, barely hidden by her long, tight dress he longed to rip from her body… And her scent… Feminine, soft and still laced with fear and maybe a hint of desire.

Desire for him. His wolf wanted to howl in pride at that. Edmund was not sure why. It was not uncommon for humans to desire him. Shifters were, after all, usually more attractive than humans. Humans were drawn to them, like moths towards a flame. 

So why would he care what this one thought of him?

Mystified, instead of running away from her to hide his identity, Edmund took a few steps towards her. She blushed, and turned her head away. 

Without the attention of her green eyes on him, Edmund felt as if the moon and the stars had been extinguished from the sky. The change left him cold, angry. How dare she steal her eyes from him. He seized her chin, tilting it up so she would look directly at him. Her emerald eyes grew wide, but she did not pull back. He spoke to her again, his voice more commanding.

“Are you hurt?”

He wanted to know she was safe, no, needed to know, without truly knowing why. She was human, therefore fragile as one of the decorative porcelain cups in his house... 

He could still hear the sound of her heartbeat, loud and frantic. It was quick, agitated, reminding him of that of a rabbit caught in his paws. It seemed as loud as the thunder to him, the only sound in the tense silence stretching between them. Was she still afraid of the brutes? The thought of their hands on her made him snarl. 

He should not have let them get away. He should have ripped their throats, pulled their hearts out and presented them to her. Rules and consequences be damned. 

“I…” her voice was as pleasant as the sound of music to his ears. “I am fine. I’m not hurt. Thanks to you… You came in just in time.” 

She shuddered, no doubt thinking about what would have happened to her if he hadn’t swept in. Edmund had trouble keeping his fangs and claws hidden at the thought, at his anger. 

Edmund was still breathing hard. His state was not due to the exercise from the fight he had with the brutes who had cowardly attacked the little, fragile human female. Not that calling that a fight was even adequate.

The humans had not been much of a challenge for him. Edmund could have crushed them with one hand behind his back when he was a little cub - and he was a full grown male now. 

No, what had him breathing still so sharply was his fury.

Yes. Fury. His hard breathing had nothing to do with how hyper aware he was of her chin in his hand, as if her skin was slowly burning his. Nothing to do with how his heartbeat sped as her pupils grew even larger because she was affected by their nearness.

Nothing to do with how he wanted nothing more than to bite her neck, mark her as his own and lose himself in her, his need for her body a burning flame threatening to consume him. 

Of course his breathing had nothing to do with that. It was only the product of righteous anger, nothing else. 

“Who are you?” she asked suddenly, her small voice pulling him out of his trance.

Her tone was timid, but her question was blunt, unapologetically inquisitive. So she did not know who he was even though she was mere inches from his face, close enough to recognize him if she had seen him before. Good. That meant he had no reason to run away just now.

He could not tell her who he was, but he could have a little bit of fun. 

 “That is none of your concern, little deer,” he growled, then continued more softly. “What I am interested in is… Who are you? It’s not everyday we see beautiful young ladies walking in the woods alone in the middle of the night.”

“Says the guy walking in the woods in the middle of the night almost buck naked like I’m the weird one,” she chuckled, a mischievous spark dancing in her eyes.

Edmund was shocked into silence for a moment. No one ever talked to him like that. When he asked a question, people answered with deverence and politeness. While his first instinct was to put her back in her place, he found that he did not mind her bluntless. Here was this small woman who was not afraid to joke with him despite him being a stranger twice her size on a dark road clearly unfamiliar to her.

That only made him want to know the answer to his question even more.

“Who are you?” he repeated, taking yet another step closer.

She blinked at him. With him having moved closer, their noses were almost touching. His hand was still angling her face towards his, but he did not need to anymore. Her eyes were looking deeply into his, her brow furrowed, as if she was searching for the answer about her identity in his eyes. The silence grew, and he was almost tempted to look away, the intensity in her green eyes almost too much for him to bear. 

Then, she replied.

“I’m the woman who is going to steal the Golden Crown of Skavon.”

She clearly said it to make an impression on him. It worked. However, the angry fire now burning in her eyes dispelled any doubt in his mind that provoking him was the only reason she had said it. Her statement was true - or at least would be if she had any say in it. 

He let his own eyes wander down her figure. She was small, unassuming, not the kind of woman one would expect to be a crown thief. As he looked at her, taking in her soft curves under her tight white dress that left little to imagination, his thoughts strayed from her surprising declaration to focus on her delicate body. He wondered how she would look without her dress and longed to see her naked before him. 

“Why?” he asked, mainly to distract himself from her form. “Some have attempted to steal the Crown before. The King does take kindly to thieves. He is always heavily guarded. He is also very strong, and has the powers of the Crown on his side. You have to be very brave, or very stupid to think you can actually succeed. Why would you risk it?”

“For money,” she shrugged, her voice fakely casual and dismissive.

“Only for money?” 

That sounded unlikely.

“Yes,” she replied, her tone boding no further discussion.

When Edmund managed to tear his eyes away from her breasts, her eyes were still clouded by anger - not at him, but at the king she wished to steal from. Money might be a huge part of it, but it was not the only reason she wanted to steal the Golden Crown of the Harrows.

King Leopold might be an Alpha wolf, and she might be nothing but a puny little human, but the burning hatred in her gaze could not be mistaken. Her fury was a wildfire that would not be extinguished until the king’s pride was nothing but ashes. If she had to burn the castle down or even perish in the flames herself to steal the crown, she would. 

If she hated the king half as much as he did, that sounded perfectly reasonable.

“A future crown thief then. I would love to see that happen,” he retorted truthfully. 

“Your approval is one more reason for me to do it then,” she said. “When I take that bastard’s life, I’ll spare a thought for you.”

He hoped she would.

“Is that the only time you’ll think of me?” he murmured, leaning forward so his lips almost touched hers, feeling her tremble. 

Edmund could not help himself. He loved making her squirm, feeling her heart picking up speed again. His voice had sounded coarser than he meant it to be, affected by his own arousal. Her breath was shallow now. 

His was too.  

“Maybe not,” she admitted.

Her voice and her delectable scent were tinted by her growing desire. She was loving that little game as much as he did. 

Her eyes quickly glanced at his lips, then stared back into his. His wolf was craving to make her his, to take her right there and now. 

It would be so easy to breach the distance and kiss her, use his hand on her chin to pull her towards him and bring their mouths crashing together. She would welcome him, he was sure of it. He would plunder her mouth, savor her taste and the feel of her soft lips on his. He would find how she liked to be kissed, how to make her squirm with excitement, how to make her moan and groan with desire, and then his...

A howl hooted somewhere far in the forest, making her jump, breaking the spell that had bewitched them both. He released her chin and she turned her head, blushing intensely. He took a step back. 

What had he been thinking? She was a small, frail human with the delusional aspiration of stealing the crown. She was not worth his time, no matter how attractive she was or how alluring her scent was to him. She had nothing to give him, nothing that he wanted anyways.

Edmund knew he was lying to himself.

“I - “, she started, then trailed off, clearly not knowing what to say but wanting to prolong their time together. 

He had to leave, now, before she could enthrall him again. Before he did something he would regret. 

“Have a pleasant evening, crown thief,” he said, mentally cursing how his voice still sounded so affected by her presence, so rough, so bestial. 

Before he could stop himself, he took her hand and gave it a chaste kiss. His lips tingled when they touched her skin, and it took all of his willpower to step away from her.

He turned on his heel and ran off, shifting back into a wolf when he was far enough from her that she would not witness his transformation. 

With any chance, he would never see her again.

The dark night never felt so empty and cold.