Claiming my rogue princess

Chapter Three

Rescuing The Enemy.

The smile never left Aria's face as the rogues circled her, their evil looking eyes glinting with hunger under the pale light of the moon. They thought they had found easy prey…a lone she-wolf on their land. But they didn’t know who they were dealing with.

Her claws flexed against the dirt, every muscle coiling tight like a spring. The tension in the air crackled, heavy and suffocating, as if the forest itself was holding its breath.

The first attack came without warning. One of the rogues underestimated Aria and surged forward, snapping savagely as he came.

Aria sidestepped easily, moving with the speed she had nurtured during years of training, and then slamming her shoulder into the rogue's rib in a brutal counter attack. There was a satisfying c***k of bones as the rogue landed with a painful howl and stayed down.

Two more came at her together…one from the left, one from the right. But still, they were no match for her kill and quick thinking. She dodged the first one with a swift feint, and then buried her fangs in the leg of the second one who had missed her with his paw swipe.

Before the first one could retaliate, she was already on him, tearing fur and flesh from his chest with her claws, sending him yelping away with blood spraying from the wound.

The leader and the other one hesitated, and she took the chance to take a quick look sideways.

The prisoner was still half propped against the tree. His chest was heaving, but his eyes were fixed on her with a dazed sort of awe.

The moonlight carved shadows across his chiseled face, highlighting the cut along his jaw and the streak of blood running from his temple. Even in his battered state, there was an unmistakable strength in him…a presence that demanded attention.

But he was fading fast.

Her ears twitched back to the rogues, as their leader and the last standing one tried to flank her again. This time, she met the lower rogue head on, latching her powerful jaws around his throat and burying her fangs deep into it until his snarls turned to choking gurgles. She tossed him aside like dead weight.

The leader tried to use the distraction to his advantage and pounced from behind, but Aria felt the rush of air and flipped around with devastating speed, meeting him in the air. They collided with a vicious snap of teeth and claws, both tumbling to the ground.

He slashed at her shoulder and drew blood, but she barely paid attention to it. With an annoyed snarl, she pinned him down and ripped through his own shoulder, feeling the bone grind under her bite.

That was enough to break all their confidence.

The leader stumbled up in pain, retreating slowly as he also ordered his wolves to retreat. Even rogues knew when to cut their losses, and it was obvious that they were no match for the mysterious she wolf. Bloodied and limping, they stumbled back into the darkness, their snarls fading into the night.

The forest became completely silent again, except for the sound of her own ragged breathing. She was bleeding from the injury on her shoulder, but she was used to pain and paid no attention to it. She shook herself, and then slowly turned toward the man against the tree.

He hadn’t moved much, but his eyes… Those eyes were still locked onto her. They weren’t the terrified eyes of someone who had just seen a young she wolf tear apart five rogues. No…there was something else in those eyes…Wonder. Admiration.

But as she came closer, his head fell forward and his eyes closed slowly…Unconscious.

She quickly pulled him up and rested him back on the tree, lowering her head to sniff at him more closely. He was indeed from a noble bloodline, and the Mistfall crest on his torn shirt confirmed all her earlier observations.

Mistfall was one of the strongest in the region. They were disciplined, wealthy, and arrogant to the core. Their Alpha’s bloodline stretched back countless generations, and their pride was unmatched.

What was he doing so far from the safety of his pack?

She thought about leaving him to his fate. Every rational thought told her to…The Mistfall wolves were her enemies, and if they were to find her near him, they would hunt her to the ends of the earth.

Her paws shifted against the earth.

She could just walk away now, leave him for his pack to find…or for the woods to claim. Either way, it was not her problem to worry about. But then something in her… something stubborn and unexplainable kept her there.

Her wolf kept pushing her, forcing her to circle him once more as if she was trying to memorize his scent. Then the pull returned again, that same pull she had felt when she first set her eyes on him, the same one she felt during the fight…an irritating yet magnetic tug in her heart. She growled at herself in annoyance and stepped back again.

Her mind was screaming at her to leave, and she did try. She ran off into the trees, her dark fur blending with the shadows. But the farther she went, the stronger that pull became, until it was pounding in her head and making her disoriented. She cursed under her breath, angrily pushing her wolf back inside and shifting back into her human form.

“Damn it,” she muttered.

And then made her way slowly back to him.

Up close in her human form, she could see the rise and fall of his chest. His face was pale and covered with dirt and blood, but there was no mistaking the fine structure of his jaw, the high cheekbones, and the faded stubble along his chin. He had the look and aura of an Alpha, and she couldn't help admiring him a little.

“You’re going to be the death of me,” she grumbled under her breath.

It took effort to get him up. He was easily taller than her, and then built like someone who had been trained for battle since childhood. Her arms trembled with the strain as she managed to lift him onto her back.

Step by step, she carried him through the forest. Each time she thought she heard another rogue, she shifted her grip and pushed harder…His weight was a constant reminder of the risk she was taking.

Hours later, she finally reached the invisible border between rogue land and Mistfall territory…She didn’t dare step past it.

Instead, she found a spot where the patrols were sure to pass. Very gently, she lowered him to the ground, arranging him carefully so that it would look like he had collapsed there on his own. She wiped away the dirt from his face, then froze when his lips suddenly moved faintly as if he was trying to speak.

Then she quickly stepped back with a frantically beating heart, and then melted into the trees without looking back.