Nola ReynoldsI caught the look of surprise that crossed his face when I whizzed past him, feeling my bones snap and elongate as I shifted to land heavily on all fours, tongue lolling.There was silence behind me before the Lycan gave a horrible, drawn-out howl and I could hear the sounds of bones shifting and snapping into place.I took the first cut I could find, my eyes better adjusted as a wolf, in the dark cave, yelping in pain when a stalactite brushed too close to my hide.Why wasn’t he chasing me? I had to find a way out of here! I felt the hammer of foreboding drop on my heart just before I bounded to a stop right in front of an angry-looking man that was still easily twice the size of my wolf. “Wha- how did you?” I gasped, making confused animal noises.“What do you have to say for yourself, Nola?” He ground through clenched teeth, folding his hands over the soft-looking wool of his cashmere sweater. I could make out the defined muscles of his chest even in the dark. I wh
Hector“You fucking bitch ass….fucking Lycan warrior lunatic!” Nola’s raspy scream came before she flew up to meet me, seeming to think better of it and sitting back down.I arched an eyebrow at her theatrics as if to say ‘Yeah, that’s what I thought.’“You’re getting very out of control Nola. Pounding on doors and stomping around like a maverick, when all my workers want to do is sleep.” I grunted, dropping the tray on the wide bronze stool beside the high canopy bed where the girl was sitting like a princess.“Wait, you have workers here?” She gasped, the milky white mounds of her chest rising and falling passionately.Stop looking at her fucking chest Hector, goddammit!“Yes,” I said cryptically, watching the wheels in her little head go round and round…round and round. I damned if I could get that fucking nursery rhyme out of my head.Nola looked like she was planning something, probably trying to find the workers.I hoped she didn’t, for her own sake. Some of my workers were hung
“Is yours ready for the switch Edna?” The nasal grind of a woman’s voice grated as the bed heaved and creaked over my head before dipping dramatically.I held my breath, trying to breathe as shallowly as I could as the sturdy hooves of the second girl goat. Or thing, came into view, stopping just inches from my head, the frayed ends of her white dress billowing slightly.“Heh! You can say that again, wench is all but throwing herself at his highness, right cunt whore that one!” The Edna girl cackled, snorting in a way that had me wrinkling my nose with disgust.Sheesh! So these were the workers? I was sick to my stomach when I realized it was us they were talking so carelessly about. I suddenly wondered who’d been cooking the food the Lycan brought up all this time. I had the distinct feeling Edna was the type to spit in someone’s food.“Who do you think he’ll pick first?” Silence. Deep breathing, steady, steady… oh dear, I think I’m gonna fart.“Hard to tell Crystal, probably the
The woman watched me quietly after the scream had died on my lips before she cackled once, like a firecracker going off.“Celebrating already? Party's hardly even started yet.” The woman chuckled in a sinister voice, as she shook the black talon of one finger at me, somehow seeming closer than she was before I’d blinked.“Who the fuck are you?” I panted, feeling my canines extend as I took a cautionary step back, my heart, beating bruises under my skin. The light seemed to leave the woman’s face as she cranked her neck sideways with loud snapping sounds.I knew then who she was. The Wild, Wicked Hag of the Mountains.I could tell from the way her body seemed to undulate freakishly, a stain to the normal eyes.She had to have been nearly a millennia old, but she hardly looked her age, the skin on her face-what I could see of it as the forest canopy blocked the leftover burnt-sepia light the rising moon provided- was a fine-lined coffee brown.The hag clapped, nodding her head in the si
“One count of kidnapping, one count of illegal imprisonment, two counts of neglect and abuse... Need I say more your highness?” I chirped cheekily, my smile fading when one almond-shaped eye twitched violently. I was getting ballsy with my mouth again, it was hard not to. There was just something about being kidnapped by unstable, ancient beasts that REALLY made you want to push bright red buttons.“You're going to stay here Nola, you're stuck whether you like it or not, and if you think for a moment-” The Lycan growled and I cut him off with a haughty sigh because no one was going to boss Nola Reynolds around, Lycan or house rat.“I'm not one of your little ponies Lycan, you can't keep me here against my wish and then fucking Stockholm me into liking it, like you did with the other girls! I'm 'not nobody's damn pussy.” I ground out, flailing my arms about in the space between us before something flashed in the Lycan’s dust-colored eyes and he gripped me violently by the hair.“Now y
Hector“Fucking wolf village maidens were going to be the death of me!” I grunted, slamming the door to my room shut so that it shook on its hinges, and alas! What do you know? The witch was waiting for me just off to the side.“Speak Jules.” I snapped when she didn't immediately speak, watching me instead as I emptied my pockets on the old wood of the nightstand.“You let her go.” The wally witch mused cryptically, folding her knotted hands under the flap of her servant uniform.“Anything more you care to add to the headlines?” I chipped sarcastically, whirling away from her to focus on the milk-white cast of the room that looked slightly off.Like someone had had their nose in my business seconds before I pulled the knob.I turned to look the cave keeper witch in the eye, my fury hitting the mountain peak of my patience as I felt my fists tighten by my sides.“Jules, why are you here?” I hissed through clenched teeth, licking the fanged canines that had started to extend dangerously
Nola Reynolds I’d been lying in bed with my eyes closed, minding my damn business when I heard the rattle of the gold door knob before it flew open.”You sick, psycho bitch!” The blonde girl with cerulean blue eyes cursed, her raven black dress flowing out beside her captivating me for a moment before I felt the flat of her palm connect with my cheeks. I'd turned them to her like an idiot.Now, I always told my first-timers two very important things that took Nola Reynolds from a baleful countryside girl to a fucking demon faster than you could spell N-a-r-n-i-a. Putting your paws on me, and putting your paws in my food.“Did you just hit me?” I choked out, sliding my hand to the sting I was sure had reddened my cheeks before getting up and circling her.“One more word from your filthy mouth and I'd backhand you to the galaxies bitch!” She screamed, her blue eyes flashing and the white saliva that had collected on one side of her lips distracting me again.There’d been only one way
Nola Reynolds.The orange streak of the rising sun fell in slants through the large pane of the window, bouncing off the glossy brown walls and into my sleep-deprived eyes.I'd stayed awake for what must have been hours, fitting in and out of sleep restlessly before I'd finally thrown my hands up to plunge into the washroom’s ice bath.I hadn't heard the shuffling in the main room until I turned off the stream, my head cranked to the side sharply. Whoever it was had dropped something, clattering to the floor loosely before I flew out of the porcelain tub with the soft towel that fell a tad too short wrapped around me.“What the fuck-” I gaped, recognizing the brown hooves I'd seen previously before looking up at the woman with the heart-shaped face that had perched herself on my bed.”Who are you?” I hissed, wrapping the towel tighter about myself when she hadn't replied immediately, instead taking the time to let her eyes travel over my still-dripping body.A small part of me was pi
NOLA BAYESIt had been months since my bonded died, but for the first time since that sordid night, I was feeling confident, happy even.The mountain city troops had grown to staggering numbers in the past months, so I had dispensed a good number of guards to survey the old wolf village.My new city. The King and I hadn't decided on a name yet, but I knew it was going to be soon.We had freed the wolf village captives the next day, after the gruesome war. Alpha Theo’s rescue had been one I handled myself, with admittedly way too much joy than I could think to hide.“R-Reynolds? I-is that you dear girl?” He had rasped, the curved nails of his claws coming through the wrought-iron bars to lace over my hand before I snatched it away, incensed.“That’s Queen of the Highlands to you Alpha Theo, a shame to see you like this I must say, especially with the way you threw us maidens out on our behinds with nothing to our names.” I spouted, watching with a measure of satisfaction when he bent
HECTOR BAYESI didn't want to let her go, Nola, but I knew in my heart that I had to.And she did run, jerking away from my arms, to throw open the underground chamber grates with a strength I hadn't imagined her capable of.I followed on her heels as we ran down the stone slab of stairs at breakneck speed, into the crematorium where Kalden was lying, still as a statue, encased in the frosty insides of a glass coffin.I felt my breath catch in my throat and I paused at the doorway, my eyes widening when I saw the wreath of white and blood-red hydrangea flower bushes decked in small steps around the dias.“Kalden? Kalden, say something!” Nola gasped, slapping open the casing as a whoosh of frigid air swept up from the body, hitting me right in the nostrils.“Hector, you can't do this, I won't let you!” She screamed, turning to grip the lapel of my shirt with tears glistening on her cheeks.I nodded to the mourners huddled off to the side, darting tear-filled looks at us, and they bowed
HECTOR BAYESThe feeling of the dead man’s body as I writhed on top of him had not left my chest as we rode on horseback, into the gates of the mountain city.“Are you alright?” The green-eyed woman who had been watching me since we passed through the gates whispered, clumps of mud and twigs sticking out of her hair from where she’d brushed her face against mine.The porcelain of her high cheekbones was ashen with dust and grime, and the sight of the salt streak of tears dried and flaky sent a pang through my frame.I allowed myself a shallow breath, We had come a long way, the imp and me, and I was almost certain I couldn't have won the war if it weren't for her quick thinking with the sword.God-freaking dammit, Was I alright? I couldn't tell.The singed fur of my son’s corpse weighed heavy on my heart. Or It might have been the hole of my soul sword that refused to heal.I hadn't wanted to kill the boy, the monster, far from it. Saints! Lord knew Japhtar deserved worse for coming
NOLA REYNOLDSThe sound of a woman screaming reached my ears, distorted in the quake that seemed to shake the earth all around us before I realized I was the one who had been screaming.The Lycan’s sword shook in my hands, the weight of the huge beast pressed against it towered over me, the sprain in my wrist threatening to explode through the net work of veins.“Oh, Dear God!” I screamed again, darting away and watching the impaled beast fall heavily to the dust with a rumbling groan, the Lycan following as I clapped cold hands to my mouth to stifle another scream.“What's happening?” They whispered,“By Joves!”“...Do you reckon he's dead?” The hushed voices of the werewolves gathered rose, seeming to come to a standstill with the skewered monsters as they huddled around the intertwined mass of the Lycan and his son, with the silver tip of his sword- MY sword, shooting up from the soaked due of his back.“Hector!” I shrieked, falling to my knees beside him as I watched the Lycan fal
HECTOR BAYESI am halfway across the field when I realize something is wrong.The man on the other end is grinning, the defined barrel of his chest rising and falling with excited breathing as I closed the distance between the two armies.“For the mountain city!” I bellowed, gripping the silver hilt of my sword as I sent the blade flying through the air in a neat arc, slashing the werewolves in my circle as the black goo of their blood sprayed into my eyes, stinging the liquid from them.Why the fuck did Japhtar keep smiling at me?I let my eyes roam over the lot, catching Nola’s tear-streaked face briefly, before the horde of werewolves fighting closed around her and I felt the rake of claws slice across my back.“Eyes in the heavens! Feast on their bones!” Japhtar’s deep voice boomed in the space as I felt the pound of my heart starting to hammer wildly in my ribcages.I snapped my head up to see that the same type of mist that hung over the city walls had climbed to cover the moon’
JAPHTAR“You’re sick Japhtar! That's what you are, a sick fucking bastard-” The maiden rasped hotly and I felt a bitter fork spike through me at her words, only seconds before I let the back of one giant hand rip across her cheek, sending her back into the hay with a loud thump.“Stupid, stupid girl,” I growled, stalking toward her and snatching the porcelain-faced dwarf by the lapel of her gown, raising her until she was suspended in the air, whimpering loudly.“Make no mistake wench,” I wheezed, shaking her roughly, as one would do to a dirty kitchen rag and watching the muscle in her tight little jaw tighten, no doubt holding back her pained screams.“I am not my father. I will not hesitate to snap your pert little neck, doesn't make a difference to me if you're alive or dead wench, pussy’s pussy.” I grinned, letting my eyes roam delightedly over the maiden’s body as I slammed my hairy paw into the crevice between her legs, her ear-splitting screams music to my ears.“And that's on
HECTOR BAYES“What did you just say?” I wheezed, my heart hammering wildly between the cages of my rib as heat rushed to my head and ears.“Y-your highness, I- they saw her, being carted away, over the north of the forest,” Gordon murmured in a mousey voice, and I felt my eyes grow until they were the size of fucking beach balls in my sockets.Japhtar had Nola? How did that happen? Saints! Why didn’t the imp ever listen to me? The irritation building inside me grew until it blotted out everything else as I clenched my fists until they shook lightly beside me.Taking my woman was the worst thing he could have done, and now, I was going to make him pay for it.“Assemble the royal troops, we're going to storm the outskirts.” I gritted, making a few of the werewolves present gasp as they cuddled around themselves before I strode out, Gordon running last me to assemble the troops before I got there and thoughts of the fair maiden swirling in my head.“Your highness?” Sarah whispered as I m
NOLA It was the whirl of the overhead ceiling fan I heard first as I came to, the ache in my temple searing through the balls of my eyes as I allowed my eyelids to flutter open, the memory of what had happened hit me like a freight train so that I let a loud gasp slip.What the fuck was that smell?I gagged, huffing frantically as I struggled against the wires that twisted into my skin painfully, the stench of male musk and excrement sticking to the hairs in my nose.“Oi! I reckon the princess’s awake, get a look at this eh?” A gravelly voice jeered as hushed whispers rose around me, the crooked claw of one werewolf poking the flesh of my hand hard enough thank screamed, tearing my eyes open to see the obelisk of their misshapen faces hovering over me.”Get the fuck away from me!” I screeched, aware that my chest was rising and falling frantically with suppressed pants as I watched the trio throw back their heads and laugh.Shit. How long had I been out? The man with pink eyes. I cou
HECTOR BAYESJaphtar Bayes was in the wild, He’d fled. The bastard.It was lucky that he had when he did, the moon goddess had hidden her silver bulb behind the iron-grey mist that kept as the fight died down around and wearied-looking soldiers from the royal army speared off the rogues that lingered.“After them!” I roared, struggling to my feet as the cobblestones of the ground rose to my vision again before I came down hard, my hand shooting out to strike the pavement, the tremors going through me.I’d been halfway up and on his heels, the ache from the gash in my midriff stinging enough that tears rose in the pools of my eyelids before I yelled for the soldiers to follow him, my heart sinking with each second that passed when I noticed he had run toward the castle.Nola! I couldn't let him make it to the gates even! Not when the stone city castle held the remainder of the survivors that had managed to escape the gruesome war.I straightened with a large inhale, feeling my muscles