Alicia

“Alicia, wait up.” Darius’s wolf chased Alicia down the woods. The cloud was grey and heavy with rain. Alicia had initiated a running contest as if she could outrun the crown prince. Outrunning Darius was almost impossible. He was strong and fast; his family was the strongest and largest wolves in the kingdom and even in neighboring kingdoms.

Alicia had been mated to Darius. A week after the death of Rochelle.

The news of Rochelle’s death had not gone unnoticed. There had been whispers. Whispers of murder. The market square traders and farmers had carried the gossip. The gossip said that Darius had strangled Rochelle in her sleep because she wasn’t a virgin.

To Darius, the claims were laughable and unreasonable. But his father, Alpha Cyrus had not taken it lightly. He had demanded the heads of anyone who dared to spread such outrageous rumors about his son again. That was enough to seal the villager’s lips. And one week after, they had gathered again at the palace, this time, the maidens that were on display were more than the first time. A total of 32 young she-wolves were brought before the crown prince. The palace spiritual lead had performed some sanctification on all 32 of them and he vetted 27 of them as pure, worthy, and without blemish.

Like the first ceremony, the ladies had come before Darius and Cyrus. Presenting themselves. Halfway through the ceremony, Darius had caught Alicia’s scent. And it had been easy to trace. Alicia was the tallest of all the girls, she looked very athletic. Her hips were very wide, enough to bear future alphas. She wasn’t a maiden in distress, she was strong. And her scent appealed to his senses. He didn’t have to look too deep into her eyes before realizing that she was the one. It turned out, his father was right. He had a long line of mates he could successfully pick from. His ancestors had been generous lovers.

Darius had tried to stay away from Alicia. To not have any sexual intercourse with her, until the wedding day. But she was a seductive temptress and the mate bond was too strong. It literally itched him. But he had held his cool. The wedding had been set to happen by the next full moon which was just three weeks away. He was going to wait.

That was his plan, until Alicia showed up unannounced at the palace steps, one week after the mating ceremony.

Darius had come down quickly to greet her, she came with a basket of fruits.

“Alicia, I wasn’t expecting you.” Those were the words that had come out of his mouth as soon as he laid his eyes on her.

“My prince, I wanted to surprise you.” She curtsied graciously before him, holding her large ball gown by one hand, and her basket by the other hand.

Darius beamed. “What a pleasant surprise.” He had said.

“Would you like to go for a walk? A picnic maybe? I brought some fruits, but I doubt that my wolf would want any of this. My wolf needs a rabbit. Would you like to join us?” she had batted her eyelids and drawn her long face into a pout. It wasn’t the most beautiful look that Darius had seen but Darius’s ego was swept up. As an alpha, one of the things that always got him in a good mood was having his ego massaged. So he couldn’t say no to her request.

But Darius had taken some form of safety measure, he had summoned his beta, Adolf to go with them. Adolf was to keep a respectable distance. With Adolf there, it would have been impossible to get intimate with Alicia.

But then, Alicia started running. She shifted to wolf form and was creating a wide gap between them. Darius called out to her again, “wait up Alicia,” she didn’t obey. And so, just like her, Darius shifted too and ran after her. Adolf did the same and the three ran into the woods that surrounded the palace.

Even though Alicia had started her run, three minutes before Darius and Adolf, Darius got to her in less than a minute. He slowed down a little, allowing her to run some more so he could chase her again, and it worked. She kept running. Darius followed her again but didn’t slow down. He pounced on her and the couple tumbled through the hill and down to the river banks. Their bodies getting dirty with mud.

Darius had his left paw on Alicia’s chest, he had overpowered her.

She rolled off from beneath him and shifted back to human. Darius shifted too. Followed by Adolf.

“You ruined my dress,” Alicia kicked at him with her hands throwing her fists at him.

“Hey,” he tried to dodge them. Darius knew that she was flirting with him, and the wolf in him couldn’t take it anymore. His eyes turned green, just the way they did whenever he was about to have sex. But Adolf stepped up to him with a small cough,

“My prince,” without the need to say any words, Adolf reminded Darius of the reason why he had come along.

“Even my hair is ruined,” Alicia whined again. “I’m going to wash off in the river,” she informed them and she walked towards the river.

She started to take off her dress, but she was unable to reach the ropes at the back of her dress. Her hand maid had knotted them a little too tight.

“I need help over here,” Alicia called out and Darius went to her immediately.

“I need help with my dress. Could you please undo my ropes?” she pointed her finger to the back of her dress.

Gently and with fine skills, Darius loosened the ropes on her dress, one strand after the other. His fingers grazed on her skin, tickling her.

“Stop it, my prince,” she knocked his hands out and turned to him “I can undo the rest” she giggled.

“If you say so.” Darius bowed jokingly and stepped aside.

Then Alicia took of the rest of her dress, every single piece of clothing fell to the ground. Including her panties, which were held by two tiny ropes on both sides. Alicia stood before him, entirely naked.

Adolf caught the sight and looked away immediately. It was an abomination for him to gaze upon the future queen and Luna of the Lakewood kingdom. Even a little glimpse was an abomination. So, Adolf turned his gaze away quickly and he took some steps back.

“stop it, Alicia, please cover up your body,” Darius warned. He was worried that Adolf had seen her nakedness. He moved to her quickly and grabbed her dress from the wet sand.

“I need to wash off my prince,” she said all the while toying with her hair, rolling the strands around her lips.”

Darius’s eyes turned green, this time, the shade of green was two shades darker. “Alicia, you are tempting me, remember our agreement? We are going to wait till after the wedding.” His deep voice turned hoarse.

“I know my prince. I remember our agreement. I am trying to hold myself. My wolf spirit must have been a temptress while she was alive. But I promise I wouldn’t let you have me, not until the wedding night.”

Darius’s breathing deepened as he gazed upon her naked body. She had the longest legs, and her belly mirrored that of a fish, it was almost inverted.

Alicia dusted of some imaginary dirt on Darius’s hair, “would you like to wash off with me? Your hair is a mess too.” She invited him, in the softest voice ever.

How could he say no? How could any man say no? how could any wolf say no? to her request, especially when she presented it that way? So he gave in.

“just a quick shower and nothing more.” He reminded her.

She nodded.

Darius started to take off his clothes, his shoes and Adolf spotted him from the side of his eyes. “my prince,” Adolf barked, his back still turned against them, Adolf couldn’t afford to look at them because of Alicia, she was still naked. So he cautioned his Alpha and prince while his back was still turned.

“Relax Adolf, it’s just a quick rinse in the water,” Darius assured Adolf.

The lovers held each other’s hands and walked into the water.

Then Darius pulled her close, he had already gathered all the willpower he could muster, he wasn’t intending to make love to her. He simply drew her in with his right hand and their bodies touched, her breasts resting on his broad shoulders. He felt her warmth, and then suddenly she started to sink, into the water. He held her hands with his and he tried to pull her up but the more he tried, the deeper she went into the water.

“Help,” Alice screamed. She was struggling to get out of the water as well. Darius pulled her, with all his strength. He was a very strong wolf but his energy couldn’t stand whatever was pulling Alicia into the water.

“ADOLF!” Darius roared for his beta.

Adolf turned around, his eyes scanned what was going on and the protector in him took charge. All abominations be damned! He was going to help his friend.

He charged into the river and held onto Alicia too. With all his valor, Adolf grabbed Alicia’s other hand and pulled. The two men tried to pull her. Men who had fought in battles, men who were a part of the strongest wolf pack in the country, pulled Alicia, a 5 foot 9 inches female mate to the Alpha and crowned prince of the Lakewood kingdom.

But they failed. The water took over. The friends watched in dismay as the water carried Alicia away.