Chapter 2: The Brothers' Triangle

A warmth in front of her and laughter somewhere near woke her from a sound sleep.  If she’d had been dreaming, she couldn’t remember.  As her eyes blinked open a bright light infiltrated her sore pupils, so she pushed herself to try and stand to move away from the burning sensation.  As she did, pain seared through her shoulder bringing back into memory the fight with the bear to save the life of a stupid human.  But then… the man, he’d taken her, hadn’t he?  So, why was she alive?  She lowered herself back onto something soft.  And where was she?  She shook her large furry head and blinked, trying to clear her vision.  When that failed, she pawed at her face and eyes and shook again.  Finally, her vision cleared, and she saw that the warmth in front of her was a fire made in a brick fireplace.  The soft ground she was laying on was a sheepskin rug.  She pushed off the floor, this time succeeding in fighting against the pain.  She limped as she turned her body around to get a better view of where she was being kept.

It was a large room with curtains on a window leading to a balcony on one the left side of the fireplace.  In the center of the room was a large, wooden bed made up of red and gold sheets and a large comforter.  There was an armoire, a dresser, and bowl on a stand for face washing also scattered throughout the room.  If she had to guess, she was in the prince’s chamber.  But why?  She limped closer to the door at the far end of the room.  If it was unlocked, she should be able to escape. 

As she approached, she could hear voices getting louder.  Some of them angry, some humorous, and some defensive and pleading.  She continued to limp closer until shadows flashed under the door.  Whoever was arguing outside was now just on the other side of the door.

“How could you bring a wild animal into our home?” Said a bellowing male voice.

“She’s not a wild animal!  She saved my life!” This was the voice of the prince.

“She?” Laughed another male voice, smooth and mocking.

“Yes.  It’s a she.” Stated the prince rather defensively.

The key in the door turned and she struggled to back away from it.  The door flung open and in stepped three men and one woman who looked much too young to be a queen.  The first man obstructing the doorway was tall and broad.  He had a purple cape with gold trim draped over his wide shoulders covering a white tunic with an equally purple vest.  The broach at the collar of the cape had the same insignia of the lion and dragon.  His face was covered with a white beard and his head in shoulder length white hair.  Atop his head sat a thin gold crown.  This man was King Aaron.  Two men stood on either side of him.  On his left was the prince who had brought her here.  On his right was another man, slightly older with dark brown scruff on his face and wavy dark hair that sat in a mess atop his head.  This man was the tallest of the three with a dark green vest accenting his already broad shoulders, making him look like a towering threat.  While it must have been him responding in the mocking tone, his dark eyes held great suspicion as he stared at her.  His tall boots and tan pants suggested that he’d also been out hunting when the young prince found her.  Her eyes traveled down his right hand and yes, there sat an identical ring that the young prince wore.  This man, too, was a prince and judging by his age, he was the one to inherit the throne.  The woman struggled to see past the three men in the doorway, bobbing up and down with her red curls bouncing loose from the bun on her head.  A queen would never act that way.  She was either a sister or a betrothed.  Her gold necklace jingled as she moved and her light pink gown swayed around her delicate ankles.  If the she-wolf could roll her eyes she would have.

“So this is it.” Stated King Aaron.  The young prince pushed his way past his father to stand in front of her protectively.

“Yes, this is the wolf who saved me from the bear.”

“And I see you’ve already patched her up, Philip?”  Philip, so that was his name.

“Yes.  She was bleeding out.”

“You should have left her there.”  The king shook his head side to side.

“She is not a threat!  If she is willing to save the life of a human, does she not deserve to live?”  Pleaded Philip.

“Are you planning on keeping her as a pet?” Asked the older prince so calmly it unnerved her.

“Yes, watch,” chimed in the woman, “she’ll become his hunting hound!”  The two chuckled to each other and the king curled his lip disgusted at the idea.

“Of course not!” shouted Philip, startling her and sending a pain down her leg.  “Once she is well enough, I plan to release her back into the forest.  She likely has a pack she belongs to who will be missing her, but there is no way she’ll heal if she has to hunt on her own.”

“So how do you plan to feed her, then?  From our kitchens?”  Asked the king.  The prince was silent and the woman and other prince began to whisper to themselves and giggle behind the king.  “You’d better release her once she is better, son.  I’ll not have a wild animal living under my roof killing everything.”  With that, he turned on his heel and she watched his cloak float gracefully behind him as he turned down the hall and left.

“You know she will, don’t you?” Asked the older prince.

“I don’t need your opinion, Morgan.”  Retaliated Philip.

“She has an instinct to hunt.  You can’t fight that.  For all your efforts to stop her, she will do it.  If she kills one of Father’s…”

“I SAID I DON’T NEED YOUR OPINION OR YOUR ADVICE!” Morgan stood still, unphased by his brother’s outburst.  His eyes moved from his brother’s face down to hers and he gave her a hard stare directly into her eyes.  Her body gave an involuntary response and her blood pulsed harder in her veins turning her eyes green as they had with the bear.  Her ears perked straight up and her body became rigid, matching Morgan’s intensity.

“Hmmph.” He grunted, turned and walked from the doorway and down the hall more slowly than his father did.  The woman stayed behind and the she-wolf noticed that Philip’s body relaxed slightly.  He let out a heavy sigh and rubbed the back of his neck with his hand.

“What are you planning to do with her, Philip?”

“As I said, I plan on helping her heal, and then letting her go.”

“What if she doesn’t want to go?” Asked the woman.

“I don’t see why she should want to stay.”

“Perhaps she decides she likes it here?”

“Like you did, Evangeline?”  The woman only smiled.  Philip walked closer to her, seeming to forget the wolf behind him.  Evangeline giggled a little as Philip leaned against the wall by the doorway and stretched out a hand to brush her face.  “You were cruel to me earlier, you know that.”

“So, punish me later.”  She smiled.  The wolf’s stomach turned.  Clearly these two were more than they should be.  Morgan’s scent was all over her, but the wolf could smell the woman’s biological response to Philip touching her and cooing at her.  She began to wish there was another way out of the room. 

The wolf turned and limped to the opposite wall where the window to the balcony was and sighed in relief that the doorway was open.  She limped out through the curtains and onto the marble tiled platform where she could see the stars and feel the breeze.  The air was different here, crisper, and full of the smells of cooked food and smoke from ovens surrounding the castle.  Behind her, she heard the chamber door shut.  She was trapped again.  Reluctantly, she laid down on the marble, willing it to cool her frustration and uncertainty about what the days ahead would bring.