31

I looked back and forth between the two strangers from the bar and Calvin, totally perplexed, not knowing what was going on, but what I did know was that Calvin would punish me for this, would blame me. Absolutely confused, I quickly looked for something to cover my almost naked body.

The black-haired crouched down in front of me, gently took my hands in his, looked pityingly into my brown eyes, then his gaze fell on Calvin, whom he glared at. I studied his face, I was drawn to it magically, I don't know why, but he looked perfect to me. The beautiful brown eyes that sent goosebumps down my arms. His lips, just trembling with anger. I felt like I'd known him my whole life, he was so familiar to me. When Calvin suddenly attacked the blonde, I jumped and jerked my hands out of the pretty boy's, but he immediately took them back and helped me up so that we were standing face to face, staring at each other. In the background I heard the two blondes arguing, but my mind was only with the man that I felt so connected to. Even Saphir answered very softly, purring like a kitten, even as a full-grown wolf. A smile formed on my lips as I listened to her in my head.

"You have a beautiful smile," the pretty boy said. His voice was deep, almost menacing, and yet it radiated warmth that made you feel safe.

When he looked down, my otherwise pale cheeks flushed. Caught under his spell, I had completely forgotten that my slim body was only covered by underwear. I quickly pulled my hands out of his and tried to look for something suitable to cover me, but before I could reach for my red torn dress, he put his black jacket on me, which gave off such a beautiful scent that I never wanted to breathe out again.

"I don't think you want to say goodbye to your boyfriend," he said, pointing at Calvin, who had the tall blonde in a headlock. My eyes fell on Calvin, hating him tore me from the inside out. I shook my head no, never again would I give my nightmare even the satisfaction of my attention. "Okay, don't be alarmed." I looked at him questioningly with wide eyes, but he just gave me an irresistible smile and jerked me onto his strong arms.

Instead of being terrified, I felt safer than I had ever felt in my life. As the blonde followed us outside, Calvin kept shouting my name. He sounded distorted in pain, and that brought an unwanted spark of pity to my mind. Suddenly I could hardly breathe, thinking about how naive I was right now. I let myself be kidnapped voluntarily, who does that. Saphir couldn't help me, she was still purring and I rolled my eyes in annoyance. How useless my instincts were.

Arrived at a red convertible, the black-haired one lifted me in the back with ease, then sat down in front of me at the wheel. The blond sat down next to him, not even noticing me.

"Before we leave, I would like to know who you are." Curious, I leaned forward, wanting to look at their faces as they answered, maybe I would spot a lie. It was one thing to save me from being raped, but that didn't give them the right to just kidnap me. "Aiden.", the blonde turned to me, looking briefly at my bra, which could be seen a little through the open jacket. Suddenly the black-haired man growled so menacingly that the blonde immediately turned to the front again and my heart stopped for a moment while the air in my lungs stopped.

Without answering me, he started the engine of the beautiful car, which purred almost as much as my inner wolf, and then we drove together through the cool night, far away from my nightmare, into the unknown.

As I sat in the back of the car and watched the forest go by, a thousand thoughts shot through my head. Starting with Calvin, who was probably freaking out right now, but he deserved it, that disgusting bastard. Right down to the two men who seemed to take it for granted that they would take women with them without their permission, snatch them from their lives, even though it was to my advantage because if they hadn't bothered Calvin's act out, I would probably longing for death.

hours passed. The rising sun brought out small rays that sparkled beautifully through the dense trees onto the road, giving me a better view of the nature around me. The forest looked peaceful, untouched, as if no human or animal had ever passed by. Only the road ruined this picture. How I would like to run through this untouched landscape as a wolf, just feel free, become one with nature. But I hadn't transformed in so long that Saphir withdrew further and further inside me, taking my instincts with it.

She hasn't spoken since Calvin came into my life. I could be happy if she at least let out a growl, it made me all the happier that she freaked out so loud yesterday and purred lovingly.

"Would you like something to drink?" the blonde asked while stretching. "No thanks." I just breathed. At the sight of his long yawn, I was getting sleepy too. I let myself fall to the side, wrapped myself in my rescuer's nice, warm jacket, and closed my eyelids, which had become heavy, exhausted.

When I slowly woke up again, I had to collect myself first, let everything that happened sink in. As soon as I opened my eyes, the bright sun blinded me, it must have been the middle of the day. I struggled to get up and looked around. We were still surrounded by dense forest, but the road only resembled a small dirt road. "Good morning." The blonde grinned at me. "Would you like a drink now?" "Yes please," I replied quietly, my gaze fixed on the black-haired man whose eyes had been fixed on the road since the beginning of the journey.

I couldn't get his familiarity out of my mind, still wondering how he looked familiar, until the blonde handed me a water bottle. "It can't be," I whispered to myself.

A beautiful castle was depicted on the label of the bottle, above which was written: KÖNIGSTEIN'S QUELLE

Fascinated, I leaned forward and finally recognized him. It was Damien, the son of our King Nero, about whom all sorts of stories were heard. Nero was the reason we were at war with humans in the first place, no one knew exactly what happened.

"You're Damien!" I stuttered at him, hoping he would start talking to me. But I was disappointed to find that he continued to ignore me. For a moment I thought about teasing him provocatively by opening my jacket a bit more, but then I had a better idea. "Aiden sweetie, thanks for the water," I breathed as sweetly as I could at the blond, leaning close to his blushing face. A low growl came from Damien and I fell backwards again, grinning. Apparently he wasn't as cold as he acted.

We drove the rest of the day in silence through mountains and valleys. Beautiful lakes, big mountains, I could see everything for the first time, previously only knew our small village and the forest that surrounded it. With big eyes I spotted a huge castle on the horizon. At dusk it looked like a beautiful painting that should have been created by the most gifted artist in the world. It was surrounded by forest at the back. On the left was a large lake reflecting the setting sun. White towers on the sides, a great gate, and flags of wolves adorned the king's home.

But where there is light there is also shadow, and this should envelop me in complete darkness.

Before driving over a bridge to get into the castle, we drove slowly through a small village. Apparently the workers lived here. They bowed respectfully when they spotted Damien. Dirty clothes lay about their slim bodies, not a single one of them smiled. I saw old men chopping wood, watched women trembling and looked over at us, and then suddenly the most beautiful blue eyes I had ever seen met me.

A small, petite girl stood in the midst of several chickens and fed them. Her thin arms were covered in bruises, her face scratched in places. The dark blonde hair looked like it had never been washed. The sight of her made me shudder. "Please stop." I asked the black-haired man, but he skilfully ignored me.

Something about the girl reminded me of myself. She must have been through way too much, she must have been a few years younger than me. I resolutely stood on my feet in the old convertible and jumped out in one leap. All of the peasants' eyes were on me, but I didn't really care. Dressed only in a jacket, I walked over to her, stood in front of her and looked deep into her lost-looking eyes. The moment I was so close to her, I immediately realized that she wasn't a werewolf. She was human, and apparently kept as a slave here. "Hello, my name is Melody. And what is your name?" She looked startled at an elderly man who was standing to one side of us, glaring at her maliciously. I carefully took her chin in my hand and turned her back to me. "

"Get back in the car right away." Damien said coolly. "Only if she can come with me!", I replied and got up to look into his eyes. He looked over at the man, threw a gold coin at his feet and motioned for us both to get in the car.

Sitting back in the car, my eyes fell on the man again, who was turning the gold coin around in his hands, beaming. It all seemed more and more ridiculous to me. Although we had been pushed back by the humans, we really had to start from scratch. While the future king drove a convertible, wore nice clothes, and looked more modern than anyone I'd ever met, these peasants seemed like they'd stepped out of another era.

"Thanks, Melody," the little girl whispered next to me, looking shyly at her hands, which were bleeding from work. "Everything will be okay," I whispered to her. I would have loved to put my jacket around her delicate body, but unfortunately I was only wearing underwear underneath.

Arrived on the bridge leading to the castle, there were several men with guns. They saluted without looking at us and gave the order to open the gate. My heart was racing with excitement, and Emma raised her head in curiosity as the huge gate was pulled up.

Behind it was a large square where several people were gathered. They looked happily in our direction, apparently happy to have their prince back. He got out first and helped us both on the car, while Aiden immediately ran up the stairs and disappeared into the castle.

Before I could ask Damien what I was doing here, a beautiful woman walked towards us, beaming. Her brown curls fell almost to her waist. Clad in a yellow dress that fitted her perfectly, she approached Damien to kiss him passionately.

"THIS IS OUR MATE!" Sapphire suddenly roared in my head. Her growl was so powerful that I couldn't stop it, it kicked out of my throat and everyone stared at me in confusion.