Chapter One
Dominic
A log in the fireplace shifted, falling into burning clumps of embers as Dominic put a fresh log on the fire. He rubbed his hands together in an attempt to keep warm. How far he’d fallen, he’d thought, from his place in a warm and dazzling castle in the mountains, to a small, damp log cabin in the woods.
A scowl sat on Dominic’s face as he watched the flames lick at the new log, charring it, burning it like it had the others. He still couldn’t believe that his parents had decided to side with his older brother and kick Dominic out of the castle. His twin brother, Ronald, was always getting everything he whined about simply because he was the favorite and recently named the next in line to take the throne and become King once their father’s reign was over. Dominic was a prince too though, and in his own opinion a better one, and his parents should have been more understanding of what had taken place.
After all, it hadn’t been his fault that Cherise, Ronald’s betrothed woman of the pack, had wanted a tryst with Dominic. He was stronger, bigger, more enticing, than his bland brother, and most girls had chosen Dominic’s brawn over Ronald’s meekness. It had been that way since they were kids.
A dripping sound came from Dominic’s little kitchen, the rain seeping in through the roof and leaking down to leave wet splatters on the floor. He rolled his eyes at his destitute situation. Even the view from his window was bleak with dark mud and wet trees out in the woods instead of the lush greenery and houses that dotted the inside of the kingdom.
But after his “inappropriate transgression,” as his father had labeled it, Dominic had been sent away to live with a pack that was just on the outskirts of the kingdom in the dense woods.
“Your strength will be more useful there, protecting the kingdom, than it is here acting as prince.” That’s what his father had told him the day he had sent him away.
Dominic supposed it was true, that his large stature and ripping muscles were better used protecting the kingdom from the mass killings that had been taking place on packs throughout the country than sitting in some fancy kingdom listening to policies and rules. Out in the woods he was allowed to live in more solitude, acting as a lone wolf.
Of course, the pack that he was sent to had called on him from time to time to help with things, but for the most part, Dominic was spending his time as he pleased. Though he was missing the female attention he used to get from living in the kingdom, out in the woods he wasn’t getting much action.
A knock sounded from the front door and Dominic glanced out the window, surprised to have a visitor. But with the blackness of the night, he couldn’t see anything outside.
“Come in,” he called to the visitor.
The wooden door to the small cabin opened and from out of the rain stepped Atticus, the pack Alpha. Closing the door behind him, he shook the rain from his coat, sending more droplets of water flying in his already damp home.
“Atticus, this is a surprise. Is something wrong?”
It was rare for the older Alpha to make a house call to anyone, unless it was absolutely necessary. Like most Alphas, anyone else in the pack was supposed to go to him when called, but Atticus rarely went to anyone himself.
“There’s been another attack,” he told Dominic without hesitation.
Quickly, Dominic stood from his stool by the fireplace and pulled up another one, gesturing for Atticus to have a seat and warm himself while he filled him in on the details.
“Where?” he asked the older man.
“Not far from here actually. Which means that they’re getting closer to the kingdom.”
Dominic felt his chest puff out. “When they get here, I’ll be ready for the fight,” he assured him. After all, it wasn’t just his brute strength but also his knack for wining a brawl that had made his parents decide that he should be protecting the kingdom instead of living in it.
Well, his ability to protect as well as his affinity for getting himself in trouble was what had gotten him sent to the outskirts of the kingdom.
Atticus nodded at him, he knew that Dominic would be ready when the time came. And it was certain that the time would come.
“It was a horrible attack, wiped out much of the pack.” The man shook his head sadly. “Whoever is doing this— these night time attacks— is taking too many of our lives. No one is safe.”
He may not feel like a prince anymore, but Dominic still took pride in his kingdom, it was still home, and the people that lived in it were part of that home. He was going to do whatever he could to keep them safe.
“I’ll start keeping guard at night,” he told Atticus. “I’ll be ready.”
Atticus nodded at the boy’s offer. “Your fighting skills are legendary, there is no doubt about that. But I need you to do something before it is too late.”
“What do you need me to do?”
“No one from any pack is safe, even if they are no longer living among other shifters. In fact, I fear that there are more dangers for those living alone without the safety of a pack. My daughter is away at college, alone, without any members there. I need to ask you to go and get her and bring her to the safety of us. That’s the only way I can be sure that she is ok.”
“Why can’t someone else go? Someone who knows her?”
“Patrick and Ernest would be the other two that I would trust implicitly to go and get her, but you’re the fastest and I want her back here right away.”
It wasn’t exactly the heroic act Dominic was hoping he was going to be assigned; but Atticus was the Alpha and it was his decision what role Dominic was to play in the pack. A shunned prince was little match for an Alpha, and even less of a match for an Alpha as notorious as Atticus. There was a reason Atticus’ pack lived at the outer edge of the kingdom. They were the silent protectors, the brooders, the fighters, the ones who kept the people of the kingdom safe. Dominic fits right in, but still he knew that he was the strongest of them, though young with a lot to learn, all and had been hoping for a bigger task.
“Where is she?” Dominic asked. Hopefully it was close by so he could go get the girl and come back.
“She’s just through the woods— away at school. On foot it should take you a matter of hours to get her and bring her home.”
Dominic nodded at the command. Shifting and racing through the woods would at least give him a chance to stretch his legs. Of course, he didn’t know why the girl just didn’t shift and come home herself, the danger hadn’t yet reached the inside of the kingdom so she’d be safe alone for the time being. But it didn’t matter, he was happy to have something to do rather than sit in the cabin waiting for trouble to strike.
“I’ll leave in the morning.”
“Good, then I’ll expect her home by dinner time.”
Atticus slowly stood from the stool, the age beginning to show in his movements, and walked toward the door.
His grasp was on the door knob before he turned back to Dominic. “Just one more thing, my daughter…she’s not like other women in the pack—or in most packs for that matter.”
“Why’s that?”
“She has a tendency to be a bit stubborn and resentful at her life in the pack. She was the one who chose to go away from us all and attend school further in the reaches of the kingdom.”
Atticus took out a pink scarf from his pocket and threw it towards Dominic. It floated toward him and he caught the silky material in his hands, getting a strong waft of the scent of Atticus’ daughter. She smelled sweet, like vanilla and roses, and something about how intoxicating the mix was made Dominic momentarily dizzy.
“It’ll be easier to find her if you follow her scent,” Atticus told him.
Suddenly feeling at a loss for words, Dominic just nodded. With a scent like hers, Dominic was sure he’d be able to find her immediately. Atticus stepped out of the cabin and into the night and Dominic threw another log onto the fire to keep the home warm. He laid down on the couch and let himself drift off, the cabin feeling suddenly a bit warmer than it had before.