Chapter Four
Olivia
There was no denying how confusing everything about the situation felt to Olivia. What could have happened that would have sent a prince to become a member of her pack and make him a protector instead? And what was that humming, the one that grew stronger with each moment she was in Dominic’s presence? Thoughts were swirling through her mind, one coming into focus just as another floated to the back the entire time they walked toward the woods.
That was until she watched Dominic shift behind the tree. Then all of her thoughts seemed to cease altogether.
Her initial impression had been right, Dominic was a wildly impressive wolf. His fur had those same streaks of gold and his amber eyes glowed. But it was his size that truly took her breath away. Wolves when they shifted did not turn out like that of a normal wolf. Shifters were larger, like that of a bear, and they were stronger, faster, than an average wolf. Olivia had seen enough shift in her life that she had known what to expect when she watched Dominic, but he was so much more than she had thought he would be.
He was larger, immediately recognized as stronger, and in her opinion, majestic. It took all of her strength to not to caress his fur, to stifle the urge to feel its softness under her fingers. She let her fingers graze him only a moment before she climbed onto his back and did everything she could to steady herself on top of him.
A new question popped into her head; how was she going to spend hours on his back with her entire body on fire at the feel of him?
She needed to distract herself from this strong prince, from the beauty of his wolf, and she needed to distract herself fast. As Dominic began to stride and she felt his muscles move underneath her, she closed her eyes tightly and forced her mind on something else.
“So, does anyone know what is happening to all of these packs? Do we know who is attacking them?”
Dominic waited a moment before answering, his large paws making deep imprints in the soft mud.
“There is a theory that my father’s informants given to the kingdom.”
“What is it?”
“There are men out there who believe that shifters are not human at all. That we are simply a trophy to be captured. In some dark circles, I’ve even heard that they have contests to see who can capture and kill the biggest shifter.”
“That’s disgusting!”
“It is.”
“What can you do about it?”
“These men, they’re good at what they do. Too good. They’ve perfected how to capture and kill us which is why it has become harder and harder to prevent the attacks. The number of casualties of shifters has grown significantly with each attack.”
Olivia didn’t say anything for a moment, just thought about what Dominic had told her. Poachers killing innocent shifters for sport was something too disgusting to digest.
“Have there been any human casualties?” she asked.
“None that I’m aware of. But you know how shifters are, we do everything we can to keep our emotions under control. You know what would happen to us if we killed a human, even one who was hurting us.”
Olivia knew that was the truth, she’d grown up watching plenty of shifters attempt to control themselves and when emotions were high it was not an easy task. But if their packs were being threatened, she was surprised that they were keeping it under control.
“When the attacks begin though, why don’t they shift and fight? Shifters are much stronger and faster than any human, surely they should be winning the fights.”
“Have you ever seen a shifter completely lose control? It’s nasty, brutal, and no human would survive. Just imagine what would happen if a shifter lost control on a secret poacher, the damage the press would do to the pack, to all packs really.”
Olivia hadn’t thought about that. Dominic was right, shifters had to be extremely careful about their reputations. The moment humans thought they were a threat was the moment they would all have to go into hiding.
“Have you ever seen a shifter lose control?” she asked.
Dominic paused just the slightest and she felt his muscles tighten beneath her.
“Once.”
His answer was short and left no room for discussion. Riding on top of the wolf’s back was probably not the right time to push him on something he clearly didn’t want to talk about. Olivia couldn’t help but let the question slip between her lips anyway.
“Was it bad?”
Her voice was nearly a whisper, cautious about what he might say.
Dominic didn’t say anything and Olivia could feel her question hanging in the air. She almost thought he didn’t hear her but then his voice, a low rumbling sound, answered her question.
“It was excruciating for everyone,” he said.
With that, Olivia felt his body start to run and she could no longer get a word out. He was racing between the trees, avoiding limbs and bushes, slipping through the woods like a fish swim through water. As if running through the thicket was completely natural to him.
She had been completely right about Dominic, so far everything about him had impressed her.
Even his stamina proved to be impressive as once he began running he didn’t stop until she recognized the scenery that told her she was home.
“Wow, that was a long run,” she said when he had finally stopped running. Promptly she wished she could kick herself for saying something so stupid, especially when she felt Dominic shake and chuckle underneath her.
“Um yeah, it was.”
Embarrassed, she kicked his side slightly and he stopped so that she could jump off.
“I can walk from here,” she told him haughtily.
Dominic pranced at her side, still in wolf form. “Oh, so I go running for hours, carrying you on my back, and you say that you can walk the next few feet to your dad’s house? What a sacrifice…” he teased.
“Well, I didn’t ask you to come drag me out of school and bring me all the way here. I’d rather be anywhere but here.”
The pair kept walking, Olivia suddenly feeling like she couldn’t get away from him and whatever that hum was fast enough.
“So let me get this straight, you can’t stop talking from the moment you see me but the moment I drop you off you can’t even say ‘thank you’?”
Olivia took a few more steps and then realized that he was no longer beside her. She turned just in time to see Dominic behind a tree, back in his human form, a flash of bare skin and the bulge of muscle, before he slipped clothes on over himself. Quickly she turned from the sight, blushing at what she’d just seen.
“So?” he asked when he emerged, fully dressed and human, from behind the tree.
“’So’ what?” she asked, completely forgetting what they had been talking about.
“Do I get a ‘thank you’ or what?”
“Right, um, thanks,” she told him and skittered off to her dad’s cabin.
Where she started off the day frustrated and even a bit angry at having to come home, it was nearly dinner and she was now only feeling confused and maybe even a little scared. As she moved farther away from Dominic she felt that strange hum in her start to subside and when she realized it she expected to feel relief from its incessant feeling. But by the time she opened her home’s cabin door she realized that she didn’t feel relief without the hum. Instead she felt as if something— a big something, was missing.