His Forsaken Luna-Chapter 50: Scoundrel!

Courtiers and servants gawked at the giant black wolf strolling through the palace gates with me riding its back. Many started to hide their laughs behind their hands, amused that I couldn’t shift into a wolf and simply run back in that form. That was until the wolf growled and snapped his jaws towards them.

Startled, they jumped back with a yelp, lowered their gazes and scrambled away, dispersing from their mini gatherings. Amusement tugged at my lips with a hint of satisfaction, but it dropped when I remembered it was because of Eryx. I needed to be respected like him.

Well, their behaviour towards Eryx was more out of fear of the barbaric Alpha Prince of Sun and Fury.

He took me back to his quarters, and I slid off down from his leg. His fur had kept me warm, and now that I was standing on the ground again, I longed to cling to him again for survival purposes, obviously. It had nothing to do with the Alpha Prince.

Eryx shifted back and led me back into his quarters. We went straight up the stairs to the room I had been in before. The water closet was already foggy from the hot bath. "I don’t need another bath-"

"Unless you want me to hug you naked under the bedsheets, this is the quickest way to warm up," Eryx said abruptly, closing the door behind him before hearing my answer. I gaped at the door and his rudeness.

He was correct in thinking I would not choose the former. 𝒇𝒓𝒆𝒆𝙬𝒆𝒃𝓷𝒐𝓿𝙚𝙡.𝒄𝓸𝒎

"I’ll be back in ten minutes." Then I heard a key lock the door.

"You did not just lock me in this room!" I tugged on the doorknob and smacked on the door.

"It’s for your safety," he grunted back before I heard his retreating footsteps.

"Great! If an assassin comes through the window, I’m buggered!" I shout after him.

"Language Princess! Honestly, your ’trips’ to Ulfstad need to stop." He was correct in assuming that was where I learned my curse words. It was beside the point.

My heart escalated into a wild rhythm, and my hands grew clammy as silence became deafeningly loud. I inhaled deeply, closing my eyes. "It’s not the same. This is not a punishment. It is only ten minutes.

Opening my eyes again, I forced my legs into action and turned away from the door, stripping from my clothes and climbing into a bath once again. The sudden panic and anxiousness melted away as the warmth of the water soothed my aching limbs. Admittedly, Eryx had been right.

Although the heat of the palace was far beyond what I was used to, my damp hair from the snow and sweat from running didn’t bother me as much as it would have in my own quarters. "I shouldn’t get used to this warmth," I murmur to myself, my head tipped back, my hair in a messy bun.

"Excellent to see you are still alive."

I jolted at the deep voice and looked behind me, shrinking slightly under the water. "What do you think you are doing?!"

Eryx’s lips twitched. He was leaning against the side of the door, arms and legs crossed. "I called your name."

"That does not mean you burst in here like a scoundrel!"

"A scoundrel?" He muses. "Here, I thought an assassin might have killed you, or you passed out from a panic attack."

My breath inhales sharply. Eryx heard my panic attack? I thought he left?

"Next time, I will wait outside like a true gentleman and allow the assassin to kill you."

I narrow my eyes at his sarcasm. "Get out of here," I say slowly, sternly, and trying to keep my cool.

"Get out of the bath or don’t." He shrugged and turned away. "It won’t be my fault if you miss Kharis and Cohnal’s reports."

"I need to dress," I clip back, reaching for a towel nearby as water sloshes slightly with the movement, droplets dotting the floor. I kept looking over my shoulder to ensure he wasn’t peeking.

Eryx shook his head and walked away. "You have two minutes." The door to the bedroom slammed shut.

I may have been a little ridiculous, considering I’d seen his body multiple times now, and he’d seen so much more than me. Changing swiftly into new clothes that were left on the bed, a beautiful warm dress in a dark garnet colour and a white woolly shawl to cover my chest. Unlike my other dresses, this one had laces at the front, making it easier to put on.

Without sorting my hair, I flung the door open and found Eryx pacing outside. I was quite sure the wooden floorboards dipped slightly to his weight.

As soon as I exited the room, the Alpha Prince turned and stormed down the stairs, my shorter steps quickly trying to keep up behind him. We passed the hallways, through the main hall, past the double doors under the balcony, past a few more doors—seriously, this place was huge and like a maze—until finally, we went inside a parlour.

The hearth was on even though there were gemstones scattered about radiating heat. There were no complaints from me. I still felt a slight chill after today’s debacle. Whether it was because I’d been out in the cold for so long or, because I’d been attacked and the target of said attack, or it was a mixture of both.

I strolled further into the room, stopping close to the fire so my slightly damp hair could dry while Eryx’s men told us their findings or lack of findings. It didn’t escape my attention that his Beta and warrior had probably already reported to their Alpha Prince through a mind link.

Everyone in the parlour stood, not using any of the furniture for what it was there for. I expected the men to relax, especially after fighting, but they leaned against the walls, scanning the room for any dangers. Kharis looked casual, but his eyes were sharper than I saw them earlier.

Eryx and his men were dressed in their leathers again, weapons in sheaths, muscles tense.

"Tell Lia what you told me," Eryx commands quietly. As usual, his presence is the size of the room, domineering and intimidating, like an Alpha Prince.

Kharis crossed his arms, a nonchalant gesture, but the light tapping of his finger against his bicep was telling. "I couldn’t track the scent past the river. There was no blood from where you wounded him either."

"Smart," I murmur. "Would you recognise the scent if this person was near you?"

Kharis stared at me for a moment. Did I say something stupid? I didn’t have their heightened senses, but I assumed if Kharis had a tracker bloodline—a Were with enhanced tracking skills—he could.

"Yes, I can..." He trails off, his finger pausing on his bicep.

"Lia is of the same thought process as us," Eryx explains. "They were men from the Northern guard."

Cohnal nodded along. "The remaining bodies that hadn’t shifted were dressed in leathers... Similar attire to Southern Weres. But they are not the same. The sun emblem is stitched into our armours. The small symbol in our trousers, on the inside near our hip bone to prevent situations like this from happening," the Beta explained.

Eryx strolled towards me and lowered his breeches as proof. Erm...