Levy and the Wolf Prince

Chapter 1

The young bluenette walked through the forest, keeping to the trail, with a basket of pastries in one hand and a book in the other. Her red cape billowed with each gust of wind that rattled the pages of her book, much to her annoyance. Why can't the wind just stop and let her read her book in peace?

She was on her way to grandma Porlyusia's house to deliver her the pastries and a few herbs and as usual, she wasn't paying attention to her surroundings.

There was a rumor of a large black wolf stalking the forest, but after so many trips and not seeing it, Levy decided it was just that, a rumor. But given her luck, she was being followed by said rumor, its glowing red eyes following her.

"Grandma? I'm here," Levy called, setting the basket and her book down so she could remove her red cloak.

"I'm back here. Did you bring the herbs I needed?" the grandma called back.

"Yes grandma, and some pastries from the shop," Levy answered, picking the basket up and heading to the kitchen.

"Good, I was starting to get hungry,"" Porlyusia commented as she got two plates out of the kitchen cabinet.

"See you in a couple days grandma," Levy called as she tightened her cloak and headed down the forest trail, her book sitting in the empty basket. "I wonder what momma is making for dinner tonight," Levy mused, oblivious to the cold eyes watching her. The sun was setting quickly and Levy had no intention of being in the forest after dark so she picked up her pace.

She arrived at the village and noticed the mayor putting up some flyers on the town hall's bulletin board. Curious, she walked over.

"What's the news mayor?"

Startled the mayor dropped his stack of papers. "Oh dear, you scared me there Levy," the mayor said in his soprano voice.

"Sorry about that," Levy said as she bent down to pick up the flyers. "A prince is missing?" she asked when she read the flyer.

"Yes, I'm afraid so. And as luck would have it, not a prince, the prince. Prince Gajeel, the eldest who was supposed to take over the kingdom in a year."

"When did he go missing?" Levy asked. This was as interesting as her books.

"Nobody knows. Prince Gajeel and three of his friends went out hunting about two weeks ago. When they didn't come back, the king, very distraught, sent out a search party," the mayor continued.

"And?" Levy asked, completely enthralled by the story.

"Well, the search party found the prince's three friends dead from unexplainable causes. As for the prince, they found his clothes, completely unscathed, but no prince. Not even a set of footprints," the mayor said sadly. "Now the king is offering a large reward to anyone that can find the prince or has relevant information on the situation," the roundish man said, placing the remaining flyers under his arm.

"That's terrible," Levy said before saying goodbye to the mayor and heading to her and her mother's bakery shop.

Gajeel ran as fast as his new legs could carry him. Untrained in wolf etiquette, he walked right into some pack's territory. Now he was running for his life, the pack right on his trail and it was a large pack, as they snapped at his bushy tail.

"I didn't mean to enter your territory," the wolf prince called, but it only seemed to anger the alpha male even more.

"Shit! Where the hell is that damn witch?" Gajeel howled as he sped up.

"I'm heading back to grandma's mom," Levy yelled as she grabbed her basket and ran out the door.

"Be back for dinner! And be safe!" Levy's mother yelled after her before heading back into the kitchen to check on the bread.

Levy was half way to her grandma's when she got the feeling she was being watched. She stopped and looked around, her brown eyes trying to peer into the shadows cast by the trees.

"Anyone there?" Levy squeaked out timidly.

A low growl answered her.

Turning sharply, Levy came face to face, literally, (the wolf was that large) with a gleaming pair of red eyes.

"Go-ood boy," Levy laughed nervously, completely unsure of what to do.

"Have you seen a witch around here, Shrimp?" came a rough, deep voice.

Levy knew it was the wolf that talked but still, she turned and looked everywhere for a person that could have been the owner of the voice, and when she saw no one, she screamed at the top of her lungs.

"Be quiet!" the wolf growled as he lunged at her, knocking her down and standing over her. "I don't need more hunters showing up and trying to kill me."

"Wha-how? How can I understand you? How are you talking?" Levy squealed as she eyed the sharp canines that were only an inch or so from her face.

"Cuz I'm not a wolf Shrimp, I'm the prince. Now tell me, have you seen a witch around here?"

"N-no. There aren't any witches around here," Levy squealed.

"Dammit!" the wolf growled, getting off the bluenette.

"You're a prince?" Levy dared to ask when she remembered what the wolf and the mayor had said.

"Yeah, Prince Gajeel. Some witch found me when I was hunting. She killed my friends and turned me into this. Fucking bitch," the large black wolf snarled.

"Why?" Levy ventured to ask.

"I don't know, cuz she is a bitch."

"Did she say anything as to why? Witches don't do anything without reason."

"How would you know what witches do?" the wolf prince growled.

"I uh, read a bunch of books. Like Beauty and the Beast. So did she say anything," Levy said, coming to a stand and brushing herself off.

"She said something about me being an ass and not deserving the throne. And about something about only having a year to find someone," the Prince growled offhandedly.

"So just like Beauty and the Beast," Levy sweat dropped.

"Like what?" Gajeel growled, swinging his head around to face the young girl.

"It's a fairy tale about a jerk of a prince who gets turned into a beast by a witch. He has a limited amount of time to find someone to love him or he stays like that forever," Levy explained.

"That's stupid," the wolf growled.

"That's the pickle you're in though," Levy said trying to resist a smile.

"No, cuz imma find that witch and rip her throat out," the prince yelled as he raced back off into the shadows.