Chapter Six

Velyo sat in the large tent that was his room glaring at the wall after yet another of him and his father's endless arguments. When is he going to kick off anyway…? The young man thought restlessly, absentmindedly twirling a knife in his hand. Ever since that wyvern with the hourglass curves had gotten away he had been exceedingly moody, playing with his knife was just one of his many recent hobbies. The rest all having to do with his father. Usually thinking of ways to either kill him or make the rest of his life miserable. But, he didn't have time for that right now; he had to think about how to deal with an intruder. He was always in the mood for a good hunting, or maybe Velyo would simply slit his throat and be done with the fool. The young 'shifter gave an exasperated groan and scrubbed his faced with dry hands. He was restless. His father had kept them in the same place for nearly two weeks and the handsome – if irritable – man had had enough of it. He was tired of snow, tired of staying in one place, tired of his father, tired of people trying to step in on his land, and tired of being tired.

"Sir, the guards are back with the intruders."

With a wave of his hand, Velyo sent the messenger away without bothering to even see who it was. Giving a tired sigh, he stood and straightened his clothes before shoving the knife into the sheath at his hip. Then, he glanced in a tall mirror to check his appearance before striding through his tent flap and walking at a brisk pace toward the other side of camp. Since it was winter that meant walking a whole ten yards, but the distance still infuriated him. You would think they could have the common decency to at least meet me half way… The young prince thought angrily.

The three guards saluted him when they saw him walking toward them, and then shrunk away when they saw he was angry. But Velyo wasn't paying attention to the guards. No, his eyes suddenly locked on the beautiful woman standing in front of him. Her eyes were the deepest amber, thoughts of flames and honey and gold floated through his mind without him bidding them just by looking at those two orbs. Her hair was long, the tips stopping at what he measured to be a mere two inches above her waist, and completely black. Her body was lithe, and well muscled, but she was thin. Sickly almost. And there he met deterrence. If she was sick now, then she would have sickly children and that was something he just couldn't afford. Especially if they had Frektane as a grandfather. Disappointment spread across his features, followed by distaste mixed with a little surprise when he saw the boy. A wicked smirk curled his lips impishly and he stepped closer to Simon, motioning for the girl to be pulled back when she gave him rather savage snarl. They would have to have a talk about that later, but now he was analyzing.

"Well, well, well. What have we here?" He asked, though his voice and the words themselves made it obvious he was speaking in the rhetorical. "It isn't often that a human stumbles upon our little camps." Velyo paused and leaned in close, his icy blue eyes flashing dangerously in the moonlight. A satisfied smile played on his lips when the boy drew away in fear. "Might I ask what you want here? Because if you can't tell us then we'll just have to assume you have a death wish."

"I… Um, that is…." Simon stammered, the scent of his terror drifting to all of their noses save his own.

"Leave him alone Velyo, he's done nothing wrong." Kaluwa suddenly cut in, her voice strong and confident and strangely eloquent as she came to her young friend's rescue. "We're just passing through and we needed rest. Just let us sleep for the night and we'll be gone by morning." The way she spoke, it was as if she was just daring him to deny her this. Even so, she seemed the most surprised when Velyo obliged.

"Of course m'lady. I couldn't just let you freeze could I? Now where would my manners be then?" The young prince asked his voice sickeningly sweet and laced with mock courtesy. Kaluwa stiffened as he left Simon and came to her, but she gave no other sign of discontent beside the scowl on her face. "But, you will of course have to share my own room darling for as you can see we're a little short on places to stay." He jumped back to dodge the snarling snap that the young female tried to deliver to him, her teeth closing with a click on empty air and his booming laugh echoing off of the surrounding tents. "Don't worry sweetheart, I'll be gentle with you."

"Would you just stop?"

Everyone turned at the sound of Simon's outburst. His face was red, though if it was from anger or embarrassment none of them could tell. However, Kaluwa suspected it had to do with both.

"It's people like you that make me sick! Always thinking you're better than everyone else and that you should have the world handed to you on a platter!" Simon said, his voice almost a growl it was so contorted by his rage and abhorrence of Velyo and his men. "Kaluwa is the nicest girl I've ever met and—"

"Kaluwa eeeh?" Velyo interrupted, suddenly interested as he turned his attention back to the young female, the fiendish grin returning to his face. "Would that be the same Kaluwa whose followed on the fringes of our pack since she was a pup? Would that be the same Kaluwa whose name means 'forgotten'?" The man tilted his head back and laughed along with his men, the young wolf-girl tilting her head down and away while Simon stood there with his hands tied behind his back and realized why his friend had been so slow to reveal her name.

Finally, Velyo's laughter subsided into mere chuckles along with his men and he returned his piercing gaze to the dark head 'shifter. But when he saw the broken look on her face, as if he had destroyed her entire world, he didn't want to laugh anymore. He wanted to rush to her and take that slender frame in his arms and hold her until she smiled. His humor faded away and was quickly replaced with more irritation, mostly from his surprise at feeling in such a way about any one, but also in the way that he blamed his feelings on the girl. Who was she to make him feel in such a way? With a frustrated – and confused – growl, Velyo grabbed the nearest guard by the front of his tunic and shoved him. "What are you three doing standing around here for? Take these two to my quarters and then get back to work!" He demanded, a little more than angrily.

The two guards glanced back and forth at each other before one of them spoke up. "Well sir, what if they try to attack you in the middle of the night?"

Velyo rolled his eyes and ran a hand down his face. Roughly, he grasped the bindings that held Kaluwa and yanked her along after him, calling over his shoulder to his men. "Well then I'll take her and you three can keep an eye on that runt!" The three guardsmen gave a collective groan and to tell the truth, Simon didn't feel that great about spending more time than he needed to with these goons. But without Kaluwa here to protect him, he decided it might be smarter to keep quiet and made no sound of protest.

There came a crunching noise as they stomped through the snow, every once in a while Kaluwa pulling on her tether. Within seconds they reached Velyo's tent and he yanked her inside, shoving her with irritated fierceness. The young 'shifter tripped over one of the many fur rugs on the floor and fell in a crumpled heap, her arms twisted in an uncomfortable position because of their ties. She whimpered slightly from pain but the wolf prince was quickly there and pulling her back onto her feet. "You alright?" He asked, his voice gruff and without care, merely a formality.

Kaluwa glared at him with more than disgust. "I'm fine." She spat the word, venom in her voice.

The blue eyed wolf held her there for a moment and their eyes locked, anger was forgotten as they searched the other's face for some reason to look away. But none was found and fire met ice as golden flames gazed into sapphire glaciers. The young man raised a hand and let his palm graze her cheek, brushing a strand of hair from her face. "Gorgeous…" He breathed, saying the word in such a way that it was evident he was mentally undressing her.

Something was happening inside him, something he couldn't explain. There was something about this girl that drew him in, that made him want to have her and for her to have him. But he knew such a pairing would be an abomination, her past and her physical wellness just weren't alpha material. Hardening himself for what he was about to do, Velyo forced the smile off of his face and replaced it with a scowl. He pushed Kaluwa to arms length and shook his head, running a large hand through his hair. "No." He mumbled more to himself but he knew the woman heard him. It nearly broke his heart to see the beautiful look of pain and confusion on her face. "You sleep in the bed, and I'll guard the door."

Surprise replaced pain and she grabbed his arm as he turned away. "Why would you have to guard the door in your own home?" The young woman asked a look of fierce determination on her face as if she was practically daring him to not answer.

"Well, you wouldn't understand, but because my father isn't exactly the paternal figure. So, you get some sleep and I'll make sure we're not attacked in the wee hours of the morning." He replied, his voice clipped and short. And with that he twisted out of Kaluwa's grasp and stomped out of the tent leaving a shaken and slightly dazed young woman behind him.

"Goodnight then…" She whispered to the empty room before getting into his bed and snuggling under his sheets to breathe in his smell for what remained of nobody's night…