Taming the Wolf Prince (Re-uploading Edited Chapters)

Chapter 8 The Woman In the Moon

The final note of his song vapourised into a cloud of smoke from his lips. Tamer hung his head, and the world fell silent.

Some life had returned to him. Despite their solemn gaze, an energising gold had returned to his eyes. Winter was relieved to see the moon work its magic and breathe some life back into him; it's silver light drafted his bronze hair, furthering his warm, royal palette that made him stand out like a flame in the desolate night.

In the midst of the lake, he looked so small. A howl was such a lonely sound when it was not met by another, and yet here she was, separated from him by a wall of freezing water. He was consumed by murky darkness up to his waist, wading deeper by his own free will as he drifted further from her.

Winter's fingers curled through her hair. Had this really been worthwhile? Had it been worthwhile to escape, condemn her entire village to a death sentence, all because of a fleeting, primal urge to survive? The moment of sacrifice, the will to live; in that moment, consumed by fear, she hated those people so much that she demanded she should live. But now, seeing the hell she was about to put Tamer through, the reality of the situation began to kick in: This might be their lives now. These hard feelings that came at the current time, what they might be tormented by forever until they died.

She noticed his claws were still reared, even if it was his own back his arms were huddled around, even if it was his own skin they were puncturing. It reminded her of his previous words:

"I don't want to kill, but if anyone puts your life in danger, then I'd make the decision to do so again in a heartbeat."

It wasn't just the lives of those strangers that hung in the noose. It was Tamer's humanity. The person she knew was going to destroy himself if he was forced to kill again, no matter how hell-bent he was on doing it to save her life.

If she couldn't do something, it wasn't a question of if, but instead, when he would lose his mind.

She couldn't just sit in the sidelines. She had to figure out some way to help him fight, or at the very least support him enough. But among these monsters, an ordinary human was like an ant.

All she would be was a hindrance. But...

I have to save. I have to... live so he can too.

Her legs stumbled, a strange pain igniting within her temples. She found her vision going temporarily black. She wasn't really sure where she was going. She would stay close by of course but her legs were just... moving, as if of their own free will.

The roses on her flower crown began to glow.

Stay near the lake, if we wander out we might get into danger.

"Yes," she drawled in a voice unlike her own.

Maybe a little circle around the lake, but still within Tamer's eyesight to keep close. She needed to move her legs as fast as the thoughts in her mind.

As if propelled by a bigger force, she wandered aimlessly like a stranger was inhabiting her body.

It wasn't long until she saw it, the destiny that had seemingly called to her of it's own free will:

A lonely rose blooming in a bed of snow.

Her stomach dropped. Fear, in the form of wretched cold nausea, chilled her entire bloodstream. She covered her mouth, trying to smother the sickness that was threatening to spill out. Had this happened so soon because she'd escaped? Was another girl going to be sacrificed, and potentially her entire village, in her wake?

The death toll was only getting higher like a god himself was punishing her for her sins.

The initial panic meant the most obvious solution didn't immediately come to mind. It was disgusting to think something so beautiful like a rose brought with it only murder. A layer of cold iridescence coated it, but its stem was curling and weak. She could tell that it wasn't going to last much longer.