Taming the Wolf Prince (Re-uploading Edited Chapters)

Chapter 12 The Doe and the Wolf

Tamer's footsteps pounded hard into the forest flooring, bared claws slicing frantically through the air as he ran. The forest was screaming as the wolf within him demanded release, the animal so in tune to all those scents and sounds that it overwhelmed him in a sensory overload. His senses were assaulted just like the growing anxiety clouding his mind: the thoughts of failure, what would happen to her if he failed, what would he do if she died and somehow he didn't?

He had mere days until he had to fight Xavier. How could he live with himself if he let something happen to her?

Don't think about it, don't think about it! Just keep pushing forward! he thought with an erratic shake of his head.

The conversation with Lorelei earlier replayed in his mind, stealing the scenery away.

Golden sunlight light filtered through between the white sheets hanging from the laundry pole, giving the early morning scenery an almost heavenly vibe. Strangely, Tamer thought he looked rather at home in such a warm filter - odd for one whose legends were told to have a natural weakness towards sunlight.

"Lorelei," Tamer murmured, staring down at his clawed fingers, "does this make him right about me?"

Lorelei unfolded a bed sheet, sending it unfurling like a pair of wings. "Who? How do you mean?"

Tamer's lips curled. "My father. If I can't control my own body, does that make me a monster?"

Tamer didn't view his wolf side as a different being, but more a conflicting part of himself that had different needs and desires - desires he neglected far too much. That side of him knew only anger and violence. Right now, he wanted to shift. He wanted to do it more than he ever had in his life. It was a blessing to be able to rid oneself of all human thoughts and feelings - all that anxiety, the stress of the burden he chose to bore alone. It was like drifting into another body, leaving all complex thoughts and emotions behind.

His fangs surfaced as he breathed in the air. The wolf was gently scraping its claws over his insides, begging for release as it caught the scent of a deer riding on the air.

Immediately, Lorelei's expression contorted.

"What are you saying?!" he howled, storming forward to lay his hands on his shoulders. "The urges of the body are what we call natural. Your desire to eat, your sexuality - none of these are inherently bad things. What matters is the urges of the mind. How you satisfy your desire in a healthy way that isn't harmful to those you care about."

Tamer grimaced. "But... everyone called me a monster. Then it must be true, right?"

Lorelei's silvery hair was so sleek, the sunlight upon it made it shimmer at the top like a halo around his head.

"Absolutely not. Of course the sheep with the wolf among them would say such a thing. The wolf merely plays the role nature gave him. He was made the way the gods intended. He may even have his own family or his loved ones to protect."

For whatever reason he would feel less guilty killing the animal in wolf form, leaving that side of him entirely within the wolf. It was nature. Normally he wouldn't feel guilty, nor should he, but an overwhelming amount of human emotions had been taking control of him recently. He needed to shed his skin of them. He needed to feel emotionally detached, even if just for a moment.

He couldn't take any more emotional stress. In a violent shift - which he knew it was going to be -- his clothes could be torn if they stayed on; normally the light of a shift would devour the whole being and reshape it. He quickly unbuttoned his shirt and tore it off, abandoning it and Lorelei's satchel by a tree alongside the rest of his clothes.
The wolf ate him whole and replaced him in a matter of seconds, landing perfectly on the melting snow in a small burst of light. He didn't waste any time. He had to be quick. He couldn't afford to be in this form longer than needed.