Taming the Wolf Prince (Re-uploading Edited Chapters)

Chapter 4 The Sacrifice

Winter bore her teeth as a feeling like lightning surged through her veins. Feeling a power unlike anything she'd ever felt course though her mortal coil before, her slowing heart kicked back into action, and energy erupted as a battle-cry like pure fire from her chest.

"Cut me down." Silver light burned within her irises as they seethed with anger. "That's an order, Tamer!"

On her command, Tamer became devoured by silver light.

White fur ripped out of his body in an explosion of light. His features snapped and distorted; the shift worked from his rigid fingers upwards, until claws and a snout protruded, and gigantic wolf landed on the blanket of snow before them.

Demon? Beast? Winter's first thought was that the creature looked more like something divine. Its white fur shone with a silver hue that was faintly iridescent, like when moonlight shone over snow, and its eyes glowed golden like two tiny suns.
But when it threw its head back and howled, the noise struck a primal note of fear into her heart, as she knew Tamer's own battle cry had been waged.

This wasn't a half-breed. This was a fully fledged wolf.

He tore her binds apart with his teeth.

Perhaps it was purely instinct to be afraid of the perfect predator. Everyone seemed to be the same when he bolted back to the front of the tower -- momentarily, just for a second, paralysed with fear. The spectators could hardly reach for arrows with their trembling hands. It took the sound of his father's cry for them to finally leap into action.

A torrent of arrows bounded in his direction.

Falling face first to the ground from her tower, with thumbling fingers, she re-sheathed her knife. She crawled underneath the tower, remaining low for safety.

She looked up just in time to see speckles of blood spray through the air as twenty or so arrows plunged into the beast's back. Its howl was one of furious agony. Before the archers had time to reach for another torrent of arrows, as quick as a bolt of lighting, Tamer rounded on his father. The man didn't even have time to cower; instantly, without a single moment's hesitation, Tamer picked him up in gigantic jaws and flung him aside as easily as a rag doll.

"Winter!" She'd almost forgotten the beast was Tamer until she heard the sound of his voice bouncing in her mind. "Get on my - "

He was unable to finish before a deafening noise ripped through her ears. A bang that sent the crows fleeing from the treetops.

She'd never heard the sound of a gun being fired. They were expensive, and often ran on magic to be fired. Most of the villagers here couldn't afford owning one, or simply couldn't fire it in the first place. But somehow, she knew the sound immediately as it echoed throughout the forest.

A bullet rode through the icy wind, and her scream battled for dominance with Tamer's as it tore through his back leg.

"A silver bullet," his father panted, clutching a pistol in quaking hands.

Rage lit up the wolf's eyes. It seemed it had no intention of going down just yet, bounding towards him.

"I saved up all I had for just this one." His father sighed.

The man had enough time to utter those words before his son sank his fangs into his forearm.

The sight of his blood spraying through the snow sent the few remaining people into a frenzy. Screaming erupted through the forest. Strengthened by moonlight, Tamer was healing far too quickly. More arrows fired, but they were useless; seeing Tamer not even falter, ultimately, they fled. And even with the bullet, supposedly the only thing capable of killing the wolf, he was still standing with time to kill them yet.