Bite or Howl

Chapter 2

Chase POV

"Where were you?" Nick sits on the bench in front of the cabin, grinding two knives together, sending sparks of fire at the very tips. "I was out. Hunting." I tell him, taking my jacket off and throwing it on the floor just in front of him. "Well, you're gonna be king soon. Can't exactly just go out whenever you like." He says, dropping his knives on my coat. "Eh, not yet." I reply, sitting down next to him. I bend down, picking up his Heineken from the ground. 

"Yeah but, you will. And soon." He says sternly, moving his hand on top of the beer bottle and setting it down before I could take a swig of it.

"You will, when you find your mate. You'll be crowned straight away." He adds. Nick takes the bottle away from me and nears it to his lips, leaning his head back and drinking from it. His face turns from stern to disgust as if he'd just drank his own puke. "This tastes like shit." He coughs, setting the bottle down. "Speaking of your mate, have you found her?" I think back to the events earlier today. That near miss death. I had almost killed her. I remember scraping my teeth against her skin and feeling that odd sensation inside of me, as if we had this unbreakable bond between us that just kept drawing me closer with a rope. Dragging me by the stomach, heaving me closer.

"Yeah. I did." I say, stealing the bottle from his hands. "Dude get your own-" He starts, reaching out for his beer but then stops mid sentence. His eyes grow wide and his mouth hangs open, watching me intensely. "You what?" He yells. "Yeah. I found her." I say, taking advantage of this moment and quickly tilt my head back, drinking the last remaining bits inside the bottle. "Bro, how are you so chill about this?" He gets up from his chair and starts freaking out. "I don't really see it as much of a big deal." I tell him, setting the bottle down on the bench next to me.

 "Big deal? You can finally be king now! We need to tell your sister!" He says, dragging me up to my feet and pulling me. Before I get a chance to fight back, Nick starts running at the speed of light, dragging me along with them towards the castle where my sister waits.

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"Wait, seriously!?" The door that had once been closed had flung open, revealing Catherine in her natural habitat. "So you did open the door after all." I grin. Catherine glares at me ever so slightly but then moves her attention towards Nick. "Holy shit, why didn't you tell me sooner?" He drags us into her room and orders us to sit. "You need to tell me everything!" She drags a stool from underneath her bed and sets it in front of us. Her dark brown hair goes down to her waist, touching her thighs as she crosses her legs on the stool. 

She's got the same eyes as me and my mother, tiny and almond shaped. Her face is as pale as mine, almost identical. Our only difference is our eyes and hair color. I bore our fathers while she took on her mothers.

Gosh. I do miss them.

"Oh my god, you're gonna be king!" She squeals. "Oh my god, I'm gonna have a sister!" She jumps up and down and hugs me. "This is the best thing ever, oh my god." She whispers, nuzzling her head into my neck. "Ever since the fire, I never knew I would be happy again." She adds. I look over to Nick who gets up, knowing it's his queue to leave. I give him a nod and mouth, thank you. He nods his head back and closes the door behind him, leaving me with Catherine. My arms wrap around her small waist and play with the lower ends of her hair. I hear her soft sniffling and the wetness of my neck. 

"Hey, are you crying?" I ask, pulling back from our embrace.She wipes her face with the back of her hand and replies, "No, I can just smell onions." sarcastically. I smile and lean into her again. "I'm sorry I couldn't get to them. I'm sorry you had to get hurt." I apologise. Her face changes and she quickly shakes her head. "Don't be. It wasn't your fault. I'm just glad we're okay." She tells me, reassuring.

I think back to that night. The smell of fire entering my nose, waking me up from my sleep. I remember opening my eyes to see nothing but red flames and smoke. I started yelling, "Catherine!" I ran up to her room, shaking her by her shoulders, waking her up. I remember her heavy eyes open to see mine with such confusion but they grow large as she looks around and sees the state of her room. 

"What's happening?" I remember her asking. I don't reply. I scooped her into my arms, carrying her out of her burning room. The hallways were all blocked, the fire had burnt down parts of the castle, blocking the ways out. "Chase!" Catherine yelled in my ear, beating her palms onto my chest. But I couldn't hear her. My mind searched for a way out, thinking about nothing else but the life I held in my very arms. "Chase!" She yelled once again.

'My son, it's too late.' My mother's voice ran through my head. 'Just go. Leave us.' My mother tells me. I shake my head and try to reach her with my thoughts. 'No. I'm not leaving without you. Show me a way, I'll get us out.' I replied, letting the thought run through my head to get to her. 'There is no other way.' She said, I could hear the smile in her voice. I fight back. 'No, there must be. I can't leave without you.' I try to reason. 

'Just go. I know you'll be a great king one day. I love you and your sister so much. Never forget that.' She says. My head looked from left and right. Both my ways were blocked. Catherine laid in my arms, crying and beating my chest. I looked straight ahead, looking at the window in front of the glow of the morning sunrise. 'Go now. While you still can.' She told me. 'I love you too.' And that was the last thing I ever said to her, before running towards the window, breaking the glass while holding Catherine in my chest, burying her head there so she wouldn't get hurt. The glass tore my skin, cutting deep inside of me.

But nothing hurt more than the burning ache in my heart.

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Goddamnit. I shouldn't have worn this jacket.

The icy chill of Mount. Verona slowly disappeared as I went further away from it, slowly entering the werewolf borders. My skin got so used to the icy frost and snow of my terrain, I suddenly felt so warm. I could see the forests in the distance, marking the borders. Now I wait.

"Boo." Nick's voice runs through my ear, sending a shock throughout my entire body.

"Dude, what are you doing?" I ask in shock, getting up from the ground. "Actually, I could ask you the same question." He smirks. Busted. "Damnit." I whisper under my breath.

"Dammit indeed. Now tell me, why the hell are you camping outside our borders?" He asks, taking a seat on the ground. "I'm seeing someone." I tell him. "My mate." He looks over at me in absolute shock. "Your mate is a werewolf?"

'Be quiet, there would be werewolves hanging around the borders too.' I say in my head, sending it to him. 'You're mate is a werewolf?' He repeats. 'Princess.' I smirk.

"Holy shit." He whispers. "Does Catherine know?" He asks me.

"Nope. Not yet. I'm planning to introduce her when I bring her back to Mount Verona." I say, looking around and trying to spot her.

"Oh okay." He replies but his face lights up again and he turns to me. "You're taking her back?"

'Shut up, will you? You'll wake up the entire werewolf clan.' I say in my head.

'And yes. I'm bringing her back.'

'What are you planning to do? Kidnap her?' He asks.

'Jackpot. Now hide, I see her.'

I transfer my gaze onto a small figure walking closer towards the border. A black coat hugs her body and a large hood veils over her head. I couldn't quite see clearly because there was so much mist everywhere.

"See ya." Nick says then runs off at the speed of light.

I laugh under my breath and turn my attention back to the Princess of the stars that was walking straight towards me.

The mist around me cleared a little and I caught a glance of her brown hair moving gently in the breeze, sitting just in front of her outside her hood.

My body burned for her.

I wanted to reach out and run my fingers through that hair. She was beautiful and she was all mine...

And for the first time ever, I can't wait to be king.