The Scarred Prince (The Wolf's Pet Book One) (2 page)

“Yes, Dee?”

“Don’t go looking for darkness. It will find you soon enough.”

Chapter Two

It was dark when I left the longhouse and made my way back through the trails. The pack’s cabins were scattered through the property in the forest, but I passed by the main meeting area.

A campfire was roaring in the center of the clearing. Through the trees, I could see the sparks of embers floating up toward the fir branches. They flickered and died out in the stream of smoke above the fire, like fireflies that only lived for a few seconds.

I jumped back in fright as a noise came from right next to me. Immediately, I placed the scent. Little Ana. She must have come from downwind.

“Kinaya!” she cried. She flung herself forward and hugged me around the waist.

“Hey, Ana!” I hugged her back. She was little, five years old, and she loved to follow me around like a duckling follows its mom. Her big brother, Erroll, was one of the most popular guys in the pack. And, of course, that meant that he was one of the most immature. He and Blaise were always trying to outdo each other with their stupid stunts, like climbing trees way too high or swimming across the whole lake. Now, I saw that he was standing, gesturing wildly with his arms.

“What’s your brother doing?”

“Telling scary stories. You should come! Blaise is next.”

Blaise? Seriously? I couldn’t escape my twin brother anywhere. But Ana was already tugging my arm. I reluctantly let her pull me toward the campfire. Blaise was already standing up.

“This is a story about a pack of young cubs who were out camping in the forest,” he said. The fire twinkled in his eyes. Ana pulled me over to the log and we both sat down. Blaise winked at me when he saw me. I rolled my eyes.
Scary stories?
Sure, whatever.

“After they went to bed, and their fire died down, they huddled together in the darkness in their sleeping bags. ‘What was that?’ one of them asked. ‘What was what?’ ‘That noise. Did you hear that noise?’”

Blaise paused and looked around. In the middle of the group, the fire crackled. It was mostly young cubs with a few of the older boys sitting next to Blaise on the log, and they were all leaning in, listening to every word.

“Nobody believed the cub, but he knew he had heard something. So he went looking around the clearing where they had camped, a clearing just like this one. He didn’t hear anything, but then he smelled it.”

“Smelled what?” one of the younger cubs chirped.

“The smell… of
death
,” Blaise whispered. Next to me on the log, Ana shivered. I pulled her close.

“He knew that something was coming. Something bad. Something dangerous. He went back to the camp, but again, nobody would believe him. They didn’t smell the scent. They told him to go back to sleep. They told him that he was imagining things.”

Blaise peered around the campfire, making eye contact with the younger cubs to see if they were buying into the scary story. Watching, I couldn’t help but be impressed by the way Blaise told his tale. He had a knack for getting everyone’s attention and keeping it. Now, he breathed in deeply, as though smelling the scent of death. I noticed quite a few of the little cubs mimicked him.

“He whined and whimpered, but nobody would listen to him.
THEN
!”

Blaise threw another log into the fire, and it leapt up, the flames licking upward in the darkness. Despite myself, I looked around the clearing to make sure nothing was there. Ana squeezed my hand and I squeezed it back, pretending like I wasn’t scared at all. The warmth of the campfire kept the chill of the air away, but I shivered nevertheless.

“What happened, Blaise?”

“Yeah, what happened?”

“Then,” Blaise continued, “the campfire roared up, even though there was nothing there but embers before. All of the cubs clung to each other as a howling wind blew above them in the trees.”

Above us, the wind whistled. It wasn’t quite a howling wind, but it was enough to make the cubs scared. Ana whimpered and I hugged her close.

“And then the first cub saw him.”

“Saw who?”

“Who?”

“Tell us!”

Blaise paused for dramatic effect, his hands wide.

“
The Scarred Prince
.”

One of the cubs yipped in fear, and the others shushed him.

“He was as tall as the tallest fir tree in the forest. His breath was as hot as the fires of Hell. And he wore only a strip of loincloth. The rest of his body was naked, and you could see the scars on his body. Lines and lines, crisscrossing like tree branches all over his chest and back.”

I’d heard the stories before. We all had. But Blaise had a way of making it seem like this was the first time you had ever heard the story. His eyes were brightly animated as he drew the picture in the air of the Scarred Prince.

“And there was one awful, deep scar. It started at his ankle and curled up around his leg, around his waist, around his chest, and up to his neck. He was more scar than skin, by the look of it.”

Nobody breathed. Then the same cub chirped up again.

“
Then
what happened?”

“Hush!”

“Shut up, Blaise is telling the story!”

Blaise took a deep breath and pulled his body up to its full height. My brother was tall—he’d gotten that side of it from my dad—and when he loomed over the fire he let his wolf out, just a bit. His eyes flashed with a raw animal fury and his teeth were bared and sharp. When he spoke, it was between a growl and a rumble.

“The Scarred Prince took one step forward—BOOM!—and the earth trembled.”

A scent caught my attention, something familiar. I sniffed the air. You could barely smell through the campfire smoke, but I could tell that there was somebody outside of the ring of the campfire. My heart pounded as my eyes darted around the clearing. Then I saw him. He was wearing dark robes and something over his hair, but I had been practicing figuring out scents, and I knew this one.

It was Blaise’s friend, Francis. I turned my head slightly and saw him creeping up through the trees toward the group. He put his finger to his lips when he saw me look back. I turned my head back to the fire, smiling. My heart began to calm down. It was only Francis.

All of the children leaned forward as Blaise lowered his voice.

“And then… the Scarred Prince reached out his hands, and…”

“
BOO!
”

Francis leapt out from the darkness, his robes flying out to make him seem huge. All of the young cubs screamed, jumping away from the fire and scattering. Ana shrieked and buried herself into my embrace, nearly knocking me off of the log. The children ran into each other in fright, falling down and screaming, even when they realized it was Francis and not the Scarred Prince at all.

“It’s alright,” I said to Ana. “It’s okay. See? It’s just Francis.”

But Ana was whimpering, terrified. Even when most of the cubs came bounding back to the fire for more, she trembled in my arms. Blaise and Francis were laughing with the other older shifters. The cubs gathered around back onto their logs.

“Wow, that was a scary story!”

“Super awesome! I’m going to do that next time!
Boo!
”

“How did he get the scars?” one cub asked Blaise.

“That’s another story,” Blaise said.

“Is it true?” Ana asked.

“I don’t know,” Blaise said, in his creepy voice. “Do you think it’s true?”

“Of course not,” I said. “Shame on the both of you for scaring them so much.” One of the other little girls was still crying, and the youngest cub—a little boy named Donny—had piddled his pants. I stood up and took their hands.

“Aw, you’re such a spoilsport,” Francis said, wiping tears of laughter from his eyes.

“It’s not true. None of this is true,” I said firmly. “Now come on. Let’s get you to bed.”

“But then the Scarred Prince will come and eat me!” Donny moaned. The little girl began a fresh set of sobs. My chest clenched. Blaise should have warned them. He should have told them that they were too young to hear these stories. But of course he didn’t care at all.

“You’ll be fine. It’s just a story. Right, Blaise?”

I eyed my brother. He rolled his eyes.

“
Right
?” I couldn’t control the rising anger inside of me.

“Right, right, okay. What’s your problem? Jeez.”

“My
problem?” I seethed.
“My
problem is that I have to deal with all of
your
problems.”

“Well, don’t deal with them, then,” Blaise spat back.

“You know what?” My irritation burst through. “When you’re alpha, I won’t ever clean up any of your messes again! And you’ll have to deal with the consequences!”

“Fine! Maybe I’ll just kick you out of the pack, then!”

My eyes burned with tears at that, but I wouldn’t give him the satisfaction of crying in front of him and his friends. I wasn’t a little girl anymore, even if he was anything but grown up. I channeled my tears into fury instead.

“
Argh!
You are so immature!” I yelled. Spinning around, I grabbed the hands of the crying cubs. “Come on,” I said. “Let’s go.”

“Good! Stay gone, why don’t you?” Blaise yelled after me.

I strode back through the forest with the two young cubs clinging to my arms and Ana close behind us. At every creak of a branch they jumped in fright. I bit my lip as a tear escaped my eye and slid down my cheek. My brother was the fun one, the popular one. And here I was again, dealing with his problems.

“Maybe I
will
leave the pack,” I whispered to myself. “See how he likes it then.”

I hated him. I hated all of them. Right then and there, I swore that I’d leave the pack. Then they’d be grateful for everything I did around here, when I was gone. My mom had made me apply to a few colleges, and I had gotten into some of them. I still didn’t know what I wanted to study, but I guess that didn’t matter too much. After all, I would be out of here. Away from all this, able to make new friends.

I will leave the pack. I will leave.

I will.

Chapter Three

By the time I had dropped off the cubs, it was cold enough to freeze my breath. My anger, though, still made my blood hot.

I ducked back into our house, hoping that nobody would hear me and I could go to sleep without having to talk to anyone. I cleaned up and brushed my teeth, but when I flopped into bed I heard footsteps on the stairs. I sighed, wishing that I didn’t have to share a room with Blaise. It would be so nice to have some privacy and not have my parents barging in at any time. We were never allowed to lock our door.

Now, I closed my eyes and pretended to be asleep. I breathed in deeply, listening to the footsteps at the door and smelling the scent of violets and pine. It was my mom. She pushed the door open slowly.

“Kinaya?”

I fluttered my eyes open as though I had just woken up. She walked over and sat next to me on the bed. Her hands tucked the covers in under my shoulders, and for a moment I just watched her.

Her long red curls spiraled down over her pale shoulders. Looking at her, I thought that she was everything I couldn’t be. My mother was all womanly curves and graceful movements, just like Dee. When I hit puberty, my red hair had frizzed out into an unmanageable mess and my skin had gone crazy. I had ballooned into a lumpy, awkward excuse for a girl. For years, my mother had told me that I would grow out of it. My skin had cleared up, just in time for me to get a thousand freckles on my face. And my awkwardness seemed here to stay. I cursed Blaise again. He’d grown out of his awkwardness and kept his immaturity. For me, it was the other way around.

“What’s up, mom?” I murmured, trying to forget Blaise. I’d leave the pack, soon enough. Then I would never have to see him again.

“Do you want me to tell you a story?” she asked.

I shook my head.

“I’m too old for stories.”

“Well. Already too old for stories, and you haven’t even had your birthday feast!”

“I guess so,” I mumbled.

“The feast is tomorrow,” my mom said.

“And?”

“Do you know which boys you want to dance with?”

I sighed. Again this question.

“I’ll dance with all of them. Just like last year.”
I’ll step on all of their toes too, just like last year.

“Aren’t there any of them who are special?”

“No.”

“Not even William?”

“Mom, stop. I don’t like Will.”

“What’s wrong with him?”

“Nothing! Okay? Nothing’s wrong with him.”
Just that he isn’t the one for me.
I frowned. Dee knew that he wasn’t the right one, too. Maybe that’s what she didn’t want to tell me before. Maybe I had to leave the pack in order to find my true mate. My mom was still stuck on Will, though.

“He seems to like you a lot. His parents were talking with me the other day, and—”

“Mom, just stop it. I don’t need your help dating.”

“I know. When you find your Calling, you’ll know.”

I stopped talking and listened a bit more closely. Despite everything else, my mom knew what it was like to find your one true mate. I had no idea. From what I’d heard about it, finding your Calling seemed almost as mythical as finding the Scarred Prince during a camping trip.

“What was it like?” I asked softly. My mother smiled.

“When I met your father, it was the best feeling in the world. I’d found him. My perfect mate.”

I frowned.

“You didn’t know you were a shifter, though.”

“I didn’t. I didn’t know anything about the Calling, or that I would feel it once I met my true mate. But when I saw him, there was this shock of familiarity. It was like I’d been waiting my whole life for him to come along. And then there he was. My prince. You’ll find your mate someday, honey. And when you do, it’ll feel like you’re coming home for the first time.”

“I don’t feel that way about any of the boys in the pack,” I said. A thought danced on the edge of my mind. A dark figure, tall and muscled. The one from my dreams.