Chapter 10 - Can we go to her?

HADRIAN

I wake up in my bed, alone. I pant and sit up as the vision of the soft pliant body beneath me, leaves my subconscious.

A soft, pliant, *human* body.

I fall back onto the bed. My body falls back with a soft thud. My balls are tight, close to release and my cock stands tall, lifting the silk sheets in a tent-like formation. I grip the base of my swollen shaft, to release some of the pressure.

“What the fuck was that?” I murmur to myself.

*“Lust.”* Nero answers dryly with one eye open.

I groan and block the morning sunlight with my arm. “I wasn’t asking you.”

I already know it’s lust. *Fuck do I know.* And it came out of fucking nowhere. When I came out of the meeting with my father yesterday, I immediately picked up her scent on the abandoned wing. I followed it all the way to the sunroom.

Together with the flower garden, the sunroom was where my mother spent a lot of her time when she was alive. I was already angry at the human for being here and obstructing my life, but now I was livid. I wanted her to regret the decision to come here. I wanted her to be so scared of me that she would run back screaming.

That was the plan, but when I got close, her scent overwhelmed me. Without the silver, her scent was absolutely intoxicating. The fact that she was trapped beneath me gave me some sick kind of pleasure. Her fragile nature stirred something deep within me.

I stretch out on the bed and release the tension of my muscles with a sigh. I need to get her out of my head.

I need to get laid, that’s what I really need.

I groan, lift the sheets of my body and step out of bed. My cock is so hard it stands straight as I walk to the bathroom. Even if I had a real opportunity to fuck the human, I couldn’t. She is too small. It would be physically impossible. There are plenty of other females in the kingdom to satisfy my needs. I turn on the cold shower and let the freezing water shock my blazing body.

*“Maybe it’s not impossible.”* Nero says with a yawn.

I scoff and narrow my eyes. *“Believe me, It is.”*

I lather my body with soap that smells of bergamot and hold my head under the heavy stream of water. *“Since when are you interested in my sex life anyway?”*

Nero answers my question with a shrug and closes his eyes again for another nap. I shake my head. I think I might have the laziest wolf in the kingdom.

*"I’m not lazy."* Nero grumbles with his eyes closed.

———————

The training field is centered in the large open space in the middle of the palace and is surrounded by an open corridor. High pillars of red marble are spaced out every twenty yards. Most of the time the royal army trains here. They are the strongest soldiers in the kingdom. Almost exclusively pure-blooded lycans. Right now, six of them are surrounding me and trying to knock me down.

The cold shower did only so much to cool down my heated body. It doesn’t relieve the knot of tension in my stomach. I’m filled with so much pent-up energy, that the six soldiers are hardly a challenge for me. They are skilled fighters in hand-to-hand combat. They train to not solely rely on shifting to their wolf form. Nero loves to train even when trapped in my mind. He jumps around with a wagging tail and gives me directions for the attacks I cannot see. I twist and turn as I block the attacks. Soldiers fall down around me as I kick down their roots.

Most soldiers struggle with containing their wolf when engaged in hand-to-hand combat, but working together is what makes a soldier their strongest. I’m the most in tune when fighting together with Nero.

A high kick lands squarely on my back and I stumble forward. Nero is distracted and I dodge the kicks and hits, left and right. The attacks come in heaps now, but Nero stays silent.

*What the hell?*

I stop the fight and give the soldiers a five-minute break.

*“What’s going on with you?”* I growl at him. I wipe the sweat off my forehead with my arm. I walk to the back of the field to get some water. Most of the soldiers lie face down on the grass as they catch their breath.

Nero turns his focus back to me with innocent puppy eyes and a wagging tail. *“Emma?”*

I furrow my brows. *“What?”*

*“She’s here.”* He exclaims.

I take another gulp of water. *“Who are you talking about?”*

*“Emma.”* Nero says again.

He’s focused on something behind us and I turn around to see what he's perceived already. That’s when I pick up the scent of vanilla, custard and lemongrass and I bite back a groan. I feel my body release the tension I'm holding in my shoulders. She's walking down the long open corridor with that servant. She lifts her dress on one side as it nearly reaches the floor. She looks uncomfortable and has a pensive look on her face. She’s biting her lip and my eyes fixate on that action. How the pillowy skin curves under the pressure of her teeth.

“How do you even know her name?” I grumble. I’m still slightly annoyed with my wolf for letting me fend on my own.

*“I pay attention.”* Nero states.

I narrow my eyes. *“And why is that?”*

Nero lays his head down on his paws. *“She's a good human. Can we go to her?”*

*“No.”* I turn away from the human and move back to the soldiers lying on the ground.

A melancholy feeling washes over me as I feel his sadness wash through me. It’s the loneliness of my wolf and it tears me apart. Most people in Sanguinem cannot be trusted. Not many show their true colors and that makes us keep our distance. Most people fear me or just pretend they like me.

I take a long swig of my water and let it hydrate my drained body. Nero whimpers in pain and barks for my attention. I swipe the excess water from my face with the back of my hand.

*“What?”* I bite back mentally.

Nero is still focused on the corridor behind me and I turn my head to see Emma getting up from the floor. I expect to be annoyed, but I’m not. I’m worried that she might’ve hurt herself. *Damn wolf.*

I want to turn my attention back to the soldiers, but then the servant pulls Emma up on her arm and drags her through the corridor. She winces in pain and I see red.

I turn away from the field and focus on the hand gripping around Emma’s arm and the red welts appearing on her fair skin.

I growl as I catch up to them. The servant gasps when she notices me approaching. “Your Highness.” She bows down and drags Emma down with her.

“Let her go,” I command. I rarely enforce my royal aura, but now it rolls off me in waves and the servant kneels all the way to the floor. Camilla lets go of her arm, but I don't pull back my aura until she's whimpering.

“Stop, you’re hurting her,” Emma shouts.

I turn my attention to Emma and she’s staring at me with wide eyes. There's surprise and fear laced in them, but not terror. She's afraid, but not affected. I reign my aura in and close the distance so that I can check on her injuries. “Are you okay?” I check on her arm and down to her hands.

“What?” She asks in disbelief.

I don’t stop to analyze my own behavior. My fingers trace her soft skin and she shudders.

She quickly steps away from me. “I’m fine.” She says with obvious discomfort written on her face. She avoids my eyes.

“You fell, you could be hurt.” The red welts don’t disappear and only color further. “Maybe we should call the healer.”

She’s human. They’re known to be fragile and she’s even smaller than the others.

“It’s nothing, I just tripped.” Her face flushes and her cheeks become a rosy red. She storms off to the absolute horror of the servant. I don’t mind, since my mind is elsewhere.

*Would the rest of her body flush like that, if I had my way with her?*