Chapter 83 - Easy there, Princess

EMMA

They hauled me into a car. The map is tucked in my jeans and hidden beneath my sweater. I fear that I will lose it. My back presses against seats that are made of soft leather. The engine rumbles loudly under me. They have been driving for what feels like hours but is probably closer to minutes.

I tried to scream and kick myself free, but to no avail. They covered my mouth when I wouldn’t stop screaming. My vision is obscured by dark cloth, but I can hear people talk in the front.

“Are you sure about this?” A woman asks and there is a sour edge to her voice

“Positive.” The male voice from earlier says, there is something smooth and easy-going about it. I can almost imagine him leaning back in his seat with one hand on the steering wheel.

“She seems so… fragile.” The woman says and I can practically hear her grimace dripping from the words.

The car stops and the space quiets when the engine dies down. My breath is heavy and loud. My heartbeat drums in my ears. I swallow the dryness in my throat when the car doors open and a moment later slam closed.

The door next to me opens and a wave of forest air blows into the car, combined with a hint of male cologne. The dark cloth is lifted from my head and I blink at the incoming light. I look straight into hazel eyes, they stare at me with intrigue and I notice the ring of blue around them.

I stay very still as I watch the man with unruly copper-colored hair. He is younger than I expected and seems to be in his twenties. He wears a simple gray t-shirt that shows his arms. They are completely covered in tattoos of mythical creatures. I spot a dragon and a phoenix dancing around his right arm. They even peek out from the collar and taper off at his neck.

He unties the rope around my ankles and I kick him in the chest when my feet are free. He stumbles back with a grunt and falls to the ground. I run away as fast as I can.

I’m completely disoriented and my surroundings are unfamiliar. I run towards the first thing I see and that is the dense forest. I don’t look around as I put all my concentration into running over tree branches. My hands are still tied in front of me and it significantly affects my ability to run.

Two large arms wrap around my waist and arms. Black ink covers both arms and they lift me in the air. “You’re going the wrong way.” The man says.

“Let me go.” I kick my feet in the air and twist my body in his arms. The heel of my foot connects hard with his shin and a groan rumbles against my back.

“Easy there, Princess.” He calls and I freeze at the title.

*Who are they? Are they werewolves?*

Loud laughter rings through the trees and a woman comes into view. She has auburn hair that falls just above her shoulder. She is wearing a hunter green, sleeveless top that shows the strong muscle definition in her upper arms. Dark jeans hug her hips and legs. The woman is tall and probably reaches around six feet. There is amusement in her green eyes. “I think you’re right Dex, she must be the one.”

The woman looks strong and able to take on any average man, but she doesn’t seem threatening now as she laughs. Her voice is more attractive now than in the car.

“Who are you?” I twist in the arms locked around me, but they don’t relent. Every movement brings them tighter around me.

“Are you going to run away again when I let you go?” The man asks. His voice is silky and smooth like butter. The deep tone seeps through my shoulder blades.

I grit my teeth. “I’m going to kick your shins again if you don’t.”

The woman grabs my hands with a chuckle. “A few months with werewolves and you can practically see her claws.” She lifts them in the air and unties the rope holding my wrists. “I’m surprised you don’t have red hair, Scarlet.”

“That’s not my name.” I bite back.

The arms around me loosen and the man enters my line of vision. “She knows, Alex is just messing with you.” He smiles and dimples line his cheeks. The man has a rough exterior, but the dimples give him a boyish charm.

The woman, Alex, rolls her eyes and crosses her arms. “My apologies Princess Emma, do I need to bow for you?” She towers over me and it’s kind of intimidating.

“Please don’t.” I shake my head with a grimace and eye my two kidnappers. They seem too jovial to have bad intentions. “Are you ever going to tell me who you are?” I rub the sensitive skin of my wrists.

“I’m Dex.” The man says and lights up a cigarette. The wheel of his lighter sparks until it catches fire. “This bundle of rainbows and sunshine is Alex.” He points at the woman next to him. He inhales when the fire burns the end of the cigarette.

Alex eyes me with a smirk. “Your brother never told us you were this feisty.”

“Lucas?” I blink and stand there dumbfounded for a moment. *They know my brother.*

A cloud of smoke expels from his mouth when he exhales. “The very one, we’ll bring you to him.” He smiles in a crooked way.

Alex raises an eyebrow at me. “You seem surprised, didn’t you come here for your brother?”

“I did, but I just thought… that you were going to kill me or something.”

I mean, what was I supposed to think when they tied me up and held me captive? This isn’t the welcome I was hoping for.

Dex chuckles. “Sorry about that. We just had to make sure that you didn’t bring any *mutants* with you.” His smooth voice turns sour at the word *mutants*.

His reaction is familiar. I was like Dex once. The thought of werewolves used to turn acid in my stomach. I get where he’s coming from, but I can see the nuances now and it changed my view on the world.

“We didn’t want to put our operation in danger.” He continues.

“What operation?”

Dex sends me another lopsided smile and the dimple appears again. “The rebellion, Princess.”

I cross my arms and feel my features pull in a scowl. This is all news to me. “What rebellion?”

“The one that is going to kill the Alpha King and end this war.” Dex has a mischievous glint in his hazel eyes and I bet that women usually fall to his feet when he gives them his smile and attention.

“I’ll let the others know that we found her,” Alex announces and sprints off when Dex nods.

The silence stretches. The sun is descending and birds stop chirping. “What now?”

He takes another pull of his cigarette as he watches me with a side eye. “Do you always hold a grudge?”

Smoke fills the space between us and I wave it away and grimace. “You kidnapped me.”

Dex places a hand over his heart and draws attention to his lean, but muscular frame. “How can I make it up to you, Princess?”

I grumble as I look away from him. “First stop calling me that.” A shiver runs over my skin in the coldness of the evening. The adrenaline in my body is starting to disappear and my hands start to tremble.

His smile drops as he eyes my hands. “Done. Come on, I’ll bring you to the town.”

I’m hesitant to go with someone I don’t know. Especially someone who showed that he doesn’t mind kidnapping. But staying in the dark forest at night isn’t a sound plan either.

Dex frowns and his eyes are sincere. “I’m serious Emma, I’m sorry. It really was just precaution.” He talks like we have been friends for years and it’s strange.

“Where’s this town?” I shuffle my feet and the leaves from the oak trees rustle with the movement.

Dex drops the bud of his cigarette and presses a heel into the ground to stop it from burning. He guides me in the direction of this supposed village and I can feel the strain in my tired muscles.

“I’m glad you’re here.” He says after a minute of silence and I eye him skeptically.

“It’s strange because I already feel like I know you.” Dex has his hands in the pockets of his jeans as he shrugs his shoulders. “We all do.”

I don’t engage in his attempt to strike up a conversation. I’m hesitant around him. A habit that has been born with the many times that people couldn’t be trusted. Dex doesn’t seem like someone to easily give up though.

“Your brother told us all about how you sacrificed yourself to save the girls.” Dex continues and I can feel his eyes analyzing me. “It’s very admirable.”

I cross my arms and hug myself closer. I couldn’t live with myself if I stayed quiet that day. “I didn’t do it to be admired,” I mutter to myself.

“We’ve all been waiting for you to find your way here.”

Dex doesn’t give up and his words start to trigger my curiosity. I glance at his profile and there is a sense of peace in his features.

“Really?” *Damn curiosity.*

Dex bumps his fists against my shoulder. “Yeah, and I was worried about you.”

His playful manner is kind of a shock after living with prickly werewolves. There are no innocent touches between werewolves who aren’t mates. Touching a mated werewolf is asking for trouble.

Dex chuckles and doesn’t notice my shock. “I didn’t even know you and I was already planning to break you out of there.”

My eyes widen and I try to find the lie. “No way.”

His hazel eyes have a hint of warmth and he nods. “We had a whole plan already.”

I break away from his gaze. He has those eyes that can trap you. “You would have been caught,” I state matter-of-factly. It’s the truth, they wouldn’t come past the city borders and that is if they make it past the borders of the kingdom.

“Probably. I just felt that I had to try.”

I shake my head. “That’s absurd.” It just doesn’t make sense. He doesn’t know me. Why would a stranger put his own life on the line to save mine? People could argue that I brought this on myself.

“Really, your brother is the only reason that I didn’t.” Dex grimaces when he looks out to the forest. “He has a strange way of convincing you.”

I chuckle when I think of Lucas. He almost always manages to convince me of his ways. He always relies on his gut feeling and it can be annoying to listen to the same reasoning every time. “Yeah, it’s frustrating.”

Dex chuckles. “Yes very, I already had my share of arguments with your brother.”

“I can imagine.”

The trees start to thin and the town comes into view. I gasp and my heart skips a beat when I recognize the houses on the outskirts of the town. “This is Aldea.”