ROGUE WOLF
ZAREK'S POV
"That girl is a wolf your highness!" Phillip exclaims immediately the red and blonde headed girl left.
"She is quite pretty though and has quite the mouth on her. I wouldn't mind getting to know her acquaintance on a more personal level," Lucien says with a mischievous smile on his face.
"Not another word Lucien!" I burst out immediately after I heard the dirty thing Lucien said.
There is just something about the girl that makes my protective side come out.
"She is not blood bounded to any pack. She must be a rogue wolf," I say looking back at the corridor she disappeared through as if I could still see her.
"She smells wrong as well, I can't place my hands on it," Phillip says with a frown on his face.
"Aren't you full of surprises today Phillip. You've talked so much today I scarcely believe you are the same man," Lucien says with a loud laugh.
"Let's go, I have to go finish my registration," I say and began my walk towards the corridor leading to the administration office.
The corridor stretched before me like an unending tunnel. The label of what lay behind every door I passed flashing past my eyes without me paying any attention to what the words on them actually were.
Lucien's laughter still echoed behind me like a careless taunt, it scraped against my nerves, but I didn't turn.
My boots struck the floor with purpose, each step a claim on this human domain where I need to set roots in and gain more strength and power for my pack.
Phillip walked silently at my side, his presence a steady shadow, while Lucien lagged, I wasn't surprised though because some of the girls we met outside had decided to follow us and Lucien was never one to miss an opportunity to lay with any lady who looked at him long enough.
Fools, all of them. They saw wealth, a car, a face but nothing of the wolf beneath.
They don't know how dangerous Lucien can be once he cleans that annoying smirk and playfulness off his face.
'Lykaina Thorne,' the name kept repeating inside my head like a broken record.
There was something about her that has me feeling so restless. That collision in the hall, her coffee soaking my jacket which I removed immediately after the incident, her sharp tongue cutting though the chaos, it had ignited something in me. A spark. A challenge.
Her scent still lingered in my lungs, wild and strong like the forest after a storm. She also smelled wrong, a wolf's musk buried under layers of human pretense.
It is either she doesn't know who and what she is or she knows but just hides it better than most.
Either way, she'd just stepped into my radar, and I don't let prey slip away.
"Honestly Zar, the feisty little thing is quite pretty. I can't seem to forget it," Lucien said his voice dripping with that lazy charm he wielded like a blade.
"I would really love to get to know her on a more personal level," he added with sexual undertones thickly coating his words.
"Not another word, Lucien!" I roared, the command ripping from my chest before I could leash it. My fists clenching at my sides.
"Yes, your Highness," Lucien said baring his neck in submission to me, in obedience to the command I'd given.
There was something about her, Lykaina, those red and white strands wild as a storm, those dark eyes flashing with defiance. It woke the beast in me. Made me protective, possessive. I didn't like it, but I couldn't shake it.
Phillip frowned, and rubbed a hand down his face. "She smells wrong your highness," he says again for the third time today.
As we neared the administration office, his words gnawed at me. How can a rogue in a human university carry herself like she belonged? She didn't even recognize my scent or my power as alpha.
We got into the office and met a small looking lady, her hair in what must be the world best bun, no strand was out of place. She had a small face with wide eyes. Her eyes looked even bigger than it should with the glasses she wore.
She looked up from the file she was working on and immediately she seemed flustered.
"Uh, welcome Prince Zarek, I was told you'd be coming in today to get your schedule. I am Sofia, the head of the administration office." She said as she brought out her hand for a handshake which I didn't take but Lucien took, the idiot.
"Uh, okay, thank you for coming in today, let's get started," She added with a nervous laugh.
"These are the documents you need, read through them and sign where necessary." She searched through the pile of files on her table and pulled out some documents and handed them to me which I passed to Phillip.
"Um, these also are you course schedule, and here, the second book explains what your department is all about." she says while passing other books to Phillip. Afterwards she crossed her hands in front of her.
"Well thank you Miss Sofia, I'll sign the necessary documents and Phillip here, my assistant will bring it to your office tomorrow morning." I said in a respectful tone. I don't like this woman but I have to show some respect since I am here to learn and build relationships.
"Of course, Prince Zarek, welcome to our prestigious university." She added with a wide smile.
We left the office and went to the apartment that the pack secretary secured for me. It is not in the university grounds but it isn't far from the university either.
It was very much to my style and comfort. Spacious sitting room, a bar, a swimming pool and an opulent office. The colours were to my taste as well. Black and burgundry, my favourite colours, plain and elegant.
We got in and looked around the apartment, Lucien went to the kitchen to prepare something. I was still lost in thought about the days events.
Phillip went to the window side in the sitting room, it was a ceiling to floor window, so he was leaning on the sofa close to the window. His dark eyes was scanning the courtyard below.
"She's still out there," he said quietly, reading the tension coming off me like he always did. "You are not letting this go."
"No," I said with a sigh and sat on the sofa opposite from where Phillip stood. "She's a wolf, Phillip. A rogue. Here, among humans. You think that's coincidence?"
"Do you even know how dangerous that is? We are at risk of being exposed to the humans," I added looking at him.
He didn't answer, but his silence was answer enough. He didn't trust it . Neither did I.
Lucien leaned against the wall by my side with the plate of bacon and eggs he made in the kitchen, smirking, as always.
"Oh, come now. She's a stray with a temper and a decent aim. I mean spilling that coffee right on the royal threads. Maybe she's just clumsy. You're acting like she's a threat to the crown." Lucien said with a ridiculous laugh.
My head snapped up, eyes locking on his.
"She's a threat alright, she is a threat until I say otherwise," I said, my voice cold and final.
"And if you so much as breathe near her, Lucien, I'll rip your tongue from your mouth and make you swallow it."
He raised his hands, his annoying grin widening, but I could see unease flash through his eyes. Good let him understand that I won't tolerate rubbish from him, not when it concerns 'her'
"Message received, my liege. She's all yours. Though I must say, this obsession is quite new and the aggression quite a bit too much for an unknown rogue. What's next? Poetry under her window?"
I Ignired him, went to my documents Phillip tossed on the dining table and began to peruse my schedule.
"We are done here Lucien."
Lucien came behind and took a look at my course schedule.
"Why does it say Business administration major and leadership minor?"
"Because I will be studying both of them but business administration is the major thing I need to focus on. We need to build a string business presence here in the human world too. Multiply our sources of income." I say without looking up from my schedule.
"You've got quite the work ahead of you Zar. I think you should concentrate on that and let I and Phillip look into the rogue. I won't do anything you don't like,which is going to be hard by the way," he says looking serious for the first time in many days today.
"No, I will handle it myself."
"Well, I offered didn't I? While you go off playing detective, I've got to meet this city properly. Don't wait up boys," he says while taking a key from the dining table, dropping his dirty plate and heading out, whistling an off tune nonsense on the way.
I ignored him and let my mind drift.
"Zarek," Phillip says, stepping closer to where I am seated in the dinning.
"You are fixated. Why?"
"Because she doesn't fit, I can't seem to understand what her situation is supposed to be," I say, rolling my shoulders as if I could shake off the instinct clawing at me.
"A wolf without a pack Phillip, living like she's a human. She is hiding something. I will find out what."
"And then?" He pressed, his voice a quiet challenge.
"Then I will decide what she is to me," I said turning to face him.
"Threat, ally, or…" I didn't finish. The word 'mate' hovered, unspoken, a very ridiculous notion which I shoved down.
Fated mates were my parents' story, not mine. At least not yet.
The room fell silent, save for the sound of the curtains moving in rhythm with the wind.
Phillip looked at me, his gaze steady.
"What is your plan Zar?"
I stood up and walked towards him looking out the window as he was doing. Watching the courtyard stretch wide and open. The secretary did a good job finding this place.
"She's a wolf without a leash, Phillip. I'll watch her. Study her. And when the time is right, I will bring her to heel. Whatever she is running from, she won't outrun me."
Lykaina Thorne. A name now burned into me, a scent I'd follow to it's source. She didn't know it yet, but she'd just stepped into my world. And I ruled it.