Alpha Prince (7 page)

He grits his jaw, readjusting his grip on the helm of his sword. “You don’t think I can protect you.”

“Um…
what?
”

His eyes meet mine with a dark promise. “I will protect you against anything, Rainbow.”

“Okay? That’s not what I’m talking about, though. I’m talking about
living in a cave all alone in the woods
.”

He shakes his head. “One dragon was nothing.”

What the hell is he going on about?

He looks to the sky, raising his sword. “I could protect you against ten dragons.”

Was this this like some kind of caveman manly pride thingie, only instead of penis-size, he was focused on the number of dragons he could defeat? “The number of dragons doesn’t matter,” I begin, “…it’s…how you slay them?”

“Of course the number matters!” he calls out, eyes fiery.

I’m about to give him a fiery response of my own, but at that moment, the sky begins to ominously glow. Blood red clouds smother the calm, starry night. Lightening crashes down from the heavens, splitting a boulder just outside the cave in two.

Holy shit!
I shriek, flying into the cave wall.

Oddly, mountain man doesn’t even flinch. “You have nothing to fear, Rainbow. Not with me. I will show you.” Then, he steps outside of the cave and raises his sword to the sky. You know, his sword that is made of metal. Towards the sky that lightening just shot out of.

As if to reiterate this point, thunder rumbles in the clouds.

“DROP YOUR SWORD!” I scream. “GET BACK IN HERE!”

“Why? Do you think I’m too afraid to face them?”

Face what? The lightening? Was he going to try challenge the lightening to a freaking duel? “No, I AM AFRAID that you are GOING TO BE ELECTROCUTED.”

Another white hot flash of lightening shoots down to earth, singeing the earth right next to where he stands.

I scream again.

He glares at the heavens. “Let them try.”

Let who try?
I peek out the front of the cave to see ten dark smears racing towards us. Birds, maybe? And then I realize those things are way too big to be birds.

SHIT!
“Get in here! Dragons are coming!”

“I know,” he growls. “I will fight them for you. I will prove I can protect you.”

“How about you prove you can be ‘not crazy’ instead and—”

He turns. I stop talking. Why? Because his eyes are
glowing red
.

Yes, glowing. And that ruby color is not a tint. It’s not a reflection from the fire. It’s like a freaking red stoplight.
I am never going to make fun of bad B-horror movie effects ever again, because you know what? When they happen in real life, it’s actually the scariest thing ever!

I shrink into the cave’s shadows.

“Rainbow, do not be afraid!” he yells.

Yeah right! I’ve never been more afraid in my life! Not even when I was facing the dragon alone!
What the hell is this guy?

The thunder roars louder. And then I realize that it’s not thunder, but the flapping of dragon wings.

What the hell?

He looks at the sky, an odd sort of pleasure coming onto his face. Lust for the fight.

“Um…what the hell is going on?”

“Ten dragons is easy. How about twenty dragons!”

Suddenly, more dark shapes form on the horizon. Oh my god, was that guy
calling
the dragons to us with his freaky red glowing eyes? “No more dragons!” I yell in my sternest no-more-dragons voice.

I don’t think he hears me. “Twenty dragons is nothing! I could protect you, Rainbow, against an entire dragon legion!”

Suddenly, so many dragons appear in the sky that they black out the ominously glowing red clouds.

Oh. My. God.
This guy totally just called a dragon legion to us! And just when I think it can’t get any worse, it does. Because, right then and there, the crazy mountain dude transforms into a gigantic wolf.

Chapter 6

So, I’m running down a mountain in the middle of the night and I’ve got a legion of dragons and a werewolf chasing me.

Alright, maybe they’re not chasing me
yet
. They have to battle each other first. Still, the wolf’s desperate howls echoed all around me. He sounds a little…upset. You see, the poor guy probably thought I’d lay naked upon the furs while his wolf-form chucked recently gnawed-off dragon heads at me. Things didn’t go down exactly the way he planned.

Well, that makes two of us. I thought I’d found a kindred spirit—someone who, like me, was stranded and isolated from the world they knew and loved, only they’d been lost for so long that they’d forgotten who they were and why they were here. Instead, I watched the man I just had sex with call dragons out of the heavens with glowing red eyes and then proceed to turn into a wolf.

The transformation had happened so quickly I felt like I’d made it up. One moment he was standing there in all his muscled glory, and in the next, a plume of red light consumed his body. I’d screamed, thinking he’d just gotten hit with a lightning bolt or a dragon fireball. But in the next instant the light subsided, and in the man’s stead was a wolf almost as big as a dragon.

I’d been too scared to scream. Too scared to do anything as the massive beast threw back its mighty head and howled. All I could think was:
mountain man just got eaten by a wolf, and now that wolf is coming for me
.

I looked around for something to protect myself with. The only weapon was mountain man’s blade, and it was right next to the wolf’s mighty paws. If mountain man couldn’t defend himself with it, what chance did I have?

And then, the beast stopped howling and looked at me with familiar red, glowing eyes.

It’s him
.

I don’t know how I knew it. I mean, such a thing was impossible, right? As impossible as crystal kingdoms and dragons. But my heart knew. It was him.
He’s here to protect me
.

The wolf then flashed his white, sharp teeth, as if in a grin, and shot into the sky to take on the first dragon.

This was about the same time I yanked on my panties and pants, grabbed my shoes, and shot out of that cave.

Now, I’m running like the devil himself is behind me (and, on second thought, it wouldn’t surprise me if he was). My heart pounds as my feet skid down rock, mud, and more freaking
crystals
. As the roaring in my ears crescendos over the sounds of lightening, dragon fireballs, and wolf howls, I make a promise to myself: I, Rainbow, will
never again
have sex with a man I’ve just met. It doesn’t matter how hot they are or how much I want it, it wasn’t gonna happen—at least not until I made sure they weren’t a serial killer…or a werewolf.

I look back up the mountain. There’s a flurry of fire and growls coming from the cave, and I’m not nearly as far away as I should be. Why did mountains have to be so big? All of this would be a lot easier if this damn moth weren’t flapping around in my face!

“God damnit!” I yell, flinging my hand in front of my face. “Are you trying to get us both killed, bug?”

The bug immediately flies back a few feet.

“Thanks,” I mutter, scowling at the creature. Illuminated by the light of the raging dragon inferno above us, I realize it’s not a moth but…a bright orange monarch butterfly. Why was a
butterfly
out here in the middle of the night? And, more importantly, why am I wondering about a butterfly instead of getting out of here?

The butterfly starts drifting to the right. I go left. And,
BAM!
it is back in my face.

“What the hell? Seriously!”

The butterfly pulls back and weaves to the left. Great. Now I am going to go to the right and…

Delicate wings flutter on my cheeks and the tip of my nose.

I scowl and cross my eyes until its orange wings come into focus. “You got a death wish, butterfly?”

Butterfly backs its ass up.

“That’s more like it. Now, if you’ll just let me—”

I take another step. It’s back in my face.

I whip my head back and forth. “What do you WANT from me?”

Again, it floats left, then stops, as if waiting for me.

“You want me to follow you?”

The butterfly floats left a little more.

Well, why not? I’d certainly done weirder things today than follow a butterfly. So that’s exactly what I do.

After a few minutes of walking, I find myself in a strange green mist. For a moment, I shut my eyes with relief. The air around the cave had been so hot and harsh. Here, things seemed softer somehow…much sweeter. Like lilies and the faint, seductive scent of incense laced with Jasmine.

My heartbeat starts to slow. My steps become heavier. I know, in the back of my mind, that I must hurry. There’s a werewolf and a legion of dragons behind me, after all. But I feel so…good. There’s no tension anywhere in my body, not even in my feet. It’s almost like I’m floating…

I glance down.

Oh. The earth looks so pretty. All those fireballs are like fireworks. They complement the ruby red mountain so well. I don’t know why I thought it was scary before. From way up here, it’s so beautiful. From way up here…

Everything seems so insignificant when you’re…

Hundreds of feet above the earth…

Wait, what? Hundreds of feet above the earth? Something in my head snaps out of the insidious calm induced by that green mist. “Oh shit!” I kick my legs and wheel my arms around, trying to swim back down through the green mist. I don’t know why I think that would work, and unsurprisingly it doesn’t. “Let me down!” I scream again. And then, I feel something delicate and familiar tickle my fingertips.

The butterfly.

“You,” I hiss, trying to grab it but the little devil dances just out of my reach. “What the hell did you do!?!? LET ME DOWN!!!!”

I try to breathe evenly.
Lemonade
, Rainbow.
Think lemonade…and instead of lemons you have…absolutely nothing
. No, that wasn’t true. I was flying towards an unknown destination, but at least it wasn’t where I’d come from! Nothing could be worse than
that
place. This green mist sure was making me zoom down the mountain. Why, I’m almost to the bottom of the mountain. It’s like a roller coaster…sort of. I breathe deeply from my belly, willing my muscles to relax. If I wanted to survive a fall, I’d need to be relaxed—well, like I’d survive one from so high anyway—but I was trying to make the best of this!

The moment the tension leaves my shoulders, that sense of cooling calm comes back with a vengeance. I grit my teeth, trying to remember why I was so afraid of flying through the air above a weird green mist in the first place. And as I wonder, a song weaves itself around my thoughts. I bring my hand to my chest and catch my shirt in my fist. The sound touches some innocent part of my heart that I thought I’d lost a long time ago. I think this song was made just for me…so I could find myself again…

I open my eyes to find myself floating back down to earth. Leaves rustle as I pass the tops of trees, descending into a world of lush, deep, green. The mist cloaks everything in the thick woods with the scent of jasmine and lily. The bark of the trees appears to be made of emeralds and jades that gleam beneath the full moon.

For a second, fear tries to take my mind back.
This place is weird, Rainbow! Get out ASAP!
But the music drowns it out. Down here, the song is louder. I know whoever is playing it is close. I must find who is playing the music.

I rush forward. The soft forest floor cushions my every step. Ferns, bushes and grass brushes against my legs and fingertips like silk. There’s a clearing in the wood up ahead. The person playing must be there.

The butterfly starts furiously flapping again in my face again, but I don’t care. I don’t even try to brush it aside. I keep moving towards the music. I have to find the source.

I reach the clearing, panting, heart beating so quickly I feel like I might pass out. The music is so loud it sounds like the player is right next to me, but I can’t see anyone.

A pond in the center of the grove reflects the moon and stars in the sky. Its surface is so calm and smooth it’s like a dark mirror. A massive willow stretches across the left side of the pond, the drooping leaves on its longest branches resting on the water. Waterlilies cluster along the left side of the pond, their immaculate white flowers framed by emerald lily pads.

I walk to the pond. Where is the music coming from? Perhaps the player is hidden within the thick nest of willow branches. I try to part the branches with my hand, but they’re so thickly twisted I won’t be able to get through without breaking them. However, the flat stones cresting the water should provide a good alternative path.

I step on the first stone, holding out my arms like I’m about to take flight to keep my balance.

“Rainbow!”

I hear a man’s voice—a voice I’ve never heard before. A pang of irritation shoots through me. He’s coming from the wooded grove, not the pond, which means he’s trying to distract me from the music.

Frowning, I take another step, and then another, moving out across the water. I’m certain whoever is playing the music is hidden beneath the willow, now. But even though the branches are so thick, why can’t I see anyone? Getting restless, I misstep. The soles of my shoe slip on the rock. I flap my arms, teetering, looking down as I catch my balance.

And in the dark waters below, I see the reflection of a man.

His posture is perfectly straight, allowing me to see his elegant muscle definition. He has a swimmer’s body—not too muscular, but trim and strong. His skin is the color of a pearl. Long strands of black hair are swept up in an abalone clip. And the way he moves…

My breath catches.

He sways back and forth as his strong, long fingers dance over the flute’s holes. Actually, his movements are so elegant and graceful it’s like he himself dances as he plays…or maybe it’s me who’s dancing…or I don’t know.

I bend over, reaching my hand out over the water.