Chapter 2 Two

The little girl closed her eyes shut, frightened that the man would kill her, but instead she heard the clashing of metals. The man had struck his weapon, but he did not hit her.

She opened her eyes slowly, still shaking in fear, and was stunned to see he was holding off another man's sword, preventing it from striking her. The look on her face was one of surprise as she realized the man was actually trying to protect her.

King Krov caught the frightened look on the child's face before he glared at his soldier, the smoke settling around them.

"She is not one of them" he growled, pulling his sword back.

"But Sire, we saw her run away from her mother, there is no way she is not..." the man trailed, giving the king a concerning look.

It was his master's instruction to get rid of all the inhabitants, he could only wonder why Krov thought the girl was different when they had infact, killed a lot of children like her.

"She is not one of them" King Krov repeated instinctively. Suddenly, he stretched his hands forward, grabbing the little girl by her cloak and pulling her to her feet.

"Where is the mother ?" he asked, his eyes turning to the man.

There was silence from him, and that was all the answer he needed.

Krov's gaze dropped to the young girl before him, taking in her small frame and solemn expression. For a moment, he felt a bit of sympathy for her and he studied her with a softness in his eyes that he rarely showed to anyone.

But just as quickly, his face hardened, his ruthless nature taking over once more. The girl returned his gaze, her own expression a mixture of fear and defiance. Despite his fearsome appearance and the coldness he radiated, she refused to back down, her own eyes locked on his.

"Do you have a name ?".

The question was instantaneous and directed to her. The child blinked twice before speaking.

"Layla" she said, her voice cracked from the fall.

He gently placed his hand on her forehead, his finger brushing past the injury she had sustained. Her green eyes looked up at the hand on her forehead, surprised by the man's sudden action.

Soon she felt a wave of drowsiness wash over her. Her eyelids fluttered tiredly before closing completely, her body slackening as she fell into a deep, dreamless sleep.

The king withdrew his hand, satisfied that the girls memory of the recent event would be forgotten when she wakes. He picked her up, placing her on his shoulder before she fell to the ground.

Standing back up, he sheath his sword before returning to his horse. The soldier from earlier, stood watching them leave.

His face twisted in curiousity as Krov carefully handed her on his shoulder. He knew better not to ask any further questions. Shaking the thoughts off his shoulder, he matched forward searching for more villagers as he was earlier instructed to do.

Krov steadily placed the girl on his horse before urging it to move forward slowly. He took one last look at her sleeping face, his jaw clenched as he thought about what he would do with this specimen he had just found.

The child was a werewolf.

Back to present time...

Where would she go ?- Layla had thought. She had never left the kingdom before. She had heard about the neighboring villages, but she didn't know her way to any of them. Even if she did, she would die of thirst and starvation before she could get there by foot.

There was no hope for her, perhaps this was her fate. The fate of a princess who always questioned her identity.

Layla was still lost in her thoughts when she stumbled over an open root of a tree and fell to the ground with a loud thud. Her whole body rattled in pain from the fall and she found it hard to stand up.

Just then, she heard a sound of a twig breaking. It was getting dark so she couldn't really see her surroundings clearly, but she could tell she was not alone. She tried to pick herself up again, struggling hard until her upper body was lifted from the dirt.

Could they have found her ?- she thought, her heart thumping loudly in her chest as she took a look around. She still couldn't see anyone, but she could feel their presence.

"W..who's there?" she yelled when she heard the rustling of leaves.

"Show yourself, whatever you are !" Layla yelled, picking up a twig she could find as she lean against the tree for support.

Just then, she saw two glowing light in the dark coming towards her slowly. Her heart pounded against her chest as she scurried to her feet immediately.

Whatever it was, she was certain it wasn't human, neither was it a vampire.

"Stay back !" she yelled, pointing her stick to it, but the glowing eyes kept moving forward until it was out of the dark.

Layla was shocked when she saw the body of the creature making it's way to her. It's dark fur shone dimly under the crescent moon, it's golden eyes drinking her in.

It was a wolf.

In that moment, something happened that Layla believed was out of the ordinary. The wolf's body suddenly starts to reshape, taking the form of a human. It's dark fur became smooth and flawless skin, it's body morphing until fully transforming into a human.

Layla stared at the naked figure of a man standing before her. His arms and chest were covered in blood stains and his brown hair fell over his forehead and shoulders, so she couldn't make form of what he looked like facially.

Just then, he looked up locking his golden eyes with hers, the exchange sparking a strong feeling of familiarity within Layla.

"Mate..." he voiced out before collapsing to the ground.

____________________________