Little Red (Not Quite the Fairy Tale #5) by May Sage

 
     
    Chapter One
    Two Heirs
     
    Eleven years ago
     
    Daniel De Luz, prince and heir of Alenia, stood before the male – calling that thing a man would have been too much of a stretch.
    When he and Sandro had cornered him, the creature shocked them by turning into a beast. Rough fur, long snout, pointy ears. They could have said wolf , but the term seemed rather underwhelming: this thing was the size of a full grown bear.
    So that was it; all the rumors they’d heard about Wilderlings held true. Dane wasn’t exactly surprised: if it hadn’t been the case, they would have pushed their pathetic excuse for an army back to their borders months ago.
    The Wilderlings had less than five hundred men, against the tens of thousands Aiden of Jereena commanded, and the five thousand Dane had brought with him but although they were practically fifty to one, the Wilderlings remained undefeated, practically untouched – Dane had shot a guy right between the eyes only to find him back on the battlefield the next day.
    There was what they’d been missing: they weren’t fighting humans.
    Thankfully, Dane and Sandro weren’t entirely human, either.
     
    The gigantic wolf managed to run out of his tent in one jump before they’d gathered their wits.
    “He’s the Alpha,” Sandro said. “We can’t let him go.”
    Right now all they had to work with were rumors and legends but there were dashes of truth in any myth he’d ever heard, so Dane agreed with his brother’s assessment: if they managed to get the Alpha, the rest of the Wilderlings should retreat.
    Hopefully.
    Dane had enough of war. He wanted to go home and marry that damn cutie whose letter he carried in his inner pocket, just against his heart. If getting rid of the beast sped out the process, he was all for it.
    “Keep him occupied,” Sandro said, sitting down on the floor and closing his eyes. No need to ask what he was up to: Sandro had an affinity with the skies, just like Dane, but his wasn’t instantly accessible; he needed to call it. “Give me five minutes.” 
    The Prince nodded, running out behind the animal; it had already cleared out over half a mile, heading for the cover of the forest. Dane knew that there, in his domain, they’d lose his tracks.
    The Alpha’s sudden retreat almost confused him. Wouldn’t a mighty beast stand and fight? Dane ran after it, at a ridiculously slow pace, compared to the strides of the gigantesque creature; at least until the east wind responded to his call, and carried him forth.
    The next instant, he landed in front of the wolf, his sword in hand.
    The creature stopped, baffled and – if he wasn’t mistaken – scared.
    Coward . It hadn’t thought twice before leaving his pack behind. 
    The skies were already darkening and in the distance, and Dane could see Sandro slowly approaching, a sphere made of lightning in his grasp.
    Sometimes, it was good to be of fay descent. There wasn’t one force in this world that could possibly hope to win against both of them at once, so Dane felt magnanimous.
    “I will give you a choice, wolf. Surrender or die.”
     

     
    A few hundred feet away, the pup cocked her head, her face scrunched up in something resembling a frown. She watched as her father pretended to surrender, only to try an awkward cheap shot at the human.
    She saw the human draw his sword out, holding it high; his comrade threw a luminous ball at it, and when the sword hit her father’s neck, it effortlessly cut it in two, immediately cauterizing the wound.
    Just like that, the pack princess lost her father. Just like that, her world forever changed its course, starting the chain of action that would give the Wilderlings a kingdom of their own.
     

     
    Now
     
    Chase was having a long-ass day, which was just about to turn into an f-ing long-ass month.
    Hell to the censorship. Nothing f-ing about it. It had entered the realm of proper fucking shit.
    First, he’d had to deal with the Queen, and that never