I was lying on the cold floor shivering. The man is truly torturous. We are legit in the middle of the mountains and he refuses to give his "slaves" a blanket. Even if I wanted to sleep, the thought that Lara is the vampire princess, spawn of the cruelest man in the world, keeps plaguing my mind.

She knew from day one that her family was behind the murder of my dad and she chose to say nothing. All my complaints about her father and she never said anything. She only agreed and added to my rant. I feel like an idiot. They all knew who he was, but me. I felt played.

"Mila." I refused to look at the person on the other side of the cage. "Please at least use the blanket." I made no indication of hearing her. "I'm sorry."

"You're sorry?!" I sat up with a start. "You're related to that man and I had to find out from him! He killed my dad! Enslaved my people and you're just saying sorry?!"

"It was a different time Mila. I don't support his decisions anymore."

"Why?" I glared at her. "Oh, please don't say it's because you met me!" I mocked.

"No, I've changed many years ago. That's why my mom, brother, and I decided to open up a company that can help people. It's a way for us to clean up the ledger that's so bloody red." She pleaded with me. "I was a power hungry, manipulative girl back then. But, I'm not anymore! Believe me please!"

"What's done is done." I sat on the ground.

"What do you mean?" She squatted down on the other side. "Why are you speaking like you've given up hope?"

"What hope is there to have left?" I looked at her. "Your dad is going to kill me." She winced when I said the word dad. "And we can't even try to escape since he has the place under lock and key." I rested my head against the wall.

"I will save you!"

"How? You were utterly powerless against your father." Again she winced when I mentioned her relation to that man. "He'd kill you without batting an eye." She looked down guiltily. I moved closer to her so I could hold her hands. "And I refuse to allow that." I tilted her chin up so that her eyes connected with mine. "I'll do anything and everything in my power to protect you." I kissed her knuckles.

"I can't stomach seeing you in a place like this." Her eyes roamed over the dilapidated walls.

She abruptly stood up and broke the lock. I looked at her in confusion as she ripped the metal door off. She then picked me up and walked me past the guards. They tried to say something, but one glare from her shut them up. Lara carried me the entire journey to her room. I blushed in embarrassment as we past guards who were either smirking or trying to hold in their laughter at my state.

Lara kicked open her bedroom door and plopped me onto the bed. I took a chance to absorb her room as she went to close the door. It was elegant, with a light blue and white color scheme. It was much more refined and regal than her comfortable room in Maryland.

She closed the door and then crawled on the bed next to me. She took me in her arms and provided me with much needed affection. Lara then pulled up the blankets so that I could actually heat up. I buried my face in her chest as the anxiety of tomorrow morning began to seep in.

"I'll protect you. I promise." She kissed the top of my head and lulled me to sleep.

X

The next morning came too quickly. Lara dressed me in a light blue dress. I sighed as she got dressed in a lilac colored one. She had made arrangements with Lexi to sneak some food up here for me. I didn't have an appetite, but she urged me to eat.

Lexi was a little panicked since the King knew that Lara had taken me from the dungeons and was not pleased. He promised to give her a beating for violating an order. Lara wasn't scared though. She just wanted to make sure I was alright. She assured me one last time that she'd protect me from the man who sired her.

Lara didn't bother with having Taemin and Lexi put on an act with holding my biceps. She walked into the throne room with her hand on my lower back. I saw the disapproval in Alec's eyes. He was clearly not amused by his sister's open possessiveness of me. My eyes flicked to the king whose eyes were flickering between blue and black.

"Why have you openly disobeyed me, girl?!" He stood up.

"She's mine!" Lara firmly stated.

"Child!" He appeared in front of her and punched her.

The force sent her to the floor. I saw Alec attempt to move, up his mother shot an arm across his chest, preventing his movements. He was bewildered by her actions, but her eyes told him to obey her.

"What did I say?!" He kicked Lara in her ribs. "I wanted her bound and gagged!" He used Lara's hair to lift her up. She hung onto the roots of her hair as she was dragged to her feet. "I wanted to destroy her from the inside, but all I can smell is your scent over her!"

He punched her down again. I then noticed the silver knuckles on his hand. I now understood why it was taking her long to heal. I assume the metal that touched his skin wasn't silver since his skin wasn't singing. Lara, on the other hand, had cuts along her face from the impact of the silver knuckles.

"Whatever." He drove Lara's face into the ground. "I'll just kill her now and violate her corpse later."

He appeared behind me. An arm wrapped around my stomach while his other hand moved my neck to the side. I was about to scream when a blur happened before my eyes. Lara grabbed the man by his throat and threw him into the throne, destroying the structure upon his impact.

The king stumbled to get up. I let out a gasp as I took in his features. His brown hair changed to pure white. His blue eyes were gone and replaced by an empty void. He chuckled as he stumbled closer to us.

"She's mine." He chuckled and raced towards me.

"No! She's mine!" Lara raced towards him, but he was expecting that.

They dodged each other's strikes. I saw the king reach for a shiny thing in his pocket. Everything happened too fast for me to react. He ducked under one of Lara's punches and then used a silver blade to cut Lara from her left cheek to her right hip. He then kicked her figure near me.

Rage overcame me. I yelled as I shifted against my will. I turned into a 6 foot tall blond wolf. I stood over my mate and growled at the king. He took a step back before laughing maniacally.

"Ahhhhh! Gold eyes with specks of silver!" He nearly collapsed from joy. "I found the royal heir!" His arms were spread out wide. "She lives! The lost baby of Enzo Ricci lives on!" He turned in a circle and addressed everyone in the room. "But, her time must come to an end!"

I continued snarling at the laughing king. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Taemin flick out his phone and begin to text someone. The king then rushed me. I was ready to ounce, but Lara shot up and flung him through a wall. The stress it caused on her body resulted in her falling onto her knees.

"Go east." I heard Alena say barely above a whisper.

I moved next to Lara and used momentum to flip her onto my back. I then began to sprint. Thankfully, she got the message and clung onto some fur as I barreled past the guards. They were in shock and didn't have time to react as I lept out a window and down the snowy peak.

I kept going in a direction I assumed was east. I felt tears prick my eyes every time Lara groaned in pain and discomfort. I could feel her blood soaking my fur. I know she got cut with silver and that silver was poisonous to both of us, but I was praying she'd be okay.

I didn't stop even though I was exhausted. Chiara kept powering us on at the thought of saving our mate. I guess my wolf had an innate sense of direction since I had no idea where east was.

I continued running through the dense vegetation, occasionally slipping on some mud. I was running when I sensed something from my right. I flicked my head to see three massive wolves racing towards me. They were foreign to me so I kept running. I felt Lara's grip get weaker as she began to fade in and out of consciousness. The thought of Lara's condition distracted me.

The lead wolf rammed into me. Lara went flying until her body collided with a tree and she slumped to the bottom. I rolled onto my side and whined in pain. I heard the snarls from behind me get closer.

"You're eyes." Lara struggled to get out. I looked at her and tilted my head. What about my eyes? "Show them your eyes." She groaned out.

I quickly turned to see the three black wolves. Once our eyes connected, they ceased growling. The next thing was crazy. In their wolf forms, they bowed to me and whined in subordination. I scrambled up to see them with their head lowered in respect.

My Queen

We apologize. We did not know it was you.

Please forgive us.

I was shocked with how they addressed me and even further shocked that we could communicate telepathically. The sounds of my mate's groans brought my attention back to the situation at hand.

I flicked my head over to the still movements of my mate.

At once, your majesty. Boys!

The other two wolves flanked Lara's side and positioned her onto one of them. The leader flicked his head for me to follow him. As we were running, a thought occurred to me.

Italy, your majesty