Prince: 1St Book of a 4 Book Series

© 2022 A.V. Blackmon. All rights reserved.

No part of this book may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted by any means without the written permission of the author.

Published by AuthorHouse 06/30/2022

ISBN: 978-1-6655-9847-7 (sc)

ISBN: 978-1-6655-9846-0 (e)

Library of Congress Control Number: 2022908568

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CONTENTS

Chapter 1

Chapter 2

Chapter 3

Chapter 4

Chapter 5

Chapter 6

Chapter 7

Chapter 8

Chapter 9

Chapter 10

Chapter 11

Epilogue

CHAPTER

1

B efore she knew what was going on, even before she could open her eyes, she felt herself fall. Then pain exploded from the back of her head, and nothing—nothing but blackness of the darkest night in oblivion as she was rendered unconscious.

She first felt the pain radiate through her head. She tried to move, but her limbs felt heavy. Taking a breath, she could smell the clean, cold air and taste its fresh dampness on her tongue, a scent of evergreen and grass shrouded in dew. As she opened her eyes, the bright morning light shone, causing a new stabbing pain to explode in her brain. Groaning in pain, she cautiously rolled on her side and sat up, fighting the nausea. When she breathed out, she could see the warmth of her breath in front of her. Looking around, she found only a meadow fairly high up in a mountain range, surrounded by an evergreen forest and covered with a fine sheen of frost that was quickly melting in the sun’s rays. She saw no gates, no fences, and no sign of any cars or how she’d gotten there.

Gingerly, she rose to stand and survey her surroundings. Everything hurt from her hair to her abdomen. She lurched, nearly losing her balance. Taking a step, she felt cold dampness under her feet and the feel of soft blades of grass between her toes. ‘Great! No shoes! Just what I need,’ she said out loud. A pair of jeans and a cotton T-shirt with mini vest was all she wore. There was nothing around her, just the clothes she stood in—nothing else, no jacket, no bag, no phone.

She shivered at the light dusting of frost on the ground. ‘Well, there is nothing for it, girl. You are going to have to walk out of here. Now to the big problem: Where is here?’ she said to herself, trying to gather strength from logic.

Collecting her thoughts and panic, she took a few measured breaths and had another look around. Noting the frost on the ground left overnight, she turned to face the rising sun. ‘Here goes nothing.’ With that she gingerly started walking, her muscles protesting at the movement. She stumbled frequently, as she lacked coordination, her head making her vision spin and her stomach protesting violently.

It seemed an eternity, but in just a few hours, she stumbled across the humblest of dirt roads. It led two ways, either farther into the mountains or down the mountain. She chose downhill, hoping it would lead to someone or somewhere there was help—perhaps even a town. The track was not easy; the stones were sharp, and she wasn’t very coordinated in her movements. She was still feeling sick, and her head throbbed with every step. Her feet were soon nearly ripped to shreds, and with the cold, she was dangerously close to hypothermia, wearing nothing but her damp jeans and shirt. She barely felt the pain anymore, barely registered anything anymore except when a razor-sharp edge of stone sliced deeper into her shredded feet.

When a dark shape skittered in and out of her side vision, she thought she was hallucinating, so she ignored it. She started counting to ten over and over again to keep her calm.

He smelled blood and something else that tantalized his senses, an exotic scent that sent ripples of need and want flooding through him. It seemed the only thing that mattered in the world was the origin of that heavenly tendril of fragrance. A metallic tone brought his were back to the real world. Something about it wasn’t right and made his hackles stand up on end. There should not be anyone on this range of mountains except his brothers. For the first time ever, part of his emotions lurched to break free and, with it, his wild side. Without thinking, his wild side had started stalking the origin of the blood and fragrance.

As he got closer, the human side of him woke up and reined in his other side. Cautiously, he followed the scent, investigating the source, and to his surprise, it was a woman! He felt his world tilt, and his heart hammered in his ears. Something about her just made him want to rub himself all over her and mark her as his, yet his animal side detected something was wrong—she was in an evident state of distress, her movements were awkwardly disconnected, and with the early morning rain, her minimal clothes were plastered to her like a second skin. She must be in shock as well, he sensed.

He followed her as she made her way down the track. Where are you going? he wondered. He knew the track led to an old abandoned quarry. She smelled of blood and something so deliciously divine it made him purr and growl at the same time. He was amused until the smell, a bit like anxiety, wafted over to him—only it was more like trepidation than fear. He didn’t like it—it was that smell that made a loud growl erupt from him. He watched as the woman cautiously froze; there was no way she could not have heard him growl. He watched as she took time to regulate her breathing. No sense of fear or anxiety hit him, which made him even more curious. She was evidently trying to figure out what to do. He prayed she didn’t do something stupid.

His senses flooded with her uncertainty. Without turning, the woman did the one thing that was virtually guaranteed to get her killed—she ran. His animal couldn’t not run after her; it wanted to catch her and not let her go. It wanted something, and he didn’t know what. It confused him, and since he had no reason, he couldn’t trust his animal side not to kill her. Still, he couldn’t resist the thrill, so he ran after her.

Normally he would have been more than able to bound after her, but somehow, she managed to elude him. She was human—how was she able to outrun him? Frustrated and annoyed, he issued a loud growl from his throat, and the woman swerved from the road to the forest. But her luck didn’t hold. It wasn’t long before she tripped at the base of a huge tree as she twisted to look behind her, causing her to fall face forwards into the roots protruding from the base.

She knew as soon as she heard the growl she was in serious trouble. A part of her shivered with anticipation, but she wasn’t scared. It was almost a feeling of what will be will be. She knew from her feet and the cold that she was as good as dead already and might as well try to run for it. With the last of her strength, she ran down the road. When that didn’t work, she swerved into the forest. She thought she had escaped. But after ten minutes of running, suddenly her ankle caught on a root, and a snapping noise and pain erupted. She plunged head first into the tree, into earth, moss, and roots.

The next thing she saw was a giant black panther with golden eyes looking at her. The golden eyes took the world away. She forgot everything—her pain, the trouble she was in—in the depth of those golden eyes. Her entire world stopped, and she saw the promise of something more powerful and mesmerizing than she could ever describe … until the eyes blinked, snapping her back to the reality that the most enormous black panther she had ever seen was probably about to tear her throat out. Silently, a tear fell down her face as she scrambled backwards into the tree.

The panther stalked closer. She whispered, ‘This day can’t get any worse. Please be quick, my friend—at least your day will be good.’

She trembled, and the anxiety, coupled with the pain from her ankle, head, and stomach, finally caught up with her. She watched as the huge cat raised a paw, taking a step forward towards her. A shiver flowed through her, her skin flushed with a cold sweat, and her breathing stopped, causing her to sink into the darkness as she collapsed back against the tree.

He was stunned. Had he actually heard her right? Growling, he clamped down on the panther within and sat watching this woman. She had actually asked for death to be quick and hoped he would have a good day? Something wasn’t right. He took note of the blood, her feet torn to shreds. She wore only jeans and a thin shirt. Her skin was pale, almost translucent, and her lips had a slight blue hue to them. She smelled of distress but not of fear and not from him.

It was this thought, that something else had created her distress, which made the protective side of his panther roar in fury. He looked at her feet again. Blood was oozing from many cuts, but a few were really deep. It distressed him that vital blood was being lost. Whilst a part of the were in him wanted to taste her blood, the man in him wanted her safe—even the majority of his were wanted her safe.

Slowly he approached and began to lick her feet clean. Under the metallic taste of her blood were notes of sweet exotic mango and rum that made the were in him want to roll on the ground in sheer ecstasy. He licked the swelling ankle, and the woman gave a moan of distress. Not good—if she couldn’t walk, she would be dead soon, and that thought was something his panther recoiled at. She could not die.

He saw no other option for it. Quickly changing into human form, he set her ankle and splinted it, using her thin chemise for bindings. He checked her breathing, which was shallow. Her pulse was slow and slightly thready.

He sensed his brother approach. Unlike him, his brother was a werewolf. ‘Max, go get my pack from the clearing and bring it back. She is not going to make it otherwise.’ He saw his brother tilt his head slightly and then nod, bounding away.

Gabe knew his brother wasn’t impressed with the situation but would agree they couldn’t let her die. Gabe turned back to the woman. Even in such a terrible state, she looked like an angel; her blonde hair was like pure satin honey even damp and plastered to her neck. He was lost in thought. He couldn’t fathom why anyone would want to hurt her or how she had come to be in such a state.

A few minutes later, he smelled his brothers approaching, not just Max but all three of his brothers. He growled menacingly for some reason. He didn’t want them to get too close to his angel.

Ryan was a giant black cat like a tiger, similar to Gabe, only he had black eyes and was slightly smaller than Gabe. Dean was a wolf like Max and also had black eyes. All four of them were much larger than the natural animals. But being were made you different; they were the supercharged versions of human and of their natural animal counterparts. They all changed into human form as they approached, seeming blissfully ignorant of their nakedness.

‘So, it is true. We have an injured woman on the range!’ Ryan said with a smirk.

Max gave Gabe the pack he was carrying. ‘Shut it, Ryan. Now isn’t the time. What do you think, Gabe?’

‘We can’t leave her here. She’ll die. And there’s something else. When she saw me as a were, she just asked for a quick death and hoped it would at least make my day a good day. Something isn’t right.’ Gabe was still perplexed

‘Gabe, this might not end well. Are you sure about this? We can patch her up here and leave her with a pack.’ Max was calculating to a fault, solely loyal to his family.

‘No!’ Gabe’s protective side roared into being. ‘She is coming with me until I get to the bottom of this.’ He determinedly tried to ignore the smirk he noticed Dean had but couldn’t control his emotions. And that was all it took. He changed back into his black big cat form and went on the defensive—putting himself between her and his two younger brothers, Ryan and Dean.

Max left them to it and set about with the heat pads and the blanket to begin to warm up the woman. He did a quick check for any further broken bones. But other than multiple bruises that peeked from her clothing, a giant goose egg on her head, and her foot, she seemed okay for now. When he’d done that, he changed into his wolf form and decided to give the two youngest members a lesson in hierarchy respect.

Gabe turned back to the woman and lay down next to her, giving her his warmth; one of the benefits of being a were was that weres didn’t get cold and gave off a lot of heat. He felt her stir and felt her snuggle closer, as if he was her only source of warmth. A rush of pleasure flooded through him. But when he felt her hand run through his fur, he couldn’t contain the purr of sheer seductive delight, causing Max to stop the lesson.

Max approached Gabe and lifted his snout to the space on the other side. ‘She will still freeze. Her back is exposed. The blanket isn’t big enough,’ his voice said in Gabe’s mind. Max was resigned to help Gabe.

‘Just don’t get too comfy,’ Gabe said back, trying to damp down his jealousy. He knew he shouldn’t be jealous, and he knew she needed to stay warm, but even so.

Max chuckled, an odd muffled huffing sound from his wolf form, but he lay down on her other side, covering her back. Whilst she didn’t move, they both heard her whimper with displeasure. ‘Well at least you know she’s a cat person, Gabe,’ Max silently said with a wry tone.

‘Shut up, Max.’ But even as Gabe said it, he couldn’t help but purr even louder.

Ryan and Dean looked over, surprised that their big bad brother leader was purring contentedly like a kitten.

‘Ryan, Dean, don’t say a word! Just go see if you can track her scent back to where she came from. It has to start somewhere.’

With a nod, they both took off back up the mountain.

They had a telepathic link to each other, so they often were in were form whenever possible, even in the house. To them, it was natural; they had all been born weres.

Max’s mental chuckling brought him back to the present. ‘Gabe? Are you seriously sure about this?’ Max’s muzzle rested on the woman’s legs.

‘I don’t think I have a choice, Max. It’s something my were is dictating.’

‘Ah,’ Max said in an understanding tone. ‘Well, we might need to make room for a princess then.’

Gabe heard the smile, but he didn’t return the sentiment.

The woman stirred again and tried to shift her body position. But because she had two huge furry protectors on either side of her and Max was resting his muzzle across her knees, she started to toss and turn.

‘What the hell?’ Max said, but he stayed as he was, or she was going to kick them both in the face.

‘No. No. No! What’s going on? Where am I? Who are you? No! No!’

Her protests sent chills running down Gabe’s spine. Instantly, he went on the alert. He curled around to lick her hands, purring in place of soothing platitudes. Something about his actions seemed to calm her down. She opened her eyes and looked directly into his, and she slumped back.

Gabe and Max look at each other in disbelief. There was no way that should have worked, and even more curiously, the woman was evidently in a whole world of trouble and not from them. She really did need help, and it struck a chord with both of them—Max out of pack mentality, along with his own high sense of honour and Gabe because his were wanted to claim her as his mate.

‘Max, any ideas on how soon she might wake up? I think we need to move soon.’ Gabe’s mind was trying to think of the next step. The day was drawing on. It was getting close to mid-afternoon.

‘I don’t know. But we’re in a jam here. We don’t have clothes, and we shouldn’t expose ourselves to her, certainly not in transition.’ Max’s concern was evident.