Prince Alessio (Ch.12)

The wounds were deep where the spikes on the black dragon's tail had pierced in and although Neveah had begun to heal, the severity of the injuries were making the process far too slow,

Neveah released a quiet groan of pain as she searched through the hollowed out tree for a change of clothing which were usually kept for guards on patrol or whoever needed to cover their nudity before venturing into the palace.

Neveah pulled out a white silk tunic and a black one, both much larger than her, she did not bother searching for pants knowing they would all be several sizes larger than she was.

Neveah was grateful the water from the lake had momentarily prevented her wounds from bleeding but she knew if she didn't wrap them up now, she would once again be leaving a blood trail that would prove very bothersome.

She ripped a large part of the white tunic and wrapped it securely around her midriff, wincing at the rough fabric grazing against her tender flesh,

Neveah tightened the wrap, ignoring the pain till she was sure the blood would not seep out for at least the next hour it would take her to return to the palace.

Neveah sighed as she pulled the black tunic over her naked body, not surprised to see it drop down to only a little below her derriere.

Although Neveah had a thin and curvaceous figure, she was considerably tall, standing at 5ft9 and so the tunic only hung loosely over her but did not reach down to her knee.

Neveah had also picked out the smallest out of all the satin tunics she had seen,

Neveah heaved a quiet sigh as she felt her wolf's presence recede to the back of her mind and she pulled up their mind block, sealing her away once again.

"I can't wait forever Veah... make a choice, or I shall do it for you. I will sleep now, but never again." Neveah heard the distorted voice of her wolf in her mind as the mind block sealed her away.

"I'm sorry... not yet, not now." Neveah murmured quietly as she continued forwards.

________________

Neveah staggered through the forest, her hand gripping her injured side as she headed towards her quarters, taking a wide bert to avoid the Eclipse warriors.

Neveah had taken a longer route to avoid the patrol teams, and after almost two hours of walking, she had finally arrived at the more desolated part of the Eclipse Palace.

The Eclipse warriors were in a state of alert, scouring the entire forest and Neveah was grateful for the ability to conceal her scent.

As Neveah came up to the castle doors, the feeling of relief that had been spreading in her heart was immediately cut short when she picked up a familiar scent.

"Omega." He said, in that cold, loathing tone with which he always addressed her.

Neveah's hands trembled slightly but she quickly curled them into fists, lifting her gaze up to fix on the object of her childhood nightmares, Prince Alessio.

"Your grace." Neveah greeted, lowering her head to a bow.

His forest green orbs roved over her dressing or rather, the lack of it and his gaze narrowed into a deep frown.

"You go around gallivanting in the forest during such an emergency...leaving your quarters dressed like some songstress and whose tunic are you even wearing?!" Prince Alessio snapped in a low, deadly tone.

"I..." Neveah cut herself off, swallowing down whatever words she had intended to say knowing whatever she said at this point would only spur on his anger.

Although usually, Neveah would still speak without a care for this, goading him till he had her pressed up against a wall, strangling the life out of her,

But this time, the pain in Neveah's side was becoming unbearable and Neveah just needed whatever Prince Alessio had planned for her to be done and over with as soon as possible.

"Speak Omega." Prince Alessio ordered, his tone leaving no room for arguments.

"I went out for some air after the ball, father sent me back but I ended up going the wrong way and lost my way. I only made it back after hours of wrong tries."

"I don't know who this tunic belongs to, my dress was too tight, I ripped it off and changed into this, your grace." Neveah explained in a low, submissive tone, her head bowed low.

This was against Neveah's personality but she knew only if she acted like this would Prince Alessio be calm enough to leave without hurting her.

"By father's orders, you shall address me as kin. I do not like it anymore than you do, but we are out in the open and there are hundreds of foreign guests on Eclipse Palace grounds." Prince Alessio said,

Neveah bit her lip, unwilling to address Prince Alessio as her brother but she knew he was not asking and he was not wrong, those were exactly their father's orders.

And truly, Neveah knew Prince Alessio hated it but if there was one thing about the cold, unfeeling Eclipse Prince, it was the fact that he would never disobey the orders of his father, Alpha King Lothaire.

"Yes, brother." Neveah murmured quietly.

"Why do you smell of blood?" He asked.

Neveah's eyes widened slightly but she was quick to comport herself.

"I... it's my time of the month." Neveah replied.

"Yet you move about dressed like that? Do you perhaps hope to be bedded by the Eclipse warriors? My men would not stoop so low, Omega." Prince Alessio said in a tone of distaste.

Neveah bit her lip, her fists clenching even tighter and it took every ounce of self control to restrain herself from blowing up at him.

"Father is too occupied seeing to the present crisis and calming the guests, I come to ensure you know not to cause him any trouble at this time...his protection is after all the only thing keeping you alive." Prince Alessio stated,