Her Broken Alpha Prince (Book 18 of The Regal Eclipse Pack Series)

Chapter 26

Four Years Later
Knox - Age 29 (About to be 30)

Silver fur gleamed in the sunlight that filtered down through the trees, as the huge wolf trotted down the side of the hill. It was a beautiful day in the Blue Ridge Mountains, warm and breezy. It had rained that morning, taking the edge off the heat and putting a small dent in the humidity.

The wolf, whose name was Romeo, had been traveling for quite some time now from his former hunting grounds that he'd wintered at. He'd been all over, not paying attention to borders, fences or much of anything else. He'd avoided cities, and humans in general. He'd skirted around wolf pack territories, able to sense the borders. They held no interest for him. Not much did except the need to keep moving and his next meal. Always his next meal, and little else.

But he'd been slowly heading this way for the last few months, knowing that his time of wandering and living off the land needed to end. It shouldn't have lasted this long, but the pain that both him and his counterpart had suffered from had been immense, and sometimes drastic measures had to be taken. He'd carried the load for long enough and did the suffering while his counterpart pulled into himself, trying to avoid dealing with the pain of betrayal and a severed bond. It had taken months before he was willing to even open himself up to that pain. 

It was like someone had severed their bond with a dull knife and now they were bleeding out with every beat of their heart, the flood uncontrollable. It didn't help that the amount of pain caused by their soulmate was unimaginable. They had killed her, betrayed her, though she had betrayed them first. She'd had to die; her crimes dictated it. But their reason for killing her were partially selfish.

His counterpart had contemplated suicide for a while, but Romeo wouldn't give over control. He knew better. Eventually he'd be okay, and they could move on with their life. But he could understand the need to end it all, even though he was a wolf. He could follow along with his counterpart's thought process, understand that he was grieving and that the pain was almost unbearable.

The wolf stopped near a cave, sniffing around for several long moments, picking up different scents. Small game such as squirrels, and chipmunks, along with larger game like deer, elk and bear had traveled by. He tried to avoid the bears, but the others were all fair game. He'd hunt them down and feast. The deer and elk were preferable, as they would keep his belly nice and full for a bit, but sometimes he had to settle for the smaller, more annoying game as they were a bit more plentiful. 

He had eaten bear too. It was probably his favorite and was also more than enough of a meal that he could return to it multiple times to finish it all. But taking down a bear wasn't simple. He knew it was going to suck and more than likely, he'd end up injured. He'd taken more than one swipe of claws to his body and practically lost an eye because of it. It made him thankful for his quick healing, or he might be in pretty bad shape. But his body always healed every mark and there were no signs that he'd ever tangled with a bear.

Scars would mar his body from the numerous fights he'd been in if he wasn't immortal. He'd taken horns to his sides more than once when he'd first started hunting. He'd had no other wolves to teach him to hunt, and he'd had to learn on his own. He was skilled at it now and could bring down his prey very easily with little harm to himself. 

He had met other wolves out there and have traveled with them some. It had made things more interesting as he had companionship, even if they didn't talk to him. It was the best way to spend winter, when he had another pack for warmth. He would bury himself into a hole with the others and wake up covered in snow. 

He entered the cave slowly, sniffing around to make sure it was empty. It was summer now, and anything that might have picked this cave to hibernate in should be long gone. But he would still be cautious. He didn't need to suddenly stumble upon any creature larger than him when he was unprepared for a fight. And frankly, today, he wasn't in the mood. 

He hadn't been back to this cave since he'd walked away from it four years ago. Four long years. Not that it had made much of a dent in his pain. It was just an ache that he had learned to live with. He'd learned not to focus on it as that was the only way to keep it from overwhelming him. It had let up some as the years had gone by, but he'd be happier if it had never happened in the first place. 

The cave was empty then, and he sniffed around as he moved further back, searching the ground until he finally found the spot he was looking for. He began to dig then through the layers of dirt, then grabbed the clothes that was inside carefully and pulled them out. He wasn't surprised to see the shirt had holes in it, but the jeans were still intact, which did surprise him. He found the wallet, and grabbed it before filling the hole back in. Then he grabbed both the wallet and the jeans and headed back out of the cave, leaving the shirt behind.

The wolf trotted along with purpose now, a destination in mind for the first time in years. He'd been out here for a long time now, and for the first few months, he'd wandered pointlessly without purpose. He'd barely eaten, quickly becoming skin and bones, the wolf looking older than his age as he wandered the countryside, uncaring what became of him. He'd go days without eating until the hunger consumed him and he had no choice but to find something to eat. He wouldn't starve to death, but being hungry like that was miserable, and gave his counterpart another reason to think about suicide. 

But after about six months of living that way, the wolf had begun to live again somewhat, putting more purpose into where he was going. He began to eat more, filling out once again, and running at top speed when he had the chance. He worked his way through the mountain ranges, and up and down hills for exercise, until he was back in shape. Or at least better shape than he had been. 

The wolf stopped at his destination. A creek that was not running very fast and would let him get a bit cleaner than he currently was. He stopped, lifting his nose to sniff the air and listening carefully. No one was nearby, not even any animals. He dropped the items he carried on the shore, then stepped down into the creek, wading out a distance until he was mostly under water. Then he did something that he hadn't done in a very long time. He shifted back into his human form. 

The sound of breaking bones shattered the quiet, and a flock of birds took off, filling the air not too far away from them. The man paid no attention to them though. 

Knox stood there in the cool water and stretched slowly, working out his muscles. and the kinks from being shifted into his other form for so long. Then he dunked himself under the water and scrubbed his hands through his long hair and the beard that covered his face. Why did his hair still have to grow when he hadn't been human for so long? Couldn't it have just frozen like the rest of him. He stood back up and rung the water out of his hair, then headed back to shore. 

He stood there for a bit, letting the sun dry him as he stretched some more. He kept his ears open, not wanting to get caught unaware by any predators. Though he was probably the most dangerous thing out there for miles around. He wasn't to be messed with. Not by anyone, or anything. He'd kill without a second thought.