The princess could transform her physical form almost instantly even when stressed by combat like this. If I didn't have such a tight grip, she could easily shift into a form more suitable for fighting me. So she must have planned to shake me off by crashing us both into the ground or crushing me to death. Panic and fear started spiking in my gut as she dragged us down with insane force.

I would only have seconds to act before crashing so I once again shut out all logic and rational thought, letting instinct take over. I took a tense deep breath and waited for the right moment. Not yet...almost...almost...Now! I shifted into a human and used my arms to maneuver myself on top of the princess right before impact.

Even still, the impact was the most jarring hit I'd felt in my life. It was like being in a plane crash without a seatbelt. The force tore me away from the princess' body with some of her feathers still clutched in my fists and sent me rolling through the dirt and over large tree roots. The forest floor here was already dead and cold from the Lycans' territory expansion, so it was hard and rough to the core. My skin had taken a beating, but instinct pulled me up onto hind legs regardless of the damage.

In front of me, the princess was still in the form of an enormous falcon collapsed on one side. The trees surrounding her had toppled away from the crash and allowed moonlight to stream in a circle over her. I could tell immediately that my maneuver had put most of the fall damage onto her. Yet she still began to pull herself up again.

Her next shift was instant, into a slender werewolf with luxurious white hair and highly defined curves. Her left arm looked like it was dislocated, and the powerful glow that normally came from her form was faded. I realized this was the first time seeing a royal Lycan's true form, and it was something to behold. But this was still a fight.

It took me a couple seconds to rise to my full combat form. It felt familiar as I recognized the constant flow of adrenaline through my body. Except now fire casually rose from my newly reddened fur all the way down my arms and legs. I could feel the heat flowing down and dethawing the earth where I stood almost as if reviving it from slumber.

Princess Elisiana spoke in a singular refined voice, "You have made the greatest mistake of your existence, Alpha." The mist surrounding her body began to receded into her right hand and I watched as it solidified into a luminous white rope looped at the end like a lasso. "Your class has remained in faithful service for thousands of years, yet you have chosen to end that peaceful balance. What a shame it will be to have to strip your kind of their free will now that you have set such a poor example."

She said it with such genuine disappointment that I nearly doubled over in bewilderment. How could she call any of this a peaceful balance? How could she blame me for all of this? How could she decide so casually to punish everyone just because I fought back? All I could say in return was, "I have made one mistake Elisiana. I should have stood my ground to fight the demons I knew rather than turn to the ones I didn't for help. I will not let you and your plan take more lives from my pack than we've already lost. Even if it means burning right through all of you."

Gravity seemed to sink back into full effect once the words left my mouth and take on weight. That was an outright threat, and I had no doubt how the royal family would respond to it. The princess turned her head away for a moment and closed her eyes. When she turned back to look at me, they weren't the same. The neon green eyes were replaced by deep dark jade irises, and the voice that came from her next was a combination of her entire family speaking at once, "So be it!"

She blinked and they flashed back to her normal eyes now filled with hatred and fury. Her current injured arm and the fight up until that moment, however, made it clear to me that even though she was more powerful, did not mean she was unbeatable. Lycans were born to rule, but Alphas were born to fight!

I'm honestly really happy to see how many people have already returned to keep going with this story. You guys mean the world to me! <3