The Crown's Obsession (WN)

Music Recommendation: Through the trees by BPMoore

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Lucy was scared because of the black wolf that looked ferocious and its fur matted with blood. When the wolf's concentration fell on Calhoun, Theodore pulled her to his side so that she wasn't in the wolf's vision anymore.

But not everything went as expected.

When Samuel had suggested killing the wolf instead of having to deal with the feral wolf, Markus had pulled up his bow, which had sharp blades like knives in them and without a moment of hesitation, he dislodged a single blade towards the wolf.

Before the knife could attack the animal, Calhoun caught hold of it, but the wolf didn't take the sight of the weapon too kindly. It bit Calhoun's hand, making him wince, and he glared at Markus.

"What do you think you are doing?" he glowered. Even though Markus was a royal family by blood, he was younger than Calhoun, who was the King's son.

"I was trying to help! It is better to kill the wolf so that it doesn't bite any of us!" claimed Markus, his voice holding an urgency.

"Well congratulations, you were successful in getting the wolf to bite me," glared Calhoun while feeling the fangs of the wolf dig deeper into his hand.

On the other side, Lucy had ended up standing closer to Theodore. Her hand still clutched his hand in fear. "What are we going to do?" she whispered in worry. She could see drops of blood falling on the forest ground from Calhoun's hand as the wolf was stubborn enough not to release his hand..

Samuel noticed the closeness between Lucy and Theodore, and instead of helping Calhoun, he went to where Lucy stood and asked her, "Are you alright, milady?"

Lucy looked slightly shaken, and she nodded her head.

Seeing how Lucy's gaze was fixed on Calhoun, who was trying to calm down the wolf, he pulled out his own weapon, pointing it at the wolf.

But Theodore placed his hand on Samuel's weapon, and he pushed it down, "You are only going to turn the wolf more agitated."

The Duke's son didn't like the fact that a mere bodyguard was trying to educate him on what to do and what not to do. He pulled his weapon back in position and said, "I don't take orders from a servant like you. Lady Lucy, you should come stand-"

"Put the weapon away," ordered Calhoun, who had his back facing them.

Samuel looked slightly confused, "But the wolf has infected you with venom and it is a feral one. Look at the blood on its coat. It has killed people and is going to kill the-"

"If any of you try to hurt the wolf, I will make sure to let the King know you tried to aim your weapons at me," threatened Calhoun, and both Markus, as well as Samuel, dropped their weapons.

Calhoun stared right into the wolf's eyes, his hand still in its mouth, and he could feel its fangs that had sunken into his flesh, but it wasn't painful. The blood that covered its coat wasn't of a human or vampire.

The blood on its fur belonged to its own kind.

"The wolf didn't kill any of our kind or a human, instead the hunters who were here before us must have killed its pack. Take a closer whiff of the air and you will be able to smell it too," stated Calhoun, and he brought his other hand to pat its head before going to scratch its neck. "The wolf is only in attack mode because people killed its pack."

Markus didn't care about the wolf, and instead, he preferred to have all of them dead so that the vampires would be the only ones to kill others and not the other way round.

"You have been infected," commented Markus, and Calhoun finally felt his hand be released. With his eyes still on the wolf, Calhoun replied,

"You must be having a terrible teacher who hasn't taught you the basic difference between a wolf and a werewolf. Let's pack it up here and go back to the castle," he ordered, and Markus, not knowing how to reply back, gingerly bowed his head in response.

Calhoun continued to scratch the wolf. He was used to being in the wolf's company, and he knew exactly what to do to calm it down.

"You will be my favourite pet," he said to it, and Markus' eyes widened.

"A feral wolf? The King would never approve of it!" said Markus.

Calhoun turned around, and a broad smile settled on his lips, "Father loves me dearly. I am sure he can make an exception when it comes to me," he found it rather strange that the wolf had tried to attack him and no one else as if it was waiting to attack him. He then looked at Lucy and said, "You will ride with Theodore. I will get the wolf. We can have the guards come fetch Lucy's horse."

Samuel looked flabbergasted over this idea, and he looked back and forth between Lucy and Calhoun.

"Wouldn't it be better if Lady Lucy rode with me?" asked Samuel.

"You might be of a higher status in person, Samuel, but you aren't engaged to my sister yet. I cannot let a man I do not know very well or trust around her. Theodore is my right hand man and I trust him to take her back. Do you have an objection with it?" Calhoun raised one of his eyebrows at Samuel, and the man shook his head.

"Of course not. I know you would have decided thoughtfully," Samuel bowed his head.

Lucy walked with Theodore towards his horse, and Theodore helped her sit on the horse first before he climbed to sit behind her. Samuel and Markus climbed on their horses while Calhoun caught the wolf and arranged for it to ride with him. The wolf didn't stop growling, and Calhoun bent down to kiss its head.

"Don't be angry, we're going to be friends," said Calhoun to the wolf.

If it was possible, Markus' eyes would have fallen on the ground with Calhoun's actions and words. His mother had arranged for Calhoun to be attacked, but things had not turned into their favour.