Her Unwanted Mate On The Throne
Chapter 45

Chapter 45 They were heard nearby

Prince William stayed silent for hours, Doris didn't bother to try and start another conversation. Shewas starting to get used to his mood swings and she didn't want to feed into another one thatmight blow up into something more. He kept glancing out the small window every ten minutes tomake sure all was in order, but something uneasy settled in Doris. It was too quiet. The air felt thickand normally she would be glad of the silence-but for some reason it only felt off. Doris wondered ifWilliam had felt it too. He hadn't tried to sleep once, instead he seemed more alert than ever. Shecouldn't help but worry that he was running on little to no sleep for almost two days. How muchlonger could he last before exhaustion took him over? “William-* Doris said hesitantly. He droppedthe curtain and turned to face her. His eyes were a little red and his hair was an absolute mess in theway that she found looked handsome on him. She shook those thoughts away and cleared herthroat.” Perhaps it might be a good idea—" The carriage came to a sudden halt that slid Doris out ofher seat and right into his waiting arms. They both stilled as they strained to listen for any voices ormovement, he silently seated her beside him and opened the curtain an inch to peer outside. Doristried to calm her breath, afraid to make even the smallest sounds incase a rogue was nearby to hearit. A loud thud hit the side of the carriage and shook

the inside. William opened the curtain wider to see a crazed man hanging off the side of thecarriage, Doris gasped. Was this a rogue? He bared his teeth at William and let his bloodied fingersstain everything he touched. “I can smell you in there, prince. Come out to play.” The guards werequick to pull him off, she flinched when she heard one of them shriek. William forced the door openand closed it quickly behind him so she couldn't follow. Doris quickly scooted over to open thecurtain and see what was happening. The man stood in rags outside the carriage with his handscoated in blood up to his elbows. Everything about him blended in with the snow, if she hadn't seenthe blood, she might have missed him entirely. He had long, white hair and eyes almost as light asthe ground beneath him. When he smiled, she saw his sharp teeth poke out of his gums as if hewere about to rip apart everyone around him. William stood in front of the carriage door as if hewas guarding it, though she knew it only looked that way from where she was seated. “You know Icould smell your royal blood for miles, prince.” The man taunted and licked his teeth. The guardssurrounded him as if he was in the center of a circle. “All alone out here, I see. Where's your pack?”William lifted his chin. He refused to let his gaze leave the deranged man for even a second. A trailof blood dripped from the man though he didnt look injured. Doris's eyes followed it to see it ledto a guard by the carriage-his head laid several feet away from his body. She covered her mouthand closed the curtain a little more so the man wouldn't see her. His eyes seemed to replace heranyway. A smirk fell

across his face when he saw the curtain move.” They're near enough, don't you worry.” He took astep closer with his eyes still fixed on the carriage. He inhaled deeply, “Who's that in there? Do Ismell a girl?” William took a step forward, she couldn't see his face but his voice sounded deadlywhen he spoke

“Take one more step and I'll rip your eyes from your skull before I shatter your nose for evenseeking her out.” “I seem to have hit a nerve.” The man grinned. “She must be something—"

Doris blinked and Prince William was on him. He grabbed him by the throat just as the man raisedhis claws to strike him. William's shirt came away at the top, she saw his blood drip in the snow fromwhere he must have been scratched. Doris quickly closed the curtain when she saw William start torip out the man's throat. His screams died instantly and she didn’t think she would ever forget thehorrible sound.

Doris sat with her knees to her chest in the corner of the carriage. She wasn't sure how manyminutes had passed until William had finally come back inside. The blood was cleaned from hishands and his coat covered any trace of a scar, but she knew there must have been one. He didn'tlook at her once as the carriage started to move again. Only when they stopped a few hours laterdid he finally say something. “We're going to stop to rest for the night. There's a creak near theedge of camp if you need to clean up, but don't stray too far.” He spoke with his eyes out thewindow as if he were already far from the carriage. Once he was done, he stepped out withoutanother word and didn’t bother to look back to see

if she would follow. The moon was bright in the sky above her, she held the cloak tighter around heras she gazed at the stars and stepped out of the carriage carefully. If her fear wasn't trying tocontrol her thoughts, she would have appreciated how beautiful the night was. Doris sighed andturned back to the clearing. Several tents had already been set up between the trees, there were somany she doubted it was possible for anyone to see their camp when it was this dark. They didn'teven dare to light a fire despite how freezing it was. It would be worse to wake up in a blood bathbecause a rogue pack had found them rather than simply suffer through the cold. Erik was the onlyguard she knew the name of, he busied himself with setting up a few chairs for other guards to rest."Excuse me.” She spoke quietly as she crunched her boots in the snow to reach him. He turned andoffered a tired smile. “Do you know where I am supposed to sleep for the night?” "Oh-" He glancedover his shoulder to the larger tent behind them. Clearly that one was meant for the prince. “Williamrequested you stay with him.” Doris felt her cheeks immediately redden, she took a small step back.“Surely he was mistaken.” “No, I wasn't." His deep voice interrupted. He stood with the flap of histent wide opened and half of his shirt already unbuttoned as if he'd been in the middle of changing.His hair was a mess and a bit of dark scruff appeared on his jaw from not shaving. Her eyes lingeredon the red mark across his chest before she quickly looked away, “You'll be staying with me.” “l—areyou sure? I don't mind staying out here.”

Doris glanced at Erik but he was already gone. Prince William blew out a breath of frustration. “Ineed you to be in here tonight. I might need... tea or something. Just get in here.” He snapped, shecould tell it was hard for him to keep his voice low. Doris reluctantly followed him inside. There wasa makeshift bed on the floor and clothes scattered in the corner with bloodied rags but not muchelse besides a plate of food. She turned to replace him completely shirtless and picking at the mark onhis chest. Doris quickly stepped forward to grab his hand.” Don't do that, you'll make it worse.” Shesaid with a blush. She hoped he would think it was due to the freezing weather. She picked throughthe pile of clothes and managed to replace something that looked like a rag to clean his wound withwater. He stilled as she neared him, his eyes watched her silently but he didn't say a word as shecarefully cleaned away the blood and dirt. It was closed for the most part, she assumed that wasthanks to the wolf inside him but if he kept picking at it-it would open as new. “There.” Doris saidsoftly as she looked over the scratch and tried not to let her gaze lower to take in the rest of him. “Itshouldn't bleed again if you leave it.” His blue eyes were calm when she looked up at him. Therewas no storm or anger beneath the sea in his eyes. Just a steady ocean. “Thank you.” He said, for asecond she swore she imagined it. He moved to put on a thick sweater before he laid in the bed.Doris dropped the rag in the pile and nervously slid her cloak off. “Do you need me to get youanything?” “No.” He grumbled with his eyes already closed.”

Lay down.” Doris looked around for an area for her to lay that wouldn't be too close to him. Hishand shot out and gripped her wrist to pull her onto the blankets next to him. “Oh-" “Shh.” Hedemanded. Doris laid still with her eyes wide opened. Why did he want her in here if he didn’t needanything? Her bones struggled to relax for eternity until she heard the soft sounds of his breathagainst her ear. Her body wanted to curl up against his warmth and fight the cold chill but sheforced herself to make do with the blankets around them. She didn't realize she had fallen asleepuntil William had roughly shook her awake the next morning. “Get up, quickly. My guards havespotted someone nearby.”

Her Unwanted Mate On The Thr