BLOOD, BONES AND HONEY

" Pa, to me, why do I have to do this again?" I muttered and cursed under gritted teeth as I dressed, ready for the d*mn royal training showoff. I hated it. Why the hell would they ask me, the IRON wolf, to train with d*mn Prince Malakor Vane?

"Let the boy shine today, Garrick," Uncle Maurice Thorne spoke up. " Athel is one of the headhunters and the Iron Wolf of the Thorne Family.

" Tsk," My Pa snickered and walked over and placed a hand on my shoulders." The house of Vane has ruled for far too long. You need to show them who you are. You were born a Thorne, and your mother's skills are what keep you going"

" Why would you bring up my mother now?" I snapped, and Uncle Maurice walked over and pulled my dad aside.

" Garrick, you need to stop taunting him like this. He needs to be focused for this day. We need to be prepared, as King Alaric Vane will for sure be ready to see us fall, and I will hate that look on his face. He might look like he is content with us, but he will always suppress us. We need to show him who we are and not lazy Vanes who just sit on the throne"

Athelgard was the home of shifter wolves. We have different packs, but the ones that ruled were the House of Vane: the royalty and the king. And we were the house of Thorne, the guards and the vampire and beast hunters.

" I dont have time for this," I snapped and attempted to walk out of the room when the door opened and my second in command, Kaden, and the pack enforcer Jax walked in. I knew that they were here to ensure that Pa did not suppress me with the thoughts of taking over the Athelgard.

" Greetings, Lord Thorne." They both bowed at Pa and Uncle Maurice.

" I am ready," I hurriedly spoke up and moved to the door as they both let me pass, and we left the room, our steps hurried without looking back.

We moved through the corridors and finally went to the stables when I let out a breath and cursed out loud as I listened to Jax and Kaden burst out in laughter.

" What was it this time? " Kaden was the first one to ask.

" I bet they told him he must win in the royal training today, " Jax added.

" D*mn it." I rubbed my face in frustration and gritted my teeth. I had no choice but to attend lest the rest of the Thorne Shifter pack be labelled as cowards.

" Come on, let us get ready to move out. " Kaden placed a hand on my shoulder.

" Get over and done with it. " I nodded.

We left the stables and headed for the royal training grounds as the soldiers and guards under the Thorne guards and military followed us.

An hour later, we had reached the training ground that was filled to the brim with the council members, royal guards, royal members, and finally members of the house of Thorne. I heard Kadens' intake of breath and knew that his royal highness Prince Malakor Vane had arrived earlier than we did.

Ten minutes later, his majesty King Alaric Vane walked in as we all stood up and bowed to him.

" Greetings, your majesty, " The voices boomed across the training grounds.

" Settled down, and let's get on with this." He raised his hand and then sat down with a bored look, and I watched his eyes land on Prince Malakor, and his brows furrowed. That was what I called a warning sign. I had seen one too many times from Pa when he warned me never to lose.

I walked into the centre of the training ground and stood in waiting as Prince Malakor did the same. He looked bored and irritated at the same time.

" So, we are finally here," He muttered.

" I thought you would love this attention, your highness," I snickered.

" Your tongue is as sharp as ever, " He chuckled and then unsheathed his sword and stood in waiting.

Prince Malakor's looks were as sharp as ever. He possessed a devastatingly handsome face of sharp, aristocratic angles and piercing eyes, with a blend of effortless authority and dangerous charm. He was stunning, and everyone in the kingdom swooned at a glance, but I was not fooled at all.

I took out my spear, forged from the irons of the mountains and the blood of the Thorne wolves, and stood in waiting for attack. He was the first to move, and we started off as the yelling in the training ground got so loud and deafening.

Malakor was a force to reckon with as he moved with ease, his attacks well structured, and I countered each one of them. He was not out of breath at all, and we sparred for almost twenty minutes without either of us breaking sweat. His brows furrowed, and he had a look of Let's end this and changed tactics, then moved with speed and attacked me with a force that I never expected. I was caught unawares, defending myself, and ended up landing on my *ss in shock, and it was in that moment that my wolf rose and my senses heightened.

He smelled of dark, crushed pomegranate and deep, velvety sweetness, all anchored by a rich, animalistic base of warm sandalwood that radiated from his body. I went into shock as there was no way that the scent coming from him was from his Wolf. The combined scents rose from more than a wolf, and I had scented this from succubus beasts and vampires.

My eyes widened in shock, and I watched as Malakor's eyes matched mine, and then he stepped back and composed himself as his face was masked with amusement.

" How long are you going to lie on the ground, Iron Wolf?" He smirked.

The whole royal ground burst into laughter while his majesty King Alaric stood up and boomed, "It seems the house of Thorne still has a long way to go. Let us have a celebratory feast later on"

I watched as Malakor extended his hand to me for me to stand up, but I ignored it and stood up on my own and pushed my wolf out to scent him, and Malakor's defences were up again, and the scent that had whiffed earlier was gone.

" What the hell are you?" I whispered and stared at the Crown Prince of Athelgard in shock with the realization that the man was not a pure-blood wolf and I had just made a shocking discovery. 

Malakor's pov

I had been living a d*mn d*mn lie all my life and one that I had learnt to hold on to for so many years and perfected so that no one could ever discover the kind of monster that I was.

I had no choice, and my mentor Elian Soce had ensured that the mask and herbs would never be discovered as I dressed myself ready for the royal training session that my father, King Alaric Vane, had arranged to humiliate the Thorne Family. It was a show of might when my father arranged for it and ensured that I was fighting the favourite son of Athelgard, the Iron Wolf, Athel Thorne.

Kaelan, my second in command, arrived and he was accompanied by Remy Groot, who was a half-vampire, and Vesper Groll, the succubus, who were always by my side.

Elian chuckled when he saw them " He will be fine, you all dont have to hover all him"

The four of them knew my secret. I was born with three shifter beast, A vampire, a wolf and succubus. If Athelgard discovered of my ex