Ileus: The Dark Prince

"I have to say one thing—you sure fled your home in a rush without thinking about your safety," he said. 

Olivia shifted on her feet and swallowed down her saliva. She actually felt like a fool but she didn't let that feeling manifest on her face. "I don't carry weapons when I come here," she said as she realized that he was drinking in her features, her clothes and then her dirty feet. 

"You were in such a rush to get out of your home that you didn't even wear your boots or carry a weapon." 

"I was." 

"What a fool you are!" he said and growled dangerously. 

She didn't know for how long they stared at each other, but she felt her gaze locked in his hazel eyes and found herself frozen to the spot, frozen in that position. "Stop standing there and wasting my time," she said. 

"Oh, so you do know how to fight," he replied with a grin exposing that dimple again. 

"Yes!" 

He raised his sword and said, "Then let us fight for your life and for mine." 

"I am so eager to, you can't imagine!" Olivia said with fury rising in her chest. The man was too arrogant and rude. 

He twirled his sword with ease. Then he stared into her eyes and said, "Then show me what you have." 

Without a warning she lunged at him and met his blade midair with a loud clang. "I don't have to prove myself to you, ass!" Suddenly she was tossed away and she found herself on the ground, her gown tangled in her feet. "You!" she yelled. "I am going to kill you now!" She got up and charged at him. She managed to strike the flesh of his left arm and a gash appeared. 

Kaizan spun around quickly, deflecting her next move. He came right behind her and pinned her back against his broad chest. He put the sword on her throat. With his other hand, he drew out a dagger from the sheath in his belt and chopped her long golden hair by almost two inches in one perfect swing. "That should ease your movement, sunshine," he breathed and then threw her hair on top of his tunic. 

Olivia's eyes became wide like saucers. "How dare you?" she said and tried to twist in his arms but he had gripped her so hard that it was impossible to move even an inch. He stroked his hand through her hair as if feeling their silky softness. She could feel his racing hear against her back. She looked up at him and his rigid hard jaw came into view over which a stubble grew. His perfect bow-shaped lips with firm edges and his straight nose came into view. Her lips parted seeing him so close and she wondered how those lips would be pressed against hers. A nest of butterflies raked up in her stomach. 

He was an enemy—every part of her body screamed. She should be away from him. But Olivia—she was frozen. There was deep tension between them. She had never known that being close to a foe as formidable as him, would make her forget to breathe and instead of fleeing physically, it would be her thoughts that would flee. She was blank. 

"Do you want to get married to that man?" he murmured. 

Olivia didn't have an answer to that question. She didn't want to marry him, but could she refuse to marry him? She hated all the men in Silver Vales. They had killed her brother and so many of her people in Whiteclaw. Why couldn't they stop the carnage? What was so difficult about letting a pack be free of their rule? Men and their egos—it marred the bloody history of the Lore. 

"I don't have a choice," she said without realizing that she whispered. His warm breath over her cheeks dizzied her thoughts. 

His lips were so near to her forehead that she dropped the sword to her side in anticipation. "What if I tell you that you can have your freedom if you choose to run away from here?" 

"That's preposterous," she replied. "I can't leave my pack, and I certainly won't go against my father's—" 

Suddenly his lips brushed her forehead and she stilled. Olivia's body trembled against his and he caught her more firmly than before. She wanted to stop him, wanted to stop this foolish thing that was going on, but she couldn't. She closed her eyes. The next she knew was that he placed a kiss on the tip of her nose. She was going down in hell. Her body swayed. If he hadn't held her strongly, she was sure she would fall on the ground. Strange sensations filled her mind making her clench her muscles between her thighs. 

All at once, he left her and let her go. She stifled a cry of protest. He moved away from her. Flustered and shaken, she tried to collect her thoughts, and control her trembling body. She threw his sword on the ground and said, "I need to go, else father will send someone to look for me." She turned and looked at him as she backtracked. 

"What a terrible life you have," he said as if challenging her to leave this place with him and disappear into the world. "No freedom." 

Fury seized her heart, an ancient one because she knew that his words were true. She truly had no freedom, not after her brother died, not after she was born to be the beta's daughter. "Stay quiet. You have no idea what you are saying. You don't know me and I don't know you! And you have no right to make judgment." 

He took a step closer to her as his gaze grew wolflike. His eyes flickered a black as if his beast was clamoring him from the inside and he was practicing control. Her mouth dried. "Pick up the sword and fight me." His chest heaved heavily. "Kill me before you leave tonight!" 

She shook her head as tears stung the back of her eyes. "No, I don't kill meaninglessly. I am not like you.." Her eyes fell on his wound. She—