My eyes ripped open and I sat up on a couch. Looking around I could see only one other person in the room and he sat in the corner of the room, eyes closed and sleeping, right next to the door. 

I quickly realized my wrist had already been wrapped and sealed with a bandage. My stomach, where I was shot at, was fully untouched with no scratches or scars. 

Shaw. Where was he. 

I stood up and ran to the door. Just as I ripped it open, the man, who I thought was sleeping, wrapped his arms around my waist, throwing me back. 

"Let me out of here!" I shouted. I ran forward again ready for the fight. I threw the first punch causing his face to turn to the side. That seemed to make him furious and he stepped forward, throwing punches I could barely keep up with. 

Trying to run around him was hopeless. This man was a vampire and had just as fast of speed. I couldn't out-punch him because I was half his size. This was a pointless battle but I needed to make sure Shaw was ok. 

I screamed as the man picked me up and held me from running. It felt like the room was getting smaller, like I couldn't breathe. 

"Alright, Walter, that's enough." A small group of people walked into the room, including their alpha, my father, and Jackson. 

I was dropped to the ground in a heap and glared up at the man. The group stood a distance away but watched me closely. 

"How are you feeling, miss Charlotte." Alpha Zander asked, crouching down to my level. 

"Where is Shaw?" I growled out. 

"He's fine." Jackson spit out at me. 

I stood up and ran at him, ready to drop him to the ground. Zander stepped in my way, wrapping an arm around my stomach. 

"Charlotte, you've gone through a lot this past week. Valencia's beat you. Your wrist was broke. You were shot with a compression bullet. All during this, you never fed or received any blood. So if you're willing to talk, we can provide you with fresh blood and your own room to rest in."

"I'm not doing anything until you let me see Shaw!" I screamed, stepping backwards away from him. 

I could see my father step back away from me. Was he scared? Was I not what he wanted for a daughter?

"Sorry I'm not the kind of daughter you'd want!" I shouted towards him, matching his step closer.

"Charlotte, I need you to calm down. I can't have you disrupting all my people here. If you would stop yelling, I can allow you to see him." 

I crossed my arms across my chest and leaned back, looking up at him. 

"Now tell me, how do you feel?"

"I feel like my damn family betrayed me and is trying to kill me, that's how I feel!" I growled up to him. 

"Why is that? Would you tell me exactly what happened in my forest?" 

"I was cooling down from all the shit you guys have been throwing at me. Olivia came and talked and comforted me. Then this ass hole came and was all like 'you should go back and date Thomas again so his mind is changed about wolves'. Then Shaw found me, I tried to go to him but once again that ass hole attacked him for no reason. When I pulled away to help, my wrist broke from Olivia holding on. When I was giving Shaw a hug, he pulled out a gun and shot it at us and almost hit me. Shaw pulled me out of the way and then threatened Olivia with the bullet since he was so stupid to not understand what kind of bullet that was. Then wolves surrounded us, Shaw was on the ground, and I was shot, which by the way, that fucking hurt!" 

Zander turned and faced Jackson. 

"Why did you have V1 bullets, Jackson. You are not a warrior nor have any clearance at all to have those."

"I didn't know. I thought they were just compression bullets." 

"We will discuss that later." Zander spoke sternly. 

"I told you what you wanted, now let me see Shaw! What have you done with him?" 

Zander turned and began walking to the door. When he reached it, he nodded his head and I ran behind him, following eagerly. We walked through a long hallway that led to a steel door. A wolf quickly unlocked it for us and I ran inside. 

Shaw sat, leaning against his knees and his head in his hands. 

"Shaw" I whispered. He looked up as I ran to him. His arms wrapped around me, securing me against him safely. In a rush of emotions, I could feel myself start to cry. I didn't release him or my arms around him. He pressed his hand against my head, keeping me just as close. 

"I thought they killed you." Shaw whispered. 

"I'm sorry, Shaw. I'm so sorry." I cried. "This is all my fault you're here."

He pulled me back to look at him. 

"Never think any of this is your fault. I chose to come here and find you. I had to make sure you were safe." 

"What if they kill you though? Where are your guards?" I whispered.

"He will not be harmed at this point." Zander interrupted us. 

I looked over to Zander and stepped closer to Shaw.

"Just let her go, you can do whatever you want to me." Shaw spoke, wrapping his arms around me again.

"Let her go? Do you think we are holding her here against her will?" Zander paused and sat down on a bench along the wall. "She was rescued by us. Valencia was about to kill her on the spot. We saved her, brought her here, her home."

"This is not her home."

"Home is where family is, is it not? Her father, brother and sister all live here. Therefore, yeah this is probably her home. Nonetheless, sure, we won't allow her to leave because she has refused to feed once. Her injuries when we found with Valencia were bad enough that we had no other choice but to sedate her. Now you've caused her wrist to break and the need to be sedated again just to bring her back here."

"I came to make sure she was alive. Never did I want anyone to get hurt. Maybe you should train your people how to shoot a gun properly!" Shaw snarled, stepping closer to Zander. I could feel him start to shake slowly. He was breathing heavy and getting worked up.

"Please, I'm sorry! Just let him go, I'll go back and change Thomas' mind about wolves. I'll do whatever you want, just let him go." I pleaded.

Zander shook his head and looked down at his hands. 

"At any minute, we are able to shift into a wolf. A creature that could kill so many lives and not think twice about it. Yet, royals, you lot are a different type of creature. Your blood is sacred. You are stronger, faster, and can even hear better. To kill one of you is a wolves dream…"

I shifted back against Shaw. Zander was an odd alpha. He seemed to want to change the way we looked at each other but at the same time, listening to him talk right now had me on edge. It was an easy guess to say he'd never had a King in his possession. 

"I want to change this. I don't want our first thought to be death. I want to live in harmony, to not have to go to a funeral every month." 

He looked back up to us. 

"I can see you two care for each other. I'm not sure how it happened but you guys seem to be made for each other. Never in my history has a royal fallen for a wolf."

"That's because it's forbidden." 

All of us looked at the door to see my father standing there. He leaned against the frame, arms crossed and observing us.

"What did you say?" Zander asked.

"Royals are forbidden from marrying a wolf. It's the same as a royal marrying another royal. They did it once before. Years and years ago, Pierce and Wallis families fell in love and had a child. This child was a genetic godsend. It was the strongest, fastest thing on earth. But when the other royals realized they had just created the most powerful on earth, jealousy took over. They feared one house would rule all of them. That was the biggest massacre in our history. Ronan didn't even come close to how many died. Innocent people and children were killed, the whole house destroyed." 

I could feel my heart dropping. Shaw was a wolf. I was a royal. We were forbidden to be together. 

"This is why Pierce agreed to take me in after mom died. He knew that Thomas and I were both royals and…" I stopped, thinking about it. "He would have forced me to have kids for that reason." 

Shaw gently placed his hand on my back, massaging my lower back in circles. 

"That's right. It was a power move to end our war." Dad spoke. "But unfortunately, had he succeeded and made you have a kid, all his problems would be over because you would have died in labor. Females can't handle a child from two royal bloodlines, much less one."

"I don't feel so good." I whispered. My vision was straining and black dots were everywhere. I felt like I was going to throw up.

"Charlie, drink. You're low on blood." Shaw turned me to face him. "You have my permission. Go on," he held up his wrist to me. I shook my head slowly. 

"You're a wolf. You're not going to instantly heal like us..." I whispered. 

"Jesus, Charlotte! Just drink!" He shoved his arm into my face. 

My instincts took over and I grasped his arm closely. He turned me around, his chest pressed against my back. My teeth pierced his skin in seconds and blood flowed freely. My body relaxed and tensed at the same time. I'd never tasted anything like it. Sweet like candy but savory like a steak; I couldn't get enough. Was this what all wolf blood tasted like? 

After a few minutes had passed, I felt dizzy and lightheaded. What was happening to me? I pulled my mouth away, letting his blood roll down my skin. My legs grew weak and I began to collapse in his arms. His free arm held me close and slowly lowered us to sitting. 

"Is she alright?" Zander stood up, stepping closer. 

"Relax, Zan. It's a royal thing. Wolves blood has a… soothing effect more or less, similar to vampires. Shaw, would you mind?" Dad nodded his head towards the door to follow him. 

Shaw picked me up with ease but I could see the hesitation on his face from the pain I caused him. He carried me out of the room behind dad. Zander followed close behind us. 

"What's happening to me?" I whispered. The room swayed slightly and I felt like it was 100 degrees. 

"Relax, take deep breaths." He gently smiled down. 

Dad led us to a different building and escorted us to a room at the end of the hall. With the click of a key, the door opened, revealing a beautiful bedroom. A king bed sat against the wall with a small living space along the entrance way. 

"This is Charlotte's room we made. We will come back around dinner time." Zander didn't bother to interrupt. He was well aware we wouldn't be attempting to run. 

Shaw gently laid me down on the bed and crawled in next to me. I rolled over to face him as his arm wrapped around my waist. 

"Am I dying?" I whispered.

"No, sweetheart, you drank wolf blood. Anytime you drink wolf blood, it has this strong effect that calms you, similar to when we can calm you by touch. It's kind of like a defensive mechanism for wolves against vampires." He laughed. 

I ran my hands along his chest pushing myself closer. 

"That is also another side effect. I'm not going to take advantage of you, Charlie."

"But you're not." I whispered. I leaned up, slowly resting my lips against his. He didn't try to push me away as I moved closer. His hands pressed tightly against my back before he ended the kiss. 

"Charlotte…" he groaned out. 

"What," I smirked, gently kissing his jaw and dropping down his neck to his collar. 

"This is supposed to be forbidden…" he groaned out, his hands still pressed tightly against my back. 

"You want to… Follow the rules now?" I whispered in between kisses along his collar. 

"Oh fuck it!" His arms grabbed my waist and pulled me on top of him. 

I couldn't help but laugh out loud, watching him pull off his shirt in a haste. Button by button, he undid my flannel shirt. As soon as it was off, he groaned out and dropped his hands to his side seeing a tank top underneath. 

"So many clothes!" He groaned.  

After pulling my own tank top off, my fingers slowly trailed along his belt. I couldn't help but hesitate. The blood effect was definitely wearing off along with my bravery. 

"What's the matter?" He paused. 

Slowly, I rolled off of him and onto my back. He leaned over and looked at me. 

"It wore off didn't it." 

I nodded. 

"Seriously this just sucks. Why am I so nervous?" I reached up and covered my face with my hands. 

"Stop, Charlie, if you're not ready, that's fine--" 

"No it's not that. I just… I'm just nervous." I whispered. 

His hand reached down and gently pushed my hair behind my ear. 

"Do you want more liquid courage?" He smiled. I turned and looked at him next to me. I quickly rolled back on top of him. "Go ahead. Do your worst!" He smirked. I grabbed his jaw and turned his head to the side, leaning down and biting down. His body tensed and I could hear him exhale. 

"That's a bit deep there…" he growled, warning me. 

I continued to drink, feeling the buzz instantly kick in. Shaw placed his hands on my waist, flipping us over. I licked my lips getting every last drop. 

"My turn," he whispered, lowering his head down to my neck. I could feel the slow press of his lips against my neck. I couldn't help but laugh as he imitated me 

"Davis!" I groaned. He was gentle and delicate, unlike previous men. 

"Ready?" He whispered. 

I slowly nodded.