In a sudden move, the dragon shifter leaned forwards and it was at this point that Neveah's heart exploded with panic,
She did not dare move, she did not dare speak, she did not dare twitch... hell! Neveah didn't even dare breathe!
The Dragon Shifter leaned in closer and closer till his face was pressed against Neveah's hair and then he took a deep, lingering breath.
'Did he just sniff me??!' Neveah exclaimed as she struggled to keep her heart from jumping out of her chest.
"Sssstrrrong Wooollf..." The Dragon shifter drawled in a deep, guttural tone, a hum of approval resounding from deep within his chest.
Neveah had the feeling this dragon shifter did not speak much, his words and actions sounded more beastly than human.
However what astonished Neveah more was the fact that the Dragon shifter had been able to recognize her Alpha wolf from just sniffing her.
This was the height of excellent senses, keen enough to so easily pick out a secret Neveah had so closely guarded for so long.
And this fact only terrified Neveah even more, however Neveah mentally lectured herself to gather her wits.
"I...I... what do you want?" Neveah stuttered out in false bravado as the Dragon Shifter leaned back just a fraction so he was staring right into Neveah's eyes.
Neveah did not truly expect a response from the Dragon Shifter, and so she was not surprised when she was not granted any,
As the very next moment, her ears twitched as she heard the sound of paws thumping against the earth and Neveah knew the Eclipse warriors were close.
The Dragon Shifter clearly had also picked up the sound, perhaps long before Neveah had because his lips stretched into a predatory grin revealing a pair of pristine white but terrifyingly sharp dentition.
His head then snapped up and he spared Neveah one last glance, a complicated look in his gaze, but he didn't linger long enough for Neveah to figure out what it was, dashing away in a flash.
Neveah blinked in surprise, she was not certain as to what to think of this situation and she did not have much time to because the very next moment,
She saw an army of Eclipse wolves lead by what Neveah recognized to be her father's massive gray wolf.
Neveah rose to her feet as her father's towering wolf, 8ft of pure muscles stopped before her and shifted into his human form, storming up to her.
"Are you hurt?" Alpha King Lothaire asked his daughter in a blank tone, Neveah shook her head quickly.
"Return to your quarters and stay there till this is sorted out." Alpha King Lothaire ordered as he walked past Neveah, reverting back into his wolf form in the blink of an eye.
Neveah watched as her father led the warriors, dashing through the forest in pursuit of the intruder.
"But he didn't go that way..." Neveah muttered quietly as she noticed the Eclipse Wolves had gone in a completely different direction from the one the intruder had taken.
And Neveah could not even blame them, although she had seen clearly with her eyes that the intruder had gone East, for some reason, his scent trail lead down South.
"Oh well, it's no business of mine." Neveah reminded herself as she made to head back to her room,
Neveah trudged through the forest at a slow pace, sighing at the weight and inconveniences of the ball gown she was still wearing,
Neveah felt extremely drained, it had been far too long since she had let herself shed tears over the matter of Prince Alessio and his mother.
Neveah thought that after so many years of being on the receiving end of all sorts of abuse physically, emotionally and otherwise from the mother and son pair,
She would have grown a thick skin to the hurtful words and shameful accusations they always threw her way,
But Neveah guessed she was not as tough as she thought she was, it had been seventeen years and she still let herself get affected by their words and actions,
Neveah sighed again as she realized how deep she had walked into the forest, it would take forever to walk the distance to her room,
And as much as she would have loved to rip off her dress, she didn't want to give Prince Alessio any more proof with which to label her a slut.
Neveah was drawn out of her thoughts by a loud piercing scream that echoed across the forest.
Neveah froze in her step, her sensitive ears twitching, immediately identifying the direction the scream had come from and the likely source of the scream.
Whatever that sound was, Neveah knew it was clearly the scream of a young pup in danger and the sound had come from the direction the dragon shifter had taken which was the direct opposite from where the Eclipse warriors had gone.
"Not my business." Neveah reminded herself, as she made to continue on her way and ignore the scream, but then there it was again.
The piercing scream came a second time, this time louder and if there was one thing Neveah could sense in that scream, then it was fear...no, fear was an understatement, this was terror.
Raw, unadulterated terror and all Neveah could think of was the fact that whoever that pup was, he was in grave danger.
And presently, Neveah knew within her heart that she was the only one who could do something about it,
Neveah could hear the sound of thumping paws, the Eclipse warriors had heard the screams and were doubling back, but they were still too far away... much too far away to be able to do anything.
Neveah could very well turn a blind eye to the whole Eclipse Domain crumbling...but a child? Neveah did not want to be such a person.
"They won't make it in time..." Neveah murmured in annoyance as she leaned down and ripped her dress to free her legs before she dashed off in the direction the screams had come from.