Chapter 19: The stranger.

"What? An alpha?" Severo's heart is beating so loud that it almost drowned out his voice. "How? Fanney, what are you talking about? The guards are still outside and how could someone break inside like that?"

"I don't know anything— I was about to go to sleep when she showed up at my door and threatened to kill me if I didn't show her Micha's chamber!" The woman cries, tears streaming down her cheeks in a never-ending stream. "I'm so sorry! I didn't have any other way. Please save Micah."

If Severo hadn't seen her snooping down to the hall like a ghost, would she just go back without making a noise and give Micah away to an Alpha just like that? Was Fanney that cruel? She knows Micha is in trouble yet she keeps her lips sealed. Thinking she is safe even though Micah isn't? How selfish is that?

Without a word to the traitor spilling tears in front of him, the prince rushes to Micah's chamber. He has so many questions. So many words to yell at the maid's face for being so selfish yet he swallows it all down. The only thought that he has in mind now is Micah. He needs to save her.

Several unpleasant scenarios play inside the prince's head in a horror flick.

He doesn't even feel his legs as he rushes through the big walls of marble. Severo's heart drops into the pit of his stomach when he hears her scream. Even though he is still a good distance away from her chamber, It pierces through his heart and pains him in an unknown way.

Severo cuts through the air in a quick move and bangs at the door of her chamber, "Micah! Open the damn door!"

A strangled cry pricks through the door as an answer. Something inside him snaps, the beast lurks deep beneath his skin ready to jump out. Severo slams at the door with his shoulder and it flies open, making him spurt forward.

He feels the claws pushing out of the skin of his nails as his eyes fall onto the woman hovering over Micah. Severo's jaw clenches at the fear flickering in her blue orbs as she stares at him with wide eyes.

A faint sound of his name reaches the prince's ears as he rushes forward and snatches the Alpha away from Micah, "Who the fuck are you?!" He asks through his clenched teeth.

The woman laughs at his face, her fingers fastening around his hand clutching the collar of her shirt. "Easy there, boy. I'm here to take what is mine. Once I get that, I'll be out of your hair."

"What does that mean?" Severo growls, "What are you doing in this hour of the night at my mate's chamber?"

"Your mate?" Her eyes darken as a dreadful chuckle sneaks through her lips, "She's mine! And I'm here to take her!"

Severo sees red. What he is afraid he will be is what he just turns into. A beast. His claws cut through the skin of her shoulder as he tackles her down. "Don't you dare!" The growl Severo lets out shook the whole chamber.

And an unmistakable fear flickers through her eyes as she takes all the alpha power she had in her to push him away. But only if that is anything compared to Severo's own.

"Severo! No! Please don't kill her…" Micah's horror-filled voice stops him from digging his claws into the stranger's neck.

Severo's eyes cut into Micah's, she is crying. Teardrops drip down her chin as she stares at him with a silent plea in her orbs. But that only stops him for a moment, his claws itch to fetch a drop of blood.

"She loves me, you prick!" The stranger under Severo barks out a laugh at him, "And despise you very much!"

The prince's hands tighten around her neck and she gasps for air, thrashing her body. He feels a hand grip his bicep, and soon Micah's shaky voice follows, "Please, Severo. Don't do it!"

He doesn't know how she manages to push him away from that alpha, but all he feels is the wild beat of his heart as she wraps her arms around his neck, hugging him close, her lips brushing on his pulse as she says, "Please, please calm down. Don't kill her! Imprison her or do whatever but please don't take her life…"

"No, Micah, you don't get to live happily ever after with him after prisoning me! You are mine! And I won't let him have what I can't have." The woman rises to her feet, muttering something under her breath as she puts up her palm in the air. And soon enough a blaze of light arises up her palm.

Is that magic?

The bright light deliberately dims. Once it has entirely disappeared, a sword surges into the air. With a vicious smile gracing her lips, she takes it in her hands.

The stranger hovers down at the two of them, pointing the sword down to the carpet, the material tearing apart under the sharpness of it.

"Ready to fight?"