Lianhua awoke to the sound of birds chirping. She was lying on something really soft and it smelled really nice. She was smiling but when she moved to stretch out her muscles she started to feel pain in places she never knew she had, her smile quickly faded.

She was still mulling over what had happened to her body when suddenly something moved behind her. Slowly she turned over to find an extremely muscular back facing her – a back belonging to only one person. Xuelang. At the mention of his name memories of the night before started rolling back.

She had given herself to him and she hadn’t regretted it one bit. A smile lifted the corners of her lips as she reached a hand out to stroke the hard plains of his back. She had expected him to wake up when her hand came in contact with his skin but he didn’t stir. She let out a light chuckle.

She moved her hand from his shoulder to the middle of his spine where she lightly traced her hand up and down the valley. He was absolutely perfect, she thought to herself. How could one man be so well-honed? It was if the gods had all contributed in making a piece of him.

As she moved her hand lower though something caught her eye. There sitting perfectly against his creamy white skin was a big swirling tattoo of a wolf’s head in black ink. She lifted the edge of the sheet, wanting to see how far it went. She was surprised that the wolf’s body covered the entirety of his lower half.

Lightly, she passed her hand over the intricate design and she watched in amazement as the wolf literally came to life. The black markings began moving upwards and came to settle on the wide expanse of skin that covered his back. It was magnificent.

Lianhua had only heard about tattoos like these from travelers who had passed through her village when she was a child. She tried to recall what they had said exactly.

They had said that these tattoos were special and not just anyone could get them. The reason for this was because they weren’t drawn, they were inherited. Only royalty had tattoos like these. Which therefore meant that a royal child was born with the tattoo already on their body. The bigger the tattoo the higher that royal child’s status was.

Lianhua couldn’t believe Xuelang had one. She had always wanted to see one and now that she had it was absolutely amazing. Then, it was as if something clicked in her head.

Only people of royal bloodline could have a tattoo like this, which meant that Xuelang was of royal blood. Lianhua began to bite her lip nervously. As she stared hard at the tattoo she watched as the wolf’s eye winked at her. This caused her to bite her lip harder.

It wasn’t just any tattoo either, it was a wolf tattoo. Wolf, lion and dragon spirits were symbolized with royalty and this tattoo therefore meant that Xuelang was a wolf spirit.

The tattoo was big too, yes it was big indeed just like another part of him. Shaking her head she tried to remove the lecherous thought from her mind and concentrate on what was more important.

Judging from the size of the tattoo it could only mean one thing, Xuelang was either the Emperor of Liuchen or a prince. He couldn’t be the emperor since the man was over five hundred years old, so that definitely made him a prince.

“A prince.” Whispered Lianhua. She quickly threw a hand over her mouth to stop the scream that was rising up. Dread filled her chest as she realized what she had done. She had slept with a prince. She had given herself to a prince of the nation, one that could easily kill her. Bile rose in her throat at the thought. She had to get out of there, and fast.

All pain forgotten she rose from the bed slowly, trying with all her might not wake up the sleeping man beside her. Just then she heard a roll of thunder and a flash of lightning, Xuelang shifted and Lianhua froze mid-rise. She held her breath and when his body relaxed she moved.

As soon as both feet landed on the ground she made for her clothes that were sitting on a nearby chair. She contemplated whether or not she should leave then get dressed or get dressed and then leave. She chose the latter.

It was just as she tied her robe together that she heard the blessed sound of rain. It was now more than ever that she was glad she was a water spirit. Wherever there was a body of water, whether it be sea, river, or rain, water spirits were able to travel through them. They acted as a conduit. That went for all the other spirits as well. Fire spirits could travel through fire, tree spirits could travel through the trees and so on.

Lianhua saw the curtains of the balcony sway in the wind as if beckoning to her. Terror struck her heart as the thought of being caught flooded her mind but she forced it down. Now was not the time. She moved quickly but softly to the balcony and stepped through the curtains. As soon as the rain touched her skin she was out of there.

She mustered up all the power she could to transport her back to the inn. Luckily for her, her room window had been left open so she was able to enter without anyone seeing her.

Hurriedly she packed up her belongings wanting to be as far away from the prince as possible by the time he woke up. Using what little was left of her power she travelled as far as she could south, the opposite direction of the capital.

This was the best time to travel, under the cover of rain. Rain made sure to wash away her scent so Lianhua wasn’t worrying about the Xuelang following her anytime soon. He was a wolf spirit so she needed to make sure he had nothing to follow.

+++++

Xuelang awoke to the sound of lightning and thunder. His languid body felt sated in every possible way. He had had the most wonderful dream. Then as he remembered the events of the night before a smile came upon his lips, it hadn’t been a dream it was all real.

Blindly he turned over, stretching his arm out to feel the warmth of the beauty that was lying next to him. However his arm came in contact with cold sheets instead of a perfectly supple, warm body. His eyes snapped open immediately. Raising up unto his elbows he searched the room for his lover, but found it bare of her presence. Then his eyes moved to the billowing curtains of his balcony. Dread settled in his chest as a blinding thought settled into the crevices of his mind.

He took a few minutes to settle his thoughts. What had Lianhua done? It took Xuelang another two minutes to come to the stark reality that she had ran from him.

He flew out of the bed, not caring for his nakedness and called for his guards. His voice boomed throughout the whole estate.

He didn’t understand what was going on. His chest hurt. They had spent such a wonderful night together, why would she run? He was pacing the floor of his room when he walked pass his bedroom mirror and something caught his eye. There, swirling over his chest and abdomen was his inky black tattoo. Understanding dawned on him, followed by hurt, fear and sadness – all in that order.

She found out he was a prince.

During all of their meetings he had been using his power to suppress his tattoo so that she wouldn’t see it. But when he was asleep he had no control over his powers. She must have woken up before him and saw the tattoo. She was smart, if she put two and two together she would most definitely realize who he was.

But that didn’t explain why she ran. He being a prince gave her no cause for running away from him. All his earlier feelings vanished as rage began pouring through his veins.

How dare she run from him? After what they had shared she belonged to him, in mind, body and soul.

The guards that he had summoned rushed into his room in a gust of clanging armor. They had made haste since they knew the prince was easily angered. After all he was not a very patient man. But what the guards met upon inside the room made them wish they had taken their time instead of rushing. This was all together a new level of anger entirely.

Black smoke was emitting from his entire body as he stood staring out his balcony door. He was silent and when he slowly turned around to face them blood lust was so intense it had them rushing backwards in a heap. The feeling gave a whole other name to killing intent.

If the guards weren’t scared before they sure as hell were now. The smoke was fine, but the look in his eyes was something else.

His once green eyes had turned a solid black, no other color to be seen save for that the golden disk, that was his pupil, that sat in the center of all that darkness.

“Find. Her.” He gritted out through clenched teeth. Xuelang knew the men didn’t know who he was talking about but he just couldn’t get any more words past the tightness in his chest. He was livid.

“Find who my Prince?” asked a brave soldier. He snapped his eyes towards the man and watched and he cowered in fear at his icy gaze.

“FIND HER!” he bellowed. A shock wave released from his body sending all his men tumbling backwards. After they got to their feet they quickly scrambled out of the room.

Xuelang turned around and stepped out onto the balcony. He went up to the railing and braced his hands there. With maddening eyes he stared out over the vast area of land and unto the horizon.

He would find her he promised himself, and when he did she would have hell to pay.