The Princess And The Alpha *Excerpt Only*

Starlight

That night I laid awake in my bed, rolling from one side to the other, so frustrated with the whole situation. How could my parents do this to me? They were mates themselves; they knew how important it was to find your mate, that was the only person that could truly make another werewolf happy. And, as much as they were trying to be sweet and sensitive about it, there was nothing that could be done to hide the fact that they had given up on me. Which, in itself, was foolish. The only men that I ever dealt with were the men they allowed in my life, the alphas I was forced to sit beside, the guards that roamed around the grounds, the staff members that were always nearby. There were probably thousands of men whom I had never encountered because it was 'unsafe for a princess to associate with strangers'. And that was just the werewolves, though it wasn't common, there was a chance that my mate could be human.

And what happened if I let them marry me off to some alpha, then, out of nowhere, I encountered my actual mate. There would be hundreds of lawsuits, how much would my ex husband get, how much would my mate get, who got to rule by my side, and what happened to the person who wasn't chosen to be my partner? All these thought whirling around inside my head for hours made me feel distraught. And the worst part was I had no one to talk to. Every single last thought and emotion had to be stored inside, because my parents were too concerned for my safety to let me have friends. Right now, all I really needed was someone to tell me that my feelings were valid, my parents were a little crazy, and eventually everything would be okay.

But all I had now was a pillow covered in my own frustrated tears and a restless mind.

Finally, at one in the morning I had had enough. I sat up in my bed and yanked the blankets off my legs. I stumbled around, looking for a light switch and the second my room was illuminated I grabbed a clean set of riding clothes from my enormous walk in closet and slid into them as soundlessly as I could. If someone found me awake at this hour I would be scolded endlessly, then lectured about the importance of sleep. And I could not handle either of those things right now.

Once I had my riding clothes on I slipped out of my bedroom, careful not to make any noise, tip toing to the front of the palace and blindly finding my riding boots in the dark. After I wrestled them on to my feet I gently opened the front door and slid into the darkness. I had to move quickly around the yard, if I was caught by one of the guards on patrol I would be sent right back to the palace and both of my parents would be waiting to give me a stern talking to. I almost shuddered at the thought of their disapproving eyes and the rants about my safety that would come. They were always so damn worried about my safety, I wondered if they ever worried about my sanity. I certainly did, with all my time alone or with staff I wondered if I would ever be able to talk to a normal person if the opportunity ever arose.

I guess I shouldn't fret so much, if I did have a mate somewhere out there he was bound to be just as weird as me. And if I didn't have a mate or I simply never met him then the alpha I would be stuck with would be more than used to my formalities. Or maybe they would be so thrilled with the power they had walked into that they wouldn't even notice my awkwardness.

I made it into the barn safely and when I glanced around I found that all the grooms had gone home, no one had stayed to do the occasional night watch tonight. I gave out a little sigh of relief and walked to Poison's stall. The stunning gelding stuck his head out of the stall door and whickered at the sight of me, making my heart fill with happiness. At least someone was excited to see me, no matter the hour.

"Hey handsome." I cooed softly, rubbing his cheek with one hand.

Poison lifted his head away from me, turned it towards the riding ring and let out a little snort before he began kicking at the door.

"Hey, hey, shhh." I whispered, pulling his head back down to me, "We can go for a ride, but we don't need guards coming in here to see what's causing all the commotion, okay, silly boy." I scolded, but my voice was too kind to hold any merit. I just slipped a halter on him and led him into the aisle before cross tying him and getting to work.

I soon had the big beast groomed and saddled and led him into the riding arena. I smiled a little when I found the jump still left up. I worked Poison through his gaits to warm him up. I was astonished that he was so responsive at such an early hour and so compliant when his schedule had been thrown off. Then again, my dad had been right when he said I made a lot of progress with Poison.

I had rescued Poison at a livestock auction. When he had been brought into the ring it was clear he had been sedated before had. His pace was slow, his eyes droopy, and the handlers had to practically drag him around the ring. Unfortunately for the seller, he had sedated his horse too much and it had been obvious to the buyers so no one placed a bid other than a slaughter house. Once I saw that this beautiful black horse was going for glue and meat I had to have him.

Then when we brought him home we found out just why he had been sedated so heavily. This horse, though eight years old, was wilder than any horse I had ever seen. He reared, he kicked, he bit. Half of the barn staff refused to even go near his staff and both of my parents begged me to sell him, telling me that we would get another horse. I almost scoffed at their requests. Like I wanted another perfectly trained, well bred horse. Poison had been a challenge. He had pulled me out of my boring routine.

Now, with him warmed up and focus, I walked him over to the large doors on the side of the arena. Poison, like many horses, had a fear of loud noises. But he was beginning to trust me more and more. So I gave the reins a gentle tug and stopped him beside the door that led to the outdoor arena. Then I leaned down slowly and grabbed the handle. With a soft click of my tongue and a little bit of pulling on the reins I got him to back up. Poison's ears flickered as the door gave out a low moan before giving way and opening, but he listened to my command and took a few more steps backward.

"Good boy." I cooed, patting his neck, "What a good handsome boy."

I turned him away from the door, thrilled with the progress and got him back into a steady canter, rocking back and forth with his smooth strides. After a while we went towards the little jump and soared over it. Things were going brilliantly and my frustration from before was giving way to exhaustion now. I encouraged him over the jump once more and got him to slow down into a gentle trot.

I was reaching down to pat his neck when his ears flickered. Then someone shouted, "Princess?"

My head snapped towards the door I had left open and I saw two guards standing there, glaring at me, moving inside the closed arena just before Poison reared up, screaming loudly. And the second he was done on all fours he took off, running right through that open door.

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