Chapter 1

My sister stole my fiancé. She’s about to become the Lama of our pack and gloats over me. But everyone thinks I deserve it.

My father is the Beta of the Riverwood pack. Samuel was my childhood sweetheart, my fiancé, and the future Alpha of the Pack. There has always been a tradition of marriage between the Alpha and Beta families. When our Alpha asked Samuel who he wanted as his Luna, he firmly chose me.

That night three years ago changed everything.

years ago, a mysterious man took my virginity, and then he disappeared, leaving behind nothing but a blank check. When I woke up in the hotel that morning, naked, my family had somehow already found me. They stood around my bedside, glaring at me. “Harper, you shameless whore!” Mom picked up that blank check and threw it in my face. “How dare you sell your innocence for money? How could you do this to your family, your pack?!”

“To Samuel,” my sister Leah said snidely. “Do you even remember your engagement?”

My mind was a mess. I hadn’t been trying to hook up with any guys. I just came to find Leah. After Samuel chose me to be his intended, Leah would run away from home now and then. I didn’t rush to find her, Mom would blame me for everything. “Please hear me out,” I said, desperate. “Do you really think I would betray Samuel for money?”

Who says you wouldn’t?” Leah said coldly. “Mom and I found these in your room when we went looking for you last night. You conniving little thief, you want more money”

She handed over her cell phone and the pictures were full of Leah’s things, designer bags, extravagant watches, and gems. They were lying all over the floor of my room.

“I didn’t do it,” I said breathlessly. “I’m marrying Samuel. I would never do something stupid like that for money. I think I’m in heat. I don’t know why.”

Leah was my biological sister. I don’t understand it, but I was the unappreciated one in the family. She had things that I never did. I could only look at her lavish and magnificent possessions from a distance; they never belonged to me. Samuel was the only person who always stood behind me…

Leah curled her upper lip in disgust. “Anything to get out of accepting responsibility for your own actions” Suddenly, a jolt went through my thoughts, and everything connected. I realized I knew who was behind all this.

“You know full well I was only going out to find you!” I countered Leah. “You know this place isn’t under any pack jurisdiction, so it’s a mess, I went to the club to get you. I held your drink, and hell knows what I drank…”

Leah covered her face and started making audible sobs. “Are you implying that I drugged you? I fell out of love, so I wanted to find a new place to stay. I don’t know anything about what happened to you. Her shoulders shook. Here we go again. Time for her crying attack. But I was sure my parents would support me when it came to my innocence.

My mother looked a little hesitant. Her eyes

traveled between the two of us.

That’s when I turned to my father and tried to beg for his support.

“Father…” I started.

Crack.

He slapped me cleanly mess the face. My cheek stung so badly went into shock for a moment

This couldn’t be happening.

“No one needed to drug you.” His voice was a growl. “You gave up your dignity for money You’re jealous of your sister, and for that reason, you steal from her and try to put your blame on her. You’re no longer my daughter, and you’re even less qualified to be the future Luna”

“Whore,” Mother said again, under her breath.

My sister peeked at me from between her fingers. There was no trace of tears in her eyes now.

I shake my head, snapping out of my memories. Today is a big day, and I have to entertain the royal messenger for my family. Though no longer as a daughter of this household, but as a slave.

My fiancee Samuel? Now he belongs to Leah. As Samuel is next in line to become our Alpha, that makes Leah next to become

our Luma.

A title she has already started calling herself during Samuel’s long disappearances conquering disputed territories. His frequent absences have delayed their mating ceremony, but Leah doesn’t seem to mind. She still walks around Pack-land like she’s already a queen. Yet inside of me, a small fire burns. I still believe that through drugs, my heat was forced, which directly led to my undoing.

No one listens anymore.

Not even Samuel, who turned his back on me when I returned from that nightmare three years ago. I tried to tell him the truth, but he ignored me. He has not spoken to me again since. Even with him in the same room as me now, he refuses to look at me.

At his first arrival, our eyes met for a half-second and I was transported to what felt like a different lifetime, when Samuel had been my fiancé and he would visit to spend time with me. Quickly, he looked away and I remembered my new lowly place by my sister’s side.

The royal messenger, a man in black with a violet sash over his arm, now sits in a chair opposite Samuel and me who claim the couch. My mother and father stand nearby.

As per my duties as a household slave, I slowly deliver the tea set, lowering it down onto the coffee table. I try not to make eye contact with anyone in the room, but I am admittedly curious by the royal messenger’s arrival.

His visit was announced rather suddenly, causing me and the other household slaves to scramble to clean and make ready for his arrival, and that of Samuel, who escorted him.

A royal messenger is incredibly unusual.

The King doesn’t often have business with our small pack. What could he possibly want with us now?

Leah glares at me impatiently as I serve her first.

“This is awful.” Leah prides herself on spitting out her tea in disgust. “You are trying to poison our honored guest.”

Before I can even straighten, Leah turns to me. “Harper. Kneel here beside me.” She gestures to the empty space beside her, the bare spot on the hardwood floor that the carpet does not cover.

I have no desire to press my knees to that hard surface, but I know the pain that will follow if I disobey, especially in front of an honored guest. The beating could last until dawn.

I fall to my knees where she directed,

“Hold out your arm,” she says.

Swallowing hard, I do as she commands.

Unhooking her arm with Samuel, Leah reaches forward and snatches the teapot off the table.

Samuel glances at Leah, at the teapot, and then at my arm. His lip twitches like he might say something to stop her, but he doesn’t. My heart breaks all over again.

I brace myself for what will surely be scalding hot water searing my skin.

With a wild look in her eye, Leah starts to tilt the teapot.

“Stop, the royal messenger says.

Leah stills, even as her eyes hardened with fury. “I am allowed to keep my sister in her place when she dreams above her station.”

“No, you aren’t,” the messenger says. “Not anymore. This woman is now the property of the Lycan King, and only he can decide her punishments.”

Chapter 2

The room goes very still and quiet.

For a moment, I think I might have misheard. Was the royal messenger talking about me? But why would the Lycan King want me?

Each year, every pack in his kingdom would select their most beautiful woman and send her to the capital. From among them, the Lycan King would select the ones that interest him most, who would then become part of his harem.

It’s a great honor to be selected, although somewhat precarious, Rumors are whispered in the dark, speaking of the Lycan King’s ruthlessness, as well as his insatiable appetites…

Though, oddly, there’s never been any talk of children. Those favorable to the King vow it’s because he is waiting to find his fated mate, and that she would be the one to bear his child.

I am neither the most beautiful woman in the pack nor anyone important. So I continue to wonder, why would the Lycan King want me as his property?

Unless he needs some kind of servant?

That’s impossible,” Leah says, speaking the words I’m unable to say aloud. “There must be some mistake.”

“There is no mistake,” the royal messenger replies. “Our King Caleb has been searching for women with this one’s exact characteristics. Seeing her as I have, I can confirm she meets these traits and is honor-bound to bring her to our King”. I don’t recall him looking at me for more than a moment. Perhaps that was all he needed.

“She’s not even a virgin!” Leah shouts. In her rage, she drops the teapot. I’m quick to retract my arm, but as the teapot hits the floor, it shatters. Hot water splatters outward, covering the hem of my skirts.

The royal messenger jumps to his feet. His face is twisted with annoyance.

“No Alpha would want her, especially the King” Leah continues, seemingly unaware of the way the royal messenger is looking at her. Mother sees though, and starts to step closer to her favorite child. “Offering the King a whore like her would be an insult! She’s -” A loud crack fills the room as the royal messenger slaps Leah cleanly across the face.

Leah, stunned, has turned her entire face with the slap. Tears well in her eyes. Her cheek quickly reddens.

She’s never been hit like that in her life, even when she so dearly deserved it. I was ever the punching bag: Leah, ever the perfect child.

The royal messenger speaks clearly and crisply, with obvious disdain. “Who are you to question the will of our King Caleb? It’s wholly within my rights to see you hang for such treachery.”

Mother moves at once, stepping into the space between Leah and the messenger.

“Forgive my foolish child, good sir!” Mother says. “She did not mean the words she speaks. If anyone is to be punished, please punish me instead. As the woman who raised her, it is my duty as a mother to take responsibility for her.”

Meanwhile, my knees are beginning to hurt, sitting so stiffly on the floor. Looking over, I see Mother draping herself over my sister, desperate to protect her.

No one is protecting me.

Exhaling in frustration, the royal messenger slips his attention to me. “Gather your things, Miss…”

“Harper,” I provide my name

He does not repeat it, nor even nod in acknowledgment. “You are allowed one bag. Pack wisely. We will leave in five minutes.

Five minutes does not give me much time.

Pushing myself up to my feet, I ignore the creak in my knees, as well as the sniveling of my mother still trying to protect my terrible sister, and walk toward the door.

I have no bag of my own, so I slip into my parents’ room to snatch one from them. The bag that I take is one that used to belong to me before my disgrace. It feels less like stealing to take it back now, and more like returning my own stolen property. Bag in hand, I start for the stairs.

Three years ago, I was removed from my lavish bedroom and hidden away in the attic. It’s cold up as much there, with insulation as the rest of the house, and leaks sometimes when there’s a hard rain or too much snow. Yet I’ve still managed to make it my home, placing the few things I own around my cot bed.

In my mind, I’m making a list of the things I can’t live without. It’s not a very long list, as most of my possessions have already been stripped from me.

Dragging the bag. I climb the ladder up to my attic space. When I reach it, I startle.

A familiar figure stands in the space near my bed. In the dim light of the nearby slatted window, he turns to me.

“Samuel,” I say.

What could he possibly be doing here? We haven’t spoken since that horrible day three years prior. I’d tried to explain everything, but he wouldn’t listen. He cast me away like everyone else. “Gather only what you can’t live without, Samuel says. “We’ll need to travel fast and light if we are to have any chance of escape.

I froze, not understanding. This is the most he’s talked to me since my disgrace. “What are you talking about?”

“Hurry, Harper,” Samuel pleads. Stepping forward, he takes the bag from my hands and starts to throw my things into it. I have no dresser, just a hamper of clothes tucked into the corner He grabs blindly, packing for me. “But… why?” I ask.

Not looking at me, he explains. “I don’t want to marry Leah. I never did. I’ve done all I can to delay this wedding. For three long, terrible years, I’ve succeeded. Two more weeks is all I need, and I will become Alpha. Once I’m Alpha, I can make my own decisions, like who I want as my Luna”

I understand the words he’s saying, though it’s a shock. For any of this to be true means that he’s faked his compliance for years, convincing everyone he wants Leah, just to change everything once he’s deemed Alpha.

What I don’t understand is how any of this affects me.

Looking back, Samuel must see the uncertainty in my eyes. He drops my bag and walks the few steps it takes to cross the space to stand before me.

“I wanted to wait until I was Alpha,” he continues. This close, even in the dim light, I can see the burning determination in his eyes. His intensity and sincerity meld me to the spot, staring at him, listening. “But I can’t wait if they plan on giving you away. We have to leave. We can elope along the way, then no one can stop us.”

“Elope? Samuel, you haven’t even talked to me in three years…”

“Haven’t you been listening?” Samuel says. “It was all a ruse. You are the one I love, Harper. The only one I’ve ever loved. There’s no time. Run away with me now, and become my wife.”

“Your wife?!” comes a shriek from the ladder. Just then, Leah pushes her way into my space. “You are insane! You’ll be hunted forever. The Lycan King won’t be denied. He’ll chase you for the rest of your lives. No one defies him.”

Panicked, I take a step backward. How long has she been listening?

Chapter 3

“I know what I want,” Samuel says, speaking to Leah now. “I’ll be an outlaw, I don’t care. I’m tired of playing pretend I’ll save you from this fate, Harper. I’ll take care of everything. I only need you to come with me “You would lose everything.” I say, my heart in my throat. For so long. I’ve dreamed of this exact conversation of Samuel loving me so much he was willing to throw everything else away. But now that I have it, it’s too much “Everything but you.” Samuel says.

“You would give up the position of Alpha.”

“Better than watching you become one of the ruthless king’s sex slaves

“You are out of your mind.” Leah snaps,

Rushing toward us, she tries to push him away from me. Her slight frame is no match for his much larger one, and he just looks at her.

“Samuel get away from her. She’s cast some kind of curse on you. We’ll find a cure, I swear. There must be a witch who can help Leah speak quickly. Her eyes are frantic, she’s the one who seems like she’s losing her mind. “We were going to get married… I was going to be Luna… You can’t take that away…” Her eyes focus on me. “And for her. She’s not even pure!”

My heart crumbles into tattered pieces. Samuel’s love for me makes him want to give up everything, but my affection for him demands that I protect him from that sacrifice.

If the events of that fateful night three years ago had never occurred, then we could have worked. We could have loved each other, been happy, raised a family, and led the pack

That night changed everything. I’m tarnished now, and the stain rubs off on all those close to me.

I cannot allow Samuel, the man I once loved more than any other, to sacrifice his future and his life for me. Not while I’m in this state. Not while he has so many other options. He needs to lead our pack. He’ll be a good Alpha.

I won’t be the woman who continues to selfishly ruin his life.

Yet as he looks at me with such blatant desperation, I know he won’t accept my decision to protect him over myself.

I cannot give him false hope. If he suspects I still care for him, he will defy the Lycan King. He will set himself up for failure.

To give him the best chance at the brightest future possible. I must deceive him…

“I don’t want to live my life on the run,” I say. I tug my hand from his and drop it down to my side.

He looks at me like I’ve grown a horn a second head. “What?”

“Becoming one of the Lycan King’s women is a great honor,” I say “And if he’s searching for someone with traits that only I have maybe I could be someone special. Someone great.” “He could treat you viciously, Samuel argues. “You don’t know what you’re saying.”

“Or he’ll give me everything I’ve ever desired, I counter. I bury down my self-loathing at having to lie. The hurt in his eyes slices through me like a blade.

Later, I promised myself I could face these feelings.

For now, I still need to be the kind of woman I despise.

“The Lycan King has more money and power than anyone else can even dream,”

Samuel…

I say “Compared to him, you are nothing.

Disbelief makes way for anger in his face. His brow lowers, and his voice hardens. “You are not this vain. You love me.”

I do, which is why I’ll never let him give up everything he’s worked so hard for. Not for my sake.

I will protect Samuel, and protect our pack.

To do that, I must go to the King’s side, honoring his summons.

I turn from him, walk around Leah, and head to the ladder. Behind me, I leave the bag and my possessions. There’s nothing here I need where I’m going.

Samuel starts after me, but Leah steps in his way

“Listen to her, damn it,” Leah says. “You aren’t thinking clearly

I move down the ladder and then down the stairs.

The royal messenger is already outside, standing beside the open back door to a black sedan. He steps aside as I approach

Here, he says…

Following his command, I sit down on the cool leather. My nerves get the better of me and I start to fidget my fingers, twisting them around each other. I can’t take the silence anymore.

“You said the King is looking for girls like me,” I say.

The messenger tilts his head to the side. He’s not glancing at me but I can tell he’s listening

Emboldened by this, I continue. “Who exactly is King Caleb looking for?”

“The King searches for a woman he met three years ago, the messenger says.

My heart races. Three years ago, I shared my heat with a stranger who was gone before sunrise.

That has to be a coincidence.

We drive for four hours before we arrive at a towering castle wall. I’ve never seen it in person, but this intricate brickwork could only be that of the Capital

There’s traffic leading into one of the many entrances, but the driver veers the sedan around it all and turns into an entrance with a gate and armed guard. The guard peers through the window and then lets us through, Eventually, the tunnel opens up into a larger underground expanse, complete with buildings and roads. Rock formations hang down from the ceiling. String lights and lanterns light up the space. A cave system?

The car stops outside a stone-faced, multistory building. There’s a line of girls that stretches from inside out the front door.

Cautiously, I exit the car. Immediately, a guard in full body armor grabs me under the arm and hauls me into place at the end of the line.

Following the line of girls, I eventually entered the building. At the doorway, an armed guard stands beside a basket of cell phones. He looks at me expectantly.

Reaching my pocket. I retrieve my cell phone and hold it.

He snatches it from my hand and chucks it down into the basket.

“Will I get that back?” I ask.

He stares straight through me.

I’m guessing that’s a no.

The line continues into different rooms. The house seems generations old, with smaller rooms and lower ceilings than any modern home I’ve seen Oil lanterns are used rather than electric lights.

In one room, a group of men and women wordlessly collect our measurements with their ribbon tape. They move quickly. and deftly, twisting each girl this way and that until they get what they need.

In another room, we are asked questions.

“Where are you from?”

“When were you born?”

I come to stand in front of a table when it’s my turn. The older, balding man behind the table has sweat trickling down the side of his face. As he eats an apple, the spittle crunches out of his mouth, splattering down onto the paperwork before him. Looking me over, he chews and grins. His eyes on my breasts, he asks, “Are you a virgin?”

Chapter 4

“No, “I say, swallowing the rising lump in my throat. “I’m not.”

This answer has ostracized me from my pack. I’ve been called every name under the sun slut, whore, loose, tainted.

All because I went into heat and slept with a man who was not my mate. A night I barely even remember. Most of my recollections are shadows, spikes of pleasure, and a touch of pain. Nope, it is fully clear.

The man looks down at the paperwork and takes another bite of his apple. He marks something down with a pen.

“You are category C,” the man says. “Tell that to the guard at the door.” Looking up, he tilts to wave at the girl behind me.

Realizing I’m being dismissed. I hurry forward back into line.

At the door, the guard stops me. “Category?”

“C,” I say.

“Stay to the right,” he orders.

I step through the door into a new wider room. It’s almost like a makeshift chair-less auditorium, where the floor slopes down toward a small stage. Standing on the stage, one man seems to be barking orders at some of the guards and other workers. That’s the King’s Beta, Tristan,” whispers one of the girls I walk past.

In this room, the single line has broken into three different ones, all snaking their way down to the front of the room. I stick to the right and end up in the third category.

Not to be disparaging to my fellow girls in category C, but it’s clear at a glance that we are the group made up of those least likely to be chosen by the King.

Category A is filled with beautiful, model-like girls. Perfect faces and hair, perfect frames.

Category B seems a bit curvier, or a bit plainer.

In category C, we all don’t really look each other in the eye, like we are ashamed of ourselves. I imagine I’m not the only one here with a sordid past. It all feels like a cruel joke now.

I could be with a man who has loved me for years. Instead, I’m standing in this cold underground house, being poked and prodded and ranked. Suddenly, a scream cuts through my thoughts. One of the guards has caught a woman in category B. She’s curvy, with her dark hair in thick tresses.

“Your measurements can’t be right, the guard says, his voice mocking. “I’ll need to check for myself.” He grabs her hips forcefully, yanking her against him.

The other girls nearby veer off as far as they can while still trying to maintain their line.

No one makes any move to help this girl. –

The guard grabs her ass with one hand and her breast with the other. She struggles, whimpering and pushing, but the guard. is relentless. The harder she pushes at him, the tighter he grips her.

“Let me go”” she shouted.

“Shut up and stand still he growls. His mockery is gone. Now, he just sounds angry.

Tears stream down the woman’s face.

I can’t stand it. In no universe can I stand here and watch a woman be assaulted, armed guard or now

“Stop” I shout, starting forward. “Get your fucking hands off of her.

Everyone around me turns to look. Even the grabby guard passes to gape at me. The curvy woman looks at me with pleading eyes.

“Who do you think you are?” the guard snaps. “You have no right to interfere. Get back in your line. Category C.

I bite my bottom lip to hide its trembling and lift my chin in defiance. He’s not any scarier than Leah on a bad day

“I could ask you the same question: Who do you think you are?” I say with far more confidence than I feel. That woman is category B. With a figure like that, she’s likely to be chosen by the King. What gives you the right to taint one of the King’s potential women The guard paused, his face going slightly pale. Looking around, he only seems to realize now how much attention he’s drawing to himself.

“Shit,” he growls and pushes the woman away.

She stumbles and falls to the ground. He doesn’t care. He turns and storms away, but not before casting a furious glare my way. I match it with one of my own, not backing down until he looks away first. Breaking out of my line, I move toward the woman and help her back to her feet.

Thank you.” she says through her sniffles. “You saved me.”

“What’s your name?” I ask.

Jane.

“Nice to meet you, Jane. I’m Harper.”

Jane looks up at me with gratitude in her doe-brown eyes. Immediately though, the tears reform. “Do you really think the King will choose me? I might have been better off with that terrible guard.” “Don’t say that,” I tell her.

“But it’s true, isn’t it? They say the King is so old and brutally rough with his women.”

Around us, mummers and whispers begin to pick up into a steady cacophony. All of the girls suddenly seem excited and nervous. They all seem to be looking at something behind me.

Turning, I follow their gazes to where a man has just entered. He’s tall and remarkably handsome with a clean-shaven face and pale blue eyes. Dark windswept hair curls around a face of sharp angles. High cheekbones. A firm, sturdy chin. Lips plush enough for soft kisses His gaze is cutting though, his intensity fierce. He carries himself tall and proud like a man who knows his worth is high. A man who knows all he has to do is dip his head in one direction and the entire room will follow his command

“That’s the King, one of the girls behind us whispers.

As she says it, I can see now, the subtle golden threads weaving through his otherwise dark royal garb. A narrow golden chain crosses the width of his forehead.

King Caleb in the flesh.

Jane gasps. I can understand. He’s certainly not what I expected,

But… there’s something else bothering me.

He almost seems familiar somehow…

Caleb’s glare sweeps across the room when suddenly it snags or ine,

My breath punches from my body.

It can’t be.

King Caleb starts toward me and I feel my body go numb.

I remember how I knew him.

Three years ago, in a hotel room bed, King Caleb pushed my legs apart and claimed me.

Chapter 5

I stare wide-eyed, mouth agape at the man I shared my heat with three years ago. I have to be mistaken, but my body knows the truth. Those strong hands caressed my skin. Those plush lips spent hours sucking marks onto my breasts Immediately. I turn away. Curling closer to Jane, I hope to use her to hide. She’s beautiful, curvaceous and memorable. Next to her. I look like a sack of potatoes.

“Tell me when he’s gone,” I whisper.

Jane glances at me curiously. “He’s not looking this way anymore.”

I exhale in relief.

“Do you not want to be chosen?” Jane asks me. “Now that I’ve seen him. He’s so handsome…

“I don’t care how handsome he is,” I say. “I’d rather just go home”

Jane nods with understanding though watching her, I can see the wonder in her eyes as she looks at Cateb. Who could blame her? A terrible situation is made marginally better knowing the King is not some lecherous old man.

“He’s coming closer,” Jane says in a hasty whisper. Suddenly, she straightens, Curving her back a little, she juts out her already voluptuous breasts.

I’ve always thought my curves to be adequate but compared to Jane, I look like a skinny lamppost

Turning slightly, I catch sight of the King as he nears us. Heavens above, he’s even more handsome up close. My memories are hazy from our night together. Though I’m sure he was the man, I only remember shadows, not the full expanse of his gorgeous face. That tall, strong body, though, I remember a bit more. Shifting muscles, strong thighs.

He pressed his hands against my arms, dragging them over my head.

“Don’t move,” he growled in my ear.

Now, I shiver, remembering the dark timber of his voice.

Just as quickly as they arrived, I shook the thoughts away. I am not here for sex, despite the premise of potentially being selected for the King’s harem…

My singular purpose is to protect Samuel and my pack from danger.

Samuel, the man I loved who I will never hold again.

My chest aches. How close we were to last, and I didn’t even know it until it was already too late. I wish he had confided in me. So much heartache could have been avoided.

Though perhaps it was for the best that things worked out as they did. If I’d known Samuel loved me for longer, our parting would have been even more difficult.

Maybe I would have been too selfish to make the choice I did. I might have even run away with him.

The King might have eventually found us, but for a time we would have been happy.

The King…

I look at him again and a touch of hatred flickers to life in my heart.

All of my bad luck, all of my problems, began that night three years ago, when I shared my heat with this man.

I have no desire to interact with him ever again.

He approaches us. Jane lowers her gaze, demure, From beside her, I sneak a few glances, watching Caleb trace his eyes over Jane’s curvaceous figure.

This one is acceptable,” the King says, his voice a deep sexy rumble. My body reacts instantly, heating without my consent.

Caleb tilts his gaze to me. Swiftly, he looks down the length of my body. Just as quickly, he looks away. He doesn’t say a word as he continues forward, walking down the line for category B toward the stage. Guards come closer to collect Jane. “With us, they command her

She glances at me. “I hope we meet again,” she says before she turns and follows them out of the room.

Near the doorway, I spot the guard who groped Jane watching the scene with clear disgust. When his gaze flickers at me, I immediately look away.

Caleb selects a few more girls in the B-line, and then moves up the A-line, selecting several more. He doesn’t even glance at the C’s.

At the stage, he says something to his Beta Tristan. Then, he totally walks out of the room.

The minute he steps out, nearly everyone exhales a deep breath For a moment, the thick tension seems broken, and relief replaces it.

Has the King made all of his decisions? Are the rest of us free to go back home now?

Could I return to Samuel and after waiting out the next two weeks, become Luna of the pack?

Excitement coils within me. Perhaps my luck is about to change after all.

“You,” says a voice from behind me. I turn and see the guard who had grabbed Jane. He has his gun in his hand, the barrel pointed in my direction. “Come with me.”

“The king didn’t select me, I say.

The guard just smirks a vicious, sharp thing that twists his face. “That makes you ripe for the plucking, heroine. You stepped in and ruined my fun. Now I get my fun out of you. That smirk slips, revealing the flash of anger underneath “Come with me. Now.” I look around for support, but all those who are close enough to have heard him are avoiding my gaze.

I’m standing in a sea of people, but I’ve never felt so alone.

“I won’t ask again,” he snaps. Reaching out, he grips my wrist and drags me with him. He pulls me toward a side room that I haven’t seen anyone come in or out of. He kicks the door open and then throws me inside.

I stumble into a stack of boxes. This is a storage closet, filled with boxes and shelves, but no people.

He places his gun down on a stack of boxes near the door. Even without it, he’s much bigger and stronger than me,

I glance around desperately, but I don’t see any other doors or windows in this room. I’m totally trapped.

“Take your clothes off,” he orders.

Wrapping my arms over my chest, I shake my head.

“I know you aren’t a virgin, hitch. Take your clothes off like a good little slut, before I make you go to your knees.” He grins. “Or maybe that’s what you want. Are you desperate for a good face forking, slut? You want to suck my cock “”Fuck you!” I shout.

His grin disappears. “Don’t talk back,” he growls as he storms toward me.

As I turn away, he grabs me by the shoulder. His fingers curve, grabbing my shirt in a fist, and he pulls in a rush, tearing the sleeve and much of the front off of my shirt.

Crowding into me, he shouts, “On your knees!”

“No!” I scream.

I try to back up but he grabs me by both arms.

He starts to pull.

He’s stronger than me. I can’t break his grip.

Then, suddenly, he stops. His eyes widen. His lips part and blood dribbles down from his mouth.

Looking down, I see the bladed edge of a sword sticking out from his ribcage

With a slice, the sword tears through him. Blood splashes all over me and my torn clothing.

The guard’s body falls then, in a heap.

Standing behind him, holding the hilt of the bloodied sword, stands King Caleb.

I tremble in shock and fear?

Caleb glares at me. “For three years, I’ve been looking for you. And for our child.” Our… what?

Chapter 6

Glaring at me, Calebs waits. He seems expectant as if he’s waiting for some kind of response.

For the sake of self-preservation, I need to answer my king. Hur genuinely, I do not know how to reply to the implication that we have a child together.

Tristan, Caleb’s Beta, walks into the closet behind him. Tristan takes Caleb’s sword and hands him a file in return, Flipping open the folder. Tristan lowers his gaze to read from the pages within.

“Harper Lovell,” Caleb reads, “Belonging to the Riverwood Pack Daughter of the Beta Harold Lovett and his mate Claudette. One sister, younger. Leah.”

As he’s reading about me, that must be my file. I swallow hard.

“Not a virgin,” Caleb says. Snapping the folder shut, he lifts his gaze to me. “Tell me where the child is, Miss Lovett.”

“What child?” I say………

“If you value your life, you will not lie to me,” he says. His voice hasn’t changed, still, the same steady baritone, but his eyes have taken on an even sharper intensity. If looks could kill, I would be dead ten times over. “I mean no offense,” I say quickly. “But you must be mistaken. I’ve never been pregnant.”

Calch stares at me for one long, terrible moment.

Just when I think he might take the sword back and use it on me, he turns to Tristan. “Get her into one of the rooms. I intend to interrogate her privately.”

Tristan nods at once.

Caleb turns and walks out.

Tristan straightens and looks at me. “The first and only rule of this household, Ms. Lovett, is total obedience. The King is not to be denied, nor is he to be questioned. I suggest you think that over as you follow me to your room.” “But I start to say.

“I do not care to hear you talk,” Tristan says, cutting me off. He turns and begins walking, Quickly. I move into his shadow and silently follow him.

He leads me to a chamber with a round staircase that circles up and up. I lose track of how many stairs we take, and how many flights we’ve gone. The walls curl around the stairwell, making the space cramped and narrow. I keep my hand placed against the stones to keep from getting dizzy.

At one point, Tristan exits the stairs and steps into another hallway. I follow him down a winding corridor. Many wooden doors line the ball. When he reaches the one he wants, he unlocks the door with some kind of electronic remote, the size of a key chain. When the door swings open, he steps to the side.

As I walk into the room, the door closes behind me. An invisible lock turns, trapping me inside.

The room itself isn’t horrible. It’s much more spacious than my attic space. I have a small sitting space and a wardrobe in addition to an actual double bed. There is also a round table and a pair of chairs. A different doorway leads off to a small bathroom with a shower, toilet, and sink.

If it had a kitchen, I could live in this room solely in this room.

There are no windows, but an overhead light flickers with an electric bulb. At least I don’t have to depend on oil and flame up this high as they do down below.

The only truly unnerving thing about the room is a separate elaborate, closed, and locked, that is in the wall near the bed. I can’t see any means of opening it, not even a handle. Yet as I near it, looking for a means of opening it, I hear the telltale sound of a lock clicking open.

The door swings inward and I jump backward, narrowly avoiding a hit to the face.

Caleb himself steps through the open doorway, as regal and handsome and threatening as ever. I scramble backward and he stalks toward me. The door seems to move on its own, sliding closed and locking behind him.

I stop when my back is against the wall. There’s not really anywhere for me to run to. I’m locked in this room with him.

“Now, You’ve had time to think it over,” Caleb says. “Stop pretending you don’t remember our encounter.”

I remember his face staring down at me, his blues intense, his brows pulled together. A bead of sweat dripped from down his chin, onto my face.

I remember his dick buried in my folds, thrusting… taking over and over. The headboard pounded against the wall.

My cheeks burn suddenly hot.

He comes closer, trapping me up against the wall. He’s only a foot away, peering at my reddened face.

“So you do remember. Three years ago. I’m at the junction of packs, attending an Alpha meeting. I went to a bar when a woman, soaked with wanton pheromones draped herself all over me and begged me to take her to bed.” Swallowing thickly, I don’t remember that part. But the rest of it

“I’m entirely sure that woman was you, Harper Lovett.” He lifts his chin so that he stares down the length of his nose at me. “Try to deny it.”

“We had a one-night stand,” I admit. “But there was never any child.”

Caleb’s upper lip curls. “Lick”

With lightning speed, his hands snap forward. Grabbing my wrists, he yanks them over my head and holds them there with my head, one of his hands. The other hand flattens onto the wall right beside me.

“Give me my child,” Caleb growls.

“I’m telling the truth!” I say, my voice trembling as fear rushes through me.

Caleb brings his face closer. As his lip curls higher in disgust, his canines begin to elongate ever so slightly. He’s so furious, he might shift.

“You knew who I was that night. You purposefully seduced me, knowing the heat would trigger my own rut and make me forgo condoms. Then you secretly gave birth, raising my child yourself.”

“You think I planned to go into heat?”

“There are ways of triggering it…”

“I would have never,” I say. “I was engaged. I never even meant for the one-night stand!”

I hate this. With my arms restrained. I have no way of holding my torn shirt closed. It hangs open, revealing my bra underneath. Fortunately, Caleb doesn’t look. He doesn’t seem interested at all.

“I didn’t reveal who I was, Caleb continues. “But you could have discerned it on your own. There’s no way our night together was strictly coincidence.”

“It was,” I insist, anger rising along with the fear inside of me. “I lost everything because of that night! My fiancé broke the engagement. My family started treating me like I was tainted. If I had a baby, I would have at least gained something, but I didn’t. I have nothing” At once, Caleb moves his hand from the wall beside my head. He roughly grabs my chin and lifts my face up toward his. Sneering down at me, he says, “You still want to marry someone else? You would dare let some inferior male raise my child?”

“There was never a child,” I say, defiant even in the face of his monstrous fury. I don’t have much, but I have the truth.

I’m guilty of much, but not this. I’ve never been pregnant, despite what he thinks.

“Take me to a doctor,” I say. “Let them check. That will prove my innocence.”

Caleb’s fiery glare drops from my face down the length of my body, to the exposed swells of my breasts and below.

He’s close enough to me for me to detect the sudden increase in heat of his body. With a low growl, he lifts his eyes back to mine.

“No one will examine my woman except for me”

He releases my hands but does not back up a single inch.

Strip.

Chapter 7

I want to deny him, but Tristan’s warnings echo in my mind. The only rule of this place is total obedience. Denying the king could easily lead to my death.

With shaking hands, I slowly reach up and pull down the scraps of my shirt from my torso. They fall to the floor in a blood-splattered pool.

Caleb watches, his heated gaze tracing over every each of newly revealed skin.

Your skirts,” he commands. “That’s where I will need to inspect

Keeping my chin high in an attempt to maintain dignity, I undo the band holding my skirt in place and pushing it down my hips.

Caleb’s watchful eye catches a scar on my belly. Lifting a hand, he traces his fingers across it. “What is this, then?”

“It’s an old injury from an accident when I was young” What does he think it is? A C-section star? It’s not.

“Let me see for myself, Caleb says and trails his hand down farther, and farther. He slips his fingers down the front of my panties.

I suck in a breath and hold it.

My treacherous body reacts at once to the feel of his strong hand, to the weight of his greedy gaze. His canines retract, returning to normal, even as his blue eyes blaze with heat.

His hand doesn’t slow as he slips two fingers through my folds. I hiss as he grazes my clit, then bite back a moan as he cups my dripping entrance.

“Don’t,” I say, Pressing my hands on his arms, I try to push him back. He doesn’t even budge an inch. I might as well be pushing against a wall of bricks.

“I’m going to check you,” he says, voices a low growl. “No one will defy me.”

I squirm, trying to stop him, but he still slides two fingers up inside of me.

A whimper escapes my lips. He’s so warm. It feels so good.

He curves his fingers forward, pressing just right into my G-spot.

Gasping, I claw at his arms.

He hums, satisfied, as he removes his fingers from within me. He pulls his hand from my underwear and looks at the whole mess I’ve made of his fingers. He smirks “So you still desire me…

“No!” I shout, though my body makes a liar out of me, already craving more of his touch. Fresh dampness drips from my pussy.

Caleb inhales long and slow, “Your body tells the truth.”

“No,” I say, weaker.

“Perhaps we should revisit what happened between us three years ago,” he says.

As he speaks, he works to undo his own clothing. His elaborate dark royal garb unbuttons under the left arm. Slipping it off.

He reveals miles of tan skin and bulging muscles underneath…

The man is a goal, chiseled from stone. My mouth waters just looking at him.

He goes for his pants next. Unbuckling them, he kicks them and his shoes off. He’s not wearing underwear.

I try my hardest not to gape at the massive cock coming to full attention between his hips.

He stands still a moment as if enjoying my stare. When I realize what I’m doing. I squeeze my eyes shut.

I don’t care how good he looks naked, I hate him.

Without warning, he reaches up, grabs the front of my bra, right between the cups, and rips it clean from my body. My breasts immediately spring free, my nipples small aching pebbles.

At once, I close my arms over my breasts, hiding them.

He glares at me. “You dare deny me the view of your flesh? You are my woman now.

Grabbing me, he yanks me toward the bed then none-too-gently tosses me down onto it.

I try to roll away, but before I can, he crawls over me, pinning me to the mattress with his naked body. His hard dick twitches against the curve of my belly.

I still try to cover my bare breasts. Grabbing my wrists he roughly yanks them away and presses them hard into the mattress.

“Your nipples crave my mouth,” he says, voices low and rough as he drops his head. He licks a strip over one of my aching nipples, before sucking it into his mouth.

I throw my head back into the pillow. Against my will, my back arches, gifting him easier access as if I’m begging for more.

His mouth is so hot. His tongue was so insistent. Everything feels so good.

He pops off one nipple, only to immediately claim the other. While he suckles at that one, he slides a hand down my hip. grabs at my panties and rips them off of me, the same as he did my bra. He tosses the scraps over his shoulder. He rises up onto his elbows, staring down at my face.

“Stop!” I snap, a bite in my voice.

“Your body begs me,” he growls. “Give in to your desires.”

He releases my arms to push my thighs farther apart.

Reaching up, I claw at his back, digging into his flesh. This only seems to drive him wilder.

He lines his dick up to my entrance.

My heart thunders in my chest, a mix of fear and excitement. It’s all so confusing. I desire him so much, but I hate him. I want to go home.

I love Samuel…

Caleb slides into the entrance. I’m so wet that he has limited resistance, even as big as he is. There is some stretch, though. Even though we’ve had sex before, it’s been a long time and I’d been in heat then. My body isn’t used to being this full. I squeeze my eyes shut as hard as they can go.

Caleb doesn’t wait for me to adjust. Instead, he immediately begins his thrusting, pulling nearly all the way out before plunging back in.

My body pins, My pussy quivers My nipples harden.

I swear, I Hate him. But this feels so good.

His pace is relentless, pushing me up the maitress.

Just like that night when we’d first been together, the headboard pounds against the wall

Eventually, my fear separates from my pleasure. It hovers above me somewhere, present but distant, as my thoughts quiet and my body takes over.

My fingernails continue to carve into the meat of Caleb’s back, but now I can’t tell if it’s to tug him off of me or to pull him over.

“My woman,” Caleb growls. He drops his mouth to my ear and bites on my earlobe.

The pain brings me back into myself, but only enough for me to moan from the overwhelming onslaught of pleasure.

Caleb re-angles his hips, jerking them upwards. With each thrust forward, he hits that same spot he’d touched earlier with his fingers.

Again and again.

Pleasure spike after pleasure spike.

“Ah! Ah!”

Grabbing my thighs, he lifts my ass high off the bed. Pushing himself up to his knees, he plunges his dick into me with new depth, reaching even farther inside of me. It’s too much.

I drop my fingers from his shoulders to tear at the sheets.

I whimper and beg. “Ah. Too much… Ah!”

He doesn’t stop. Doesn’t slow,

The pleasure pain spikes and I’m cresting.

“”AA-A-AH!”

I topple over into oblivion and my vision whites out.

Chapter 8

When I wake up again. Tristan is standing over me.

I gasp, reaching for blankets to cover my naked body, only to find that a sheer has already been draped over me. I don’t hope to think King Caleb has done something like this. Perhaps Tristan has.

Although, with the way he’s staring at me with a bored, annoyed expression, that seems equally unlikely.

“Get dressed. You have five minutes,” he says.

“I need a shower.

“Five minutes.” He turns toward the door.

“I don’t have any clothes.”

“In the wardrobe,” he says and steps out into the hallway.

Not wasting time. I hop out of the bed and run to the bathroom. There, I take the quickest, coldest shower of my life. I grab the first dress I see in the wardrobe – a plain white sundress with a small pink flower print- and pull it on. In the drawers are a collection of bras and panties. They are all my size. I don’t know how that’s possible. How long have I been asleep?

After I dressed, I kicked on my shoes and walked to the door. It’s locked. I knock.

The lock clicks and the door swings open.

Tristan stands in the hallway, his arms crossed, looking generally irritable. Seeing me, he unhooks his arms. “Follow me”

I don’t ask questions and move into his shadow again.

He moves quickly. It’s a struggle to keep up with him with how sore my body is. I have bruises on my wrists and thighs. My pussy aches from the stretch of Caleb’s thrusts.

I can’t think about that right now, or about how he killed that guard right in front of me. It’s all too much, I might curl up and cry.

The Lycan King is as ruthless as they say.

It makes me wonder if I can even hope to survive this.

And he truly believes I had his child? How could he be so mistaken?

Why wouldn’t he listen when I told him he was wrong?

A King is never wrong, that’s probably what he thinks.

Such a disgusting mindset. So egotistical. So selfish.

I hate him so much, I tremble from it.

Samuel is the one I want to have with me in my bed. Samuel would treat me with softness and respect.

Not Caleb. The murderous, vicious brute.

I have to find a way out of here somehow. If I keep my eyes open.

They’ll likely kill me before I ever reach the surface. Even so.. Maybe it’s worth the risk.

Tristan leads me back into the stairwell and then down. I recognize the doorway where we first entered, but he continues past that, following the curving stairwell down, down, down into the dark.

There’s no electricity down here, just torchlight. Tristan plucks one of the torches from the wall just before we reach the very bottom of the stairwell

The floor is stone and damp. The light is so dim, that it takes my eyes some time to adjust. When they finally do, I gasp.

This is a jail straight out of a medieval nightmare, with rod iron-barred cells and chains dangling from the ceilings. Some of the cells hold bodies. Most are lying down, turned away from the doors and the lights. A pained moan wails through the space, echoing off the walls. Tristan steps forward, walking along the pathway between the cells, Wrapping my arms protectively around myself, I follow him.

At the very end of the walkway, a cell door is open. Inside, at the center of the room is a chair with metal restraints. Along one wall is a table with various instruments lying on top. Most of them are needles, with a few different vials. A man in a lab coat stands beside them. On the other side of the cell, standing near the door is Caleb. Half of his face is hidden in shadow, the other half is stern and emotionless.

He doesn’t look at me as I enter.

Tristan motions toward the chair. “Sit,” he tells me.

I hesitate, half thinking I should make a wild run for it. I have no idea what’s about to happen to me here, but I think I’d rather have a sword through my back than be tortured with needles and vials.

“It’s in your best interest to sit,” Tristan says, more forcefully.

Not seeing much choice, I close my eyes, take a deep steadying breath, and move to sit in the chair.

At Tristan’s direction, I place my arms on the armrests and wait as he closes the metal restraints around my already bruised skin.

“During a census, our researchers uncovered a birth certificate for a child born two years and three months ago. A DNA swab had been included in the file. This sample showed the child belongs to King Caleb,” Tristan says.

He closes the restraints around my ankles next, totally confining me to the wooden chair.

“The timeline matches the night you spent with King Caleb,” Tristan says.

“It’s a coincidence,” I say. I look at Caleb, but from this angle, his face is too covered with shadow for me to make out his features. Still, I plead, “I told you and I will tell you again. I never had a baby.”

“King Caleb wants to have his heir with his fated mate, Tristan continues, ignoring my words. “As such, he’s never allowed any of the women in his harem to become pregnant. For this to have happened comes as a shock” “It’s not me.” I say. “I didn’t have a baby.”

“We’ve conducted a large-scale investigation that has crossed the entire kingdom, Tristan continues. “You are the only possible match, Ms. Lovett.”

“That can’t be possible.”

“Our King’s patience runs thin with you,” Tristan says. “Tell us where the child is, and we can make this easy for you.

Otherwise, You won’t like how things go.

Hopeless. I shake my head. “I never gave birth. I’m telling the truth. Please, Believe me.”

“You have one last chance, Ms. Lovett,” Tristan says. He steps directly in front of me, forcing me to look up into his face. “If you continue to deny what we already know is true, we will be forced to resort to more extreme measures. Do yourself a favor and tell us what we want to know.” “I can’t tell you what I don’t know,” I say. “Do you want me to lie never had a baby and that’s the truth.”

Tristan looks at me flatly for a moment more. Then, placing his hands on his hips, he sighs. Turning, he looks back at Caleb.

I can’t see much of Caleb’s face, but I can feel his eyes on me in the dark. I shiver, remembering last night, and the way he held me down. When he pressed into me…

When I clawed his back…

Caleb turns his head slightly and I feel the pressure lift. He’s not looking at me any longer but at Tristan.

Slowly, Caleb nods.

Tristan immediately looks at the man in the trench coat. “Prepare it.”

The man lifts a syringe with a very long needle and sticks it into one of the vials.

“What are you going to do with that?” I ask.

Tristan frowns at me. “We will get the truth from you, Ms. Lovell. One way or another.”

Chapter 9

The man in the lab’s coat fills the syringe with the bluish liquid of the vial. Then he brings it closer.

“What is that?” I ask, panic rising in my voice. My heartbeat throbs out of control.

“For generations, the royal family has been the sole owners of a special truth serum Tristan says. “It specifically targets the inner wolf. Our wolves are naturally prone to the truth as it is. They are far less complicated than their human counterparts. “The serum will force forward your wolf, who will be compelled to tell us all we need to know.”

“That’s not going to work,” I say.

Tristan huffs a harsh breath. “I’ve seen it in action before, I can assure you it’s quite potent”

“That’s not what I mean,” I say.

The man in the lab coat brings the needle closer. He lowers it down, dangerously close to my exposed neck. I struggle against my restraints, but they are solid metal. I’m not going anywhere.

“Please!” I tell them. “It won’t work, I’m telling you!”

It’s too late. The needle pinches the delicate skin of my neck. The man in the lab coat squeezes the syringe and the liquid spills into my body.

It won’t work!” I scream, a burning pain forming at the entry point.

Tristan tilts his head. “What makes you believe that so strongly.

“I don’t have a wolf!” I cry and start to convulse.

Caleb watches passively as Harper’s eyes roll into the back of her head and her body begins to shake. Clearly, she’s faking it, She’s lying about not having a wolf, just like she’s been lying about everything else. She says she didn’t have his child? Lies.

She says she doesn’t want him? Lies.

She says she doesn’t have a wolf? Just more lies.

Yet, as the seconds tick past, the more uncertain Caleb becomes nervous.

Harper is groaning. Her teeth are clenched. She’s digging her fingernails into the wood of the chair so hard, she’s starting to bleed.

“Beta,” Caleb says.

Tristan moves forward at once, ever obedient to Caleb’s command. They are so in sync that Caleb doesn’t even need to tell him what to check for. Tristan immediately grips her arm and checks her pulse. “Her heart rate is out of control, Tristan says. Both he and Caleb look to the doctor. “Could it be true? Does she not have a wolf.

The doctor seems troubled. He rushes back to his table and starts searching for something.

“What happens if that serum is given to someone without a wolf?” Caleb demands, stepping forward now, away from the dark shadows of the corner of the cell. The doctor keeps searching, not answering him.

Caleb hates being ignored-

He grabs the front lapel of the doctor’s lab coat and forces him to face him. “Answer your King, damn it.”

“Forgive me, King Caleb,” the doctor says at once. “I’m looking for the antidote.”

“Antidote?”

“No one said she didn’t have a wolf, the doctor says, nervously speaking as quickly as he can. “If the serum is given to someone without a wolf, it will kill her. It’s trying to summon something that doesn’t exist. We have to inject the antidote.” Caleb shoves the doctor back toward the table. “Do it, then”

There’s something uncomfortable growing in his chest, making his heart quicken and his blood boil. He exactly. He doesn’t usually feel something like this.

It almost feels like… fear? Panic?

I can’t describe it.

No. Ridiculous. He doesn’t care about this woman in any capacity. If he’s panicking, it’s only because she’s the only one who knows where his child is. If she dies, that secret goes with her.

“If she dies, so will you, doctor,” Caleb growls.

The doctor yelps and continues searching.

Caleb doesn’t understand. How can Harper not have a wolf? That’s such a rare condition… He’s never known anyone without – a wolf before…

She went into heat. She should have a wolf.

But the evidence is clearly to the contrary.

Harper doesn’t have a wolf, and now the serum and Caleb’s carelessness and assumptions are going to kill her.

Caleb curls his hands into fists.

“Ah hah!” The doctor says, grabbing a vial of clear liquid. With a fresh syringe, he stabs the bottle and draws for the liquid. Then, he rushes toward Harper, plunges the needle into her neck, and delivers the antidote. When it’s all injected, the doctor removes the needle. A drip of blood collects at the opening, then, slides down her neck.

Caleb, without realizing it, starts to growl.

A moment passes, and Harper’s body goes slack. She’s no longer crying or moaning, she’s not moving at all.

Tristan checks her pulse. “It’s steady.”

Caleb steps forward. “Remove her restraints.”

Inexplicably, seeing her like this, unconscious and bound with blood on her neck, sends a shock of irritation through him. He wants this corrected. Now!

Tristan hurries to comply, snapping open the restraints on her. The moment, the last restraint on her ankle is undone, Caleb shucks off his jacket, drapes it over her, and then scoops her up into his arms.

Carrying her toward the doctor, he demanded. “Check her vitals.

The doctor complied at once, checking her heartbeat and her blood pressure. “Breathing looks good. She’ll be sore when she wakes up, but she’ll survive.

That doesn’t seem good enough. She nearly died today. Someone should pay the price for that negligence…

Once the doctor’s general check-up is done, Caleb turns to Tristan. “I never want to see this doctor’s face again.”

The doctor goes pale.

“Yes, my king.” Tristan says, “Gather your things and get out.”

The doctor scrambles to collect all their equipment into a bag. Once everything is put away, he rushes toward the cell door and then disappears down the hallway.

Tristan stays where he is, watching Caleb. He could be waiting for his next command, but Caleb has known his Beta long enough to know when he is waiting and when he is thinking.

“Out with it!” Caleb says. Now that they are alone, they can speak more candidly. He always has a wall between himself and everyone around him, especially his servants. But, as Tristan has known him the longest, he allows his Beta special privileges every now and then. Occasionally, Caleb will let the Beta speak his mind.

“I don’t wish to speak out of turn,” Tristan says.

“I won’t command again,” Caleb grumbles.

The way you hold her.” Tristan says. He gestures toward Harper in Caleb’s arms.

Caleb glances down. He does hold her rather gently, with one arm under her legs and the other around her shoulders. Her tilted head onto his shoulder and he is being careful not to shift her over much as he carries her around.

But it doesn’t mean anything. How does Tristan expect him to hold her? Like she is a sack of potatoes?

Even if a filthy liar, she is one of his women.

“You seem to care for her,” Tristan says. “You’re the whole reaction. The way you snapped at the doctor. It almost seems as if you care a lot about this woman.

“”Don’t be ridiculous,” Caleb says.

“I’m not trying to be,” Tristan says. “To me, it seems as if she’s special to you.”

Chapter 10

Caleb huffs a short, bitter laugh. “You are imagining things,” he says to Tristan. “I only care about her enough to keep her alive. She’s the only lead we have to find my child.” Tristan lowers his head. “Of course, my King. My apologies.” “See that you don’t make this mistake again,” Caleb says. “I won’t.”

Satisfied, Caleb looks down at the unconscious woman in his arms. She’s still very pale. Too pale.

“I will return her to her room,” Caleb says. “I need you to find an actually capable doctor to meet us there.”

Tristan looks up again. “Do you believe she is still in danger, my King?”

“I don’t like the color in her face,” Caleb says.

“I will find a capable doctor,” Tristan complies.

“Good.” With that, Caleb turns toward the exit of the cell and carries Harper out into the hallway.

He could leave her down here, he supposes. Lock her in one of the cells like the other criminals and people who have wronged him. She’d deserve it for her treachery, and a healer could treat her down here just as easily as they could in her rooms.

Yet whenever he tries to slow his feet or tries to turn around to place her back into her cell, his body won’t let him. Rather than question it, he just continues on.

He reasons if he leaves her down here, perhaps her bleeding wound will become infected. She could die, and then he would never find his lost child.

At the stairwell, he doesn’t hesitate, immediately taking the stairs that would lead him – and Harper – away from this place.

I feel warm. It’s winter, isn’t it? Even fully dressed and snug in my bed, I wouldn’t feel this full-bodied heat. It’s all around me, radiating and soft, surrounding me like the world’s fuzziest blanket.

Reality comes back to me slowly. I’m not in my bed. Actually, I don’t feel like I’m in any bed. In fact, it almost feels as if I’m resting against someone’s chest, with their strong arms wrapped around me.

I sniff a little, cautiously, and immediately recognize Caleb’s scent.

Caleb. The Lycan King. The source of all of my fears and troubles.

My heartbeat starts to flutter, yet, just as quickly, it slows back down.

There’s something in my arm. An IV? It seems to be helping me relax. That, or the calming scent, or the steady rise and fall of Caleb’s chest.

I don’t want to admit how relaxing the feel of him is. It shouldn’t be. This is a man who has terrorized me since I arrived here, who claimed me in bed and tried to kill me with a needle in my neck.

Yet my body can’t be denied. It likes this closeness. This warmth. Just as it enjoyed all the pleasures of last night.

Treacherous, traitorous thing.

Embarrassed by my own reaction to Caleb’s closeness, I keep my eyes squeezed shut. I tell myself it’s so I can avoid being snapped at for a little while longer. The truth is, that I will deny it to my deathbed, I just want to be held like this until I absolutely must be forced to move.

Treacherous body. Tired, weak limbs.

“My king,” says a man nearby. It doesn’t sound like Tristan. Another subordinate, perhaps? “Our spies in the Bear Kingdom have reported back. Tristan thought I should report to you at once.” He clears his throat. “Unless you are otherwise… engaged…”

“I’ll hear your report,” Caleb says. His chest rumbles as he talks, and I feel it vibrate against my ear. His skin there is warm. Wait. Is he not wearing a shirt?

“Of course, my King,” the unknown man says. “We’ve known that the bear clan has been making moves against us,

planning an invasion on wolf pack lands. What we haven’t been able to decipher is where that invasion might occur – until now.”

“Out with it then.”

“The bear clan is building their forces just outside of the Riverwood Pack territory. We have every reason to believe the attack will be there.”

My heart picks up speed. That’s my pack.

“The Riverwood Pack are holding their Alpha succession ceremony soon,” the man continues. “With it, they will be expecting many visitors from far and wide. This will lower their defenses. It would be the perfect opportunity for the Bear Clan to slip their warriors into the Riverwood Pack territory.”

“That would be the case, yes,” Caleb says.

“We have a few days before the ceremony,” the unknown man says. “If we want to make a move in their defense, we still have time to organize and deploy.” The man pauses a moment. “What would you have us do, my King?”

I hold my breath. Surely the King will send his forces to defend my pack and its lands from this invasion. We’ve always been loyal to the Lycan King, expecting that the loyalty would be returned.

Yet, still, I’m nervous. Caleb is as ruthless as they say, and given how insistent he is about a child, I’m not entirely certain he is of a sound mind.

“Definitely not,” Caleb says, a firm no.

I’m frozen deep down to my core.

“Of course, my King,” the man says. “Forgive me, but people will wonder as to the reason of the answer. If you would include me in your thinking, I could help spread your message…”

“The Riverwood Pack is withholding my child. As they have refused to hand over the child or any clues relating to the child’s whereabouts, I am under no obligation to protect its people. They stand against me with their defiance and are therefore not worth saving.”

This reasoning is so cold….

To let so many people die because they can’t give information they don’t have about a child that doesn’t exist

“In addition,” Caleb continues. “This information provides us with a rare opportunity. Who can be certain that we will know in the future where the bear clan might attack? We let them make their move, thinking that they have the drop on us. Right as they are comfortable, we counterattack.”

“Ah, a sound plan, my King,” the man says.

Maybe to someone sitting at a strategy desk, playing with maps and paperwork, lives could be traded and lost so casually. But this isn’t a game. These are real people. People who are precious to me. My pack.

Caleb wants to sacrifice my pack just so he can have a better opportunity to counter.

I need to send word to Samuel somehow. As soon as I am able.

I don’t know how, but I will find a way. I won’t let my people die because of Caleb’s callousness.

The unknown man excuses himself. At the doorway, he exchanges brief greetings with a man whose voice l recognize as Tristan’s.

Tristan moves closer. “I trust the report went well.”

“I’ll tell you later,” Caleb says. “We will need to strategize.” “Very well.”

In the moment of quiet that follows, Caleb shifts slightly, readjusting his arms around my waist.

“What should we do with Miss Lovett?” Tristan asks. “Once she is well, I can send her back to the dungeons. We can find something that will force the truth from her without killing her.”

Caleb makes a thoughtful hum… like he’s actually considering it.

“I don’t believe that will be necessary,” Caleb says. “In fact, I have a much more pleasant torture in mind for her.”

“Oh?” Tristan asks.

“Prepare garments,” Caleb says. He lifts a hand and places it at the base of my throat. “Harper will be my personal slave.”

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