6

MAXIMUS

As the silence stretched between us, I let my eyes trail over her body which was wracked with silent sobs, my expression unreadable.

I broke one of my rules on our first encounter. I regarded someone of low rank. Although some other times, I could have allowed my men to put her in her place, I actually stepped in. Not only did I spare her a few words—doesn’t matter that they were degrading—I let her off the hook, seeing as she looked disastrous enough.

What I didn’t expect, however, was for her to actually have an identity. Damian, the newly appointed Alpha’s sibling. Or even go as far as seeking me out. For something like this.

I didn’t know if she just wasn’t repulsed by me, but her audacity and reckless boldness intrigued me. Despite how much I hated to admit it.

Not to mention the apprehension radiating from her body, her face drained of color as she waited for me to respond to her pleas. Apparently, she had more to lose in this bargain. I had very little, but even so, why does she have the belief I was going to give in?

And why was I still standing here? For all I knew, my guard, Jake, had come to alert me of an emergency. I had to go now or…

“If you’re wondering how I was going to give you the heir, then I must let you know, I’m pregnant.” She blurted out all of a sudden, finally summoning the courage to look up at me again.

“You are…?” I drawled, catching as a drop of tear fell on her cheeks. When she nodded, my heart skipped a beat. She had already thought everything over. She wasn’t just reckless, she had this desperation to climb her way out of the loophole she must have gotten herself into.

Strangely, I found myself tempted, swayed, the hair on my skin coming alive with anticipation.

No one was supposed to find out about my inability to have an heir. But it happened, and even though the officials under me who leaked the secret ended up dropping dead, I shouldn’t have expected the rumor they had spread to have died along with them.

It had taken all the restraint I had been able to muster to not lose my will of staying on the throne, and now hearing that she was willing to help me secure my position as the Silver Moon’s Lycan King, I’d be insane to let this opportunity slip away.

I sucked in a deep breath, as if to confirm I was truly going ahead with this. When I finally opened my mouth, my voice came out firm and authoritative.

“My men will pay your home a visit tonight. Pack and take whatever is dear to you, because you would be coming with them. To my pack.”

“Really?” A gasp escaped her, one filled with disbelief. “Thank you so much, Lyca…”

But I was already gone before she could finish.

After what had happened in the past, this was the first time I’d lett myself get close to a she-wolf again, and keeping a mental note to myself it was going to be the last, once the contract duration which I was still going to discuss with her was over; I stepped into the waiting carriage.

Jake kept his eyes on the road but I could still feel the occasional glances he casted over his shoulder at me. That was when it dawned on me.

“What was the emergency?” I asked immediately, hoping it wasn’t already too late.

“There was an assasination attempt on Beta Eros. Luckily he managed to escape, but he’s badly injured and the pack’s healer has suddenly disappeared.”

The revelation caused my jaw to lock, my teeth grounding together. It’s been decades since there was an attack in my pack. The last assassins that infiltrated were taught a harsh lesson and never lived to tell the tale.

I had taught it would serve as a lesson if not for a lifetime, but as long as I ruled, but I was wrong. My Beta was suddenly attacked overnight. For someone who always had his guard up, I couldn’t have seen this coming.

“If by any chance Eros is still alive, take me to him.” I told him, a tinge of impatient in my voice.

I watched his expression shift. There was hesitation and something close to anxiety. “I…it’s dangerous. There might still be a few of them lounging around—”

Anger erupted in my chest.

“Take me there, Jake. It’s a command, not a discussion!”

He looked at me briefly before his shoulders slumped in resignation. Knowing there was absolutely nothing he could do to change my mind, he pulled the reins to turn the carriage back around.

Pine trees lined the path. When the gate to Eros’ house opened, a cold apprehension crept through me.

The mansion wasn’t that massive and yet it was beautiful. Gardens sprawled around it, and framing tall windows. Eros was always by my side at the pack house. Never thought the first time I would visit his home would be when he’s clinging to his last breath.

I stepped out of the carriage and turned to Jake.

“Wait here. I’ll check on him and be back in a moment.”

He bowed in acknowledgment and I left.

When I entered the house, I met Eros in a worse condition. Fortunately, I still had a few minutes left to either heal him or watch death take him. I couldn’t afford the latter.

I did the necessary and was going to leave him to recuperate when his frail hand touched me. Suspicious, I quickly lowered myself over his body until my ears were close enough to hear the sound of his panicking breath.

Eros looked around as if he didn’t trust the walls, then whispered shakily, “It’s the Gemma. H…he planned my assasination to threaten yo…” He didn’t finish his sentence. He trailed off, instantly seeping into a deep sleep. A necessary effect of the healing.

Even as I joined Jake in the carriage and we journeyed back to the pack house, my heart wouldn’t slow down. Not from fear, but from the imagination of the disaster that would have befallen the pack under my rule if I hadn’t accepted her proposal.

Eros might not have completed what he was telling me but I already knew everything, just from the mention of my Gamma, Tristian.

I have always known if the pack was going to rise against me because of my failure to give them a successor, it would start from my very own officials and second-in-commands but I never expected it to happen this soon.

No matter what, I wasn’t going to let their plot see the light of day. Even if it meant having to break my own promise and trust another she-wolf— again.