Bastian

“Bastian, if I’d known who she was, I’d never have brought her here.”

I don’t look up at my Beta and best friend, Chris. I’m too angry to look at him right now. When he came to me an hour or so ago, telling me that he’d come across a rouge on my territory, I was displeased. I was because unless a rouge causes trouble, we generally let them through. This rouge hadn’t done anything, according to Zayne, my army general. She was walking along the border, in wolf form, minding her own business. So what gave Chris the right to catch her unawares and knock her out?

I don’t know, but I’m not going to let him get away with what he’s done.

How could he not have known who she was?

The size of a Royal wolf makes them recognisable!

I hope Chris knows what trouble he’s caused. The fool brought my mate here, and I rejected her because I didn’t want a damn rouge as a mate. That was beyond prejudice of me, using the rogue thing as an excuse.

The truth is, I didn’t think I was ready for a mate yet. I didn’t even think about the ramifications of what I was saying. They shot out of my mouth before I could stop the words.

Maybe if I’d taken a moment to think about the situation, I wouldn’t have rejected Lilly. I won’t deny that as soon as I smelt that strawberry mixed with flower scent, everything inside of me screamed to go to my mate.

I searched the damn house looking for who that scent belonged to, and when Chris told me about the rogue, I felt sick. I have nothing against rogues; if you don’t count, most of them have a hidden agenda. But the stuck-up arsehole I am, the man my father made me, would never take a rogue as a mate. So, I did what I was taught to do and rejected Lilly.

‘Sounds like prejudice to me,’

‘Shut up, Bane, I already have a headache.’

‘Good.’

I can’t deny that even though I believed her to be a rogue, Lilly was the most beautiful woman I’d ever seen. Dark hair, blue eyes, tanned skin, and a body made for sin. However, my pack would never welcome a rouge as their Luna. Accepting her would have made me look weak in the eyes of my pack, and I can’t have that. I rule my pack with an iron fist, though I don’t cause pain to loyal ones. Rules are rules, and I wouldn’t allow a member of my pack to claim a rouge.

So why would I think it would be okay for me to go ahead and do just that?

When she said her name, I thought she was lying. There’s no way the Princess would be in my dungeon. There’s no way my Beta would be that stupid. I can’t deny that I squinted my eyes a little to see if there was any resemblance to the little girl I once knew. I couldn’t see it, and I believed the little tramp would say anything to save herself.

The second I heard her laugh, I knew I’d just made the biggest mistake of my life. I rejected Lillian Dalgaard, Omerian Alpha, future Queen of Zidiah, and didn’t my wolf just love that? I thought he’d tear out of my body and kill me right where we stood.

I haven’t seen Lilly since she was twelve, and I was fifteen. My father is friends with the Alpha King, and we’d visit the city of Zidiah once a year for their annual Snow Ball. However, I refused to go once I reached sixteen. I’d released my wolf, and I wanted to make my own choices. I didn’t want to be around the King and Queen and their three little monsters. Not that they were monsters in any real sense, they were pampered little shits, and it irked me.

I also hadn’t been the same since my sister went missing at the age of two. I was ten, and something inside of me died the day Stella vanished from the forest.

I never wanted to get close to anyone after that. Losing Stella, never knowing what happened to her, I lost a part of myself that I could never get back. Why would I want a mate if I would only lose her in the end?

Therein lies the problem. The rogue thing was an excuse, and I knew it, but it was the best excuse I could think of because I’d never admitted that losing Stella still kills me every day.

However, realising who Lilly was, I wanted to take back the rejection. Not because of her status and who she’ll one day become, but because my wolf howled that Lilly could be the one who shows us that we can trust again. But the little bitch didn’t give me a chance. Lilly threw at me how she didn’t accept, and I didn’t want to look weak, so I said nothing.

Not accepting my rejection made me realise that she’s mental. Every wolf shifter knows what happens to an Alpha when they reject their mate and the other refuses to accept. The pain we go through when in rut and heat is excruciating. That hour isn’t far away; I can feel it creeping up on me.

When mates meet, the bond is instant, and rut and heat soon follow. If we don’t mate within two days, we could do some permanent damage to ourselves. If rejected and said rejection is accepted, it’s easy to ride out the heat and rut with any willing partner—however, mates who do what Lilly did have been known to die from the pain. Lilly isn’t the everyday Alpha; she’s an Omerian; everything will be much worse for her and me.

I can’t even believe Lilly wouldn’t care what happens to her! I know she doesn’t give a shit about me, and I know she’s hoping I’ll die. But to be so stubborn as to let herself suffer? The girl is insane!

I swear to the Goddess Selene, why have I been given this nightmare woman as a mate?

I barely gave Lilly a second thought in all the years since I last saw her. How was I to know she was my mate?

‘Maybe if you’d visited the Royal pack each year with your family, you’d have known when Lilly came of age. But not you, huh? You dumb bastard! Now we’ve lost our mate!’

‘I know what I’ve done, Bane; you don’t need to remind me.’

‘Fuck you!’ My wolf spits and then quietens down.

“Zayne told me what happened, Chris. You had no right to capture Lilly, even if you did think she was a rogue.”

“She was in wolf form, Bastian, and she was massive! How was I to know that she meant no harm?”

“The fact she was larger than other wolves, was clean, and didn’t have chunks cut out of her should have told you she wasn’t a rogue!” I finally look up at him. “She didn’t attack, didn’t even look as though she wanted to. According to Zayne, Lilly’s wolf was looking at the flowers near the border. She’s the fucking Princess, Chris! Our future Queen! Every pack knows to allow Royal’s passage through their territories without a problem. They own all of us! Do you have any idea what will happen to the pack once Orrin Dalgaard finds out we have his daughter?”

He’ll wipe us out; that’s what he’ll do. Zidiah is hundreds of thousands upon thousands strong. Greenrock doesn’t even come close to what Zidiah is. We’re a large pack, almost six thousand strong, but nothing like Orrian Dalgaard’s pack.

Greenrock is part of the Zidiah Kingdom, though we’re not residents of Zidiah itself. Orrin is the King of all Alpha’s, ruler of wolf shifters the world over. The man refuses to acknowledge the word Werewolf. We’re not werewolves; werewolves transform when a full moon rises. A shifter can change whenever and wherever the need takes them.

I don’t see what it matters if others call us werewolves or not. However, the King finds it offensive, thus meaning, everyone in the kingdom agrees. The man is strange, and he’s also going to rip my spine from my body. Great.

Maybe the rut killing me is the better plan. Being killed by Orrin Dalgaard is not on the top of my to-do list. The man is ruthless when it comes to ruling not only Zidiah but packs everywhere. I suppose you’d have to be ruthless, ruling over millions.

‘You should hope it is Orrin who kills you.’

‘What do you mean by that?’

Bane chuckles inside my head. ‘If the Queen gets her hands on you, there won’t be anything left for your people to mourn. Then there’s Luther and Leander. They’re Lilly’s triplet counterparts, and you’ve torn their sister away from them. All the pain they’ll suffer if she dies will be nothing to what you’ll feel if you do live through this.’

Bane is right. I don’t have a clue how to fix this. I can’t just let Lilly go because she’d never make it home in the state she’ll find herself in shortly. Any damn wolf could get his hands on Lilly, and she wouldn’t care once in heat. When a female wants to fuck, she fucks. I can’t have someone take her back to Zidiah because Lilly will tell Orrin and Anja, Luther and Leander what happened here.

I’m fucked whichever way I look at things.

Chris groans and leans back in his seat in front of my desk. “I know what I’ve done, Bastian, but I didn’t know who she was.”

“No excuse!” I slam my fists down on the oak table while shooting to my feet. “You...” The burning in my thighs takes my breath away. “Went against...” It radiates over my groin and to my stomach, and I can’t help the groan of pain falling from my lips.

“Bastian, are you all right?”

“Does he look all right?” Micha, my Theta, pack doctor, snaps at Chris.

“Fuck!” I managed to hiss out while grabbing my chest.

“We have to get him to his room; his rut is starting. This is going to be nasty,”

Both Chris and Micha take my arms and drag me out of my office and to my bedroom. I can barely breathe by the time they drop me on my bed. I’ve never felt anything like this in my life!

‘I hope you’re feeling this too, you bitch,’ I know Lilly can’t hear me, but I think it anyway.

An evil laugh fills my head, and I’m stunned. There’s no way I should be hearing her in my head; we haven’t mated, and she’s not part of the pack, so there shouldn’t be a link between us. ‘You’re so fucking dumb it’s ridiculous.’ Lilly mocks inside my head. ‘Do you know anything about Omerian’s?’

‘As my pack has never produced one, no, I don’t know much.’ I’m being honest. Greenrock has never seen an Omerian Alpha, nor have they seen a Romerian. Those gifts are usually found in Royalty or those of high standing.

‘I don’t need to be a member of your pack to tap into the link. Nor do I need to be mated to you to read your mind, hear your thoughts, or send you mine—perks of being an Omerian plus part vampire. Oh, the fun I could have in your head! Though you can only hear what and when I want you to, I can hear you all the time.’

‘Why are you doing this to me? Can’t you feel the pain?’

‘I feel it,’ I keep my eyes closed, trying to breathe through the agony in my gut. ‘But I won’t succumb to it. You rejected me, and now you’ll suffer the consequences. Don’t worry; the rut shouldn’t kill you; I’ll save that for when I finally accept your rejection.’ She laughs again.

I don’t answer Lilly; I can’t concentrate on anything other than the pain I’m feeling. No one has been able to bring me to my knees the way that girl has. My ruts usually last five days, and I pass them with any willing slut who comes my way.

As Lilly is my mate, I can’t sleep with anyone else unless I want to kill her. Lilly wouldn’t be immune to feeling everything I feel when I’m touching someone else, even without the mate mark, thanks to the Alpha in both of us. I may well want to strangle the bitch, but I don’t want to cause her more pain.

‘It wouldn’t kill me, Bastian,” I groan because I hate that she knows what I’m thinking. ‘It would cause me pain, but I’d live. I’m stronger than you could ever imagine. It’s a pity, really. If you’d treated me better, accepted me, we could have been magic together. Oh, well,’ She sighs dramatically. ‘Sleep tight.’

“We need to strip him to his boxers and then strap his wrists and ankles to the bed.”

“What the fuck for?” I hear Chris snap at Micha.

“Because the pain he’s in will only intensify. By this time tomorrow, he could tear his own heart out!”

The pain has nulled a little, but I don’t move to stop my Beta and Theta from restraining me to my bed. I’ll kill them for doing so once this rut is over. But right now, I’m too exhausted from the pain to care.

“Why don’t we just bring Lola in and let her ride the rut out of him?”

“Because,” Micha snaps. “His mate would feel everything! Do you really want to be responsible for the death of our Princess and future Queen? Do you have a fucking clue what kind of war that would bring to Greenrock? You’ve heard the stories of how powerful her mother is, and I, for one, do not want that brought down on us!”

“You’re such a fucking pussy, Micha. Who the hell would even know Lilly was here? Has anyone come looking for her? No.”

“Yet! You really think the Zidiahan troops won’t find her? Oh my Goddess, Chris! I don’t even know who the hell you are right now. Luther and Leander will slaughter the whole pack if they sniff out their sister. It won’t matter that Bastian is Lilly’s mate; her brothers are insanely protective of their sister.

“I have a family, Chris, a wife, cubs. I can’t risk anything happening to them. Now, we either convince Bastian to retract his rejection and Lilly to accept him as her mate,” I groan a little because my head is banging, and that’s never happened to me before. “Or we let the girl go before war comes to Greenrock. A war we’d have no chance of winning.”

“And you think war won’t come if we let her go?”

I don’t know if I blacked out or what, but I can no longer hear Chris and Micha. I can see Lilly in my head, her smiling face looking down on me, telling me that I was an idiot. Then I feel her lips on mine as she tells me that she’ll never accept my rejection. I see myself taking it back and Lilly smiling while telling me that we can’t fight what the Goddess Selene wants.

However, I know it’s nothing more than a dream. Lilly will never forgive me, and if I don’t die, I’ll never be the same. War will come to my pack when the King realises his daughter is my prisoner. My pack will be slaughtered, and there will be nothing I can do to stop it, and it’s all my fault.

‘Well done, Bastian, you really fucked up this time.’