Chapter 2

Archer.

The sound of a heavy punch hitting the air echoed in my ear, louder than the sound of my pounding heart as adrenaline washed over me. Theo, my beta, cast me a proud look because, for the first time in two decades, he almost got me.

When I wasn’t passing decrees, listening in on complaints from one alpha to the other, or traveling, I was sparring with Theo. He was the only one strong enough to contend with me. He was fast, smart—especially in combat—and most of all willing to learn. Though even with his strength, he never held a candle to me.

We weren’t friends, like most Alphas and Beta, but I spent a lot of my time with him enough to call him my person because he was good at taking orders and getting jobs done.

“Hm, eager to hit me, I see,” I flexed my shoulders, fixing my gaze on his fists to dictate his next move.

Theo didn't hesitate, I knew he'd been waiting for the chance to be able to hit me, and I would make it as impossible for him to get anywhere near me as I had in any of our previous practices!

“BANG!” I fell to the ground, and I looked at Theo's fist still hanging in the air in shock. How is this possible, how the fuck is this possible?

No one's fist could come near me! Not even any Alpha!

But, just now, Theo did.

“Alpha...... you,” Theo quickly lowered his fist and looked at me apologetically. I avoided his touch and walked away from the training hall without a word.

“You have until your thirtieth birthday to find your mate. Or else you’ll become weaker, and worst-case scenario, you’ll die.”

The witch's words jumped into my head once again, I never believed in her prophecies because it had never happened before.

I was not angry at Theo, if anything I was proud that he hit me, because it showed he had guts, and regardless of how powerful his opponent was, he wouldn’t back down.

What I was angry at though, were the thoughts that allowed Theo to strike me, and what it meant.

My eyes skimmed to the face towel hanging from a pull-up bar on my left side. I walked over, grabbed it, and headed toward the restroom at the back.

Taking off my shirt, I stood in front of a mirror, staring at my chest and the strong muscles all over my body that I’d gathered from training, to make myself stronger and sturdy, recalling the curse that loomed over me.

I found out about three weeks ago when my priestess came visiting to ‘relay important information’ she had gathered. Truthfully, she was not a priestess but a witch I saved from getting sold off and killed a decade ago, and ever since then, she dedicated her life to serving me. I had hated the way witch rolled off my tongue so I stuck to calling her a priestess.

“Forgive me, Your Majesty, but I’m afraid you’ll have to find your mate this year. A curse was placed upon you, and I kept it to myself because I thought that by now you would’ve found your mate, but you’re twenty-nine and you haven’t, and the situation has become dire.” She’d said.

“What is the curse?”

“You have until your thirtieth birthday to find your mate. Or else you’ll become weaker, and worst-case scenario, you’ll die.”

I had taken her words as a mere folktale because I wasn’t one to believe in such things, yet, those words haunted me.

As I was lost in thought, I hadn’t realized I’d been joined by Omega in the restroom until she appeared before me, holding up a change of clothes, her eyes blazing with desire. It was a poor attempt at seduction that was honestly quite pitiful to me, especially because indulging in pointless sexual acts was of no use to me, as I was too focused on finding my mate.

“Get out!” I thundered, and in the blink of an eye, she scurried away. I took a cold shower, changed into the clothes the omega brought, and made my way back into the main house for dinner where I knew my parents were waiting.

“Archer, how nice of you to finally join us,” my mother smiled, but I could tell that under that smile was annoyance at my lateness.

I returned the smile.

“I’ll do better.”

“I hope you do,” I thought I heard her mutter, but the sound of a bunch of omegas filling in with our meals distracted me.

“How’s the preparation for the inspection tomorrow?” My father asked, arching his brows.

“Preparations are complete.”

“I hope you’ll be lucky enough to find your mate this time. It’s been a long time coming,” my mother huffed, and immediately my appetite disappeared.

I kept the curse a secret from everyone, including my parents, only telling them I would begin an inspection of all the packs to find my mate, but yet, the mere mention of the topic, added with what had happened in the gym, put me in a foul mood.

I excused myself from the table, retiring to my bedroom for the night.

The next morning I set out early with my people, heading to Crimson Pack. It was the closest pack to me so it made sense to start the inspection there, however when I arrived at the pack, the Alpha, Vito came out to greet me, but I couldn’t help but notice his mate was missing.

“Is this a joke? Or do you not teach reverence to your pack?”

Vito laughed awkwardly, replying that he did.

“Then why is your mate absent? I know you have one.”

I watched the alpha and his entourage look around themselves with wide eyes, each just realizing that their Luna was absent.

Something wasn’t right, and I was determined to find out. I had announced an inspection to find my mate, but that didn’t mean I couldn’t do my work as the Lycan King.

“Find her and bring her to me.”