Chapter 2

Frederick's POV 

I was supposed to be angry but to my growing annoyance, I was amused.

In all my years as Alpha General, no one had ever stood before me like this.

Yet, an ordinary Omega was still daring me to break him.

My wolf's actions surprised me in all of this, it had been silent for years since the death of my mate and for the first time, stirred violently inside me.

It paced like a beast driven mad, growling low in the back of my mind that made my skin feel too tight for my body.

It wanted him.

I tore my eyes away from him and turned sharply to the slave trader, who was already shaking so badly that sweat gleamed across his forehead.

“So this,” I said coldly, my voice carrying across the courtyard, “is what you brought into my pack?”

The trader immediately fell to his knees.

“M-My lord—”

“You brought a slave into my territory who spits venom in my face, insults me before my people, and stands in my courtyard as though he owns it.”

“My lord, forgive me, I—”

I raised my hand, cutting him off.

Then I looked at one of my guards.

“Shoot him.”

The courtyard exploded into shocked murmurs.

The trader’s eyes widened so much I thought they might fall out of his skull.

“My lord, please! Mercy! I have children—”

His begging disgusted me.

My guard stepped forward and lifted his weapon.

Before he could pull the trigger, everything happened so fast that I could barely comprehend.

One second, the Omega was on his knees, and the next, he was on his feet like a storm breaking loose.

His hand caught the guard’s wrist, twisting so sharply that a sickening crack split through the air. 

The weapon fell from the guard’s hand, but before it could hit the ground, the Omega caught it effortlessly with his free hand.

Then he drove his fist straight into the guard’s jaw.

The impact sent the man crashing hard onto the stone floor.

He stood there breathing hard then, with clear disgust, he tossed it away.

He lifted his gaze and looked straight at me, then he hissed softly and wiped blood from his mouth with the back of his hand.

“I wasn’t wrong,” he said. “You really are a coward.”

He took one slow step toward me.

“A real leader handles his own battles,” he continued, his voice sharp with contempt. “He doesn’t hide behind guards and punish weaker people because his pride got bruised.”

A murmur ran through the courtyard again as my Beta shifted uneasily beside me but 

I heard nothing except the pounding of my own blood.

Because somehow, impossibly, this reckless bastard had reached into my chest and pressed on the one wound that had never healed.

“For a feared Alpha,” he added with a crooked smile, “you look painfully fragile.”

I moved so fast no one saw me cross the distance.

My hand wrapped around his throat and I slammed him against the nearest pillar.

Gasps broke out around us as his feet left the ground.

My fingers tightened as his pulse beat wildly beneath my palm, his face reddening from lack of air.

Still, he smiled.

Mad bastard!

“You think death scares me?” he rasped.

I tightened my grip further.

“Do your worst Alpha, I'm not afraid of you!” 

I was about to snap his neck when my  wolf roared so violently inside my head that my vision blurred.

“DON’T YOU DARE HURT OUR MATE!”

I froze as my grip loosened involuntarily, staring at him in disbelief.

For one terrifying moment, everything inside me went still.

My wolf had spoken.

That alone was enough to shake me to my core because since Elian died, my wolf had become nothing more than a hollow shadow inside me.

My breathing turned uneven as I stared at the Omega hanging in my grip.

That made no sense.

Alphas do not mate with Omegas.

Ancient pack law had made that clear long before I was born. 

Alpha bloodlines were sacred and so their mates were meant to be chosen from equally dominant blood, not from those born to submit.

So what the hell was happening to me?

Why was my wolf losing its mind?

The closer I held him, the more my control slipped through my fingers. 

His scent invaded every corner of my senses, wild enough to make my blood run hot and heavy, dark enough to wake parts of me I thought died with Elian.

All I wanted was to bend this mannerless idiot over, fuck every ounce of defiance out of him, and keep going until that sharp mouth was begging me for mercy.

A brutal craving to claim, to keep, to never let another soul touch what my wolf was already calling mine.

His lips curved into a slow smirk, my hand still resting against his throat.

Then he leaned close enough that only I could hear him.

“You look terrified, Alpha,” he whispered.

I released him at once as though he had burned me.

He landed lightly on his feet, rubbing his throat while that same infuriating amusement danced in his eyes.

Beside me, Gregory drew his sword in one swift motion and charged forward.

“I’ll kill this insolent bastard—”

“DO NOT TOUCH HIM!”

My roar tore through the courtyard with such force that Gregory stopped instantly.

Every face turned toward me in stunned disbelief.

It made no sense for me to protect a slave, especially one who had publicly insulted me, humiliated me, and pushed me closer to losing control than anyone ever had.

Even the Omega looked surprised, though the expression vanished so quickly I almost thought I imagined it.

I turned sharply to the slave trader.

“I’ll buy him.”

The trader blinked.

“Y-Yes, my lord. Of course.”

“How much?”

The man hesitated, then swallowed hard.

“He is worth millions, Alpha.”

My eyes narrowed dangerously.

“Are you insane? You expect me to pay the value of over five hundred slaves for one mouthy bastard?”

The trader quickly bowed lower.

“This one is different, my lord.”

My gaze hardened.

“How?”

The trader looked around nervously before lowering his voice.

“He carries a rare gift, Alpha. One almost unheard of in our kind.”

I folded my arms across my chest.

“What gift?”

The trader lifted his trembling eyes and said quietly:

“He can bear children.”