{3.} My Rut: Failure To Find a Mate.💦

BRAYDEN’S POV.

“Alpha King, you’re in your rut period. There’s no way you’re facing the Royal Assembly tonight. I won’t allow it.”

Gina’s voice came from behind me, strained beneath the pressure of my scent filling the room. I caught her reflection in the mirror as she coughed into her fist, clearly struggling to breathe comfortably, yet she still refused to back down.

I almost smiled.

She had been doing this since I woke up, and apparently, she had no intention of stopping.

“Gina,” I said calmly, fastening the last button of my shirt. “You know I have to go.”

“You don’t have to do anything!” She moved in front of me, deliberately blocking my view of the mirror. “You’re the Alpha King. You can postpone one meeting.”

My gaze settled on hers.

“I know you care about me,” I said, keeping my voice steady despite the heat building beneath my skin. “Just as much as my father did when he was alive. But you of all people know I can’t neglect my duties as King.”

“Your duties?” Gina scoffed, though the worry in her voice was impossible to miss. “Those ministers aren’t asking you to attend because they care about the Pack. They’re looking for another excuse to force you into a political mating.”

She drew in a shaky breath, clearly affected by my scent, but she stayed where she was.

“Your father would never have risked your health just to satisfy those ingrates.”

“Gina.” My patience thinned. “Stay out of this and keep your mouth shut.”

Her expression hardened.

For a moment, neither of us said anything. Then she sighed heavily, stepped around me, and walked toward the door. The force with which she shut it behind herself made the room tremble slightly.

I closed my eyes and took a slow breath, trying to steady my body before opening them again.

My reflection stared back at me.

I looked the same as I always did, yet my body felt nothing like itself. Heat crawled beneath my skin, my muscles remained tense, and every breath seemed to carry the weight of my own scent.

I reached for the bottle on the table and swallowed another mouthful, hoping it would suppress the rut for a little longer.

Just then, another wave of heat rolled through me and my fingers tightened around the bottle.

{Aren’t you pushing yourself too hard?}

Grey’s voice echoed inside my head, carrying more concern than usual.

“I have to attend the meeting.”

{You’re the Alpha King. You could make up an excuse. And as Gina said, no one would question you.}

“Grey.” I exhaled slowly, wiping the sweat gathering along my forehead. “You know that’s not how this works. The Royal Assembly has been looking for a reason to prove I’m not fit to rule. I can’t give them one.”

{Fuck them all!} Grey snarled so loudly that I winced. {You’re twenty-four. I still don’t understand why you’re putting yourself through this.}

“According to Pack law, a royal blood should have found a true mate by twenty, even if we haven’t marked them yet. You know this.”

I leaned against the edge of the table, trying to ignore the uncomfortable pressure building inside me.

“I can’t let them use my failure to find a mate against me.”

Grey went silent.

A knock sounded against the door a moment later before it opened.

I turned and found Hadrian entering the room in his wheelchair. His gaze immediately settled on me, and the faint smile on his lips disappeared.

“You look terrible.”

“Thanks.” I turned back toward the mirror. “Come to lecture me too?”

“I could hear Gina from the hallway. I think she already covered everything.”

A quiet huff escaped me, almost a laugh.

Hadrian rolled closer and stopped a few feet away. When I looked at him again, he had a handkerchief placed on his nose. Then he spoke up.

“Father wouldn’t want to see you like this.”

My jaw tightened.

“He would hate watching you push your body this far just to sit at a table with people who have never respected you the way he did.”

I looked away.

Hadrian continued, his voice quieter. “I remember how he used to look at you. Like you were already everything the Pack needed. He never doubted that you would become a good King.”

His words stirred something uncomfortable in my chest.

“And now…” He paused. “I think he would hate what this crown has done to you.”

“I don’t have a choice, Hadrian.”

“You do.” His voice was calm, but certain. “You’ve always had more choices than you let yourself believe. You just carry this crown like it owns you instead of the other way around.”

I stared at the floor for a moment before looking back at him.

“Someone has to take it seriously.”

“I know.” Hadrian’s gaze dropped briefly toward his legs before returning to me. “I used to think the same way, before everything changed.”

Neither of us spoke for a moment.

Then he sighed.

“Things change what we’re capable of carrying. That doesn’t mean you should break yourself trying to prove you’re strong enough for a throne you never asked for.”

I didn’t know what to say to that.

Hadrian had always been the one person who could make me question decisions I had already made.

After a moment, he seemed to relax. “I might have found a way out, actually.”

My attention immediately returned to him.

“A way out of what?”

“The arranged political mating, of course.”

My brows pulled together.

“I’ve been looking into it for weeks,” he continued. “There may be another option.”

“What kind of option?”

“It’s complicated.” His gaze moved over me, lingering on the sweat at my temple and the tension in my posture. “I’d rather explain it properly when your head is clear. Let me tell you tomorrow.”

I exhaled, relieved that there might finally be another way.

“Alright.”

I needed to get out of the palace before my body became even harder to control.

“I’m going for a ride.”

Hadrian frowned. “In your condition?”

“My elder brother, I’ll be fine.” I managed a tired smile as I moved toward the door. “I just need some air.”

He didn’t stop me.

I left the room, responding to the greetings of the palace staff as I made my way toward the garage, hoping the cold night air would help clear my head. But I barely reached the entrance before another violent wave of heat tore through my body.

“Again?” My hand flew to my chest as I doubled over, struggling to breathe. “You’ve got to be kidding me.”

The bottle had barely bought me a few minutes.

My fingers curled against my shirt as my body trembled uncontrollably. Heat surged through every muscle, and my vision blurred at the edges.

{I can’t stop it.} Grey’s voice sounded strained inside my head. {It’s too strong tonight.}

“No…” My voice cracked as I tried to straighten myself. “Not here.”

A guard nearby rushed toward me.

“Alpha—”

I barely registered his voice.

My veins throbbed against my skin as the pressure inside me became unbearable. My claws began pushing through my fingertips, and a sharp pain tore through my bones.

I staggered backward.

My eyes flooded with white.

I threw my head back as a howl ripped from my throat, echoing through the garage and across the palace grounds.

Then my bones began to crack.

Pain exploded through my body as my spine twisted and my limbs reshaped. My clothes tore beneath the force of the transformation, and within seconds, the man I had been disappeared beneath silver fur.

Grey took control.

The next thing I knew, my paws slammed against the ground as I surged forward.

The guards scattered as I tore through the garage, racing past the palace gates and into the darkness beyond.