Chapter 2

Alexander POV

Ten years…

Ten years searching for her without success. As if she didn’t exist. I was starting to lose hope that I would ever find her.

I am Alexander, the Lycan King, the man all werewolf packs submit to… and yet, I couldn’t find my fated mate. I tried to marry a noblewoman from the kingdom and end this pointless search, but—

“No.” My wolf, Valkyr, spoke sharply and firmly inside my head as always. “I will not give her up.”

I exhaled in irritation as I crossed the borders of Blood Moon Pack.

I didn’t come here only for the coronation… even though that’s what everyone believed. But perhaps I would find her here. This was my last chance. If I didn’t find her, I would marry a powerful woman to become the pack’s Luna.

My method of searching for her through all the packs was attending every Alpha’s coronation. And of course, that was after searching for her throughout my kingdom, the Lycan Kingdom, but unfortunately, she wasn’t one of them. And because of Valkyr, I hadn’t been able to marry any woman from the kingdom until now.

Valkyr tried to object once again, but this time I blocked him out.

I found the border soldiers waiting. They looked shocked that I had arrived early.

They all bowed before I stepped out, and one of them excused himself, shifted, and ran off to inform the pack.

He could have contacted them through the bond, but he obviously forgot because of my presence. That was the least effect my aura caused.

I stepped out of the car and looked at them coldly and seriously. It was my habit to arrive a night early to any pack I visited so I could see if there was anything violating the laws I had established.

I ruled all packs under strict laws.

Only moments passed before I saw someone in wolf form running toward me at full speed. He stopped in front of me after returning to his human form and bowed nervously.

“Welcome to Blood Moon Pack, King Alexander. I apologize, Your Majesty, we thought you would arrive tomorrow, so we have not prepared your welcoming ceremony yet. I am Beta Maithon, and Alpha Lucian will arrive as quickly as possible.”

“I do not care about such nonsense. Take me to the palace immediately,” I spoke coldly.

I ignored him and walked past him while he and some border guards, along with my men, followed behind me.

I didn’t know why, but something about this Beta made me uncomfortable from the moment I saw him. There was something that made me irrationally angry, and I could smell a scent clinging to him that irritated me.

The palace began to appear before me, and with every step I took toward it, I felt something strange that I had never felt before.

The moment I stepped inside the palace…

Everything froze.

My breathing stopped.

My heart pounded violently.

A scent unlike anything I had ever smelled before.

It was enchanting… warm… powerful enough to make my entire body respond unconsciously.

My eyes widened, and Valkyr’s voice rose inside me, almost like a roar.

“Mate.”

My fists tightened, and I started walking faster, the scent becoming clearer with every step.

“She’s here…” I muttered in a low voice, barely believing what I was feeling after all these years.

I looked at everyone standing there, but she wasn’t one of them.

“Bring everyone in the palace before me,” I ordered coldly, my eyes scanning the area while I tried to control my emotions and my raging wolf.

I found Alpha Lucian standing before me. Because of the Alpha aura, I could recognize them easily.

He bowed respectfully.

“Welcome, King Alex—”

“This is not the time. I do not want welcomes. I want everyone in this palace standing before me immediately,” I ordered seriously, this time with anger.

Lucian stepped back, and I saw fear in his eyes. He kept his head lowered.

“Everyone in the palace is already here, Your Majesty.”

“I don’t know which word in my sentence was unclear. Not everyone is here. If you want your head to remain attached to your body, bring every single person breathing in this pack before me this instant.”

I was trying to control myself, but I wanted her now.

I could hear his heartbeat accelerating from fear.

He looked at his Beta.

“Bring all pack members immediately.”

Everyone started moving quickly, gathering the pack.

After only a few minutes, the pack stood lined up in the palace courtyard, but I still hadn’t found her. Yet her scent still filled the place.

“King Alexander, is there a problem?” Ivan, my Beta, asked worriedly through our bond.

I blocked him immediately and turned toward that Lucian, whose throat I wanted to rip out right now.

“There are some prisoners in the palace dungeon and basement, Your Majesty,” a blonde woman among the crowd spoke respectfully while bowing and pointing toward a staircase leading downstairs.

I felt my jaw tighten, my fists clenching hard.

“Prisoners!”

Did she just say prison?

Could they have thrown my mate into a dungeon?

How dare they do such a thing?

I stormed toward the basement.

The underground corridors were suffocating… dark… filled with the smell of mold and blood.

But there was another scent, something like vanilla, overpowering all those disgusting smells.

Her scent.

She was truly here.

The Lycan King’s mate was imprisoned in the basement of one of the packs.

Everyone would pay for this.

I followed the scent until I stopped in front of iron bars.

My eyes fell on her.

My woman.

Entirely mine.

Black hair reaching her waist, pale white skin, a torn dress.

There were marks of beating and torture scattered across her body, enough to drive me insane.

And despite all of that…

She was beautiful.

Enchanting.

My eyes darkened.

“Who did this?”

I didn’t even move my head an inch. More accurately, I wasn’t expecting an answer because I had already decided this pack would witness a bloody massacre unlike anything anyone had ever seen or heard of before.

“My King, we—”

I didn’t even turn toward him, and in the next moment…

The guard was silent forever.

Anyone who touched her or harmed her would not live.

She didn’t speak.

She only stared at me in complete silence. Her green eyes looked at me calmly, shock clear across her face.

I had never seen a more beautiful woman.

I stepped toward the door, placed my hand on it, and shattered it with a single strike.

I stood directly in front of her.

“I knew you would come someday,” she spoke softly and weakly, but her gaze was cold and somewhat empty.

I tightened my arms around her, but she winced in pain because of the bruises covering her body.

My voice came out low and terrifying.

“I will not leave anyone who hurt you alive. You are the Lycan King’s mate.”