Chapter 2

Kaiya

“You don’t want to see the other girls, Sire?” Griffin asks

“Oh Goddess, no,” King Bowden says. “If I have to speak to one more simpering little airhead I’ll run headfirst into the nearest wall.”

The king leaves without another word while Griffin starts to undo my chains. “Am I a simpering airhead?” I ask him.

The Beta chuckles softly. “No. If you were, the king would not have chosen you.”

“That’s good, I suppose?”

Griffin smiles at me. “Yes. That’s very good.”

“What will happen to the other girls?”

He undoes my collar and lets it fall to the ground. I rub my neck where the collar bit into my skin and wait for Griffin to answer.

“Nothing. Why?”

“They said the king will kill them.”

Griffin laughs again. “No. Why would he do something like that?”

“That’s exactly what I asked.”

The Beta gives me a lopsided grin. “There are a lot of myths and stories surrounding the king’s mate search. Most of it’s bullshit.”

Mate? I thought he was looking for a breeder. “Does he usually pick the first one he sees?”

“You are not the first one. This is the fifty-sixth pack we’ve visited this year.”

“So…so how many of us are there?”

Griffin frowns. “How many…just you. What do you think the king does? Go from pack to pack and collect mates?”

“Well…yeah. The other girls said he has a harem of breeders.”

“No, he’s not looking for breeders. Wait here.”

Griffin disappears and I briefly contemplate my situation. A lot has happened in a very short time, and I’ve barely had a moment to process everything. It feels a bit like a dream, but I don’t know if it’s a good or bad one yet.

The king barely touched me. In fact, he didn’t even seem to be all that interested in me, but that can change. If it’s his wolf that wants me, things can get really ugly very quickly. I’ve seen what can happen when a werewolf loses control over his animal.

But Lycans aren’t werewolves. Maybe they don’t lose control over their animals in the same way werewolves do.

I sit on the edge of the armchair and consider my options. I have none. No one asked me my opinion and the decision was made for me, but years ago someone decided that I had to die, and that didn’t work out as planned.

Unlike most packless wolves, I like my life as a human. My job isn’t glamorous in the least, and sometimes finances are tight, but I am free of the constraints werewolf society would impose on me.

I’ve gotten away before - I can get away again. The question is when do I do it?

It would be monumentally stupid if I try to run now. Dorian’s men will catch up with me within seconds. I can wait until I’m on the road with the king and try my luck then, but Lycans are supercharged werewolves, so that probably wouldn’t work. It seems the best would be to go with the king and wait until an opportunity presents itself. Surely, they won’t watch me every minute of every day.

Griffin returns with a garment bag and a vanity case. “You need to shower and put on this dress,” he says and holds up the garment bag. “The king expects you to…look a certain way.”

“Right,” I mutter. It didn’t cross my mind yet, but if I’m to be the king’s mate, of course I need to look the part

“Do you need someone to help you with your hair and make-up?” Griffin asks.

“Probably,” I answer. “No one ever taught me how to do that kind of stuff. What you see here is pretty much what you get.”

Griffin reaches out and pulls a dead leaf from my hair. “Does that include the foliage?”

“No…that must have happened when Alpha Dorian’s warriors tackled me.”

The Beta’s lips press together in a thin line as if he’s displeased by the warriors’ actions. “Go take your shower-” he points at a door to my left -“and I’ll see if Luna Glenda can help with the rest.”

Two hours later, I am standing in front of a mirror wearing a light blue dress that’s slightly too big for me, but flattering nonetheless. I almost never wear dresses, my job as a cleaner doesn’t allow for it, but I like this one. It has a tight bodice and flares out at the hips, creating the illusion that I have curves, and the colour of the dress brings out my eyes.

My blond hair, usually pin straight, have been expertly curled by Luna Glenda and falls in gentle waves down my back. She used just enough make-up so I look less like a sleep-deprived scarecrow and more like a young woman.

“Perfect,” Luna Glenda says. “Any king would be proud to have you by his side.”

“Will I be by his side though?” I wonder aloud.

The Luna shrugs. “Who knows what goes on in that castle of theirs?”

Griffin knocks on the door and enters before we give him permission. “How are things going in here? Are you about done?”

I turn to look at the Beta who smiles and gives me an approving nod. “Much better. We need to go - the king grows impatient.”

As we walk down the hallway, I notice that the selection room is empty and the guards are gone. I hope that Alpha Dorian didn’t do anything to the girls, but I’m very aware of the fact that it’s none of my business and no one will give me a straight answer if I ask.

Most of the wolves that live here hurry to get out of our way as we approach. Griffin doesn’t seem to care, but I’m not used to people being afraid of me. On the rare occasion that I run into other wolves, usually rogues like me, they treat me as they do anyone else does.

Griffin leads me into the Alpha’s impressive reception room. He must be powerful. The pack house is huge and the reception room looks like a picture taken straight out of an interior design magazine. The king gets to his feet and turns to Dorian. “I thank you for your hospitality, Alpha. We’ll be on our way.”

“Are you sure, your majesty?” Dorian asks. “You would not prefer to spend the night?”

“Quite sure.” The king looks at Griffin who nods and removes a thick envelope from the inside pocket of his jacket. “A token of our gratitude,” King Bowden says.

Dorian’s eyes sparkle greedily as he takes the offered envelope. “At your pleasure, my lord,” he says and tucks the envelope into his back pocket. “Shall I see you out?”

“There is no need. I know the way,” Bowden says.

He barely looks at me when he turns his back on Dorian and walks out.

Reality is starting to set in fast now. Bowden doesn’t seem at all interested in me, but Griffin is nice enough and if everyone at the castle is like him, maybe it won’t be so bad to live there.

Again, Griffin is the one who steers me out of the pack house and to the line of cars waiting for us in the dark, circular driveway.

I thought the king was here alone with his Beta, but there are five cars outside. Four SUVs and one truly impressive limo. The driver opens the door for the king and he gets in without looking left or right.

I glance up at the cloudless sky and nearly full moon. I wonder if that’s the reason the king is in such a hurry to get home. The full moon forces a werewolf’s shift and if they’re not somewhere safe when that happens, it can cause a whole lot problems.

Griffin takes me straight to the limousine and my heart sinks. King Bowden isn’t much of a conversationalist and he makes me a little nervous. I hope it’s not a long drive to the castle.

To my dismay, Griffin doesn’t get into the back with us. He takes a seat in the front, and as soon as he does, he puts the dark glass divider up so we can’t see or hear him and the driver. Well, at least I can’t.

The SUVs roar to life and soon after the limo starts to vibrate under my ass. The king reaches up to switch on the roof light and pulls a laptop out from under his seat. “Is it…is it far to your castle?” I ask the king.

He looks up from his closed laptop and nod. “A day or so. We’ll stop at a hotel along the way to rest.”

Then why in the hell am I dressed up like a doll if we’re going to be in the car for hours and hours? Couldn’t I get dressed up at the castle or the hotel? I don’t think I should ask the king these questions though. He looks surly and not in the mood to talk.

My suspicions are confirmed when he opens his laptop and starts to type. “There are some magazines and books in the compartment next to you,” he says without looking up from his laptop.

I can’t read in a car. Even with the roof light on, I get sick when I try to read in a moving vehicle. There’s something else I’d rather have. “King…did Alpha Dorian give you my belongings?”

He looks up from his laptop. “What belongings?”

“Well, my cellphone, for one, and my car keys.”

“You mean that broken down old clunker we saw on our way here?”

Immediately, I’m pissed off. That broken down old clunker isn’t much, but it is mine, and I worked hard for it. I grit my teeth and nod.

“No, he didn’t,” the king says. “I’ll buy you a new cellphone…and you won’t need a car.”

“What about my clothes and other stuff?”

The king looks mildly annoyed when he closes his laptop and rests his hands on it. “Your clothes?”

I nod. “At my flat.”

“Is there anything at your flat that has sentimental value to you?”

There isn’t. The only thing of value I have is a golden necklace that I never take off – it belonged to my mother. I’m more concerned about my roommate, Clara. She’s a wolfless rogue, like me, and she’ll be worried if I’m not home soon. “My roommate. I want to…let her know that I won’t be home tonight.”

The king raises his perfectly sculpted eyebrows at me. “Your roommate?”

“She’s my friend. We…if I don’t come home, she’ll call the cops for sure.”

He sits back and pushes his fingertips together while he regards me. “Is she a wolf?”

“Sort of.”

The king sighs and his impatience is growing ever more evident. “What does sort of mean?”

“She doesn’t have a wolf.”

“You couldn’t just say that?”

I shrug. “Most…most werewolves…they kill the wolfless ones.”

“I’m not a werewolf. Are you close to this roommate of yours?”

“Yes, your majesty. The Alphas around these parts…they…they hunt us for sport. She’ll be worried. We look out for each other.”

“If you knew this about the Alphas, what the hell were you doing on werewolf land?”

I blush and stare at my hands. “I was stupid. I thought I could take a shortcut through Alpha Dorian’s territory. My car broke, and I just wanted to get home. He doesn’t usually have that many guards, and I…” my words trail off when I see the exasperation on the king’s face.

“You talk a lot,” he states.

“I’m sorry,” I say in a small voice.

He reaches into his laptop bag and pulls out a pad and pen. “Write down the address, I’ll send someone to fetch her.”

My heart drops into my stomach. “What?” I ask, truly afraid for the first time. “Why?”

“So you’ll have a friend at the castle. See it as…a gift.”

“You…you won’t kill her?”

“No,” he states simply and opens his laptop again, signalling that the conversation is at an end.

I don’t know why, and there’s no reason for it, but I believe him. Besides, having a familiar face and a friend around would be nice.

I write down mine and Clara’s address and softly clear my throat when I’m done. The king just holds out his hand while he’s still staring at his screen. I place the pad in his palm and sit back, watching him very closely.

He looks at the address I’ve written down and his face pulls into a frown of disapproval. “I know this place.” He looks up and gives me a scathing look. “You told me that you’re a virgin.”

“I am,” I say. I know what he’s thinking. My flat is in a bad part of town and more than half the occupants there are prostitutes. “I work as a cleaner at the hospital. It doesn’t pay all that well, you know.”

He pulls an expensive cellphone out of his jacket pocket and hands it to me. “Call your friend. Let her know that you are all right and that my king’s guard is on the way to fetch her.”

I stare at the phone for a long time. “Yeah, I’d better not tell her that…”

“She’ll run?”

“Probably.”

The king lets out a mirthless little chuckle. “Then what do you suggest I do? Kidnap her?”

“If you wouldn’t mind.”

King Bowden stares at me for what feels like an eternity, then he throws back his head and starts to laugh. I don’t know if I should be amused or scared. “You are very different,” he says and wipes tears from his eyes.

“Am I?”

“Yes. Fine. I’ll send someone to kidnap your friend.”