4

WHITE CITADEL (THE PALACE).

RONAN.

I drove my fist into my third spar partner’s face. The sentinel stumbled back, blood spilling from his nose before he could even regain footing.

It pissed me off even more.

A sharp whistle cut through the private ring.

"Out!" The referee called quickly, already waving the injured sentinel off.

He glanced at me for a couple of seconds, as if hesitating whether or not to caution me. I threw him a hard glare and he visibly gulped.

I guess I had smoothly passed the message that I was in no mood to be corrected today.

"I can see you're really on a tear today," a familiar voice echoed through the ring.

I turned to see Knox walking in.

"Beta!" the sentinels and referee greeted, bowing respectfully as Knox acknowledged them with a curt nod.

I moved toward the edge of the ring, my jaw tight.

"How well has Ryker been training these men?" I snapped. "They call themselves sentinels but fight like pups!"

Knox exhaled, watching me in that observant manner of his.

Immediately, he signaled the referee and the few other sentinels hanging around the ring to give us some privacy.

I made my way out of the ring, approaching him as he held out a bottle of water to me.

"Thank you," I muttered, collecting the bottle and gulping down some of its content.

"What's happening?" he queried, going straight to the point.

Knox wasn't the type to beat around the bush, and as much as I hated to admit it, he knew me too well.

I said nothing at first, dabbing my sweaty body with a towel.

"How was your trip to Dark Hollow?" I asked, ignoring his question. He visibly suppressed the urge to glare at me.

"How was Lord Bailey’s game night yesterday?" he pushed.

My lips slightly curved in a small frown.

"I asked you a question, Knox."

Silence stretched as both of us waited for the other to give in. Knox was the only person capable of keeping up with me.

But calm and patient as he usually was, there were moments when he met my stubbornness with equal force.

I knew that my reluctance to speak about the previous night at Bailey's residence, had more or less been a confirmation that indeed, the reason for my sour mood had something to do with the event of last night.

Knox usually accompanied me on these events, but last night he was away on an official visit to Dark Hollow province, after the rogue attack on them.

I heaved a deep sigh and brushed my fingers through my full mass of hair.

"I found her." The words just left my lips in a whisper.

"Her..." Knox repeated slowly, trying to make sense of the word. "Found her..." He whispered more to himself this time. Then his eyes widened in eventual realization. "Your mate."

A rare smile appeared on his face, but disappeared just as quickly when he saw my own face.

He went quiet for some seconds, then his face contorted in a small frown.

"Bloody fangs," he whispered in apparent disbelief. "You don't want her."

"I fucking don't," I agreed, feeling even angrier.

"Why?"

"She's not what I have waited this long for, Knox." My jaw locked "She's weak... An omega."

The word 'omega' genuinely irritated me right then.

"Ah..." he whispered, looking surprised by that new piece of information.

"I waited years for the moon goddess to give me a queen worthy of ruling beside me," I said coldly, unable to hide my disgust. "Instead, she gave me an omega."

A quiet moment passed between us, before Knox spoke.

"At least, you've finally found her."

"It would have been better if I didn't." I almost snapped. "Do you understand what this means, Knox?"

"Ronan..." he started to speak, but I cut in.

"The Alpha King of the entire werewolf kingdom is bound to a woman who is too fragile to bear the weight of the crown."

I released a low scoff.

"She probably wouldn't be able to wield the sword of authority if she were to be coronated queen. My bloodline deserves better."

"I think we should look at the brighter side of things," he said quietly.

"What bright side?" I asked flatly. "She certainly can't give me strong pups. And she's not even my type."

"Your type," Knox said simply, holding my gaze. "Do you mean her physical appearance?" he asked.

Against my will, my mind began to picture what the girl had looked like. Annoyingly, I had lost count of how many times I pictured her face between the previous night and that morning.

And each time her face appeared in my head, one thing stood out first -- The only physical feature of hers that hadn’t immediately irritated me the first time I laid eyes on her.

Her eyes.

They were pale blue-grey, so light they almost looked unnatural. That brief second when she looked up to hold my gaze, the lights shone against her face and her eyes almost looked silver.

They were... beautiful.

Aside that, the rest of her physical features were pretty basic -- At least, for a man like me who had bedded literal goddesses.

"Nothing spectacular," I said at last, my tone flat with disinterest. "I doubt she could even give me an erection."

"That’s enough," Knox cut in sharply, clearly not expecting such bluntness from me.

For the first time that day, I laughed in genuine amusement.

While neither of us were strangers to sex and its pleasures, Knox had always been oddly indifferent to the frenzy surrounding it. He wasn't celibate, prudish, or inexperienced—just far less motivated by desire than the average wolf.

"Have you seen her this morning?" he asked suddenly, and my laughter died at once.

"Who?" I asked, feigning ignorance.

"Who else could I possibly be talking about?"

"I don't know." I shrugged.

"Goddess of the Moon Realm," he swore under his breath, pinching the bridge of his nose. "Your mate."

"Oh."

"Well?"

"No, I haven't."

At my response, he released a low sigh.

I hated that I felt somewhat uneasy right then, because the situation was completely different than he was thinking. That girl wasn't even anywhere within the White Citadel.

"Well..." I started, but trailed off. Of course, it didn't take Knox more than a few seconds to figure things out.

I had never been one to care about what others thought of me, but seeing the disappointment in his eyes stirred an unpleasant mix of anger and remorse within me.

"You left her there," he whispered, disbelief lacing his tone. "Why? What for?"

"Knox..."

"You rejected her?" he cut in, his voice rising slightly. My jaw locked. I disliked his tone.

"I didn't," I replied dryly.

"Oh, okay." He nodded slowly. "So what now? You just want to abandon her there and act like she never existed?"