Chapter 11: Lukas

I sat behind my desk, blood still drying beneath my fingernails, the metallic scent clinging to my skin like perfume. The throne room executions replayed in my mind—mechanical, efficient, predictable—until that final moment when green eyes met mine and Ares howled a truth I'd never expected to face. Thirty years I'd ruled without a mate, convinced that fate had denied me this particular vulnerability. Now she was being brought to my office in chains, this copper-haired girl who had managed to upend decades of careful control with a single glance.

‘She can't be ours,’ I argued silently, though the protest felt hollow even as I formed it. ‘A rogue. A criminal. Beneath us.’

Ares growled in response, the sound reverberating through my skull. ‘MATE. OUR MATE. Deny it again and I'll tear control from you.’

The threat wasn't idle. My wolf rarely challenged my authority, our partnership built on mutual respect rather than dominance, but in this, his primal certainty overrode my rational objections. The mate bond—that mystical, unbreakable connection werewolves spent lifetimes seeking—had formed the instant I'd touched her. One-sided for now, blocked by the silver binding her wrists, but undeniable.

The door to my office swung open without a knock, Dominic all but dragging the girl inside. Her eyes—those damnable green eyes—blazed with fury above the cloth gag that had been roughly tied across her mouth. Her copper hair hung in tangled waves around her face, still damp from whatever methods the guards had used to wake the prisoners. The thin prison garments clung to her slender frame, revealing more than concealing, and despite everything, I felt Ares's possessive hunger surge.

‘Mine,’ he growled. ‘Ours to protect.’

I forced my expression to remain impassive, though my knuckles whitened as I gripped the arms of my chair.

Elder Nora glided in behind them, her amber eyes sharp with curiosity, missing nothing as she took in the scene. The girl continued to struggle against Dominic's grip, twisting and jerking despite the futility of resistance. Silver cuffs bound her wrists behind her back, the metal clearly burning her skin if the angry red marks visible at her wrists were any indication.

"What is the meaning of this, my King?" Nora's voice was calm, measured, but I detected the underlying demand. "Why was the final sentence not carried out? The law is clear regarding rogues who breach our borders."

I leaned back slightly, meeting her gaze with a coldness that would have made a lesser wolf cower. "Let's all find out together, shall we?" I turned my attention to Dominic. "Why is she gagged?"

Dominic's scarred face remained professionally blank, though a muscle in his jaw twitched—the only outward sign of his irritation. "There are only so many ways one can hear a rogue describe exactly how they're going to kill you before you go a little mad, my King."

The girl snorted behind her gag, shaking her head with what almost looked like dark amusement. Interesting. Even bound, gagged, and facing execution, she retained a defiant spirit that would have impressed me under different circumstances.

‘She's strong,’ Ares observed with approval. ‘Worthy.’

"Have her kneel," I ordered Dominic, needing to establish the proper hierarchy despite the unexpected complication of the mate bond. I would not have my authority questioned, especially not before Elder Nora, whose political machinations had toppled kings before me.

Dominic pressed down on the girl's shoulder, forcing her to her knees before my desk. She resisted, muscles straining against his grip, but ultimately succumbed to superior strength. Her eyes never left mine, challenge radiating from her despite her position.

"Remove the gag," I said, curious to hear what threats had disturbed my usually unflappable Head of Security.

Dominic reached behind her head, untying the cloth with efficient movements. The moment it fell away, she turned her face toward him, teeth bared in what was clearly a wolf's snarl despite her human form.

"Trust me, asshole, those were my ideas," she spat, her voice hoarse but strong. "You'd hate to have heard my wolf's."

My interest sharpened. She spoke of her wolf as a separate entity, a partnership rather than a seamless whole. Unusual for a rogue—they typically lost the distinction between human and wolf, surrendering to their animal instincts until little humanity remained.

She turned back to face me, and I studied her more carefully. Beneath the grime and exhaustion, her features held a refined quality at odds with her supposed rogue status. The way she held herself spoke of pride rather than feral aggression. And there was something about her scent, something familiar that I couldn't quite place beneath the layers of prison filth.

"Elder Nora," I said, my decision made. "Fetch a blanket."

Nora's eyebrows rose fractionally, the only indication of her surprise. "A blanket, my King?"

"Yes." I kept my tone flat, brooking no argument. "And Dominic, help her to sit in the chair opposite me."

Dominic's good eye widened, his shock evident despite his usual control. "Sit? My King, with all due respect, this prisoner is dangerous. She—"

"Did I stutter, Dominic?" My voice dropped to a dangerous whisper, and he stiffened.

"No, my King." He reached down, grasping the girl's upper arm and lifting her from her knees. She stumbled slightly, legs clearly weak from captivity, but quickly regained her balance, shrugging away from his touch as soon as she was upright.

Dominic guided her to the chair facing my desk, his hand hovering near his weapon as she sat, her back rigid, chin lifted in defiance. The silver cuffs forced her shoulders into an awkward angle, but she showed no sign of discomfort beyond the tightness around her eyes.

Elder Nora returned with a thick woolen blanket—one from my own chambers, I noted with mild irritation. She held it uncertainly, glancing between me and the prisoner.

"Drape it around her shoulders," I instructed.

Nora complied, moving with the careful grace of one approaching a wild animal. The girl flinched when the blanket first touched her, then relaxed fractionally as its warmth enveloped her. A brief flash of confusion crossed her features before the mask of defiance slipped back into place.

I rose from my chair, circling my desk slowly, deliberately, aware of Dominic's hand tightening on his weapon as I approached the girl. She tracked my movement, her body tensing with each step I took, but she didn't cower, didn't look away. The silver cuffs glinted in the office light, a barrier between her and her true nature—between her and the recognition that would change everything.

"Dominic," I said quietly, stopping beside her chair. "Remove her cuffs."

The command hung in the air, met with stunned silence. Dominic recovered first, his professional mask slipping to reveal naked disbelief.

"My King, I strongly advise against—"

"I didn't ask for your advice," I cut him off, my tone leaving no room for debate. "Remove. Her. Cuffs."

Dominic's jaw clenched, but he moved behind the chair, producing a key from his pocket. "If she attacks," he muttered, "please remember I advised against this."

The girl remained perfectly still as Dominic unlocked the silver restraints, though I could see the fine tremor in her muscles, the anticipation building as the metal pulled away from her abraded skin. The moment the cuffs fell away, her head snapped up, her eyes locking with mine.

Green irises flooded with gold, the wolf surging forward now that the silver no longer suppressed her nature. I felt the exact moment the mate bond snapped into place on her side—her sharp intake of breath, the widening of her eyes, the flush that spread across her cheeks. Recognition, confusion, and something like horror chased across her face in rapid succession.

‘Yes,’ Ares purred, pushing so close to the surface that I knew my own eyes had shifted to reflect his presence. ‘She feels it now. She knows.’

Her lips parted, but no sound emerged. She simply stared, the defiance in her gaze replaced by bewilderment and a reluctant pull that mirrored my own internal struggle. The mate bond hummed between us, new and fragile yet unbreakable, connecting us on a level beyond physical or even emotional. Soul to soul, wolf to wolf.

I became aware of Elder Nora's sharp intake of breath, her ancient eyes widening as she pieced together what had happened. Her gaze darted between the girl and me, calculations already forming behind her carefully neutral expression.

"Dominic," I said without breaking eye contact with my mate. "Leave us."

"My King, I cannot in good conscience—"

"You can and you will." My voice hardened. "Elder Nora will accompany you. Wait outside. See that we are not disturbed."

Nora touched Dominic's arm lightly. "Come, Dominic. Our King has made his wishes clear." Her tone suggested compliance, but I caught the glint in her eye—this new development would fuel her political machinations for months to come. The discovery of the Alpha King's mate was no small matter, especially given the circumstances.

They left reluctantly, Dominic casting one last concerned glance over his shoulder before closing the door behind them. The silence that followed pressed against my ears, broken only by the girl's unsteady breathing and the faint crackle of the fireplace across the room.