Price of Claiming her

Kael Veyron’s POV

The door closed behind me with a deafening sound. “What now, Alpha?” Varik, my beta, asked.

For a split second, my thoughts wavered, and my pulse was anything but calm. I had expected her rejection, the curses, and everything, but still it stung. I could feel the bond hum beneath my skin like a lasting lullaby, one not easy to forget. So this was it, the chains and pulls of bonding, but she hated me. She would rather die than be entangled with me.

I didn’t answer. Varik and I walked through the hall. Wolves bowed at my presence, and some trembled. My penthouse was different from the pack house.

While I spent most days in the packhouse, seclusion was a must. Both buildings were a stone’s throw away. I had a few more staff members thanks to her coming.

I reached the balcony overlooking the inner court and finally stopped. “Speak,” I ordered.

Varik quickly bowed. “The people feel it,” he stated.

Of course they did. The almighty Kael Veyron had taken a mate. The bond was there, and the realm had to know, but that wasn’t his fear. They could feel it. No challenge would come… at the moment, but whispers of weakness had begun spreading even before the bond symbol dried.

The cold air cut through us like a silent reminder. Beneath my skin, my wolf was restless. It paced around, sensing her restlessness. They had tried to kill her once. I closed my eyes briefly; the memory flooded in unwelcomingly.

“She may reject us today, but not tomorrow.”

“And what if she tries to run?”

The question made my blood boil. A rush of air ran through my lungs, and my fists folded. “She wouldn’t get past the shadow guards, and even if she does… she will have to lose the baby before she can step out.”

Varik’s mouth hung open. Yes, I was cruel. I save no one for nothing.

“Call a council meeting,” I said, then walked away without another word.

Life had calmly become a routine of training my men, reviewing complaints and submissions, patrolling the borders, and running in the woods. Every day, I repeated the same routine until the moment she stepped into my life. She changed every order without even trying.

Now the council demanded she begin training. Of course, she was fit. With part of me in her, she was strong and healthy. I didn’t sleep through the night, not when she tossed and turned, waking up from one nightmare after another.

At last, she woke and stood on the balcony, a glass of water in hand and her back toward me as I watched from the door. It was close; I dared not step in, but we knew we had each other. The bond announced our presence before we arrived.

She still looked frail, but not pale. The memory from that night haunted me like a plague, her fragile body bare on the ice, blood soaked deep beneath her as she clung to life. That memory alone… I had to make them pay. Watch Ryan’s arrogance crumble beneath her feet.

The night was cold, and soon she walked back inside. It wasn’t long before her breath settled. She had finally fallen asleep, but I dared not leave, not when the fear of her waking from another nightmare was far more haunting.

The first howl of dawn came, then the second, and by the third, I was fresh and ready for the day. Outside, Helene arrived early to take her vitals and change her diet. She was now fit to eat as much as she could.

My day began with the council as I sat there watching the old men with bald heads and grey hair twist their words with annoyance.

“But she is pregnant,” Minister Eldmon Novac hissed as if pregnancy were a disease.

“And?” I raised an eyebrow, finally speaking for the first time since we began.

“Alpha, for years, the pack has welcomed and accepted Yella Cabswell as our Luna.”

“Under whose orders?” I asked, and the room settled.

“She was picked by your late mother, and ever since then she has gone through every training and hardship… that can’t be overlooked,” Minister Logan Montreal whispered from the corner like a mouse holding on to its last crumb of cheese.

They were all right, but so wrong.

“My mother had picked a Luna for my elder brother, and not me. She was trained, I do not deny.” I stopped, my gaze settling on the Prime Minister.

“Prime Minister Taron Cabswell, I owe your daughter nothing. Time and again, I made this court understand I had a fated mate and intended to bring her home. And now that she is here alongside my soon-to-be heir, every placeholder has to leave.”

“Nonsense,” Prime Minister Taron hissed. “Using her, ”

“Using her… isn’t that an interesting choice of words?”

Silence cut through like a blade.

“But she is a nobody, a weak wolf, a woman banished by her own people. So what if she is your mate? Just as she rejects the bond, she will reject you.”

His words cut through my skin like a blade. The other ministers murmured. Claiming Liora without consent was not tradition; it was not mercy. It was a necessity, and right before me was that necessity.

“I have made my decision, and by the laws of the land, a woman carrying an heir, my blood, cannot be left in the open. She must be recognized and treated accordingly.”

I stood up. My eyes swept through the court… not one ally. But that was okay.

“My mother groomed a bride for my elder brother, for it was his wish to be married to a woman of her picking, but certainly not mine. The Prime Minister’s family was told time and again to make their daughter understand, and since I have found my mate, her services and frequent visits to the pack house will from this day henceforth be limited.”

I strode out.

At the door, I was met with Varik’s worried expression. He knew me better. The only one I could trust with my life. Certainly, some things didn’t need words between us.

“The council is already stirring,” he said quietly.

“They felt it. They know the child is, ”

“Don’t.” I stopped him before he could utter words that might lead to more damage than good. “They will soon fall in line.”

“And Lady Ashwin?”

My hand clenched instantly. “She will be guarded at all times. I fear the ministers will try anything.”

Varik nodded. “I will double the watch.”

But that wasn’t enough. “I need reports every hour, every meal, and every taste. The court has always favored me thanks to the support of the Prime Minister, and now that we do not have it, they will surely do all it takes to eliminate what has taken my interest off his daughter.”

I walked ahead, with Varik following behind. Standing before my study, I turned with one last order.

“Do not harm her… ever.”

“Yes, Alpha.” He bowed, and off he went.

The rest of the day went by in a blur, and by the time the sun was down, training and checking back borders was done. The forest was dark, and night owls cried over the trees as I made my way home, Varik by my side as always.

The closer we got to the pack house, the more the urge to rush to her burned within me. I could feel her. Her wolf wasn’t as stubborn; she was more welcoming, and my stubborn wolf had begun communicating with her. She had accepted me, even if the woman had not.

A smile tugged on my lips for a brief second.

They were wrong… I was going to prove them wrong. She would never reject me. Not ever.