chapter 9: FREDRICK’S POV

  

  I shifted back into my human form, ruthlessly forcing down the furious grumbles of my wolf as I bent to pull on my shorts. My mind was a chaotic mess. I still couldn't wrap my head around the horror of what had just happened in that clearing.

  

  For over twenty years ever since my last birthday I had searched the supernatural world for her. I had expected a powerful Lycan queen, or at least a high-ranking Alpha female capable of ruling beside me. Instead, the universe had given me a broken, low-ranking Omega, a lawless rogue, and worst of all, a silver wolf. She was the worst possible combination of everything I never wanted in a mate. I couldn't accept her. I simply couldn't.

  

  “You have got to be fucking kidding me!” Vane growled in my head, his mental claws tearing at my consciousness. “You are a massive idiot, Fredrick!”

  

  I chose to ignore his rage, keeping my face a cold mask as I began the trek back toward the royal fortress. Vane was completely losing his mind, furious at how harshly I had treated our mate. Back in the clearing, when her sliver wolf had rubbed against us, the sheer force of the sparks had nearly brought me to my knees. Vane had practically purred, ready to submit to the bond, but I had forced total, brutal control over him to rip us away.

  

  “I hate you so much right now!” Vane snarled, pacing violently inside my mind. “We have been waiting for her for a decade. We finally find her, and you mess it up? You actually ordered our mate to be thrown into the dungeons! You are sick!”

  

  “I am not sick, Vane!” I snapped back, my mental voice thundering with the weight of my Alpha aura. “We cannot have a werewolf Omega as a mate, let alone a rogue. She is weak. She couldn't even look me in the eye when I demanded she shift. And Goddess... she's a silver wolf. She is a dangerous omen.”

  

  The weight of the ancient prophecy pressed heavily on my chest. A silver wolf meant destruction. It meant the downfall of the Lycan and werewolf kingdoms.

  

  “She is beautiful, and I know there is more to her than what you perceive,”Vane countered, his voice dropping into a desperate, intense growl. “You have got to think this through.”

  

  A tight knot formed in my throat. I couldn't deny his words; she was beautiful. For a split second back there, when she had looked up at me with those wide, haunted green eyes, I had nearly gotten entirely lost in them. But my duty to my kingdom had to come first.

  

  “We can't keep her, Vane,” I told him coldly. “I will follow the necessary royal protocols for rejecting a mate. Now shut up. I need peace.”

  

  With a brutal mental shove, I severed the connection, completely shutting out his agonizing whines. I picked up my pace, the massive stone walls of the castle looming ahead. Along the way, several royal warriors on patrol snapped to attention, bowing deeply, but I only gave them a stiff nod. I needed to see my mother immediately. I didn't have time for pleasantries.

  

  "Alpha. Alpha King."

  

  I turned in deep annoyance as I entered the grand corridor of the castle. Two of the female warriors who had been on the forest patrol last night were rushing toward me, their heads bowed.

  

  "What is it?" I asked harshly, making no effort to hide my irritation. "Be quick about it."

  

  "Your Highness," they greeted, bowing slightly. "The rogue we captured last night... what are your orders regarding her and the twelve-year-old boy she was fleeing with?"

  

  A sudden, sharp pang of curiosity pierced through my irritation. My eyes widened slightly as the memory of the clearing flashed through my mind. I had seen her shielding the boy, her white wolf fiercely protecting him. “Why was she fleeing with a kid? Was he her brother? A fellow survivor?”

  

  "Have you done everything exactly as I instructed?" I demanded, leaning in close. "Is there a proper bed in her cell? Have you provided her with the thickest blankets and fresh food?"

  

  Even if the prophecy forced me to reject her, I was not a monster. I wouldn't allow my fated mate to rot in a miserable, freezing hole.

  

  "Yes, Alpha King," the warrior replied quickly. "Everything has been prepared. Is there anything else we should do?"

  

  "No," I shook my head, my voice dropping to a low, lethal whisper that made them shiver. "Just ensure that absolutely no one touches her. No harm is to come to her. If a single scratch appears on her skin, I will have both of your heads. Is that clear?"

  

  "Yes, Alpha!" they chanted in unison. I dismissed them with a sharp wave of my hand. I turned to continue down the hall, but a sharp, mocking clear of a throat stopped me in my tracks.

  

  "Ahem."

  

  I closed my eyes, inhaling deeply to keep my temper in check. I knew that voice instantly. It was Grace, my Beta. She was the only person in the entire kingdom who possessed the audacity to intercept me like this.

  

  "Caring for a filthy rogue prisoner, I see," Grace snorted, stepping out from the shadows of the pillar to block my path. Her eyes narrowed into a calculating glare. "What's so special about her, Fredrick?"

  

  "I do not have time for your games, Grace!" I snarled, my muscles tightening. "Get out of my way. Now."

  

  "Is she your mate?" she demanded, stepping closer, her posture rigid.

  

  "What she is to me is absolutely none of your fucking concern!" I boomed, unleashing a wave of my Alpha King aura that caused the very stone walls to vibrate. "Move out of my way!"