Chapter Two

Caddel

I hated being bothered with trivial matters; Angus, my aide and Beta had informed me about a case I had to preside over. A petty thief case.

“Tell the judge to give her a punishment and let her go, Angus,” I said, irritation boiling over my skin; I rubbed my temples to get relief from the headache forming.

“The girl pleaded not guilty,”

“What! But you said she was caught redheaded, stealing,”

“Yes, but she thinks it’s not a crime to steal,” Angus said annoyance written all over his face. “Who knows what next she would be stealing.”

My lips broke out into a smile, and I gave out a little laugh. “What?” I asked Angus Who was watching me in disbelief. “Don’t you find it amusing?” I asked him, but he simply shook his head in annoyance.

Angus was my best friend and closer than my brother. He had been with me right from time and I appreciated him.

“Let’s go see this girl who thinks stealing is not a crime,” I rose from my desk and closed the sheets I was drawing on. My war plan would have to wait.

We marched down the palace hallway to the courtroom; the servants scurried around, muttering their greetings. Which I never responded to. Most of the servants were humans, and the majority of them were from werewolf hunter families.

I disliked the human race and hated the hunter families more, my people had been forced into hiding for centuries because of them.

We arrived at the court room, and I perceived a delicious scent: a mixture of amber and vanilla. My wolf pranced about excited, and my heart rate picked up; I looked around for the source of the smell. When Derrick, one of the guards, walked up to me.

“Alpha,” Derrick greeted, bowing his head. “This is the thief”, he said as he led me to the sleeping girl sagged on the wall. My wolf almost let out a joyful howl, recognising her as the source of the scent.

Unconsciously my head bent in her direction to sniff more of the sweet smell. The hall went silent while I studied her face. It was small and heart-shaped with a little perky nose and full lashes that fanned her cheek; her lips were small but full. Her jaw was set in a determined manner, and she looked troubled though asleep.

“Why is she sleeping?” I asked no one in particular, my face still close to hers. I nearly tumbled backwards as her eyelids flew open, and I was met with the fiercest green eyes. Her eyes nearly swallowed me into their depths.

She looked dazed, but apart from that, she didn’t give any other reaction. She stared at me, and we stared at each other for some time. I gave her my hardest stare, the type that made even war generals tuck their tails between their legs.

She squirmed then and ducked her head in submission. I smirked a little before I raised my head, satisfied with her reaction.

I moved to the throne and sat on the chair; I spread out my legs and placed my arms on each side of the armrest. I loved dominance and authority, I always made it a point of duty to make sure I exuded each of those in everything I did. The more people feared me the more likely they would revere me.

I raised my hand and signalled Derrick to speak. He moved forward facing me and backing the rest. Just a few persons were in the hall; Angus, the judge and a few guards.

“My King, this human slave was caught stealing from the kitchen during the preparation of the royal meal."

From my periphery, I see the girl scoff and proceed to roll her eyes at the mention of the royal meal. I chuckled inwardly.

Derrick, unfazed by her reaction, continued, “She was arrested and brought to court for punishment, but she pleaded not guilty.”

I turned my full attention in her direction and she ducked her head again, her earlier bravado with Derrick gone.

“Human,” I called “how true are his statements?”

She took in a huge breath, probably mentally readying herself to face me; she raised her head, Her chin set as she looked at me.

“I did take bread from the kitchen, but I did so because I was hungry", she stated, looking at me squarely.

Normally I would not condone anyone looking at me in that way, but her feistiness amused me, so I let it slide.

“You think you have the right to eat the royal bread because you were hungry?”

“Should I have starved to death, my king?” She asked, feigning meekness, I knew she was baiting me.

The room was deathly quiet with tension filling it. I asked the questions and not the other way around. No one dared to ask me questions, but for an unknown reason, I kept quiet; my anger was not kindled.

“Starved? I believe you are fed in the servant quarters."

At this, she kept mute; her lips were clamped together; I knew she had something else to say but refused to.

Looking at her scrawny form, I decided this was just a case of a hungry slave and would let her off with just a mere punishment as a warning for others who might want to walk in her steps.

There is a little commotion as one of the guards whispers something to Angus, and his face contorted into anger. He walked toward me, bending his lips close to my ears

“She is Mark Roosevelt's only surviving child.”

Rage surges through my veins, my nose flared and memories come crashing down on me. I felt a stabbing pain and fresh sadness washed over me as I remembered my wife and unborn child killed by those rascals.

Now the defiance made sense, like father, like daughter.

My eyes blazed hot as I turned them toward her; hatred and desire for revenge for my father, my wife, and my unborn child filled me. I gripped the armrest till my hands turned white, controlling myself from jumping on her and pushing my sword through her chest.

A dark cloud was forming and I rose with it, my eyes darkened. I knew everyone in the room could feel the force and my anger.

“This is my verdict,” I announced, “for stealing and not accepting what you did and also for disrespecting me and the royal family, I hereby sentence you to death by beheading.”

Everyone gasped, and her face blanched; she stared at me, and slowly, I could see her eyes change and become lifeless. She gave me a humourless smile before she stretched out her hands, and the guards bound them up before leading her away.