3. Dead Meat

~Zella~

I blinked twice, stunned by his offer. "W-what did you say Alpha?"

"You can be my concubine. Just say yes and you will start serving me today," he offered, smirking.

I shake my head. "No. I'm not interested in becoming your concubine. I want to be the Alpha King's concubine. That's my final decision," I said with finality in my tone.

His face darkened instantly.

What the hell?

His eyes flashed with outrage. He must be thinking, did I just turn him down?

No woman has ever turned him down? Maybe I'm the first.

He felt insulted. His ego couldn't accept my blatant rejection.

He was annoyed that I was immune to his charm. He has a sculpted body, he is strikingly good-looking and above all he was a mighty warrior feared by many and the Alpha King's heir to the throne. No woman in her right mind would reject him especially if he was the one offering the mouth-watering position to me.

His test backfired and in the end he seemed to find his own reaction funny.

He guffawed, finding my statement hilarious. "Why would you still choose a 60 year old Alpha King compared to me who is in his prime and heir to the throne? Are you crazy or plain stupid?"

I rolled my eyes. Indeed, he is the son of the tyrant king who killed my parents. I could kill him if he lowered his guard down, but I can't kill him yet because he is my ticket for my safe passage to the palace.

"Why not choose me?" he asked again, holding my face hostage with his intense stare, wanting to wrap his hands around my neck to display his superiority so I would beg him to spare my dear life.

I heaved a sigh, getting tired of his constant verbal assault. I could see the rage lurking in his eyes. If I give him a wrong answer he might kill me on the spot because he feels insulted by my remarks. "I'm sorry, Alpha. Please forgive me. I didn't mean to offend you," I apologized earnestly, backing down for my safety.

He fell silent. I don't know what he's thinking in his mind right now. All I know is that he looked pissed and ready to punish me.

I smiled inwardly. Time to bring on the honey trap.

"Alpha, please don't be sad, I could still serve you all the way back to the capital. I can cook you delicious dishes, prepare your bath and give you a good massage every time you need it." I dropped my counter offer, giving him my sweetest smile, hoping I could melt his hardening heart.

He raised a brow. "And after reaching the capital, do you still want to leave my side? Do you still want to be the Alpha King's concubine?"

"Only if you allow me, Alpha. I still want to be the Alpha King's concubine with your permission," I insisted.

He gritted his teeth in anger. "Why? Why did you still choose my father? Why not me?" he asked again. His question was laced with scathing irritation.

"Because...because he is the most powerful king in the entire kingdom. He will pamper me for sure if I become his concubine. He can protect me from all danger," I said in a serious tone.

Then he chuckled and said, "You are such an ambitious woman."

What he did next caught me off guard.

He stood in his full towering length in front of me and began sniffing my scent, trying to sniff my wolf off my face.

The smell of the jasmine flower scent entered his nostrils. "Your scent smells familiar," he murmured, surprised.

Alarmed, I stepped back because his hot breath was fanning my face, stirring something inside me. "W-what are you doing Alpha?" I asked, putting my arms on my chest defensively.

"Relax, I'm not going to force myself on you. I'm just trying to sniff out your wolf. But I can't smell her. I want you to shift right now!" he commanded. "Do it!"

I was startled by his unexpected request. "I'm sorry, Alpha. The reason I can't shift is because my wolf is nowhere to be seen. When I turned 18 years old, I couldn't transform. I'm already 25 years old but still my wolf didn't appear. I'm a wolf without a wolf," I said dejectedly. "My mother is a healer and my father is a wolf but I'm born without a wolf."

He cocked a brow, eyeing me closely. "And you still want to become my father's concubine? Are you out of your mind?" he snorted, insulting me directly.

I fixed my eyes on the floor.

"For your information, my father does not take wolfless concubines. He considers them weak and useless," he said.

My eyes flashed in alarm. "If that is the case then I can be your personal maid. I can be a nanny for your children. I can be a cook in the palace. I can take care of the plants in your garden. You can assign me to the laundry department. I'm a hardworking person. I can do anything," I said in desperation. I was scared he would leave me and he would return to the capital without me.

I need to go to the palace and find my missing sister at all costs!

Before my grandmother passed away, I promised her that I would find my sister dead or alive.

I have two missions now. Find my sister and kill the tyrant Alpha King!

He began pacing back and forth in front of me in deep thoughts. Thinking about what to do with me.

Then he finally stopped moving and said, "I hear you. Because you made my job easier today by poisoning your husband. I will reward you. You will come with me to the capital. I will find you a job in the palace, but you can never be the Alpha King's concubine because you have no wolf."

"Thank you for your mercy and generosity, Alpha. I will accept your reward with a grateful heart," I said sincerely as huge relief washed over me.

He ignored my enthusiasm and said, "Alright let's go back to business. Do you think your husband is dead now? I want to go in now and finish my business here because there is still one pack left I need to invade before I can go back to the capital to report to my father about my achievements on the battlefield. I'm aching to go back to the capital to see my family again."

"Yes. I'm sure he and his assistant are dead now," I responded calmly.

Alpha Declan shakes his head. "You are a courageous woman but stupid as hell. You poisoned your husband and his beta. But did you ever think about what the rest of your men are thinking right now? I'm sure they already noticed your absence, and by now they already think you have betrayed them by killing your own husband. That makes you a traitor and they will kill you if they see you. Have you thought about that kind of scenario?"

I was dead silent for a moment.

Damn!

He was right. I forgot to think about the possibility. I thought that by killing my husband and his beta the problem would dissolve quickly. My husband has loyal men who support him. "Alpha, please don't worry about that issue. I can control them. I can make them surrender. I promise you that," I said, my voice shaky, my confidence fading fast.

"And what will you do if your husband's men do not want to surrender, instead they prefer to fight? What are you going to do about it?" he asked, observing my reaction. "I have no choice but to kill them all," he declared, with no hint of mercy in his voice.

I looked at him in horror. "No! Please don't kill anyone in my pack. I have already sacrificed two lives today!" I pleaded in a terrified tone. I dropped on my knees and bowed my head in front of him. "Please show mercy on my pack, Alpha. Please spare the lives of my people. I beg you!" I pleaded helplessly as tears flooded my face.

"Alright, go back to your pack now. I will give you two hours to convince your men to surrender peacefully. If after two hours you can't return here safely, it only means one thing, your men have already killed you. Anyone who stands in our way when we take over your pack will die in our hands. I will show no mercy," he said in a hard tone.

"Thank you Alpha, I will go back there now. Just promise me that if I can't return alive, that means they have executed me already. You can kill anyone who is holding weapons in their hands. But please don't kill the men who are willing to surrender. Please spare the lives of the women, the old, children and the disabled. That's all I ask of you," I begged sincerely. Tears of frustration and worry shone in my eyes.

"Alright, I promise you I will not kill anyone who is not holding a weapon. As long as they surrender peacefully no one will die," he assured me.

"Thank you so much, Alpha." Tears of relief flooded my face.

"Go now!" He ordered, his voice thundered around the tent, shaking me to my core.

"Copy." With my heart pounding in my head, I rushed towards the entrance of the tent and stepped outside, inhaling fresh air.

~Declan~

I was shaking my head in utter astonishment. The moment the poor woman stepped out of the tent, I knew she was a goner. I'm sure she would die at the hands of her husband's men. She had good intentions but those men couldn't understand why she killed her husband and his beta.

I moved to the entrance of the tent and caught her walking away in urgent steps, fading away from my vision.

For someone who is about to die, Luna Zella appears calm and composed. She has that mysterious aura about her that makes me want to dig deeper into her thoughts and discover her true colors.

Every time I looked at her face, her eyes were heavily guarded. She truly was hiding secrets from me.

For some weird reason I couldn't comprehend, I felt a profound loss because I knew she wouldn't be able to come back to my tent safely. She is a weak wolfless woman. She has no weapon. She can't protect herself from the rage of the men whose leaders she just killed without remorse.

'Goodluck woman' I whispered in the wind and retreated back to the tent, preparing for the invasion.