LOGINCaptain Blake’s voice fades into the background as I study the satellite feed flickering across the screen.The forest. The road.They are all empty.“The hunters were gone before we arrived, Your Majesty,” Blake says, jaw tight. “Someone tipped them off.”“I sent you because I trusted you’d finish it,” I tell Blake.His shoulders stiffen instantly as I hear him hold his breath. “We’ll find them, my King. I swear it.”I close the file with a flick of my wrist. “Find out who tipped them off.”“Yes, sir.”He hesitates before leaving, probably waiting for me to offer more. I don’t.Words are wasted on incompetence.When the door closes, silence folds over the room.Klaus lets a low, feral growl vibrating through my chest. “Pathetic. You should have gone yourself.”“I can't do everything, Klaus. That's why they're there.”I rise, and make my way to the corridors that lead to the bedrooms, only to have the scent I've been trying to ignore cut through me.The rogue. Her scent is feral, wil
What the fuck?Something inside me snaps. “I’m not your prisoner!”“No,” he says, and the word lands like a weight. “You’re a problem. And I don’t let problems walk free.”Nikola's hackles rise.“Calm down, Nik. The last thing we need is a fight.”My vision darkens at the edges as I fight Nikola's instinct to lunge at him.Nikola snarls. “Fine. But, he should stay away from us.”I meet his stare. “You’re too close. You should leave.”Without warning, he's right next to me, his fingers brushing my wrist as he checks the wound on my shoulders.Damn it, I didn't even see him move.His touch causes the bond to hit like lightning.A surge of heat, sharp and wild, rips through every nerve. I can smell his restless wolf beneath the surface.He feels the same reaction too and draws his hand back fast, as if burned. For once, his control slips and it's like the air between us shivers.“I told you to stay away. Do not touch me,” I whisper.“I go by my own decisions,” he says quietly, taking a f
“Murderer!!”“She's a psychopath!!”Darkness presses in from all sides. Then—screams. Children screaming..My mother’s voice cuts through the cold, sharp and broken.“Natasha!”My body jerks as the sound sharpens, cutting through the night like a blade. I’m standing in the middle of the clearing again. The air reeks of blood and charred flesh.I can’t move, can’t breathe. My hands are slick with something warm, and when I look down—my stomach twists. Blood. So much of it.Rough hands start pulling me everywhere. My throat burns from screaming.“She’s the one,” someone spits. “She killed them. The children.”“Monster!” someone shouts.My stomach twists. “No… no, I didn’t—”No one listens.Their faces blur in the smoke: my mother’s, the Beta couple’s, their daughter's, Valerie, smirking behind her tears.The pack circles me like I’m prey—people I grew up with, people who once smiled at me. Now their eyes are full of hate.My father and my mate stand at the front, their shadows stretchin
My boots crunch against the gravel as I carry the rogue out of the car, and into the mansion, the weight of her limp body pressing against my chest.She’s colder than she should be… and so light.“Take Elise to her room,” I tell Captain Blake beside me. “Doctor Zarina is on standby to check on her immediately. She’s shaken, not harmed.”He bows his head. “Yes, Your Majesty.”The door slides open with a hiss when I enter the healer’s wing, and I sigh at the sharp scent of antiseptic that burns my nose as I walk into my private healing chambers.I've always hated healer chambers. They're always too clean. Too still. Too full of remindersBright white light floods the room, along with the whir of machines.I place her motionless body on the cot before me. She looks so pale skin against white sheets, especially with her blood seeping through the hoodie.Her breathing is really shallow now.“Fetch the healer,” I bark, voice sharper than I intend.A man in a white coat hurries in, eyes flic
I can't believe I said that.This stupid rogue.I kneel while holding her limp body. Even while unconscious, she still wraps her hands tightly around El.Her scent... it isn’t like other rogues. There’s something cleaner beneath the blood. Wilder, older.Klaus hums in the back of my mind, low and intrigued. “She acted like one of us.”“She’s not one of us. She’s a rogue.”“Still saved the child and stood up to you.”A rogue risking her life for someone else. Impossible. It's rare for a rogue alpha to be so… caring.And this young. What is she? 20?I haven't received any report of such a young rogue alpha and that's a problem because I know of every rogue alpha in my kingdom.“My mate.”“Shut up, Klaus,” I snap at my wolf. “She's not our mate.”“The hell she isn't!”My men take a few steps back. Klaus’s aura is extremely aggressive and for the first time ever, I'm having trouble controlling him.Her scent is making Klaus push closer, pressing against my ribs like he’s trying to claw hi
His jaw clenches, eyes locked on mine. I see the moment it hits him too. The flicker of shock, then fury, then something rawer that he hides too quickly.I watch as his gaze sweeps over me, lingering on the child. When he speaks, his voice is low, deep, and commanding.“Put the child down.”Nikola bristles at his tone, answering with a growl before I can stop her or myself. I pull the child tighter into my arms.“I’m not yours to order around,” I say, every word edged with defiance. “Neither is she.”Normally, I would give him the kid, and leave since I'm sure he wouldn't bring her any harm, but the way she's holding me tightly has me torn.I don't know what those hunter bastards had done to her, but she needs reassurance right now.I might be a rogue right now, but I'm an alpha first. I don't abandon wolves in need.His warriors visibly stiffen at my tone. I guess they aren't used to anyone talking back to the king, especially not a rogue.His suffocating aura presses harder, but I b







