Chapter 2
Lydia’s POV
I paused in surprise. The man seated at the head of the table was very handsome to be sure with a powerful presence but he was old.
Well, he wasn’t old like rickety, and if I’m being honest he was insanely attractive but he was probably around alpha Mike’s age when he was still alive!
No. Absolutely no way, Drusilla must have made a mistake. I meant, Wilson is standing next to him so it’s easy for her to get confused.
“What’s going on!” The girl standing next to Wilson squealed at the sight of me. I guess in my big pure black wolf form, I must have looked intimidating but as she clutched Wilson’s arm, I growled in annoyance and shifted immediately.
Several of the officials in the room yelled in outrage at the naked crazy-looking girl who had interrupted their meeting.
“Wilson!” I yelled as I made to stand up and claim him from the silly girl holding his arm but Drusilla turned to the man at the head of the table and growled loudly again.
“MATE!”
No, she’s making a mistake!
Panic and slight anger rushed through me as I tried to turn her in the right direction.
The man stared at me so intently and as our eyes locked, a sharp thrill rushed through me and made me gasp.
“LYDIA! What is this nonsense! We are having a very important meeting!” Wilson yelled at me angrily as he came forward to meet me.
My cheeks stained red from embarrassment at being naked in front of all the officials with Wilson yelling at me like I was some errant child.
What about his surprise? Did I ruin it? I just wanted-
“Sorry, I. I just wanted to show you my wolf, you m missed the awakening and-” I stammered as bile rose up in my throat from the possessive way the girl held on to his arm. The worst part was he made no move to push her hand away.
“And so? Is that why you interrupted our important meeting? Leave before you embarrass me further!” Wilson hissed as he grabbed a hold of my arm and made to push me out of the room.
Hurt pooled in my stomach and tears stung my eyes when the powerful man stood up suddenly.
“Don’t touch my MATE!” He growled at Wilson angrily as he took off his coat and walked towards me to wrap it around me.
“I’M NOT YOUR MATE!” I hissed in anger as my hands began to shake.
No. NO! This must be some kind of mistake or cruel joke.
“Lydia, he’s your mate,” Drusilla said with pity in her voice.
“NO! Wilson is my mate!” I yelled angrily as I knocked the coat out of his hands and burst into tears.
Wilson stood shocked and the meeting room went silent as everyone stared from me to the man with disbelief written all over their faces.
The man stood still staring at me so intently, I became self-conscious and covered myself with my hands.
“I’m so sorry Your Majesty. Please forgive us. I’ll take care of this immediately,” Wilson said alarmed as he bowed deeply and removed his own coat to cover me.
I took deep breaths as my tears stopped falling and Wilson removed the woman’s hand from his arm and held mine instead.
Relief and happiness swam through me as I ducked my head with a small smile and followed him out of the meeting room.
I knew it. Drusilla just made a mistake. Wilson loves me. I love him.
We’re mates and we’re made for each other.
“Do you like my wolf? Elder Maribel said I’m very powerful and rare. I’m so happy we’re mates. Together we can-” I chattered happily as I laced my fingers through Wilson’s and smiled happily.
“NO. LYDIA STOP!” Wilson said forcefully as he drew his hand back from me.
I frowned in confusion, wondering what the problem was.
“I don’t understand,” I whispered softly.
So what if he had missed my awakening? I could forgive him, so why was he-
“I’m not your mate Lydia. Okay? I’ve found my mate and she’s Princess Freya,” Wilson said as he put both his hands in his pockets and stepped back from me.
I blinked in shock as indescribable pain lanced through me.
Is he joking? No. This can’t be real.
Luna Grace saw it. She said I’ll be a great Luna, How could someone else be Wilson’s mate? Where does that leave me?
Silent tears rolled down my tears as I struggled to comprehend what he had just told me.
“Who’s Princess Freya?” I whispered as I stared at Wilson’s face to confirm if this was some sort of prank.
“She’s the woman you saw beside me in the meeting room and she’s King Darwi’s daughter,” Wilson replied with a stupid small smile on his face.
Horror went through me at the thought of them being together.
“Her? You barely even know her!” I hissed angrily as I swiped angrily at the tears that kept running down my cheeks.
“Lydia, you’re not a child. You know that’s not how it works,” Wilson said in irritation.
“Doesn’t matter. We’ve known each other our whole lives. We can- We are made for each other Wilson,” I pleaded with my voice shaking as I reached for him to do something. Anything to convince him.
“Don’t worry, you can reject her and I’ll reject that old man, and together-” I cried, shaking my head as my thoughts raced, desperately looking for some solution to fix this mistake.
We couldn’t just accept this fate, we had to do something. Fight against it for our love.
"That OLD MAN is King Darwin!" Wilson yelled in irritation as he pushed my arms off his body and moved back from me.
So what if the man is a King? He could be Lycan, and I would still want Wilson! Only Wilson, his position, power, and money hold no meaning for me.
“SO?! I DON’T CARE!” I yelled in frustration as I stomped my feet.
Well, you better do because you’re getting MARRIED TO HIM!
He’s Freya’s father, and once Freya and I are joined, I’ll inherit his position and be able to further my plans for revenge against the Black Fur pack. But if you’re married to him, it’ll encourage him to help us take revenge now.” Wilson said coldly as he stared at me like I was being unreasonable.
Disbelief went through me as I stared at Wilson in a new light. When had he become so cold and uncaring? Was revenge so important to him that he was willing to sacrifice our love and my happiness?
“Wilson, please stop. What are you saying? You can’t get married to her because of revenge. That’s ridiculous. What about us? I’m sure Alpha Mike would want us to be happy. It’s been EIGHT YEARS!”
He was taking this vendetta too far.
“So what if it’s been eight years?! You might have forgotten how they killed your mother in cold blood, but I haven’t. They killed my family and took everything from me. They can’t get away with it,” Wilson swore in outrage.
“But you can’t expect me to marry HIM!” I cried out as I shook my head in vehement refusal.
“YOU WILL! Unless you want me to cut you out of my life forever, you will hold your head up high and walk back into that meeting room, apologize, and be extremely happy to accept him as your mate.”
Lydia’s POV.“ABSOLUTELY NOT!” I gasped as my tears flowed.Why would he think it was okay to coerce me into marrying t..that…man! Just because of revenge!Fear lanced through me as Wilson’s face grew cold and hardened in displeasure.Oh no! I know that face.He was going to do it! He was going to walk out of my life without a second thought if I didn’t do something!I watched in horror as he adjusted the sleeves of his shirt, slid his hands into the pockets of his pants, and turned away from me silently to walk back into the meeting room.Fear, anger, and desperation rose in me as my tears fell so fast that they temporarily blinded me.“Wait! Wilson, please don’t go!” I yelled as I angrily swiped my hand across my face to clear my vision and went after him.Because I had lost my pack, I had lost Mamma and the people who loved me, but I absolutely could not afford to lose Wilson too.Wilson didn’t slow at my plea but kept on determinedly walking towards the meeting room. And I just kn
Lydia’s PovHis words seemed to wake some fire in me, and I rushed to quell it. What am I doing? Drusilla’s handwork no doubt.I drew back from him suddenly with a hiss.“No, thank you, Control yourself, big pervert,”He chuckled in amusement, and Drusilla begged me to draw him back in and beg him to make good on his offer.“You too, little pervert,” I murmured, and his smiled as he heard me.“You know, our wolves are the truest, purest form of our desires. They say and want the things we’re too scared to go after. If your wolf likes me, then that’s a pretty good indication you like me too. That makes me happy,” He said softly, still staring at me with those eyes.No. I shook my head in rapid disagreement as the thought of liking him left a bitter taste in my mouth.“It shouldn’t make you happy because it doesn’t matter. I don’t like you because I’m not into OLD men,” I said, emphasizing the old so he could understand that this marriage was to be in name only.“Wow, that’s hurt.” He m
Chapter 5Panic went through me as a scream tore from my throat, and I shifted into my wolf on instinct mere seconds before his large wolf crashed into me.Together, we went sprawling across the floor, with me crushed beneath his weight. My wolf was large, but his was larger. And much heavier too, I pushed against him with all the strength in my limbs, but he just grunted and didn't budge. Not even an inch!He lost his grip on me, though, and I used that opportunity to land a blow on his side and try my best to scamper out from under him.But I didn’t get far as he latched onto my leg and pulled me back, only to cage me underneath him again.I grew frantic, landing blows and kicking him as much as I could, but without a proper grip on my wolf form, I wasn’t matched for his experience.As I struggled, Dahlia tried to alert me to the fact that he had stopped making any move to actually attack me or shield himself from my attacks, but I was past all points of reasoning and finally manag
Chapter 6Lydia’s POVKing Darwin’s voice sent thrills through me, but I was still reeling from the news, so I glared at him hotly.“Yes. Really! I don’t care what you expect. I’m never going to-” “LYDIA!” Wilson yelled in warning as I whipped my head sharply to stare at him.Even though I wanted to please Wilson desperately, I was too angry about King Darwin to stop, so I turned my head sharply to give the king a piece of my mind.“I’m… NeverRRR”As soon as I whipped my head to yell at him, I felt a wave of nausea hit me.It must be because of how hard I hit my head when the King attacked me. This bastard!The King chuckled as I shut my mouth and struggled to swallow the bile in my throat.How dare him! “You’re crazy! I’ll… NeverRRR,” I couldn’t control it and retched again as bile rose in my throat.Wilson and Freya sniggered alongside the King, their chuckles making me angrier.Angry tears stinged my eyes and I wanted to do was yell at them but I just knew that if I opened my mou
Chapter 7Lydia’s POVI swallowed nervously as I considered taking back my question. What I asked was too personal anyway. It’s not worth him going crazy and attacking me over.Before I could decide and tell him I didn’t want him to answer the question anymore, The door of the infirmary burst open, and Lily ran inside panting.“LYDIA! I heard what happened. I heard that crazy King attacked you!” She was panting as she walked down to me with worry in her eyes.“Erm… Lily. This is King Darwin. King Darwin, Lily,” I said in amusement as Lily froze and her face turned red.“Your majesty!” She bowed low before King Darwin.“I I- didn’t! I… I had no idea. T..Truly, I I’M Ssorry,” Lily stuttered in shock as she looked from me to the King in alarm.Feeling a bit self-conscious, I dragged my hand away from him and nervously put some space between us.“That’s alright, Lily. Lydia was about to leave for the palace anyway, you can go with her,” King Darwin replied.I turned to him in surprise. Pa
Chapter 8Lydia’s PovAs my attacker dragged me back from the meeting door and pulled me down the hallway, I knew two things.One: I could totally beat up the person if I wanted to.Two: I had no such desire.Because it was Wilson.At first, dread filled me, and I had been prepared to use all the fighting skills I spent hours learning with Lily, but the sweet cinnamon smell of Wilson hit me, and I realized I was being abducted by my beloved, so I let him take him.Drusilla grumbled as Wilson held me tightly, my back flush against his chest. But I was giddy with happiness.This was it! This was his plan for us to elope and be happy together! Finally.“What the hell do you think you’re doing!” Wilson hissed harshly as he entered some sort of alcove and released me.I blinked in surprise as I tried to figure out why he was cross with me.“I don’t understand?”“What part about eavesdropping on the King’s meeting seemed like a good idea to you?!” Wilson whispered hotly as he took a step b
Chapter 9Lydia’s POVI stumbled in shock and would have planted my face on the cold tiles had King Darwin not reached out and immediately steadied me.“What the HELL are you doing here!" I hissed in irritation as my heart thundered, both from the shock at seeing him and the feeling of his hand around my waist.I swallowed audibly as a slight fear went through me at the thought of triggering his psychosis again.“Your majesty?” I asked weakly as a show of respect. But even to my ears, it sounded fake.“Darwin. Always Darwin, only to you,” He whispered, his voice sending tingles straight between my legs as I suddenly got very self-conscious about being in a towel.“Um, you can let me go now. And you didn’t answer my question,” I replied as a blush darkened my cheeks and I pulled back from his hold.He let me go with an amused smile and pushed his hands into his pockets.“This is my room, Lydia,”I blinked in surprise and briefly stared around to confirm I hadn’t walked into the wrong r
Chapter 10I jolted back in shock.“Sorry!” I squeaked in fear.“Lydia?” He asked in surprise as his grip on my wrist slackened and he put on the bedside lamp.“I thought it was someone else. What are you doing, creeping about this night?!” He asked, confused, as my cheeks burned and my brain raced to find some sort of excuse.“I I just wanted to look at your laptop. I can’t sleep, so I wanted to video call Lily,” I sputtered.My heart was beating fast with the thought that he would know I was lying, but to my surprise, he just groaned groggily.“Lydia, you should have woken me up if you couldn’t sleep. You can’t use my laptop for video calls with your friend. It’s for official business." His husky, sleepy voice sent tingles through me, and I swallowed as I searched my brain for something to say.“I’ll get you new gadgets tomorrow, okay? Do you need some milk so you can sleep?” He asked as concern steeped in his voice."Um, no,” I said hurriedly. I only got away with it because he wa