Chapter 6

Dominicus's POV

The council meetings had become painfully predictable over the last few years.

Border disputes.

Trade agreements.

Military reports.

Taxes.

And finally...

"...Which brings us to the last matter, Your Majesty."

I didn't bother looking up from the report lying before me. It always came to this.

Lord Marcus folded his weathered hands atop the council table.

"The succession."

The feather of my quill continued gliding across the parchment.

"Proceed."

A brief silence followed before Elder Rowan cleared his throat.

"You are thirty years old, Your Majesty."

Another signature. As though I'd somehow forgotten.

"The kingdom requires a Luna."

"The kingdom requires an heir."

I sighed, not bothering to spare any of them a glance.

My answer had never changed.

"It will have one."

The elders exchanged uneasy glances, each waiting for another to be brave or foolish enough to continue.

Finally, Lord Marcus spoke.

"And when will that be, Your Majesty?"

I placed the quill down with deliberate care.

Slowly, I interlocked my fingers upon the desk and lifted my eyes to meet theirs.

"When my mate appears."

The answer was simple. It always had been. Yet none of them ever seemed willing to accept it.

Lord Marcus released a tired sigh.

"Your Majesty... twelve years have passed since you came of age."

"Search parties have crossed every known territory."

"They've searched every allied kingdom, every border settlement, every northern tribe."

"And yet..."

He hesitated.

"...there has been no sign of her."

Silence settled over the chamber. Another elder leaned forward.

"With all due respect..."

"Perhaps the Moon Goddess intends something else."

I slowly lifted my eyes. The room instantly fell silent.

"What exactly is she supposed to intend?"

The elder visibly swallowed before answering.

"We have received over two hundred marriage proposals this year alone."

"Daughters of Alpha Kings."

"Lunas raised to rule."

"Powerful bloodlines."

"Women capable of strengthening the throne."

"They are beautiful."

"They are educated."

"They are worthy."

"You've rejected every single one."

Another elder nodded in agreement.

"The packs have begun asking questions."

I leaned back in my chair, finally giving them my full attention.

"Then tell them the truth."

My voice remained calm.

"Tell them I am waiting."

Their brows furrowed.

"I am waiting for the woman the Moon Goddess herself chose for me."

"The most beautiful."

"The most powerful."

"The only woman worthy of standing beside the Alpha King."

Silence.

"The Moon Goddess has always rewarded me only after testing my patience."

"My kingdom."

"My throne."

"My victories."

"Nothing came without sacrifice."

"This..."

I tapped a finger once against the polished table.

"...is merely another test."

The elders exchanged another uncertain glance before quietly shaking their heads.None of them believed it. Not that I cared.

None of them will understand.

Elder Rowan rubbed his beard thoughtfully before speaking again.

"And if the Moon Goddess chose poorly?"

Every eye in the chamber turned toward him. Even Kale's. The old wolf continued anyway.

"If your mate is ordinary?"

"If she possesses no political value?"

"No strength."

"No beauty."

"No status."

"Would Your Majesty still place her upon the throne?"

For the first time that afternoon...

I laughed.

Not because it amused me.

Because the very suggestion was absurd.

It was the kind of laugh that made seasoned warriors lower their eyes and hardened men reconsider every word that had brought them to this moment.

I rose from my chair.

The sound of wood scraping across stone echoed through the chamber.

Slowly, I walked toward Elder Rowan until I stood directly beside him.

Placing a hand upon his shoulder, I leaned down ever so slightly.

"The Moon Goddess..."

I spoke quietly.

"...isn't foolish enough to insult me."

The words echoed through the silent chamber.

I straightened before allowing my gaze to sweep across every elder seated before me.

"My Luna will be worthy of standing beside me."

"She will possess strength."

"She will command respect."

"She will be beautiful."

"And she will carry herself like a Queen."

Anything less...

Wasn't worth considering.

One of the younger advisers shifted nervously in his seat.

"But... what if—"

"There is no 'what if.'"

My voice never rose.

It didn't need to.

Every wolf in the room instinctively stiffened.

Good.

They should remember who they were questioning.

I wasn't merely another Alpha.

I was the Werewolf King.

I hadn't played with wooden swords to earn this throne.

I had spilled blood for it.

My father's included.

"I did not spend thirty years building the strongest kingdom on this continent..."

"...only to place an unworthy woman beside me."

Not another voice challenged me.

Good.

I slowly circled the council table.

Several elders shifted uncomfortably beneath my gaze.

Others refused to meet my eyes altogether.

"If my mate exists..."

"I'll find her."

"If she doesn't..."

"This kingdom will continue exactly as it always has. Without a Queen. Without compromise. And without another discussion on the matter."

I buttoned my coat.

"The meeting is over."

No one objected.

No one dared.

Only Kale rose from his seat and followed behind me as I left the council chamber.

The heavy doors shut with a deep thud.

For several moments, neither of us spoke.

Then, without looking at me, Kale finally broke the silence.

"You know they won't stop asking."

"They can ask."

"They'll receive the same answer."

A faint smile tugged at his lips.

"And if your mate truly isn't what you expect?"

"If they're right?"

I stopped walking. Very slowly...

I turned to look at him.

Kale met my gaze without flinching.

Twenty years.

That was how long he had stood beside me.

One of the very few wolves alive who possessed the courage to question me.

"The Moon Goddess doesn't make mistakes, Kale."

I held his gaze another second before continuing down the corridor.

"Trust her."

….

Dominicus's POV

Rain lashed relentlessly against the palace windows by the time I returned to my chambers.

The storm had swallowed the mountains whole, leaving only brief flashes of lightning to illuminate the towering castle walls.

Good.

Silence suited me.

I removed my leather gloves and tossed them onto the desk before loosening the knot of my tie.

Another wasted evening.

Another pointless debate.

I had left it in between, way earlier than the intended time. But then what could I do before murdering one of them,

As though I will let a handful of old men possess the authority to decide when I should marry.

I respected the council.

That didn't mean they controlled my life.

She would be my fucking wife.

My Luna.

I alone would decide who stood beside me.

They had no damn say in it. All they must be good at is placing the crown on her head when she stands beside me.

Crossing the room, I dropped heavily onto the edge of my bed, dragging a hand through my hair.

Anthros stirred restlessly inside my mind.

*What if they're right?*

*What if she doesn't exist?*

*What if she's already dead?*

"Quiet."

The command echoed through our bond.

My wolf fell silent.

Good.

Silence stretched between us.

It's difficult to keep believing in something no one else has ever seen.

Especially when the entire world insists you're chasing a ghost.

Yet...

Not everything worth believing needs proof.

I drop on the bed and stare up at the gold-carved ceiling above me.Against my better judgment, I found myself imagining her.

Golden skin kissed by the sun.

Hair that caught the light like strands of silk.

A woman who carried herself with effortless grace, as though she'd been born wearing a crown.

Beautiful.

Powerful.

Untouchable.

A Queen worthy of standing beside a King.

Her wolf equally beautiful as her… as the moon goddess herself.

The Moon Goddess had never rewarded weakness.

Why would she begin with me?

*Where are you, little mate?*

*You've kept me waiting long enough.*

A faint smirk tugged at my lips.

*When I finally find you... once I have you under me.”

*You'll spend a lifetime making up for every year you stole from me. I will punish you for every breath you dared to take without me.”

It wasn't longing that unsettled me.

It was curiosity.

For the first time in my life...

There was something I wanted.

Something I couldn't simply conquer.

Kingdoms.

Armies.

Gold.

Power.

I had claimed them all.

Yet not you.

You alone remained beyond my reach.

Perhaps...

That was precisely why I intended to find you.

With an exhale, I rolled onto my side and buried my face into the pillow.

Then…I froze.

My eyes snapped open.

Slowly...

I inhaled.

Deeply.

Once.

Again.

The scent reached me a heartbeat later.

Faint.

So faint it should have been impossible to notice beneath the cedarwood, rain, and dying embers burning in the fireplace.

Not perfume.

Not soap.

A female.

Fresh.

Soft.

Completely unfamiliar.

My brows knitted together. Someone had entered my chambers without my permission.

Not just entered.

They had been on my bed.

My fucking bed.

Doing her shit… smearing it on my …. damn it! This audacious piece of shit!

Anthros surged violently inside my mind. A low growl vibrated through my chest.

Shut up dammit! Not now!

The bastard always became restless whenever a female's heat scented the air.

I ignored him.

No servant entered this room without permission.

No guard was foolish enough to allow it.

Yet the scent lingered.

On the sheets.

On the pillows.

Floating through the air.

Fading...

But unmistakably present.

How?

My jaw clenched.

If this was another desperate female attempting to leave her heat scent behind, hoping I'd lose control, hunt her down, and hand her leverage over the throne...

She had chosen the wrong man.

She had a death wish.

I rose from the bed in one smooth motion. Every trace of boredom vanished.

My vision red.

My mood had already been hanging by a thread after that insufferable council meeting.

Now...

Someone had dared violate the only place inside this palace that belonged solely to me.

A mistake.

One they wouldn't live long enough to repeat.

"You never learn," I muttered.

"Every year another fool mistakes boldness for intelligence."

The scent lingered just long enough for me to determine one thing.

It was recent.

Very recent.

She hadn't gotten far.

"Kale."

The door opened almost immediately.

My Beta stepped inside, his expression alert.

"My King?"

His eyes swept across the room before settling on me.

"What happened?"

I didn't answer immediately.

Instead, I walked to the window, my gaze following the rain disappearing into the darkness beyond the palace walls.

Then I spoke.

"Seal the royal wing."

Kale's expression hardened.

"What happened?"

I turned slightly, my voice dropping into a calm that was far more dangerous than anger.

"We have an intruder."

His brows furrowed.

"A spy?"

I glanced toward the bed.

Toward the faint scent still clinging stubbornly to the sheets.

"No."

A cold smile ghosted across my lips.

"Someone far more desperate."