AMARIS
âEnough!â I pushed the she-wolf off my lap. She tried her best to make me f**k her, but her scent was agitating my wolf. Both of us had been very irritated of late. It was most likely because of the mating moon. Soon it will be full, sending the unmated wolves into a frenzy to look for their other halves.
âHavenât I pleased you, my King?â the girl pouted her red lips, reaching for my hardness under my robe. She was a stunning, s*xy creature, but I just couldnât. Not tonight. I grabbed her wrists and my eyes flashed red.
âGet. Out!â I snarled at her.
She left sobbing and I sighed. Women! I had no time to coddle them. Damn it to hell, I hated the mating moon. I was twenty-five years old and still havenât found my mate. Whereas my twin, lucky bastard found his at eighteen. Sorin. His name left a bitter taste in my mouth. We werenât on the best of terms. Never have been. My mother said we were fighting in her womb already.
Speak of the devilâ¦
âAmaris, I thought I would find you here. What have you done to the poor girl that ran out of here like seven demons were at her heels?â Sorin stepped into my chambers without knocking, as usual.
âThat isnât a matter of your concern, Sorin!â I said sternly while pouring myself a goblet of wine. There wasnât any need of pretense of care between us. âGet to the point already.â
âStraight forward like always, arenât you?â He smirked, taking the golden goblet from my hand.
âLike always you always want the things that isnât yours, donât you?â I said, dark cloud shrouding my face.
It didnât matter if it was his favorite toy or his right to the throne, Sorin always wanted everything that didnât belong to him.
Sorin smiled wickedly, âMy dear brother, you should just choose one and mark her. Why is it so hard for you?â
âWhat do you want, Sorin?â My patience was wearing down as I could feel, he was up to something. I had no time for his bullshit.
âCanât we have a little chitchat? After all, weâre twin brothers, closest to each other, donât you think?â He sipped the wine and glared at me with his cold blue eyes.
We werenât identical. He was fair and I was dark, like the sun and the moon. That is how we got our names; he was the son of the sun, and I was the son of the moon. But his heart was as black as night, although he hid it well.
âAnyways, just stopped by to pass you the good news. Helen is pregnant.â
âOh, Congratulations then? I guess. Hopefully sheâll carry it to term this time.â I turned around to pour myself another goblet of wine. F**k! The warning bells are ringing all over my head. I have no mate and no heir which is threatening my right to the throne even more. My only saving grace is that I was the eldest by five minutes and my fatherâs favorite.
âThat was uncalled for.â Sorin smacked the goblet down on my end table. âYou know weâve been trying for a pup for years.â
I rolled my eyes. âAnd I wish you all the best. Was that all you wanted to say?â I slowly walked towards the door, holding it open for him.
He smirked at me. âJust a word of warning, brother. You will lose your crown if you donât find your mate soon and produce an heir. Rumors have been going around, you know.â
âWhat? That they favor you above their cruel, ironfisted king?â Tell me something I wasnât aware of.
I was feared as being a cruel man, a lot of it was true, I suppose. But never have I been unjust in dealing with the packs. Disobedience and disloyalty I had no patience with, and everyone knew that. Our pack lands have been at peace since I took over when our parents died in the last war.
âAmaris, my dear brother, you are so blind that you do not see whatâs going on right under your nose.â Sorin said with his usual patronizing smirk.
I frowned at him. âWhat are you talking about?â
âWhy donât you ask your general at arms. Youâre the king, find out.â And with that he left, his long coat swishing about his legs.
***
âIâm so sorry, your Majesty. I wanted to tell you as soon as I could, but I got delayed.â Greyson, the general at arms bowed with his forehead to the floor. I had summoned him to the throne room, hours ago.
âIs my brother sprouting nonsense or is there some kind of trouble brewing in the pack lands?â My fingers rapped against the armrest of my throne and Greyson lifted his head.
âIndeed Sire. There has been talk of a revolution against the crown.â He barely looked me in the eyes. Rage, my black wolf growled low at the back of my mind. âThey wouldnât dare!â he growled.
âAnd who are these packs, Lord Greyson?â
âPlease Sire, let me deal with this matter. There is no need for you to concernâ¦â
âGreyson, I know youâre an elder of the kingdom but that doesnât allow you to keep the King in the dark!â My aura slipped, making him whimper. âI said names! Now!â I rose from my throne to tower over the older man.
I respected him, but sometimes he still thinks of me as the young boy he taught how to fight.
He submitted against my royal aura, like he should. âOf course, your Majesty. Once again, it could be but rumors spread by instigators.â
I lifted a dark brow at him. âInstigators like?â
âSorin!â Rage snarled in my head.
âIâm not at liberty to say. But the talk is that the Blood Fang pack and the Sickle Moon pack has formed an alliance with some rogue pack to overthrow your rule. Mostly they say you do not have the kingdomâs best interest in mind anymore. Also, you have no queen and no heir so that makes you weak.â He sighed, âIâm sorry, my king. And now that consort Princess Helen is pregnantâ¦â
I held up my hand and motioned for him to stand. âI will deal with it. Leave me now. I need to go for a walk.â My wolf was restless, forcing me to go out on a run.
âShall I accompany you, Sire?â Greyson asked.
âThank you but Iâll be better alone.â I said harsher than I intended. He always had my best interest at heart.
âOf course, your Majesty. But I would feel more at ease if you took your personal guard as a precaution.â
âIf it makes you sleep better, Grayson.â I sighed. He would always be at edge for issues relating to me.
***
I let my black wolf run free through the forest with my royal guards following behind. Rage was strong and fast, and his large paws shook the ground as we ran. Then he stopped so suddenly that my guards collided with him.
He hardly acknowledged their apologies because he cocked his head and listened. I heard it too. The sound was barely audible, but we heard it. A pitiful howl, so mournful it pulled at my heartstrings.
âItâs a call!â He roared, suddenly impatient and sprinted away. I asked what it was all about, but Rage ignored me and followed the direction sound was getting even more clearer.
âYour majesty!â The guards started following but Rage turned around and snarled at them to stay.
He kept on running until we crossed one of the nearest packâs borders.
âWhat is it, Rage?â I couldnât fathom the reason why he was running crazily.
âMate!!â He said and chills ran down my spines. The word that I longed to hear all these years felt so unbelievable when I actually heard it.
âAre you sure?â I asked still unsure and thatâs when the most delicious scent hit my nostrils, pulling us towards it even more crazily.
âYes, itâs our mateâs call.â Rage said, finally halting to a point.
Then we saw her. The moon bathed her n*ked form in silver. It was the most beautiful vision which stopped Rage in his tracks. She wasnât alone. There were three of them. Rage growled low and wanted to pounce on them and rip them to pieces. I stopped him and returned to human form; blood would flow later. I wanted to know what the hell was going on.
âLook what we found. A dirty little Omega.â One of the men looked at her with lustful eyes.
âHey, werenât you the one Luke rejected?â another one said.
âSheâs quite cute. I will totally do her.â The third one licked his lips.
Rage howled in my head, âKill them! Kill them now!â
âI donât want trouble. I was just here to take fresh air. Leave me alone.â The sound of her voice put angels to shame.
She picked up a dead rabbit that she had hunted and started walking away. I stepped out from the shadows, but they still didnât see me.
The one that licked his lips barred her way. âHey, come on now. Spread your legs for us, you know thatâs the only thing Omegas are good for.â
âNice ass.â The first one slapped a hand on her butt, and that undid me. They laughed.
âWhat the f**k do you think you all are doing?â I roared at them. My mateâs eyes were round as saucers staring at me. âTake your hands off her.â
âNone of your goddamn business! Who the f**k are you?â the tallest one said.
âJust having some fun, go about your business.â The one that laid a hand to her smirked at me.
âWell, the funâs over. Turn around and leave if you want yourselves in one piece.â Rage pushed against my mind for control, and I let him have it.
The three males shifted into their wolves, and I sneered at their arrogance. They were no match for me. Rage tore through them like a knife through steak. How dare they touch what was mine!
âNo! Please stop!â her voice stopped me from disemboweling the one that dared to lay his hand on her.
Rage lifted his head and our eyes met. It felt like I was struck by lightning meeting those enchanting brown eyes.
âPlease, donât kill them. Iâm not worth dying over.â She fell to her knees, bowing her head.
What?! How could she say that! She was the world to me, and I would kill anyone who dared to hurt her. I shifted back and the three fools rushed off into the night.
My three bodyguards came rushing towards us. I turned around to scream at them, I didnât want them to look at my mateâs n*ked form. When I turned back around, she was gone running away from me.