Chapter 22

As her teeth pierced his skin, Marc let out a surprised yell but held out a hand to stop anyone from interfering. “Get him out of here!” he growled through gritted teeth. Marc eyed the guards that had Alpha Silversmith gripped before they began pulling him.

Silversmith struggled and bucked against the guards, hatred and power rippling from him. “No! I am an Alpha! I am not one of your subjects!” Marc ignored him as he was pulled from the room, his Alpha command couldn’t work, he held no loyalty to the crown.

“Klara, he’s gone, you need to calm yourself.” There was a sharp intake of breath from Klara before her teeth retracted from him. “Marc! I’m-I’m,” she stammered and attempted to back away from him but he didn’t release his grip. “It’s OK, you’re fine.” She sobbed next to him before licking her bite, sniffling and whimpering. “I know, it’s fine, it’s just another mark, it’s fine,” he reassured. It was his pride that was hurting more. He gave a meaningful look to Wade as he lifted Klara from the ground so he could straighten with her head still buried to his neck.

Marc struggled with his emotions, he was embarrassed, angry and annoyed. While Klara’s despair and remorse was ripping him apart. He knew he wouldn’t think straight unless he calmed himself, and her. He ignored those in the room and stuffed his face into the crook of her neck. “It’s alright, my gorgeous, we all lose control sometimes. It’s OK, your father’s gone, he’ll never hurt you again,” he whispered against her skin.

“I’m sorry, I don’t know what happened… I… I’m so sorry,” she wailed. He knew she wasn’t smelling him, she was letting in little uncontrolled breaths, all he had to do was calm her.

“Deep breath, in through your nose,” he directed, gripping her tighter, following his own advice but it was a few of his deep breaths before she complied and he felt her relax into him.

“What’s going to happen now?” she whined into his neck.

“Let me sort that out, he won’t hurt you ever again.” Klara nodded, both trusting him, but also believing his words.

Her father couldn’t lay a hand on her again.

Her head rested against his shoulder so Marc lowered her back to the floor, they were both calm, “Thank you,” she breathed before she reached up to catch his lips, her arms wrapping around his neck. A strange heat blossomed between her legs, it wasn’t a feeling she had felt before.

Marc tried to break the kiss, but Klara held him in place, trying to deepen the kiss. She wanted more of him. She pressed her body against him, surprised to feel something poking her stomach. Marc unclasped her hands from his neck, knowing he wouldn’t be able to control himself if he didn’t stop. He gazed down to her with a look of adoration. “I’ll get Jesse to check on the prisoners, get information,” Wade stated formally. Marc blinked looking at Wade.

“Oh… er yeah…” He thought quickly. Distracted by Klara. “We’ll need to think about their pack. Organise the Alpha’s trial,” he recovered. “A sweep must also be done, ensure there are no other trespassers.”

“Yes, my King.” One of the guards that had remained, bowed and left.

“Wade, call the packs, find out how they got through undetected, Rose please help him.”

“Yes my King,” they replied in unison. Marc continued delivering orders until there was no-one but him and Kara in the entranceway.

“I’m sorry.” Sad blue eyes looked up to his gold, “I didn’t mean to-”

“Are you OK?” he asked, cutting off her words. He knew she hadn’t meant to Alpha command… no-one could have known that her command could affect him, it had never happened before. Her wolf was strengthening every day and she wasn’t even a recognised pack Alpha. “Did he hurt you?”

“I’m fine, he didn’t get to the office.” She pressed her face into Marc’s chest, “What did he mean by getting me back to my mate? That’s you, right?”

“It is of no consequence, little one, you are my mate, no-one else can have you.”

“And you’re mine?” she asked.

Marc chuckled. “Yes, I’m yours.” He cupped her cheeks and kissed her forehead, the calming pleasant wave of safety engulfed them both.

“Thank you.” She smiled and hugged him tightly around the middle.

“I’ve got some work to do, you’re welcome to join me.”

Klara nodded. “Yes please.” She didn’t want to be alone, just in case.

It was an hour sat in Marc’s circular office before Wade bustled in with pieces of paper, “Every pack has feigned innocence, I didn’t get a good vibe from these.” He placed the paper on the desk “Huntermoon… Foxglove and…” Marc frowned at the paper then looked up to Wade “Nothing from the border packs?”

“No, they could have slipped through unclaimed, there weren’t that many wolves.”

“But they’re supposed to have the whole line covered,” Marc argued.

“Unless their wolves aren’t up to scratch.” Wade shrugged.

“Thank you, we’ll deal with it later, go relax the rest of the day, see you tomorrow,” Marc stated dismissing him.

“Marc?” Klara asked from her curled position in the chair.

“Yes, darling?”

“My command didn’t work on you, did it?” she asked in uncertainty.

Marc put the paper down and took a breath. “It nearly did. I felt it, I wanted to comply. Darling, you’re stronger than you know, you have to be careful.”

“I know,” she mumbled morosely. “He just made me so angry. I’m in trouble aren’t I?”

“Of course you’re not. We make mistakes when we’re learning, we can talk about it later.”

“I want to talk about it now,” she insisted pointedly, a stubborn bite to her tone.

Marc took a deep breath, “OK. You allowed yourself to lose control which was dangerous. You used your command for your own personal gain instead of as a calculated move. You and your wolf allowed primal rage to control you. You then marked me through an act of domination. We were in front of our subjects, in the presence of those who look up to us to give the example of behaviour. They look to us as their leaders and you demonstrated an act of weakness, through that you brought to light my weakness. You demonstrated me as a submissive to you. All I can hope is that it doesn’t rock my kingdom’s belief in me as their King.”

Klara blinked at him a few times, taking in his words, his warning.

She dropped her head, “You’re mad at me.”

“I’m disappointed... in both of us. I should have told you to stay in the office, I should have helped you calm down before you got to that stage.”

“You aren’t responsible for my emotions. As you said, I allowed myself to get that angry, I lost control.” Shame filled him from Klara.

“We make mistakes, unfortunately, our behaviour is always under scrutiny. We’ll get over it, we’ll get through it.” He gestured for her to come to him and she uncurled herself from the chair before slowly and hesitantly walking around his desk.

As soon as she was within his grasp he took hold of her hand and pulled her into his lap. “I’m not mad at you, I promise.” He leant in his chair and cradled her against him. “Give me a few hours then we’ll watch a film. I’m dealing with your father tomorrow.” Klara nodded and made a move to stand but Marc didn’t let her go, his arms tightened against her as he sat up and continued working.