Shift

AURELIA

Alastair found himself both tickled and ticked off by his mate’s words, and even more so by his beta’s. He was the only one who could talk to her like that, if he so chose.

“My king, she—”

“She!” Alastair bellowed, as if the word “she” was the worst insult in the entire kingdom.

Aurelia, smartly, stayed silent, her head down and eyes on her food. He could feel her fingers itching to touch him, to be near. He felt the same pull.

He took pleasure in watching his subjects squirm, even his second and third in command.

They were such superior wolves compared to the soldiers, the armies, the village wolves. Yet, they were completely obedient to the king’s orders.

“My apologies, my king. I meant no disrespect to you—”

“We’ll talk later,” the king declared, his eyes locked on Aurelia. “And you, come with me.” He extended his hand and she slipped hers into his.

The electric sparks that had always been there were now magnified a hundred times over. She let out a small squeal, which only added to Alastair’s amusement.

He placed a hand on the small of her back and guided her away from the food they’d barely touched.

Quietly, she noticed they were heading outside, and her heart instantly started to race. He could hear it, of course, which only served to unsettle her more.

Soon they stopped in the heart of the woods, out of sight of the guard wolves.

She was a bit surprised they hadn’t headed to their chambers, where he would pressure her into giving in to the desire she was forced to feel.

“M-my king?” she stuttered, unable to meet his gaze. Her body shivered without her cloak and the silk that wrapped around her arms did little to shield her from the cold.

“Take off your gown,” he demanded, his tone harsh.

“I-I—”

“Now, little wolf!” he growled.

She trembled under both his gaze and the frosty wind as she slid her gown off her small body.

Maybe he was such a beast that he preferred they mate surrounded by nature, connected to the earth, under the moon’s light. All for the goddess to see.

When he began to strip from his regal clothing, she couldn’t tear her eyes away.

Every muscle on his torso bulged, his arms like tree branches with veins popping, his entire body was sculpted as if he were a god.

Her eyes traveled lower; she couldn’t stop herself. And she found that he was incredibly blessed with size, as well.

Why were the most attractive men always monsters?

Cathan was another sight to behold in his own right. His looks were comparable to the Alpha King’s, though they contrasted in many ways.

The Alpha King was tall, broad, dark, while Cathan was leaner, lighter in features, and seemed to hold every secret in the world.

“Aurelia,” the king’s voice called out, pulling her from her daze.

This wasn’t the plan. But she supposed it would have to happen. She wasn’t sure she was ready though. She would block it all out and pretend it wasn’t happening.

“Shift.”

The one word that she had begged in the back of her mind that he would never say. That he would never ask of her.

Because she couldn’t. She physically couldn’t.

When she was a child, at the time when all the pups were finally able to shift, she couldn’t. They were all wary of the girl, or they ridiculed her.

It had isolated her, pushing her further into her dark powers that swallowed her whole. She had lashed out frequently until the incident happened. After that, she never looked back.

It was even worse than not being able to shift into her wolf. She had a wolf. She knew that earlier than all the other pups. Yet when she shifted, she morphed into a half-wolf, half-human creature.

She’d never known why until she discovered she was a hybrid. No one else ever saw her half-wolf. And no one ever would.

Certainly not the Alpha King, who would order Laurent to kill her in a heartbeat if he knew she was fae.

Maybe the goddess enjoyed the irony. Pairing the only ever fae wolf with a king who wished to slaughter every last fae he could find.

“Shift,” he demanded more insistently.

She would rather he fuck her than this. Disobeying him never ended well for her, at all. And he still had her sister in his cells.

“No,” she muttered, hanging her head.

Low rumbles erupted from the Alpha King’s throat, and it wasn’t until her gaze flickered up that she realized he was laughing.

Without humor. As if she had never defied him before and he was shocked.

“My beautiful little wolf. Come here,” he ordered, his tone surprisingly calm.

Her feet shuffled over before her mind could contemplate. Her body was drawn to his. They belonged together. The goddess had deemed it so. Even if she despised the match. It was sure to get her killed.

His fingers dug into her jaw as he lifted her face up to meet his.

“I didn’t believe the new obedience act. I’m relieved to be proved right. I told you to shift, Aurelia. So, shift,” he hissed.

She shook her head as much as she could in his grip. His scoff sent tingles down her back as though thousands of ants were crawling down her.

“Why not?”

“I can’t,” she lied in a mutter.

“What?”

“I can’t shift. I was never able to,” she confessed, hoping he couldn’t see through her deception. “I apologize.”

The first stage of the plan, a plan she had attempted to execute earlier, was to lull him into a false sense of security to keep her sister safe until she attacked.

Of course, she needed her sister back home in the arms of her mate before she could enact the destiny spell. How she would do that, she didn’t know.

“You’re mated to a king and you can’t shift?” he stated in a raised tone. She visibly gulped and squeezed her eyes shut as his hand lifted.

“I’ve never met a wolf who couldn’t shift. Because you wouldn’t be a wolf if you don’t have one.”

Her eyes opened, peeking at the sight in front of her. Only to watch and feel his fingers touch her face and body, examining her.

He was just curious. Not angry or mean, just curious. She was a mystery to him. And she liked it that way, so she wouldn’t become prey to his warrior wolves.

“I have a wolf,” she mumbled.

“But she’s shy?” he teased, disbelief in his voice. “You’ve never seemed shy to me, so why should your wolf be?”

She looked down, as far as she could with his firm grip still on her face. “Look at me when I talk,” he commanded, a surge of anger flashing through him.

“I don’t know what you want from me, your majesty.” Her heart pounded so loudly she could hear it in her head, and he could surely hear it too.

Her fear and panic seemed to soothe him. She needed to learn what made him happy, besides sex.

If she was going to manipulate him, it wouldn’t be through mating, though she’d have to do that too.

She started to see herself through his eyes. She was his, in the most primal sense. Every part of her, every bit of her being was his.

But he couldn’t see all of her, he couldn’t know all of her. There was a part of her he knew nothing about, and that frustrated him because she was his.

“They cast me out. The people in the village where I grew up. The village where you killed all those young women. I wanted to leave, I wanted a different life, one that wasn’t so ordinary and lonely.

“I should have been careful what I wished for.”

She needed to be genuine, honest, trustworthy. To bare her soul as much as she could without revealing her true nature. To make him believe she was completely his.

“Your wishes didn’t cause this, foolish girl,” he said harshly, letting go of her jaw and stepping back.

He bent down and dressed her, his hands caressing her skin. He dressed himself too.

“For some reason, this match was deemed worthy by a power greater than the gods.”

She frowned in confusion. A power greater than the gods? The moon goddess made the matches, created beings that belonged together.

He grabbed her hand before she could ask anything and led her back to the cabin, letting Aurelia stumble over pebbles, twigs, and even her own feet because of his fast pace.

“We’re leaving now. Gather anything you need and Laurent will take you back to the castle,” he announced.

“You’re not coming with us?” she asked softly, careful of his reaction. She had to think before she spoke. Upsetting him could only lead to punishment.

He would prefer her to be completely silent and mindless. He would have sex with her, she would give him an heir, and then she would be discarded. But to achieve what she wanted, she needed to speak.

“No. I have some business to take care of. Do you need another lesson in obedience?”

“No, my king. I was just curious,” she responded.

“Curiosity is something you don’t need. Ever. If I want you to know something, you will. If not, you won’t. Understand?” he insisted.

“Understood, my king,” she replied submissively, lowering her head at his tone. But she realized he had spoken more to her than he ever had before.

She hurried away, putting on her cloak and slipping on the gloves she had found.

She met Laurent as she climbed into the carriage and his eyes narrowed at her with contempt. She found his behavior amusing, especially since the king seemed to disapprove of it.

So, she wouldn’t use her gift to silence him anymore. It was much more fun to talk with him during this journey.

“Where did you and the king go last night?” he demanded.

“If he wanted his beta to know that, I’m sure he would have told you,” she replied smugly.

She felt his level of superiority. As long as she could use her power, there was nothing he could do.

“You were a lowly runt living like a whore in an outlying village before the king found you. You are nothing. He’s the only reason you’re still alive,” he threatened darkly.

“He’s the reason I’m here in the first place. The king spoke of a higher power deeming our match worthy, higher than the gods. Tell me what he’s talking about.”

Laurent scoffed and sat back in his seat across from her with a smug look as the horses started to pull the carriage.

“If he wanted his little mate to know that, I’m sure he would have told you,” he mimicked.

“You’re a child,” she shot back. “I could be a powerful ally if you just showed me some respect.”

He raised an eyebrow but didn’t say anything.

“I’ll talk and you’ll listen and I’ll figure out if I’m right.”

He still chose not to speak.

“This higher power means our match wasn’t made strictly by the moon goddess. Which means this isn’t fate. And it wasn’t a mistake either.”

He just stared at her.

“Do you really think a lowly runt living as a whore in an outlying village would be mated to the immortal Alpha King by a power greater than the gods?”

His expression wavered as doubt crept into his eyes.

“I suggest you think about how you talk to me in the future.” It was either advice or a threat. He seemed to take it as the latter, and a flicker of fear sparked in him.