Assassination

AURELIA

Aurelia’s fingers gently traced the mark on her neck, a constant reminder of the situation she found herself in. She had always thought her gift would give her control over her life, but now she was trapped by the Alpha King.

She had been living in the castle for several days now, her new home for the foreseeable future. She had timidly asked the king to release her sister, but she knew the answer before she even asked.

He exploded.

His unpredictable behavior worried her. She was still trying to figure him out, always choosing her words carefully, hoping for a reasonable response.

But the king was also smart.

She didn’t know how, but when it came to ruling his kingdom, he did it with an iron fist—everything was organized, maybe even oppressive, but definitely under his control.

He had to be a patient man to rule like that. But around her, his patience seemed to evaporate.

The key to her plan was to free her sister from the silver cells. Without the threat of her sister’s death, she could take bigger risks, only risking her own life.

If only she could use her power to unlock the cells, but it didn’t work that way. She knew that from experience. The king controlled who left and who entered.

And the king couldn’t be compelled.

That was always the problem. Life would be so much easier for Aurelia if she could control him, the man who ruled everything.

The king was currently giving orders to his battalion and his leading wolves. He had ordered Aurelia to stand beside him as he did so.

She was placed a bit further back, a clear sign of her status: nothing more than a lowly wolf unlucky enough to be mated to the king.

If she was honest with herself, she should have seen it coming. She had always known her power was greater than the average wolf, which meant her mate would be equally powerful.

The king’s dominance and strength felt like it overshadowed hers. But who else could be a match for such a wolf?

She had never met a wolf who came close to his level, and she was surrounded by the most powerful wolves in the kingdom.

Nero glared at her, his face full of pure hatred. It only added to his terrifying appearance.

Vidarr also glanced at her occasionally, intrigued by her presence and by her as a person.

Maybe she shouldn’t have used her powers so recklessly, in front of everyone. Maybe she should have just taken the hits.

She would prefer that to being discovered by the king. That would be a sure way to die.

The king stormed back into the castle, completely ignoring her, leaving Henri to watch over Aurelia. She was supposed to wait while the king acted like she didn’t exist.

“You’re going to be crowned queen soon,” Vidarr said, surprising Aurelia as he spoke from behind her. “Because of that mark on your neck.”

She turned to look at him, noticing Henri’s intense gaze on them. He was supposed to make sure she behaved, after all.

“Do you have a mate?” she asked suddenly. He seemed more amused than offended.

“I rejected her.”

“Rejected?” she asked, not understanding what he meant. He rejected his mate. Was that even possible?

“Most of the wolves here have. We resisted the mate bond long enough to reject our mates and they no longer exist to us.

“It helps us focus on protecting the kingdom and serving the king,” he explained, looking at Aurelia with a confused expression.

“I’ve never heard of mates rejecting each other.” Could she do that? This was a glimmer of hope. This was the chance for a better life.

“I guess there was a reason for that. But it’s too late now. You bear his mark,” he said, amused by her hopeful expression. And just as quickly as the excitement came, it left.

“Don’t you want someone to love? To care for? To be with? To have children with?” she asked.

He laughed and looked at her.

“Is that what you think the king will do with you? Because ~we~ saved our mates from that. We sleep with whores, they bear our children, and then we discard them.

“We cared about our mates enough to reject them rather than subject them to this. There’s no room for love here.”

Love.

She had always thought mates loved each other unconditionally, not that she believed that would happen to her. She had never been loved, after all. But she had hoped.

Apparently, she wasn’t worthy of love, from anyone. Who could she trust? Who could she rely on? Let alone love.

Cathan couldn’t be trusted; his intentions were always so malicious. With her so close to the king, and Cathan so intent on revenge, anything could happen.

But he was the closest thing to a reliable ally that she had. And to reveal what was in his heart, she had to speed things up. She had to kill the king.

She hurried back to her room, dismissed Kenna, and pulled out the hidden grimoire. There, she found the destiny spell.

Cathan had told her she needed both of them. It required an amount of dark magic that one fae simply didn’t have.

Maybe the rumor of his immortality was just that. She couldn’t be sure and it would be foolish to rely on superstition.

So, she set up a test. A sacrificial lamb. Nero. The biggest, toughest warrior. If anyone could kill the king, it would be him, if the king was mortal.

With the compulsion in place, she waited. She paced around her room, nervously biting her nails.

What would happen to her if the king died? What would happen to the kingdom? Would another fae-hating wolf take his place? Maybe even Laurent?

Her thoughts were interrupted when the king burst into the room, ripping off a blood-soaked shirt with a murderous look on his face.

The blood wasn’t his. She could only smell Nero’s. And judging by the amount of it on his clothes, Nero was dead.

“My king, what happened?” she asked, pretending to be concerned, even though he knew it was an act.

He strode toward her, his lips set in a hard line of anger. His hand shot out, gripping her jaw and pulling her face toward his. His fingers bit into her skin, drawing blood. She winced but didn’t make a sound.

“Those who cross me, who betray me, they face a fate worse than death. I’d remember that if I were you,” he spat out.

That could only mean one thing. Nero was alive, just barely. He was in the eternal dungeons.

“I understand,” she responded, her voice steady. She was getting the hang of his moods. “My sister doesn’t belong in your cells. You have me. You don’t need her.”

“Are you telling me what to do? It sounds like it,” he challenged.

“No, my king. I’m just worried about my sister,” she said softly, her hand reaching up to touch his bare chest.

His body stiffened at her touch, but he didn’t pull away. The sensation filled her with a strange sense of joy, his rough skin under her gentle fingers.

She traced the scars on his torso, a wave of sadness and fear washing over her. His body was a map of old wounds; she wondered who had inflicted them, who could have inflicted them.

His grip on her jaw loosened, his hand moving to rest lightly on the back of her neck. A tear slipped down her cheek as she looked at him.

She felt a deep sense of sadness through his scars, as if they were a window into his past.

And then, on a whim, she leaned in and kissed him. To say he was surprised would be an understatement.

She didn’t have any hidden agenda when she kissed him. Even though it might help her sister. She... wanted to. She wanted to kiss away his pain.

Suddenly, she pulled back, her mind snapping back to reality. The king studied her, his expression puzzled. Then he straightened up and cleared his throat.

“I have things to take care of,” he said, before walking away as if she had scorched him.

She touched her lips, remembering the feel of his against hers. They had kissed before, but he had always been so forceful, so controlling.

This had been a gentle, passionate kiss. A kiss that she knew meant something.

Maybe it wasn’t just the mate bond at play.

She couldn’t have feelings for a monster she didn’t know. So why had she done it?

She knew the difference between the mate bond’s constant nagging to be close to him and complete the mating process, and this.

The only times he spoke to her were to give her an order or a punishment. But she guessed that observing him so closely had taught her something.

She had studied his routines, his meals, his behavior. She had even persuaded Henri to report back to her on some of their meetings when she could. It was all to find his weaknesses. All to kill him.

And yet, here she was, kissing him willingly.

This couldn’t happen. She had made up her mind the moment they met. She couldn’t change it now. She wouldn’t let herself.

She had to end this before she fell too deep and gave in to what the mate bond wanted her to feel.

It was time to kill the king. She would try every possible way.

Alastair retreated to his war room. He had sent his best warrior to the eternal dungeons for treason. Something about it didn’t sit right with him. Nero had tried to kill him. But why?

He found himself asking that question a lot lately, ever since he met Aurelia.

Aurelia. The kiss. He had felt something he hadn’t felt in centuries. Safety.

It was as if she wanted to comfort him. He had thrown a loyal soldier into the dungeons and he needed what she gave him. What his mother used to give him. Safety.

Over the years, his paranoia had grown. He didn’t trust anyone. He had plenty of betas and gammas, but he couldn’t trust any of them.

So, he never felt safe, even though he was immortal.

Nero knew that. Why would he even try? What had driven him to do such a thing? He couldn’t even give the king an explanation.

He returned to his chambers to find the girl sleeping peacefully in his bed.

She probably had no idea what she had done earlier, but the memories of his mother had stirred something in his cold, hardened heart.

He slid into bed beside her, watching her chest rise and fall. She was so delicate. Her small nose wrinkled every so often and her teeth bit into her lower lip.

His fingers brushed the mark on her neck, so beautiful on her. She moaned, even in her sleep, and moved closer to Alastair.

She hugged his arm tightly, humming softly, content with their contact. And he was content, too.

Why was she doing this? Was this all a trick? She had tried to play his game since she arrived, but she was no match for the king.

Now she had stirred emotions in him that he shouldn’t have.

He would release her sister in the morning—without her knowing, of course. She wouldn’t be as scared of him if she started getting what she wanted.

But the girl should go back to her village, to her mate, to her ordinary life. And away from Aurelia.

Aurelia belonged to him.