Unpredictable

AURELIA

The quiet before the storm. Peace before pandemonium. A tense pause in the atmosphere.

Exactly what she was aiming for.

In the weeks following the coronation, Aurelia had been increasingly defiant, all for the Alpha King to witness.

He felt a strong urge to discipline her, but it couldn’t be enjoyable. That wouldn’t teach her anything.

Spanks on the butt were for a good wolf, a compliant little wolf who made a mistake. Which she definitely wasn’t.

He pondered over different ways to punish her, while she continued to misbehave.

She was found eavesdropping on his meetings, venturing into forbidden parts of the castle, acting as if being queen meant more than it did.

Her sense of entitlement was starting to annoy him, especially because he knew it wasn’t real.

A game was underway. He couldn’t quite grasp what game it was, or how she benefited. Was she pushing his boundaries to see what she could get away with?

If that was the case, she needed to be taught a lesson immediately. But maybe that’s what she wanted. If she wanted that, he couldn’t let her win.

He was truly paranoid. Of his own little mate. She was barely tall enough to reach his chest. Her age was centuries behind his. Her intelligence was far below his.

Yet, she had figured him out. Her casual remark about his paranoia was so accurate it amused him.

Amused— not a word he often used to describe himself. After living for so long, it was rare to find anything surprising, anything amusing.

She had said it as if she had always known. What else was she certain of? What else had she gotten right?

Somehow, he didn’t know her. At all. It was odd. He hadn’t even considered it until her comment.

She had been studying him closely, as their interactions were so limited, it was hard to really know each other. She knew him better than he had realized. And he knew... nothing.

That’s why the game bothered him. He wanted to play with her. He wanted some entertainment after all these years.

But he was starting to feel foolish about how little he knew about the girl. And he couldn’t be sure of winning if he knew nothing about his opponent.

So that would be the goal of his game, regardless of whatever she wanted to play. He would observe her like there was nothing else in the world.

Watch her like it was his only purpose in life. Watch her as if his eyes were physically stuck on her.

And she wouldn’t even know.

He watched as she roamed the castle halls, where she wasn’t supposed to be, as if she was searching for something useful. Such determination radiated from the small girl.

A girl who couldn’t shift. A girl who had a sister she would protect. A girl who was stubborn. That was all he knew. Yet, looking at her now, really looking, he could see more.

He quieted his footsteps as he snuck up behind her. He forcefully wrapped an arm around her waist to pull her back against his chest and she squealed.

His hand covered her mouth and his lips moved to her ear.

“Don’t scream, little wolf,” he whispered playfully.

“My king,” she mumbled through his hand. She tried to turn but was held firmly in place, his body pressing into her butt through their clothes. “I—”

“Not now, pup. Your excuses mean nothing to me.” He removed his hand and instead, cupped her breast with it, causing a surprised whimper to escape his queen. “You mean nothing to me.”

The words cut through her, a stab in the heart, just as he knew they would. He could feel it just as she could.

But what she felt wasn’t pain from the false rejection. It was fear of what he would do to make her valuable.

She read him far too quickly for his liking. It was almost as if she knew his thoughts. As if she could read his mind.

She had a sense of his behavior so she knew exactly what his next actions would be. And she shouldn’t be able to do that.

He was determined to be unpredictable, even more so than he had started acting.

“As queen, you have very few duties. One that I can think of. Since you have one duty, you’re expected to do it without complaint. Do you know what that duty is?” he asked huskily.

“To provide you an heir,” she replied, unfazed.

“Indeed.” His frustration flared at her response. She was playing now, whatever little game it was. She was testing him, to see how far he would go.

He had punished his beta and gamma for accidentally revealing that he had freed her sister.

Now Aurelia, the damn queen, thought she was invincible, as if nothing could bring her down. How wrong she was. And he would prove it.

“Have you fulfilled your duty? Are you pregnant?”

“No, my king.”

“So do it,” he growled in her ear.

“No,” she replied boldly but in a bored tone, as if she hadn’t just defied the mighty Alpha King who could break her in half.

In one quick move, he threw her over his shoulder and strode to their quarters, servants scurrying out of sight as they saw the furious Alpha King.

His queen didn’t protest. She let it all happen, without any resistance at all.

Tossing her onto the bed, his red eyes bore into her in a rage. He soon calmed down when she spoke her words.

“How are you going to punish me?”

She had become impatient in her quest to test him, perhaps. She wondered what had taken him so long to react. She was mistaking him for a fool.

He wasn’t a man to plunder and rape as he knew many of his army had done. They were free to do what they wanted as long as their job was done and they remained loyal to the crown.

The king, on the other hand, didn’t sleep with any woman in sight, whether they wanted it or not. He was a king after all. He wouldn’t behave like that. It was unnecessary.

After his many years on earth, sex was a novelty that had faded. Only to be reignited by his little darling mate.

She was his queen, his mate, all his. If he wasn’t allowed to sleep with her, who was? Even so, he wanted her to want it. And she would. He was determined to make that happen.

“Ever thought about me taking you right here?” he murmured, his voice low and dangerous as he moved closer. She tried to keep her face impassive, but he was chipping away at her cool exterior.

“Or maybe I should bend you over this dresser and take you from behind?”

His hand closed around her throat, his body pressing against her petite frame. Her eyes widened in fear as her breaths became more labored. “How about a little game, sweetheart?”

She shook her head frantically, gasping for air. Her skin turned pale, her legs weak. Her lungs screamed for oxygen. Her vision blurred. She blacked out.

He could have done anything to her, lying there so vulnerable and defenseless. If he wanted to. And he did want to play a game with her, his little wolf.

He took her somewhere he never thought he would. He never thought he’d care enough to. But here he was, caught in a dilemma. She was his dilemma. The mystery was gnawing at him.

She wanted to rub her eyes awake, to clear her vision.

But she couldn’t. Her hands were bound behind her back as if she were a dangerous beast. She was blindfolded with something that smelled like him, her senses told her.

She breathed in the musty air, the scent of dried blood and wet dog assaulting her senses.

The faint whispers and distant screams echoed around her, overwhelming her ears.

Her neck throbbed, marked by his burning touch.

The king... Where was he?

“Awake already, little wolf?” he teased, his voice slow and playful, like he was talking to a child.

If he was trying to humiliate her, he wouldn’t succeed. She’d been cast out, humiliated, and mocked for most of her life. If this was something else, she wasn’t sure she could handle it.

“M-my k-k-king?” The air was bitingly cold, even though wolves ran hot. But she’d always been more susceptible to the cold, maybe because she was only half wolf.

“Don’t you remember? We were going to play a game.”

The king had never acted like this. He was a man who expected the ground he walked on to be revered, and it was. He didn’t bother with trivial matters; he was above it all.

He would mete out punishment and fulfill his kingly duties. He would rule with an iron fist, and no one dared to cross him. This was the man Aurelia had come to know.

But now, he seemed like a different person.

He’d never been playful, even if his tone was laced with malice.

He’d never shown interest in her beyond giving orders, shouting, or having sex.

He’d never spoken to her like this.

He was becoming more unpredictable. And unpredictable men were the hardest to defeat.

“W-w-what g-ga-game?” She was shaking from the cold and fear. She felt his fingers trace her frozen cheek, then grip her jaw.

At least the sparks warmed her a little.

Was this his torture chamber? Or a sex room? That wasn’t the point of her game.

She should have been more careful when dealing with the king. Everything seemed to backfire with him. The bite on her neck should have been a warning.

Thankfully, she was still dressed. The solid concrete beneath her told her little. She’d never come across a place like this in her quest to learn everything about her mate.

“Well,” he said, his lips brushing hers as he spoke. “Naughty girls like you need to be taught a lesson. Don’t you think?”

“Y-yes, m-my king,” she stammered, afraid of what he might do.

Her gasp was muffled by a hard smack on her backside, the force rippling through her body. She cried out, whimpering.

“You act like a child. You misbehave and think there are no consequences.

“You’ll be punished like a child. But worse. Because you’re mine and you defied the king. And I don’t tolerate defiance,” he hissed in her face while she tried to recover from his assault.

“Twenty more should do it. Ten times, you defied me. I think I’m being more than fair.”

And then, he delivered them as promised. Halfway through, her body had become numb from his blows, numb to the pain he was inflicting.

And yet, she felt pleasure. Comfort. Safety. He was messing with her mind. How? She didn’t know. But everything felt incredibly twisted.

“Will you be a good girl for me?”

“Y-yes, my k-king,” she managed to say, her stomach churning with nausea.

“Like all naughty girls, you’ll be left here alone to think about what you’ve done.” Strangely, that seemed to settle her stomach. It was almost a relief.

“W-w-where a-am I?”

“You’re in the eternal dungeons, little wolf. Enjoy your stay.”

And then he was gone.