Page 11

Maximus

I woke up wrapped around my mate, feeling her naked body against mine; I didn’t want to leave the bed.

Knowing Kylie hadn’t been with another male changed things.

She would need to be taken care of on a different level than the other females I had been with, so it would be memorable.

Touching her alone sent me spiraling into wanting her.

Her skin was so soft, and that caramel and vanilla scent of hers made me want to bite into her, claiming her so no one else could ever taste her like I did.

When I looked at her as the morning light seeped in from a slit in the curtains, Kylie appeared the most at peace since I met her. Images of her curled into a ball on that cold stone floor had me stifling the snarls rising in my throat so I wouldn’t wake her.

We should go back and tear him limb from limb.

Once Kylie is settled into the pack and no longer afraid of being around them on her own, we will fix this. Maybe even ask her if she would like to watch.

My lycan seemed pleased with that plan. He hoped Kylie would watch so she could see the things we would do to those who hurt her. That is how an alpha is supposed to act toward her—not lay a hand on her over stupid things like her tripping over a damn bucket.

It looked as though Kylie was in a deep sleep, so I untangled myself from her to start my day.

My lycan grumbled inside me as I pulled away from her, but the pack’s needs also had to be met.

These thoughts boiled inside me. I hated internal conflict; it was bad enough I had another presence in my mind, but it was worse to argue with myself.

A run would help me clear my head and put some of this to rest. If I stayed here arguing with my own mind, I would meet nobody’s needs and just make myself angrier.

Rage bubbled inside me about her pack, and I needed to work it out before I took it out on my pack—or worse, her. I’ll handle that pack eventually, but right now, that’s not where my head needs to be.

Mate.

She’s asleep.

Be with mate.

No, let her sleep. I don’t think she had enough during her time with her pack.

My lycan went quiet as I put on my gray slacks and blue button-up shirt.

Kylie’s scent was all over the room now after her presence here, but it was more welcome than I thought it would be.

That caramel and vanilla scent had become addictive, and I couldn’t wait for it to be mixed with mine.

I needed to do something else today: Kylie needed clothes, and I wasn’t sure of her size. I’d need Amara to help me with that.

Eli at least handled most of the tasks after we got back while I was in the infirmary with Kylie, but I still needed to check in with the other packs.

Most didn’t want to deal with Eli, only the alpha.

It became frustrating when there were times I needed Eli to handle something they were asking me to do, but my father always said to take care of the needs of the pack regardless of how I felt about it. I had to agree.

When I stepped out of my suite, the need to be with Kylie lessened, and my lycan went silent.

I rolled my shoulders and cracked my neck, feeling the weight of needing to claim my mate become a dull ache in my chest. That was unexpected, as I’d always heard how males wanted to claim their mate every second of every day until they marked their females.

It was worse when they were near their mate; being surrounded by their scent filled them with enough need to become relentless until they could mark them.

I hadn’t heard of someone’s lycan letting up as they walked away from their mate, though.

What’s going on with you? I asked.

My lycan lifted his head and bared his teeth at me inside the planes of my mind. Nothing.

Are you sulking? We have shit to do for the pack, or we would still be in there.

No. Let’s tend to our people.

The whole pack was here after visiting yesterday.

Mine was small—just thirty members—but each one was among the strongest in the kingdom I ruled, which spanned thousands.

Even the omegas were strong enough to calm the dominant beasts.

It would only be better if I had Alaric’s mate, Tala, whose presence alone could soothe even the most unruly lycans.

I think Talon felt the same way, at least from what I heard. When he found his mate, he hoped she would be a white lycan, too, so she could help him avoid crossing completely into feral territory after she left him for a bit.

If Kylie turned out to be a powerful omega, that would be a blessing. Housing the strongest lycans in my kingdom meant arguments and fights happened often. But given how things had gone so far, I was starting to think she would never be powerful—that it might just be impossible.

When I walked into the kitchen to check on the omegas, they all congratulated me and expressed how happy they were to see me content.

They mentioned they could speak with Kylie when she felt up to it, and I told them I’d have her talk to everyone when she woke for the day.

A few of them exchanged glances, and I wondered if it was because of how Kylie reacted yesterday to everyone.

Inside my office, I sat down and pulled open the spreadsheets I needed to go over, including schedules I had neglected since leaving to find my mate.

As I did, a breeze of coconut assaulted my nostrils upon entering the room.

The urge to take a deep breath to settle myself before looking up at the one person I hoped to avoid today was strong. I didn’t have time for this.

“Morning, Alpha. How is the day treating you?” Nova, a somewhat dominant female of my pack, called out as she walked over to my desk.

When my eyes glanced up at her, it took a lot of energy not to roll them at her outfit alone.

The tank top she wore cut far too low and exposed a lot of her breasts, making it look like a hungry infant would want to be fed at the sight of her.

The black skirt she had on left little to the imagination as well.

Nova liked to wear her long, blonde hair straightened so it fell to the middle of her back and over her breasts.

Then she caked on mascara and lipstick to accentuate her gray-blue eyes and full lips.

Nova has wanted me as her mate for as long as I’ve known her. There was a time when I considered having a relationship with her after a one-night stand, but I couldn’t handle her attitude.

“It’s treating me just fine, Nova. What do you want?”

She propped herself on my desk, hiking up her low skirt a little more.

I was pretty sure I could see the strap of a red thong under the small amount of fabric of her skirt.

Males may like when females did this, but I wasn’t one of them.

Kylie wore more conservative clothes, and that’s what I preferred.

Still, I needed to send a few omegas to get her clothes so she could finally leave the suite.

Well, maybe I could keep her in the suite for another day to spend some time getting to know her.

Nova wagged her eyebrows at me. “You know what I want.”

I sighed because I should’ve guessed she’d be like this. This was practically a weekly occurrence at this rate. “I found my mate, Nova.”

She scoffed. “Some mate. She looked frightened to be around us. Is she human?”

This time, I growled. “No, she isn’t human. She’s an omega who was abused by her former pack. Now, if you’ll excuse me, I need to complete paperwork before I can return to my suite for the day.”

Nova leaned over toward me, flashing her breasts as she did. It was hard to ignore how close she was to me. A growl escaped me as she reached out her hand to touch mine. I didn’t like being touched unless I initiated it first. You’d think she knew that, considering she grew up with me.

She didn’t react to my flinching away from her touch. “You know, you are the king, Max. A king needs a queen at his side. Not some weak omega who wants to cower away from her pack instead of embracing it.”

My eyes met hers, and I dared her not to break away from my gaze. If she challenged me by holding my stare, no one would question why I tossed her out of here on her ass. Luckily for her, she dropped eye contact within seconds, but she made no movement to leave me.

“What part did you miss about how she was abused in her former pack? Of course, she cowered away from our pack. The power our pack holds is much greater than hers. We are the monsters she fears since she’s only been shown violence.”

Nova straightened herself and narrowed her eyes at me. “That’s the problem, love.”

I growled. I wasn’t her love.

“Why aren’t you asking yourself why she was abused? Did you ever think she wasn’t fulfilling her duties to the alpha? Omegas are punished all the time throughout your kingdom for not completing their duties or displeasing the pack.”

I snarled. That’s news to me. The treatment of pack members defined the alpha. If I had alphas out there mistreating their pack, I wanted them dealt with.

“If you believe the treatment of pack members should be like that, you need to be removed from my kingdom.”

She shook her head and laughed. “Oh, Max, that’s in every kingdom. There’s a hierarchy, and omegas are low for a reason. Even the omegas here are made to clean, cook, and take care of the pups. That’s how it is everywhere.”

“Yes, but if they don’t finish their duties for the day or make a mistake, they aren’t beaten within an inch of their lives and thrown into a damn dungeon.”

Nova looked at me again and sighed. “You are a king, Max. Someone who has to take care of every person in your kingdom. That’s a large task, and you need someone by your side who can help you through it.

Is she really someone who can help you when she can’t even stay in the same room with this pack without hiding behind you or our new beta female? ”

I pointed at her and growled. “Watch what you say around me about my mate. The fact that she can still be in the presence of beasts like us after what she endured is a testament to her strength.”

“Yet she couldn’t defend herself against any of them? Doesn’t that mean she hasn’t been properly trained, too?”

“Who cares?”

Nova hopped off the desk and put her hands on her hips as she glared in my direction.

She wouldn’t meet my eyes, but she looked past me to avoid angering my lycan.

Oddly enough, he didn’t seem all that defensive, even with someone speaking ill of our mate.

Something I thought would rile him had him sleeping inside me.

“This pack will care. Your kingdom will care. How would it look for the king to have a queen who can’t do much for the pack? Don’t think we haven’t noticed she could barely stand without help after a few hours of talking to us.”

Damn. Kylie wasn’t fully on the mend and needed more time to rest. Nova didn’t need to know that.

If she wanted to claim me as her mate, she could challenge Kylie for it.

I was pretty sure my mate would lose that fight.

Not only because she was still weak from what she experienced…

Nova was right. Kylie didn’t seem to know how to defend herself. She wasn’t properly trained.

Had I made a mistake by bringing Kylie here?

“Think about it, Maxy. Mate bonds are tricky things. A mate is supposed to make you stronger. What will happen if you claim someone who is so weak?”

That was something I did need to consider. A fated mate was supposed to make each party stronger from the bond.