Page 9

Maximus

For once, I let Eli drive my car so I could sit in the backseat with my mate.

There wasn’t a chance I’d let her out of my arms, so I held her against me while my beta drove us home.

His new mate, Amara, sat in the passenger seat, and I noticed she kept looking back to check on Kylie.

At least one person in that group seemed to care about my mate.

She needed someone, and I was glad she had Amara and that she was coming with us.

Amara, like my mate, was powerless against the alpha.

She was there for my mate when she took her beatings and punishments but ultimately helpless to prevent it from happening in the first place.

A little comfort in her world of torment.

I still couldn’t believe I found my mate locked away in the dungeon.

If it hadn’t been for her, I would have ripped Alexander apart for keeping her down there.

Kylie looked far too thin for my liking, confirming my theory that he had starved her in that dungeon.

The first thing I needed to do was have her injuries assessed.

Her lycan’s scent wasn’t strong, which also meant her lycan wasn’t powerful enough to rise to her full potential.

Even if my mate was an omega, she should’ve had enough strength to heal her wounds.

“Why aren’t you healing, little omega? Is it because you were starved down there?”

I could hear her soft, even breathing and realized she was asleep—most likely due to the lack of energy. Amara glanced over the seat with a frown on her face.

“Kylie’s lycan hasn’t been strong enough to help her. She’s had the ability to shift for almost a year now, but I think she’s only done it three times. It takes a lot for her to shift, and her lycan healing is slow.”

My blood boiled hearing that. How could she be that weak?

There was more to this story, and I would get to the bottom of it.

My lycan wanted nothing more than to tell Eli to turn the damn car around so I could slaughter that pack and wipe their existence from the map.

They didn’t deserve to breathe the same air as my mate.

Though most of these thoughts came from my lycan, I had to agree. This was proof I needed to look more closely into the packs under my care. I might have done a lot since I took the throne, but clearly not enough. Things needed to change once I got back.

Well, after I tended to my mate first.

Kylie slept on me the entire way home. When we pulled into the driveway, her eyes fluttered open as I moved from the seat.

Amara rushed to my side when I got out of the car, but Eli dragged her away and tucked her under his arm.

Eli understood just as much as I did about protecting a mate.

Amara might have been a female close to Kylie, but after what we went through at the pack house, my lycan would be on edge if anyone approached me right now.

I saw everyone as an enemy, regardless of who they were, because my mate was so badly injured.

It was tough navigating the halls when my pack wanted to greet me.

Eli told them all to move out of my way, and thankfully, they listened.

I took Kylie right to the pack doctor, and she was on a stretcher within several minutes.

The doctor let loose a few growls as he examined each bruise and muttered something under his breath about carelessness.

“What’s the verdict, Doc?”

Anthony, the doctor, was an older lycan. His soft brown eyes met mine as he shook his head. His anger etched even more wrinkles onto his already-lined face. He looked upset about the state my mate was in, and it eased me a little to see him care for her so much already.

“There isn’t much of her body that doesn’t have a bruise, Alpha.

Whoever did this to her was thorough with his infliction on her.

” I growled, but he ignored it. “There are several fractured ribs, and even her legs and arms have a few fractures. So far, I can’t see any broken bones, and there’s no internal bleeding from what I can smell.

She’ll need X-rays, sir. I’ll hook her up to an IV as well because she is incredibly malnourished. ”

I nodded. “I agree. When can I take her from here?”

My lycan wouldn’t let me walk away from her right now. She needed me. She needed to know someone would be here for her through this. Kylie hadn’t had anyone for her before, and I wouldn’t leave her now that I had found her.

“I’m not sure, Alpha. Maybe a couple of days. The lycan inside her feels weak, which has slowed her healing. It could be from the years of abuse she has endured or…”

The doctor paused. He looked away from my sleeping mate to meet my gaze. I couldn’t tell what was going through his mind. He sensed my mate’s vulnerability, a weakness subtly present in his scent.

“Or what?”

He frowned. “Or her lycan just doesn’t have the kind of power she needs to heal.”

“Is that possible?” I asked him. This wasn’t normal. Omegas didn’t carry power the way anyone with dominance did, but they still had enough to heal. Their power was unique, more calming than anything.

“It’s not common. The rarest thing to happen to our kind, but it is possible.”

This could change a lot of things. If she wasn’t strong enough to heal, how would she help me fend off rogues if they attacked?

What if she needed constant protection? Lycans weren’t the easiest to be around.

My pack was full of powerful, dominant lycans.

Things could get tense and lead to physical violence.

There was a reason the king needed to be a powerful lycan to begin with. It was to keep those rough men in line.

“What can we do about it?”

The doctor shrugged and shook his head. “That’s the thing, I’m not sure.

It could be a lot of things, or it could be nothing.

It depends on how she reacts to things, or I should say how her lycan reacts to things.

The best hope would be after you are bonded.

The power from your lycan could heal the parts of hers to bring it to full strength. ”

That made a little sense. I had to hope things would get better for her after we bonded. The pack wouldn’t want a luna and queen they’d have to tiptoe around.

Protect mate , my lycan growled. Harm has come to her too often for us to allow it to happen here.

***

It took Kylie three days to heal from everything that ailed her due to the punishment she received from her former alpha.

Three long days, and my lycan refused to leave her side.

Kylie was mostly asleep throughout this time, and the doctor said it was because she felt safe enough to rest. It helped her body heal, so I couldn’t complain.

I even noticed some color returning to her cheeks.

Having gathered the pack together inside the pack house, I waited for her release.

Since she emerged from the infirmary, Kylie had become my shadow, hiding behind my tall frame wherever we went.

Her timid nature made me smirk, as I knew I’d have to praise the shit out of her extensively to undo the damage her former pack had done.

Something about that made my dick hard just thinking about it.

Praising her for doing things and seeing her smile and grow in confidence could lead to wonderful outcomes.

Eli strolled into the room with Amara in tow, both sporting mating marks on their necks.

Eli didn’t want to waste time with a bonding ceremony, knowing that the males in our pack would want to get to know her.

It had been a while since anyone found their mate in this pack, and all the females were either taken or not suitable matches for them.

Many were growing restless, and I knew I’d have to mark Kylie sooner rather than later as well.

I don’t like how the pack looks at our mate.

I glanced around and noticed a few eyeing Kylie like they wanted to throw her over their shoulder and whisk her away to do things behind closed doors.

A snarl rose in my throat, and I had to stop myself from letting it loose, as Kylie began trembling behind me while my body tensed.

This isn’t how any lycan should feel around a pack. Packs are supposed to support and uplift their members. They are family. Yet Kylie seemed terrified of having the pack around her right now.

Yeah. That needs to change.

“Hello, my pack! I have returned from the search for my mate with good news! I have found her and brought her home.” I stepped aside enough to reveal Kylie, then coaxed her to move beside me.

I draped my arm over her shoulders and smiled at my pack.

She trembled beneath my touch. Fear mixed with nerves swirled through her scent of caramel and vanilla, prompting me to move my fingers in a circular motion against her skin.

It relaxed her enough for her to lean more into my side.

Good. My touch made her feel safe. That was something I could work with.

“Welcome Kylie into our pack!” Everyone leaned their heads back and howled joyously, easing Kylie’s tension enough for her to move from my side. “There’s another addition to our family today. Beta Eli has brought home his mate as well. Please welcome his mate, Beta Amara.”

Another howl erupted, and happy faces appeared among the crowd.

I noticed a few females glaring at Kylie and Amara, but they were the ones I expected to react that way.

They had wanted either me or Eli for years, but neither of us felt the pull to make them our mates.

We had our fun. They wanted more, but we had told them fun was all we could offer.

Not our fault these females wouldn’t listen.

We mingled after the introductions, and I noticed how Kylie immediately went to Amara for comfort.

Amara hugged her close, held her there for a few seconds, and then released her.

They whispered to each other, and I could still feel Kylie’s nervousness through the bond.

It eased some as she talked to Amara, and they walked around the room.

Kylie introduced herself to some other females while Amara kept her away from the males.

Eli must have told Amara to do that for my sake.

I did my best to keep her by my side after seeing how my pack looked at her.

The females glared while the males looked at her like she was a piece of meat.

Those looks could get them all killed if they weren’t careful.

Something told me if I didn’t get her out of there, I’d be burying them all in a plot out back.

Against my better judgment, I grabbed Kylie by the arm, and her body went rigid before she started trembling.

My lycan roared inside me, enraged that I had caused her fear, and he slammed against the wall of my mind to shift so he could make her feel safe.

I did one better by wrapping her up in my arms and holding her tight against me.

There was some pushback, but her tiny frame was no match for me.

“Shhh, I got you. I’m sorry.”

From there, things didn’t go how I thought they would.

It took a while before Kylie settled enough to move about the house.

Amara was at her side the entire time, which brought me some peace since I needed to tend to some of my duties.

Amara would keep her away from the males until I could give her the tour of the house.

While I was in my office, Eli came in with a shit-eating grin. Sometimes, I wanted to slap that damn smile off his face. Now was one of those times.

“Afternoon, boss. Why the hell are you in here instead of up in your room, claiming your mate? Dude, sex with your mate is hot as fuck. They are so damn perfect in every fucking way.”

I growled in annoyance but didn’t look up from the papers I had to go over.

The urge to do exactly what he just said was strong.

Every thought I had was either that or things I wanted to do to my mate.

However, I had to get these files read and signed off on after spending three days by her side while she recovered.

But I also recalled the moment I grabbed onto Kylie before I came in here. She looked terrified and responded as if I would hurt her. That’s the last thing I’d do. If she reacted that way any time I startled her, this wouldn’t end well around here.

I sighed. “I’m not even sure I can claim my mate.”

Eli furrowed his eyebrows at me and curled his lip. “Why would you say that? She’s your fated mate, Max. Literally chosen by the goddess to be your perfect match. Why wouldn’t you claim her?”

I leaned back in my chair and looked at him.

“She’s been through a lot. When I found her, she was in a cell, broken, bruised, and bloody.

That wasn’t the first time her pack had done that to her, either.

I could sense that.” I sighed, along with a growl.

“They damaged her so badly that if I make the wrong move, she spirals. Like when I grabbed onto her today because of the way some of the pack was looking at her. If she responds like that to me, her mate, how will she respond when others do it?”

He shrugged. “She’s a victim of severe abuse, Max. It’s how she’s going to react until she moves past it.”

“She’s to be the queen, Eli. If we want our people to remain our people, I need a strong mate by my side.”

Eli shook his head at me. “I think you are missing the point. The fact that she survived all that abuse and is still the sweetheart she is means she is strong. Probably the strongest female you’ll ever meet.

” He shook his head again and started to walk out of the office.

“Do yourself a favor, Max. Get to know your mate and stop viewing strength the way you are now… or you’ll lose the best thing that will ever happen to you. ”