9. The King

Theon.

Stepping outside the boundaries of my pack is always risky. I feel the danger raise the hairs of my neck every time. I have as many enemies as those who respect me, and the price that rests on my head is frankly unbelievable.

Foreboding is not a stranger. But this time, I feel it more keenly than ever before. 

The fact that I do not trust Alpha Farris Leighwen only adds to it. 

As the Wolf King of this land, it was my responsibility to inspect every pack in my territory at least once a year. There are 70 wolf packs in the USA, and I have to vet through all of them. I have a duty to help each and every wolf in my Kingdom, the Lycan Kingdom of North America, and I took those duties seriously I probably should.

In order to do that, I visit as often as I can, discretely, of course. Knowing that the King was visiting would create quite a commotion, and I hate crowds. Going undercover in packs often gave me the results I wanted, let me see what kind of a man or woman the Alpha was and how they ran their packs.

The Leighwen pack is the closest to me, a noble pack, run by an Alpha whose family had been loyal to my family since werewolves had existed in this continent if the records are right. And so, I had paid the pack a few visits since I took the Throne. 

But that was when Gregory Leighwen was the Alpha. I had yet to have a physical audience with his son. 

I had already heard rumours about this Farris and had spoken to him over the phone several times. From those conversations, I gathered that he was a very ambitious man who would go to great lengths to get what he wanted and a skilled manipulator.

After all, he managed to make me an offer I couldn’t resist, at least, not outright.

The Leighwen pack was…complicated. The last time I visited, months before the death of Alpha Gregory, my wolf had caught a scent that had made him howl softly in a way that I had never heard before, longing to ring in his voice. But the scent had been fleeting, and I hadn’t been able to find its owner afterwards. But after the Alpha changed, my brother got worse and the duties of running a Kingdom busied my schedule. I did not have time to go on my escapades. 

Yet, here I am, dressed in a formal white shirt tucked into black dress pants, with my Beta beside me, entering the pack territory. While the Leighwen Pack had less territory than any other noble pack, their population was more or less the same. When the land was divided amongst the nobles a long time ago, certain wolves were favoured amongst the others. The Leighwen wolves were never key players in the affairs of the political world, hence they had not been given priority when land was gifted. Was that unfair? Probably, but it was the past. I could not do anything about the decisions of the rulers before me.

If this was any other situation, I would not have an issue of granting some more territory to a small pack, but with the subject at hand, everything felt a little…off.

“This girl we’re getting,” My Beta raises his voice, “Are we sure she’s a stealer?”

Stealers were creatures of myth to many, but as a part of the Royal family I had privy to certain information. They were real enough, albeit extremely rare. Some sources say that there is only ever one stealer born for every generation. When Farris called to tell me that there was a stealer willing to save my brother from entirely becoming a feral wolf, I had not thought twice before ordering a party to the Leighwen pack to gauge the situation myself.

It was no less of a miracle, a stealer’s appearance. I might even call it a gift, if not for how much a taboo stealers were.

“We don’t know anything for sure, not yet,” I reply, crossing my legs. The car drives down the main road, passing a high school. The stealer had attended this place and had walked through its halls. How hadn’t anyone noticed before?

The knowledge about stealers was limited. They were a pack taboo, and in olden times once a stealer was found she was immediately exiled. They were a bad omen for any pack, a threat to the unity within. It was all because of the Stealer’s scent that could mimic that of a lost mate of a widowed wolf, or an unmated one who was yet to find his mate, thus making herself enticing to them. Stealers in legends and stories had always used this power to their advantage, turning pack member against pack member, leading them to massacre each other. They were told to be unable to speak the truth, unable to do anything other than entice and manipulate. When I was younger, those kinds of stories made me feel sympathetic to stealers.

Eighteen seems to be too young for anyone to realize they are a stealer.

But we were not in those times, and exiling a wolf just for her smell didn’t feel right. It was one of the reasons I was skeptical of this arrangement. Farris had been awfully eager to get rid of a pack member, especially someone he used to date for a time at that if the rumors were correct. I think that’s the reason why this girl, whoever she was, was eager to leave her pack.

“We will see what the hell Farris Leighwen is up to,” I tell my Beta as the car is parked on the front lawn of the pack house. Alpha Farris Leighwen immediately opens the large double door to step out, as if he had been watching from the windows. “Then we will take the necessary action. Both for the girl and this pack.”

Today might end in bloodshed. I did not take pack betrayals kindly.

“Your majesty!” Farris is smiling from ear to ear, but his eyes are wary. My wolf stirs inside me, softly growling. “Welcome to my humble pack, my Lord! We have been waiting for your arrival and visit for so long, it’s a pity our first meeting had to be over this. Nevertheless, I am so glad you could make it so quickly, given how busy you are, your majesty!”

It takes everything for me to stop a grimace, but all those efforts are provide futile when he starts to bow low.

“Alpha Farris,” I reply, “Drop the titles, please, you can just call me Alpha.” I’ve always been uncomfortable with this whole Royal business. “And yes, this is not the way I envisioned our first meeting. I trust that the girl is unharmed and cared for?”

The smile finally dims, “She’s alright, your-“ I raise a brow, and the Alpha blushes, “Alpha, she’s resting.” Then he sighs. “I didn’t believe it at first, but it seems that it is real. I loved her, but now…” He sighs again, more exaggeratedly. Should he lay this so thick? “It doesn’t matter. We cannot change what has happened, after all.”

“Indeed,” I cock my head, “You said she was resting.”

“Oh, she was, but now she ought to be awakened by my housekeepers. Please, come inside! She is waiting with her family.”

The pack house is a mansion but on the smaller side. It is quaint, with vintage interior designs. The house is well-lit, and servants bustle here and there.

“You seem to be awfully busy here,” I note.

“We are Alpha. I took the liberty of organizing a banquet on your honour,” The headache-inducing smile is back again. Great. “The stealer, Callista Leander, is in the living room. Please follow me.”

I nod and we turn to the long passageway when something collides with me.

A flurry of chestnut brown hair gives way to pink-coloured eyes, and the most wonderful fragrance blinds my senses. It reminds me of long winter nights by the fireplace, of jasmine flowers and moonlight. It’s a fresh scent, like the foliage after rain, with a hint of flowers. I could smell it for days and never get tired of it.

My wolf howls within me, his joy intermingling with my own. I’ve never felt like this before, weightless and free but tethered at the same time, unbelievably happy.

“Oh, I’m so sorry,” A beautiful voice says, and the girl in front of me brings her hands to her mouth, her eyes taking me in, “I wasn’t paying attention to where I was going-”

“Beautiful…” I whisper, entranced, the scent addling my brain. “Who are you?”

“Oh, my name is Ruelle Leander.” She smiles, “It’s a pleasure to meet you, Mr.…?”

“Theon,” I am gob smacked, and my wolf is restless, pacing in my mind, growling and yipping. “Theon Rexellen. And the pleasure is all mine.”

Ruelle’s eyes widen, and she immediately drops into a sloppy courtesy. “Oh, your majesty! I am so sorry…”

“No, no, please, you don’t need to bow to me,” I take her hands in mine. Her wrists are so delicate. She smells glorious.

“Oh.” Ruelle looks at me, star-struck and blushing, the rose colour fetching in her cheeks.

Finally, my wolf growls in my ear, “Mate!”