Chapter 7 : The King

*Dominic*

"These packs are getting out of hand, I think it's time we did something drastic about it," I said.

"Like what?" Caleb asked hesitantly.

"If they want to resist the Lycan rule then we make an example of them. Show the other packs what happens to packs that don't fall in line," I said with a shrug. "Taking out the Alpha and placing another that is more…open…to the Lycans being in power, for example."

"Doesn't that seem a bit extreme?" Caleb asked, looking down at the map that sat on my desk listing all the packs under our control.

My control.

"I mean, I get where you are coming from," Caleb offered up. "And I understand the benefit of doing that…however, I fear that if we did that we would create more enemies than we have even now. Ruling out of fear will never be as effective as ruling out of loyalty."

Damn it.

"You're my Beta," I said through my teeth, trying to fight back my instinct. "You are supposed to agree with everything I say and support me as your Alpha."

Caleb put his hands up and bowed his head slightly to appease my wolf. "I am your Beta, and I will always have your back…but I am here to be honest with you and to counsel you on what is best overall for you, our people, and the people we control."

I grumbled and looked down at the maps, but I knew he was right. We had been close our entire childhoods, but the main reason I selected him as my Beta was because I knew he would challenge me and give me advice.

Even if I didn't want to hear it.

"I just think that some of these Alphas are really getting pretty full of themselves," I said, my voice still tight and irritated.

"Does this have anything to do with your visit to the Sapphire Moon Pack?" Caleb asked.

"I don't want to talk about it." My voice came out as a growl again.

It hadn't been long since I had taken over as Lycan King, earning me control over not only the Lycans but the werewolves as well. And yet, I had faced nothing but adversity and resistance at every turn. Hell, even my first mate couldn't be loyal…

My teeth ground together at the thought. And with the thought of her came the thoughts that I had been pushing out of my head for a couple of days. The image of the beautiful, but frail human Luna seared in my brain as if resisting the wall I built up against her and the thoughts of what it meant to have a second chance mate…

Thanks a lot, I grumbled to my wolf, knowing it was him who was focusing on the image still burning behind my eyes.

Of course, my second chance mate would have to be a Luna in a pack that hadn't supported my ruling from the jump. The Moon Goddess must be playing a cruel trick on me to give me not one, but two mates intent on seeing my fall.

"You have been a grumpy bastard ever since you left that place…no offense," he added, holding up his hands as I felt my fangs elongate. "What the hell happened while you were there?"

As my Beta, Caleb had hung back to manage and protect our kingdom, so he really had no idea…

And yet I couldn't keep it in any longer.

"I found my second-chance mate," I admitted.

The look of shock on Caleb's face mirrored the emotions I had felt at the time, but as always, he seemed to manage them much better than me. At least, he had a more positive reaction to it.

"That's amazing!" Caleb exclaimed. "Where is she then? Why didn't you bring her?...and why don't you seem happy about it?"

"First of all, I didn't expect a second chance mate at all, let alone so soon after…well, you know," I still couldn't bear to say her name unless necessary.

"That is surprising, yet it still doesn't explain the rest," Caleb said when I didn't continue, prodding softly.

"She's the Luna of the Sapphire Moon Pack," I said, my lip curling back. "She's married to the Alpha...and she's human."

"Woah," Caleb said, processing. "Tell me everything."

I looked at Caleb for a minute, debating, but I never could keep anything from him.

"As soon as we walked into the party, my eyes were drawn right to her," I told him. "And I knew. The only thing that kept my wolf from jumping forth and claiming her right then and there was the fact that she was sitting right next to that damn Alpha."

A growl escaped, and I had to take a deep breath to calm down before continuing.

"How could she be your mate if she is mated to the Alpha?" Caleb asked in confusion.

"Their bond is almost broken," I said, still more riled up than I should be. I could remember the smell of that Omega on the Alpha and the realization of how he was treating her had hit me hard. "The Alpha is not faithful, and it seems to have damaged their bond enough that it made room for a second chance bond for her as well as me."

"Woah," Caleb repeated.

"Yeah, it's all crazy if you ask me…Then she looked at me, and I could tell she was human. But I didn't care. All I cared about was her…" I paused at the revelation, surprising myself. Caleb only nodded as if he understood though. "So I made my way through the party, only half present as I waited it out and tried to find a time to speak with her alone."

"And how'd that go?" Caleb asked.

"Oh, you know exactly how it went," I sighed in exasperation, running my hand through my hair. "It went fucking terrible."

"That bad, huh?"

"Apparently she hadn't realized that her husband and mate had been cheating on her…and I spoke assuming she did…"

"You didn't," Caleb groaned. "You broke the damn girl's heart?"

"No, he did," I growled again, then reigned it in. "I just told her about it."

"I understand why it didn't go well then," Caleb said with a nod.

"Actually, that wasn't the worst part."

"What could be worse than that?"

"Well, I told her that she and I were second-chance mates," I said slowly, watching as Caleb's mouth dropped open. "Then told her she needed to reject him so that I could, by our laws, take her away from him and that pack. And for some reason, that's when she freaked out."

Caleb groaned. "Dude, you really don't understand why she freaked? And she's human? That's a lot for one person to take in."

"Okay, okay, I get that now," I grumbled again. "At the time though I was just mad…because she said even if he was a cheat and I was her mate, she could never accept me. Couldn't stand to be with someone like me."

My chest ached fiercely, like it had when she had first said those words, and my wolf was restless inside me. Caleb had a sympathetic look on his face now too, and I fucking hated it.

"She's probably just heard the stories, bro," Caleb said. "Trust me, if she knew the real you she wouldn't have been able to resist…in fact, I would just give her time to process all of this and I'm sure she will come to you and-"

"No." I shook my head.

"What?" Caleb asked.

"I don't want her."

"But…you just said-"

"I know what I said," I clenched my jaw again. "But now that I am away from the situation, I realize that it's for the best that she didn't want me. I don't want another mate. Hell, the last one just stabbed me in the heart with silver only three months ago!"

Caleb paled at the memory. At the moment that had almost killed me.

"In case you forgot, she is from a pack that is against me as well," I said, even though I knew he didn't need reminding. "That type hasn't worked out for me. Especially since she used it to also steal valuable information about the whole werewolf Kingdom…information that is worth a lot of money."

"Don't worry, we will find her soon. She can't run and hide forever," Caleb said, now growling himself.

Though I didn't know if he was right. It was nearly impossible to hide from wolves, let alone Lycan's, and she had already managed it for three months.

"Plus, this one seems a lot more loyal," Caleb added, trying to look supportive. "She might be loyal to the wrong bastard right now, but imagine-"

"No." My voice was sharp. "I have made my decision. She will never be my mate, so I will never be hers either. Mates are simply weaknesses, and I can't afford any more of those. In fact, if you remember right, I never wanted a mate to begin with, and my first was the perfect example why not."

And the only reason I had even agreed to her in the first place was to appease my parents and my sister. They insisted that I need to find my Luna. Insisted that she was going to be the missing piece to make our rule stronger; to make me stronger.

But what I got was betrayal.

Thinking of the frail, petite human girl I had to agree with Caleb a little. I truly didn't think that she would betray me as the other mate had. The other mate had always said everything she thought I wanted to hear, but the human girl had challenged me, argued with me, and pushed me. Little Valeria was more than she seemed.

Though, that didn't mean she wouldn't still be a weakness. I had enemies everywhere, and if I accepted a human as my mate, she would become target number one…everyone would try to use her against me or take her as collateral.

It was just safer to never see her again.

Suddenly the door to my office burst open and Ian, my Gamma, came hurrying through the door. My body tensed automatically, going on the attack.

"What is it?" I asked. "What's wrong?"

"That little human Luna is here looking for you," Ian said quickly, and he looked nervous as he added in mind-link. "She doesn't look good, Boss."

Before I had relaxed, she was there, peeking through the doorway and looking at me.

There was a new fear in her eyes that hadn't been there before, and worst of all was the markings I could see on her face, almost closing one of her eyes completely.

For a minute, all I could see was red. Despite everything I had just said, and thought, the sight of her before me was nearly too much to handle. The rage was one thing, but the lust was another.

My wolf saw his mate, and he wanted her.

And I wanted to kill whoever had put their hands on her.