ALPHA NIKOLAI

“Fucking hell,” I cursed under my breath as I shut the door behind me, catching my bottom lip between my teeth as the ringing in my ears faded and I spread out the wrinkled paper between my fingers.

Rays Banks, the daughter of a merchant tailor from the main city was wanted for absconding from the royal palace.

I balled the paper in my hand, gritting my teeth as the implications ran through my mind.

My brother was as merciless as he was ugly, but you would never tell from his dastardly good looks, the straight line of his spine, and the lopsided smirk that seemed to be permanently etched on the line of his bow-shaped lips.

I knew how the village maidens daydreamed of him in the fields and farms, wishing for a dark prince that would whisk them from their sad little lives, up until he pressed the pointy tip of his sword at their throats.

He would not give up easily, not without a fight. It didn't help in the least bit that I was spoiling for one.

I cast my thoughts back to the woman in the Keep’s infirmary, the way her eyes had glistened when I’d offered to let her stay in the castle.

“What did he do to you?” I whispered more to myself than to the unimpressed wood of the door as the image of the purple bruise healing on her high cheekbones brought a wave of possessiveness I had never felt before rushing into my system.

There was something in me that wanted to protect Rays Banks, something in my wolf that needed to claim her, to wrap my hands around her sweet slender body and squeeze. 

It was all I could do not to claim her there and then as she laid supine on the slim mattress of that bed, the buds of her nipples pushing through the cheap material of her gown.

I didn't understand why I had done it, crunching the warrant in my palm and hiding the news of her search from her the way I did.

“Saints,” I swore loudly, raking a frustrated hand through my hair as I paced the low-lit hallways outside the lady’s door and cracking a bitter smile at the way my evening had played out.

 I had set out to kill my brother, to let my sword run free on the bulge of his meaty throat. Instead, I had come home with his mate, cunning her into believing I was a right fellow, enough that she could trust. 

It made me feel dirty, which was ironic considering I had done worse things than misleading a fetching maiden or two.

“You really should think twice about keeping her here Your Highness, if Alpha Toph finds out,” Igor started, snapping me out of my reverie as I whirled to stare him dead in the eye, silencing his complaints.

“I don't give a fuck if he finds out Igor! And it would be best if you don't as well! I’m not raising a gang of harrying chickens as my army goddammit!” I ground through clenched teeth, jabbing a finger at the hard muscle of his chest and watching as the blonde-haired man shot his hands up in surrender.

Igor had been my best soldier since the day I rescued him from the rogues outside the wall, where he’d hooked an iron claw through my shirt, promising me his undying loyalty before he promptly passed out.

”All I’m saying’s you should decide quickly, The castle’s safety is at stake Nikolai, Alpha Toph’s men are everywhere, and it wouldn't be long before a bright-eyed spy scales the walls into our territory,” Igor whispered, his eyes darkening dramatically as we both paused to listen to the ring of laughter that floated from the room before his blue eyes wandered back to me.

I pursed my lips mutely, shouldering past him into the gritty foyer of the stone castle lot where the cold night’s draft buffeted my face until Igor came up behind me, the strong musk of his wolf seizing my good fortune.

I heaved a long-suffering sigh as I looked out over the large chess piece blocks of my palace, a twinge of pride straightening my spine as I watched the scribes and maidservants mill around the lot, their low squabbles bursting into high-pitched greetings when they sighted me.

The uneasiness I was feeling since meeting the maiden has not completely disappeared, so I turned to Igor, hesitating a moment when I found that he had been watching me with a strange expression on his face.

I didn't like it when he looked at me like that, like he knew something I didn't. My heart knocked against my ribs harder as I watched him arrange the muscles on his face so that he looked more like a humble servant than a waiting wolf.

“Send your men to the Burning City and the forests outside the castle, have a feel of what is going on,” I barked harsher than I intended to and the man bowed low before disappearing through the open latticed rods of the tall silver gates.

If Alpha Toph suspected that his mate- MY mate, was living behind the stone city walls, then I wasn't only putting the maiden at risk. The Stone city residents would be his first point of attack.

Dammit, what game was the moon goddess playing at? 

I turned to look up at the silver bulb of the moon hanging like a ripe tit in the dark overcast rims of sky.

Would the woman change her mind about staying back if she knew the danger she was in? 

I’d promised to take her home, wherever her home was, but I wasn't so sure I wanted to. 

Not if I could help it.

“Raya Banks, what am I to do with you?” I murmured breathlessly, and then the sound of a woman screaming filled the night’s air.