Chapter 163
Every shifter, Marian included, growled.
They all turned to find the Alpha King stepping toward the gathered group.
All Bloodrayne wolves immediately surrounded their Alpha and his Successor. Eaden also formed part of the protective circle.
Alpha Tobais gasped as he locked eyes with the Alpha King.
Before anyone could steady their minds, a single word filled the space between the trees.
“Father.”
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Moments after Marian had left Lightmoon with Misha, the Alpha King had summoned Dax. The King was seated in Dax’s office, behind Dax’s desk, on Dax’s chair.
He was alone.
“Where is your shadow?” Alpha King Asher asked calmly in his soft voice as Dax entered, the door closing quietly behind him with no one following behind.
“He has things to attend,” Dax replied evenly, his eyes on the desk as he stood before the King, his hands placed one over the other in front of him.
“Things…to…attend…yes…a broken heart does need attention,” the King remarked lazily.
“My King –” Dax replied hesitantly, raising his head slightly, but keeping his eyes down.
“Spare me, young one,” King Asher droned, his eyes fixed on his son-in-law twice over.
Dax stepped forward, stopping at the opposite side of the desk. This time, his eyes were on the King.
“Where has our red wolf gone?” King Asher continued in the same tone.
Dax stared blankly at the King.
His heartbeat was steady, but his brow twitched. The King’s stare was light, relaxed.
Dax blinked.
“To trade,” he replied hoarsely, through dried lips.
“Trade…and she took the son of the Alpha?” the King droned, his expression never changing.
Dax stared again.
“My King –” Dax whispered.
Before Dax could blink, the King stood before him, staring down at him.
The Alpha King was a large wolf. Tall by any standard, wide by any measure, and built like a rock.
He looked like Reyland in his original large form, except that every part of him was muscle, and his proportions were streamlined.
Better still, Reyland looked like his grandfather, if his grandfather were grossly overweight.
The comparison hit Dax as he gazed up at the King, who was three inches taller than his six-three height, yet still two inches shorter than his son, Reyland.
Dax inhaled slowly as he stared at his father-in-law twice over.
His heartbeat remained steady.
“Do you know why I chose you, all those years ago?” the King droned, his bright eyes on Dax’s sky-blue.
Dax pursed his lips.
He knew it was a rhetorical question.
The King’s gaze intensified, and Dax knelt, on one knee, before his King, head bowed as he fought the pain in his head, teeth gritted, his heart skipping, but still controlled.
“It is because,” the King continued as if nothing had happened, “you are a ruffian. A hammer, a sword, a tool – you don’t think,” he stated casually.
“It is that shadow of yours that does the thinking for you.”
Dax’s second knee struck the floor, hard. He grunted as the King forced him even lower, bending at the waist.
The King’s tone and pace did not change as Dax’s heart rate picked up.
“I could have chosen him, but…he thinks, Daxian. I find such shifters more difficult to bend, to convince, to do my bidding. But you,” Dax grunted again as he knelt, folded, his head almost touching the floor.
“You were supposed to be easier,” he said patiently, releasing Dax from his grip.
Dax inhaled sharply as he shot to his feet, gasping for breath as he turned sideways from the King, staggering into the chair Corien had used the day Marian had returned.
He leaned forward, red-faced, tears filling his eyes as his heart thundered against his chest.
Not only had the King been pressing him down, but Dax had been pushing back. The strain of doing so was what was affecting him.
“I hear you interrupted my chief caster, Tryan. That is very impolite of you,” the King continued as if he and his son-in-law were having a cordial conversation.
“She was killing my Gamma!” Dax rasped.
“Your Gamma was withholding information from your King,” King Asher replied smoothly as Dax slid to the floor, once again on his knees, eyes bloodshot as he stared defiantly at the King.
“The red wolf has gone to trade, and you stand beside my grandchild like a nursemaid when you should be bringing me the head of the Bloodrayne Alpha – tomorrow!”
“Tomorrow Daxian, NOT today, NOT yesterday, but TOMORROW!” the King bellowed, finally raising his voice as his eyes narrowed on Dax.
The walls of the room start to shake. Dax did not look away from his King, who at that moment was strangling him with his mind, using minimal effort as he stood calmly, arms at his side, staring down at him.
Just as Dax’s vision reddened, the King released him.
Dax coughed and choked, fighting for air and his composure.
He staggered upright again and stumbled backward, stopping just before he hit the wall.
He stared up at the King through his lashes, avoiding direct eye contact as he fought to remain servile.
“I changed the timing for a reason!” Dax snarled, the damage to his throat preventing him from yelling.
He was sweating, his hands shaking from lack of oxygen and thinly disguised rage.
He could feel his men outside the door. He could also sense the King's warriors, outside the door, on the roof, and below the window.
A fight with the King was not even a death sentence. It was not even an idea, much less a thought.
Dax had faced the shifter before him many times. During his time at Whitehall, he had found out many things about Alpha King Asher Mangar, most of which he wished he could wipe from his memory.
But he could not.
He would never be able to.
All he could ever do, was obey.
The King was walking back to the desk.
“And would that reason have anything to do with the red wolf you sent to almost certain death?” King Asher remarked lightly.
“How was it certain death?! I was there, her father was there –” Dax growled.
“And this is why I said I chose you, Dax!” Dax fell to his knees – again.
This time, his hands were balled into fists as he leaned heavily on his knees and hands.
Something cracked, and Dax coughed out blood.
“King Alpha!” Dax groaned under the weight the King was pushing down on him.
“You are simple. Simple –” the King stated condescendingly.
“And yet you gave your prized daughter to me!” Dax bellowed, cutting off the Alpha King. His throat had healed, but something else was taking damage as his mouth filled, spilling blood and saliva.