73

73


Richard

“My king,” Ray said as he entered my room with a respectful bow. “How are you feeling today? Are you getting stronger?”

I grunted from my bed, still feeling the pain from my wounds. Ever since that bitch attacked me, I had been hiding in my room like a wounded animal.

I couldn’t let anyone in the pack know their Alpha King had been hurt by his own mate. I had too many enemies who would see this as the perfect time to challenge my authority.

It still felt like a nightmare. How could she have attacked me? I was her mate, chosen by the Moon Goddess herself. How could she have tried to kill the one person she was meant to love and obey?

If I ever found her, I would make her pay for what she did. I would remind her exactly who I was and why she should never have crossed me.

“I’m healing,” I replied, trying to sound stronger than I felt. “Thank you for watching over everything while I recover.”

The truth was, my wolf was getting weaker every day. Without our mate nearby, he couldn’t heal me properly. The bond between us was damaged, and we were both suffering because of it.

“I’m just doing my duty, my king,” Ray said, but I could hear something different in his voice. “But you need to return to your office soon. I’ve been handling both my responsibilities and yours, and it’s becoming difficult. The pack elders are starting to ask questions about why you’ve been absent.”

I narrowed my eyes at him. How dare he pressure me when I was still injured? He should be grateful I trusted him enough to handle my affairs.

“Ray, you know I’m still too weak to handle everything. I need more time to heal,” I replied, frustrated.

“My king, you can’t let the pack discover what really happened,” Ray said firmly. “You chose to keep your mate’s attack secret because you didn’t want them to see you as weak. But hiding away like this is making you look weak anyway.”

His words felt like daggers. Why did he keep bringing up that terrible day? Was he trying to hurt me on purpose?

“I am not weak!” I growled, feeling my anger rise. “How many times do I have to tell you that?”

“Then prove it,” Ray muttered with a cold smile. “Stop hiding in your room and act like the king you claim to be.”

I stared at him in shock. Ray had never spoken to me like this before. We had been best friends since we were children. He had always supported me, always followed my orders without question.

“What’s gotten into you?” I demanded.

“I’m tired, Richard,” he said, and the way he used my name instead of my title sent a chill down my spine. “I’m tired of cleaning up your messes. I warned you before any of this happened. I told you to accept your mate, to treat her with respect. But you rejected her in front of the entire pack because you thought she wasn’t good enough to stand beside you.”

“She wasn’t good enough!” I snapped. “She was weak, plain, nothing special. How could I make someone like that my Luna Queen?”

“And look how that worked out for you,” Ray said with disgust. “The ‘weak’ woman you rejected nearly killed you. The woman you forced to be your servant was strong enough to defeat the great Alpha King.”

Every word he spoke was like poison in my ears. How could my best friend turn against me like this?

“You brought this on yourself,” Ray continued. “You humiliated her, broke her spirit, and then acted surprised when she fought back. And now you want me to cover for you while you hide from the consequences of your actions.”

“You will help me because I am your king!” I roared, trying to use my Alpha authority on him.

But Ray just laughed. “I’ve been doing your job for years while you sulked in bed. I have my own mate to take care of, my own responsibilities. I’m not your slave, Richard. I’m your Beta, and I have limits.”

The mention of his mate made my anger explode. Ever since Ray found that woman Ella, everything had changed. She had poisoned his mind against me, just like Jane had tried to do.

“This is all because of that bitch, isn’t it?” I snarled. “Ever since you mated with Ella, you’ve been different. She’s turned you against me.”

“Don’t you dare talk about Ella like that,” Ray growled, his own wolf showing in his eyes. “She is the gift the Moon Goddess gave me. I will cherish her until my last breath, and I will protect her from anyone who tries to hurt her—including you.”

“She’s just like Jane,” I spat. “Another rebellious female who thinks she can control an Alpha.”

“Ella is nothing like your situation,” Ray declared coldly. “I treat my mate with love and respect. I didn’t reject her, humiliate her, or force her to serve me like a slave. That’s the difference between us.”

I felt like he had slapped me. My best friend, the person I trusted most in the world, was choosing his mate over me.

“Fine,” I said, trying to sound like I didn’t care. “What about the search for Jane? Have your spies found anything?”

Ray’s expression became grim. “My king, we haven’t found a single trace of her. It’s like she disappeared completely. No scent trail, no sightings, nothing. She’s either very good at hiding, or...”

“Or what?” I demanded.

“Or she’s dead,” Ray said quietly.

Dead? She couldn’t be dead. She was mine. She belonged to me, and I wasn’t done with her yet.

“Are you trying to stop the search?” I asked suspiciously. “Is this because of your mate? Because she and Jane were friends?”

Ray’s face darkened. “My mate has nothing to do with this search. We’ve been looking for years with no results. I’m simply telling you the truth— we may never find her.”

“Keep looking!” I ordered. “I don’t care how long it takes or how much it costs. Find her! Find that bitch!”

“Why?” Ray asked, genuinely confused. “Why are you so desperate to find a woman you never wanted? You rejected her, treated her like garbage, and made her life miserable. What do you want with her now?”

The question caught me off guard. Why was I searching for her? Pride? Revenge?

“She tried to kill me,” I said weakly. “She needs to be punished.”

“You punished her every day she was here,” Ray responded. “Maybe she just had enough.”

“Watch your mouth,” I warned him, my voice dangerous. “I’m only having this conversation with you because we’re friends. Don’t push me too far.”

But Ray didn’t back down. “I’ve watched you destroy yourself over this woman. First by rejecting her, then by obsessing over finding her. When will it end?”

“It ends when I find her and make her pay,” I said through gritted teeth. “That’s an order from your Alpha King. Keep searching until you find her. And if you dare disobey me, you won’t live to regret it. Neither will your precious Ella.”

The moment I mentioned his mate as a threat, I knew I had gone too far. Ray’s eyes flashed with deadly anger, and for a moment, I thought he might actually attack me.

“Don’t you ever threaten my mate again,” he said in a voice so cold it made my blood freeze. “I’ve been loyal to you my entire life, but my loyalty has limits.”

He turned and walked toward the door, then stopped and looked back at me.

“You want to know the truth about your mate, Richard? The truth is that you’re not searching for her because she hurt you. You’re searching for her because you finally realized what you lost. You’re searching for her because somewhere deep down, you know she was the best thing that ever happened to you. And you threw her away because your pride was more important than your heart.”

With that, he left me alone with my thoughts and my pain.

I lay back on my bed, staring at the ceiling. Ray’s words echoed in my mind, but I pushed them away. He was wrong. I wasn’t weak. I wasn’t lost without her.

But as I closed my eyes, I remembered the first time I saw Jane at the mate gathering. She had been so beautiful, so pure.

Her eyes had looked at me with such love and hope. She had believed I was her salvation, her happily ever after.

And I had crushed that hope the moment I rejected her in front of everyone.

Why had her wolf awakened so late? If she had shifted earlier, maybe things would have been different.

Maybe I would have been able to smell how strong she really was underneath that quiet exterior.

But it didn’t matter now. She was out there somewhere, and she belonged to me. The Moon Goddess had made her my mate, which meant she was mine whether she liked it or not.

When I found her—and I would find her—she would learn that running away from her Alpha King had consequences.