Bowden I spent most of the day focusing on my work, not even leaving my desk to eat lunch so I could make a dent in the mountain of paperwork waiting for me. There are always endless requests for extra protection from the smaller packs, or a need for mediators between feuding packs. Orphanages need funding and widowed she-wolves need protecting. It never ends. Since I’d been gone for nearly four months, the wolves had to wait until I returned to see me in person, and today there was a long line outside my public office on the ground floor. Most of my day were taken up dealing with their problems while I tried to work through everything else in between listening to wolves' endless, petty grievances. Griffin and Jaeger can usually handle most of the wolves’ personal issues and only refer the most serious cases to me, but even after they filtered out the unimportant requests, the sheer amount of people waiting to be seen was overwhelming. I close my laptop and pinch the bridge of my n
Bowden Kaiya stares at me in utter disbelief. “Why are you telling me?” “I don’t want you to get your hopes up and think that this will ever be anything more than it is now.” “So…what’s the point then? Why am I here? If there's not...I don't...” she throws her hand in the air, unable to give voice to her turmoil. “Knox, my wolf, needs his mate. Without her...without you, he becomes...well, uncontrollable, homicidal. It is what it is.” "So this is all for your wolf?" Wordlessly, I nod at her. Kaiya bangs her glass down onto the side table, sloshing water all over the furniture. “Then I’ll just reject you,” she says and plants those tiny fists in her hips. “He can just find someone else, because I don’t want to be in some loveless-" she flails her arms around -"whatever this is for the rest of my life.” “Hm,” I grunt. “Go ahead. Try to reject me.” “I Kaiya Cole, daughter of Alpha Deimos Cole, reject you King Bowden…” she hesitates, looking to me for the answer to her unasked ques
Kaiya I fall back on the comfortable old leather couch and stare at the ceiling high above. I don’t think about the things the king had said to me. Instead, I wonder how the Omegas can reach all the way up to the ceiling to clean. The chandelier hanging from the rafters is sparkling and I can’t see any cobwebs. I can't imagine that they bring in ladders every day to clean the place. Eventually, I roll off the couch and leave the king's apartment with Oswald hot on my tail. Before I can even think about running away, I need to figure out how to shake the guards that showed up when Clara and I left the garden this morning. “Goodnight, your majesty,’ Oswald says and takes up position next to my door, his back straight, eyes trained on the opposite wall. I go to my little bar and rummage around for something to drink. Sometimes, after a long shift, Clara and I would share a glass of really bad wine, the kind that comes with a screw top instead of a proper cork. We’d eat the cheapest,
KaiyaThe doctor doesn’t seem in the least bit fazed by my emotional outburst. Instead, he gets up and calls the king back inside. “It will help if yeh hold her a bit,” he says to the king and leaves, softly closing the door behind him.I can hear the king’s reluctant sigh even over my hysterical weeping. I wish I could stop, I just want to stop, but the more I try, the harder I cry. And I don't even know why I'm crying like this. I've been through much worse. There's no reason on earth for me to sit here and cry like a damn toddler, but I just can't seem to stop.At some point, Bowden simply picks me up and puts me on his lap. He hums softly in my ear, and that strange warmth that radiates out of his body spreads through mine, giving me a sense of safety and peace. It does help, and finally I start to calm down until my tears dry up for good.Without asking for permission, he carries me to my bed and gently tucks me in, putting my injured foot on a pillow and making sure the blankets
Bowden I am deeply annoyed with Clara by the time she finally deems to show her face. She is twenty minutes late, and if there’s one thing I can’t stand it’s when others think my time is invaluable and can be wasted. “Come in,” I bark when she finally knocks on my door. This door, unlike the ones on the upper floors, is modern and easily swings open. The red-headed she-wolf steps into my office, her head respectfully bowed. “You wanted to see me, your majesty?” she asks, her tone of voice not nearly as respectful as her body language. “You’re late.” “I got lost.” When I was a pup, my father taught me that there were some battles worth fighting and some you just needed to let go. The she-wolf not showing up in time might not seem important to others, but it sets a tone for relationship going forward, and disrespect has a way of rippling outwards and taking root. “And you could not let me know that you would be late?” I ask, keeping my voice low and dangerous. “How?” she asks and l
BowdenKaiya is on all fours on the floor, breath rasping over her lips, her clothes hanging from her body in tatters. She is mid-shift and unable to complete the transformation. Her claws dig into the slate floor, muscular hind legs spasm, and her back arches at an unnatural angle as the wolf tries to force her way to the surface.I slam the door shut behind me before Elias can follow me inside, and lock it just in case anyone gets any ideas.I kneel next to my mate, my heart hammering so hard in my chest that I can feel it in my head. “It’s all right,” I say in a comforting voice, and put my hand on her shoulder, hoping that my touch will help her. “The first time is difficult. Don’t be scared.”She can’t answer me, but I can feel the fear blasting from her, hitting me square in the chest like a raging furnace. I’ve never had to guide anyone through their first shift, but I remember my father doing it for me. “You have to let go and allow your wolf to surface. Stay in control of you
KaiyaI wander through the castle with Elias close behind me. He doesn’t say anything about the fact that I changed my clothes, but put the king’s jacket on again before I left my room. Nor does he mention my failed attempt at shifting. All he did when he glanced into my room and saw the blood on the floor, was to summon an Omega to clean it.King Bowden was right. I can feel it now. The changes are happening faster than I expected, and it's slightly disorientating.I can hear things I couldn’t hear before, down to Elias’s steady heartbeat as he walks behind me with his hand on the sword sheathed by his side. I can smell the different scents of the wolves passing me by, I even catch a human scent here and there. “You have humans living here?” I ask Elias.The guard hurries to catch up with me. “Yes, your majesty. Most of them are mated to Lycans.”“Are they fated?”Elias shakes his head. “Seldom. The mark itself will create the bond, but fated mates are so rare these days.”“It wasn’t
KaiyaElias gives me an uncertain look. “Ah…the king is working right now.”I cock my head at him and plant my hands on my hips. “And how do you know I don’t have important business with him?”“Because he told me to make sure you're at his door at seven sharp.""Well...things change.""Did they?" he asks with a little chuckle. "What changed?"“How is it any of your business?”“You're right-" he nods rhythmically -"It's none of my business. You're sure it can’t wait until tonight?”“It’s all right, Elias,” Griffin says behind me. “I’ll take the queen to see King Bowden. You can go.”Startled by his sudden and unannounced appearance, I spin around to glare at the Beta. He looks as kind and friendly as always and I find myself relaxing. I turn back around to talk to Elias, but he’s already gone. “Can I help you?” Griffin asks. "Bowden is really very busy...if I can help-"I tuck my hair behind my ear and catch a whiff of my own scent again. “Do I smell funny to you?”He nods. “Your wolf