Alpha King Kane part 12

Previously...

“I won’t hurt you,” he says, brushing his thumb across my cheek.

I shudder. Though he promises not to hurt me, my peace remains fair play. He will continue to disturb it, because this man seems hellbent on proving me wrong.

................

PRESENTLY...

ALPHA KING KANE

She runs away without a second glance at me, straight into her father’s protective embrace. He is the last man on this Earth who will get to touch her without having to answer in blood.

She looked at me so cautiously…so defeated, as if this was a lost cause. But the omega doesn’t know that I’ve been clinging onto her memory ever since she wrapped her thin arms around me and dragged me out of the springs.

I claim her as mine, and will not be denied by the kingdom nor her insecurities. Everyone in this kingdom can go to hell and back. Every alpha, beta, delta, omega, and finance.

I glance at my mate one last time before turning around and leaving the hallway.

Typically, I can feel the vibrations of the house through the wooden floorboards. Its heartbeat is charged by the constant bustling of werewolves. There’s never a dull moment, and I am never alone.

But as of a few minutes ago, the house has fallen silent. The preparations for the coronation have been halted, and no one dares to breathe.

I am surprisingly calm. Though my wolf is restless inside me, demanding that I lock down the omega to ensure she doesn’t run off, I know better than to get swept up by his feral influence.

The omega is not going anywhere, and I don’t need chains to ensure that. She will not run from her king and mate. I know this for certain because this woman doesn’t run from danger; she chases it.

With her doe eyes and unassuming omega blood, the world expects cowardice from her, but I know better. She dared to trespass onto holy land, and though she knew she’d get caught if she rescued me from death, she jumped into the spring and dragged me to safety.

I’m sure a thrill runs up her spine when she recalls the dangerous day.

I’m sure she memorised the moments as I undressed and entered the spring waters.

She stalked me that day, lurking around like a predator as I remained unaware. No one has achieved hunting me before. I’m sure she loved the power, and it’s one of the many tastes of thrill I will grant her.

Starting today, she will know what it’s like to have the world in her tiny palm, because I’m about to shake kingdoms just for her.

I return to the ballroom, and I’m met with dozens of wolves—from omegas to deltas — hovering over many unfinished projects, including the unhung clock at the end of the room.

The irony doesn’t escape me.

The moon goddess is as generous as she is cruel for having my mate craft the gift I was to give to my Lyssara, my chosen Luna. 

I slide my hands into my pants, thinking of the uniform in my bedroom that hangs in my closet, which I was to wear for the coronation. It’s black, contrasting Lyssara’s light blue dress.

It will now go unworn and keep hanging in the same closet.

“Dismantle your preparations,” I order the silent room. “There will be no coronation today, but the clerk will see to your payment. Thank you for your efforts.”

I leave my people with that.

They don’t even wait until I take the final step out of the room before they gossip about the scandal.

I care little about the criticism. As king, it’s all I’ve ever known.

On my way to my bedroom, I cross Duncan, my childhood friend. 

His gaze is cold—a rarity. He is usually carefree, more focused on his children than the rumblings of the kingdom. He quit his position as a clerk long ago to better serve his family, and rarely cares for politics.

But Lyssara is as much of a friend to him, and I know he disapproves of her suffering.

“Hey,” he says, eyeing me carefully. “You look strangely calm for…” he trails off.

“For someone who just uprooted their fucking life? Yes, I suppose so.”

“You have…no regrets?” He asks, crossing his arms over his tunic. He is in his uniform, prepared for a ceremony that will never come.

I remove my hands from my pockets and fist them at my side. “What would you have me do, Duncan? Keep my promise to Lyssara? Yes, I suppose that’s the right thing to do if not for the fact that I have a fated, mate I would be rejecting.”

He exhales, reaching for the hem of his shirt as if wanting to pull it off, shift, and go on a run. I share his yearning, feeling suffocated in this fucking place.

He reaches for the back of his neck and scratches gingerly. “I…I used to envy you in our teens, Kane. But not anymore. This situation is fucked. Lyssara…she has wished no ill upon anyone. She doesn’t deserve this.”

“You think I don’t know that?” I grumble. “I wish there were another way, but…”

But this is what must be done. I must choose between the two women, and I already made my decision in the spring.

I will not be severing my bond just to be with Lyssara.

“What can I do to help?”

“The girl…I need you to tail her.”

“You suspect she’ll run?”

I chuckle softly. “No…she’s not going anywhere.”

“She looked terrified, Kane.”

“It takes more than fear to trump the other feelings in that little omega.”

He tips his head aside, not understanding what I see in her. The need for adventure; the thrill.

I’m eager to please her.

“Tail her for protection,” I tell him. “Ensure no harm comes to her or her family. But be warned: She’s identical to her sister. It’s difficult to tell them apart.”

He nods. “I will do this for you, brother. Count on me.”

I nod. “I always could. Thank you.”

Parting ways with Duncan, I make my way to my final destination.

I inhale deeply as I push the doors open and step into my bedroom. There, I find the floor littered with clothes and a couple of shoes–we typically prefer to walk around barefoot. 

Lyssara maniacally shoves a suitcase full of clothes. Her makeup is smeared, and the mirror is cracked. She wears her nightgown, having changed out of her dress.

“I don’t want to fucking see you right now, Kane,” she seethes.

“You’re leaving?” 

“Of course I’m fucking leaving! What did you think? That I would stay to enjoy the show? Do you have any idea what people are saying? Screw this.”

I clear my throat, finding the air thick and stuffy from the waves of death radiating off her. I linger by the doorway. Though I cannot offer her comfort in my embrace, being here is the least I could do. She has faced enough humiliation.

 “I understand. I don’t blame you, but I want you to know that I’m sorry about all of this. Are you going to reside with your parents?”

She slams a hand on the bed we’ve shared for years now. The mattress which I’ll soon burn and replace with another.

“That’s it? You won’t even ask me to stay? You won’t fight for me?” She snarls, hate flourishing in her irises.

What games are these? I don’t enjoy the trajectory. I am a straightforward man, and I thought she had the same outlook.

“I don’t think you want me to answer that.”

She cries out and drags the zipper shut, her tears falling onto the bed.

“Lyssara…I hope that one day, you learn to forgive me.”

“And I hope that one day you learn as I did what it’s like to lose everything!”

Maybe that’s what I deserve: to lose it all for what I’ve done to her. I welcome any punishment the gods have in store for me because I know I will just rebuild again and reclaim what was taken.

Even my mate.

“If you need anything, Lyssara…”

“I don’t! I don’t!” she roars as she heaves the suitcase off the bed, spit flying from her mouth. She’s enraged; I’ve never seen this side of her, and it pains me that I was the one who surfaced it. 

“Just go to her. Enjoy your latest little omega flavor. It’s what you want, isn’t it? Go to her and leave me be.”

My heart goes out to her, because things will never be the same between us, but I don’t know how to amend my wrongs.

I leave her with a final sad glance, and then I turn and leave. Guilt weighs down every step I take.

I stand outside with my head hanging low, my back against the closed doors, as I exhale.

But then I secure my place in hell by doing exactly what Lyssara painfully, sarcastically ordered: I go to her: The mysterious omega who is far more than the shy demeanor she presents.

Walking down the library, I approach the guard who’s protecting the most precious books and cultural artifacts in the kingdom. He has stood here for years, never abandoning his post except for shift changes.

I drag a hand down my face. “Trev, I need you to track Duncan and tell him to bring the omega girl along. He’ll know who I’m referring to.”

He eyes me warily. I’ve no doubt a servant girl has whispered all the latest rumors to him.

“Sir? What about the library?”

“I’ll be here guarding it until your return.”

“Is there…is there anything else you’d like?”

“Yes,” I respond, glancing behind me at the moonlight pouring through the window.

“Bring me a golden goblet.”

“I beg your pardon?” he blurts. “A…golden goblet? Are you sure?”

“Yes.”

The wolf and man are aligned. This is what they both want.

Trev hesitates for a few moments before dipping his chin and walking away to fetch Duncan, the girl, and the goblet.

She must know its purpose. Though she’s an unshifted omega, isolated from my territories, she is a werewolf nonetheless. She must know of the rituals of the kingdom: wolves breaking their mate bonds to be with another, betas and alphas giving their seeds to deltas.

Werewolves in this world desire pure blood more than anything. No delta wants to birth an omega child, so they negotiate with betas to impregnate their women. It’s an outdated practice I frown upon because such manipulation of lineage is an immoral attempt to engineer purity at the expense of choice, dignity, and the goddess’s will.

But it is tradition, and it is a part of our ways.

Tonight, I will join this tradition for the first and last time. I will offer my little mate the seed most women in this kingdom covet. The seed no one has been granted.

And she will understand once and for all that I’ve got no intention of rejecting her just because of her omega blood. I will give her Alpha pups as proof of devotion. She can take my seed from the goblet, or right from the source in my pants.

Either way, she will be the only omega receiving a gift from me tonight.

READ PART 13 >

A/N: This lowkey reminded of Vrox gifting "lotion" to Kira in a bottle haha, but Kane is no culturally confused alien. He knows 100% what he's doing!