CHAPTER 44.The Beast.

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She thought of moving to the door and running away now that she had the chance.

Lord Ragnar wasn't looking, his eyes were narrowed towards where the loud howl was coming from.

The first one was distant, but the second one? It wasn't. It felt like whatever was howling was fast approaching them.

Akira stood there, wishing to run, but her legs felt fragile. They could barely move, let alone carry her whole body.

This was an opportunity to run away, and she wasn't utilizing it.

Ragnar was still very close to her, but his attention was focused in the other direction.

Akira wondered why he was so keen on looking the other way.

With that, another howl was heard; this time it was louder than the last and echoed throughout the dark building.

Akira swallowed hard, and her body started to tremble slowly.

She had first thought it was one of the wolves outside, but with the way the howl shook the whole place, she decided against it. There weren't any wolves outside. This one was inside and very close.

Right now, her whole body was trembling, not just from her earlier fear of Ragnar, but from the bone-deep recognition of something powerful that was approaching.

Her wolf stirred violently but didn't say a word. Aya's growl rumbled deep inside her chest; it vibrated against Akira's ribcage, and she couldn't help but wonder why she was reacting this way.

She could usually interpret all of her wolf's actions, but this was something she didn't understand. Aya had never been this way before. Something was wrong.

Meanwhile, Lord Ragnar's cock still dangled in the air, but now it was a little flaccid.

The whole excitement of being with the slave had diminished in the blink of an eye after he heard the howl.

Akira might not know what it was, but Lord Ragnar knew the howling was coming from his brother—the feral Alpha king.

Something about this one wasn't right and was also confusing. Beasts don't howl; they only do it when they are happy, and for one, he is never happy.

The beast only growls. For the past years he had been locked up, he only growled when he was hungry, and even after feeding on his blood host, he still didn't howl in satisfaction or anything close to that.

But right now, he was howling? Three consecutive times. Lord Ragnar blinked rapidly, trying to piece together the puzzle of why the beast was howling. He seemed to be happy today.

Before his brother went feral and turned into a beast, the best things he loved were Prince Dominus and Aurora, his eldest daughter. But even when she visited him, he had almost killed her. When he saw them, he didn't howl like he was doing right now.

He growled angrily and flipped everyone out of their cages.

Those were supposed to be his best moments when he should have howled after seeing Aurora, one of his favorite children, but he was angry.

Lord Ragnar turned to Akira, and his eyes twitched. He was going to have her today, no matter what the odds were. He just needed to be sure that the beast wasn't coming out of its cage today.

It didn't come out during the full moon or days after the full moon. The only time it fought to break free was during the hunting festival, when all the Northerners took their hounds to hunt in the forests. They didn't just hunt for animals but also rogue wolves.

No rogue stayed in their territory for more than a year. They always hunted them down during the three-day hunting festival, weeding their pack of any rogues.

During that time, the beast fought to come out after he smelled a lot of blood……both animal and wolf.

That's the only time he fought to break out from his cage; on normal days, he was usually calm and didn't cause trouble for the pack members.

For a minute, there was no sound. Lord Ragnar kept his eyes fixed in the direction to make sure the coast was clear. Then he turned back to Akira, who was shaking like a leaf.

He smiled, his eyes on her breasts, and his cock rising slowly once again, but a loud rumble behind startled him. He didn't move to grab her breasts again; he didn't even blink.

That low grumble? The sound had long registered in his skull. That rumble was from his brother.

His chest rose and fell, almost too quickly and too shallow for a man like him.

He swallowed hard, but his throat felt dry. He hadn't seen the beast for the longest time.

He shook his head. It can't be him. Not like this. The beast doesn't howl. He never does that.

Lord Ragnar clenched his jaw. He had lived long enough and fought long enough to know the difference between his brother's growl of sadness or anger and his howling of joy or excitement.

He was never excited to see him, even if he was the only one the beast didn't attack and had never attacked.

The beast was his elder brother and the Grand Alpha King. Even in their childhood days, Grand Alpha King Kaelen had never attacked him. He had always protected him since they were very distinct. Kaelen was everything an Alpha bloodline should be, from fighting exceptionally well to mastering transformation. But for Ragnar, he was a slow learner and was always picked on by the other kids, which made Kaelen protect him. They had a lasting bond, and Kaelen had always promised never to hit him. Even after going feral and becoming a beast, he didn’t attack Ragnar as he did his own kids,he'd rather growl and walk away than attack his brother.

He was never excited to see him, but he never attacked him or fought him away.

Howling? No, Kaelen was never excited to see him, Lord Ragnar thought.

The beast being happy? That was not only wrong but also dangerous.

A drop of sweat slid down Ragnar’s temple as he watched to see if his brother was coming out.

Akira pressed her back against the wall, as if she were about to sink into it. She could see Lord Ragnar's hesitation. It was the first time she'd seen a hint of fear in the eyes of such a formidable man.

Her nails dug deep into her palms, but she stayed stiff, afraid that even a flinch might draw his eyes back to her.

She didn't understand what was happening or to whom the howl belonged. Not even Beth had told her about the beast.

Another loud howl ripped through the air again, and this time it was closer and louder.

Lord Ragnar's stomach clenched so hard that he nearly doubled over.

Akira was forced to take slow steps forward to see what was howling.

Lord Ragnar froze for a split second when that scent attacked his nostrils without prior warning.

Goddess. It's him.

His fingers flexed, then curled into a fist, nails biting into his own palm. He didn’t want Akira to see the fear rising behind his eyes, but it was too late.

She saw it, and that was when she looked up to see what he had just seen.

Her heart dropped to her stomach, and her hands finally left the remnants of her clothes, which dropped to the floor, fully mirroring her naked body.