Tyler

Once Declan and the human left the room, I turned to Lena. I had had enough of her nonsense, it had started to get on my nerves.

She was becoming more intolerable by the day.

“I told you having anything to do with her from the start was a bad idea. Now she walks around the pack acting like your Luna,” Ziti, my wolf, spat angrily.

“Shut up,” I growled back. “Don’t pretend you didn’t enjoy it when I was with her.”

“Put her in her place now. I don’t want her challenging our mate when we find her,”

Ziti snapped before shutting me out completely.

“I am so sorry, Your Majesty,” Lena said in that fake sweet voice of hers. Her expression was soft and innocent, the same one that used to work on me before. But now it only irritated me to my bones.

“You purposely ignored my instruction,” I barked. “You left her in the room with my sister for five hours. Which means the nurse hasn’t been in since. And you locked both the main door and the bathroom door.”

I clenched my fists, anger rising in my chest. I remembered leaving the human in the room but I hadn’t locked the door. Someone must have come later to trap her inside.

“You seem to be forgetting your place,” I said coldly.

“I don’t fucking care about whatever history we share, that was in the past. Stop going around marking territories that don’t belong to you. The next time you act out of place or step out of line, I will strip you of your position. You are forgetting who you are dealing with.”

“I am sorry, it won’t happen again,” she said quickly, her eyes lowered.

But I knew she was lying, it would happen again. And next time, I would make sure she learned who was truly in charge.

“Leave,” I ordered.

She bowed her head slightly and walked out, closing the door behind her.

I turned toward my sister’s bed and sat beside her. My hand brushed her hair gently. She looked like she was only asleep, not trapped in the deep. Endless silence of a coma.

“I miss you,” I whispered.

She had been the only family I had left. When she was well, I still felt the ache of my missing mate, but she had kept me occupied.

I was lonely, but not completely alone. Now she just lay here, motionless, and the palace felt emptier than ever.

The curse had struck her just like it did the others, but instead of driving her mad and killing her like the rest, she had simply slipped into a coma the morning after the last full moon.

She had been in this state ever since.

We had brought in the best doctors, healers, and witches we could find, but nothing worked. She hadn’t even stirred, not once.

I would do anything in my power to have her back again. The fear of losing her gripped me tighter than the fear of never finding my mate.

If I hadn’t found my mate in over three hundred years, what assurance did I have that I would suddenly find her within the short three months the council had given me?

“Amy,” I whispered, taking her hand gently, “I will be away for a while. I don’t know how long, but I have to find my mate. Finding her means you will be able to live again and finally travel the world like you always wanted. Please, stay alive until I return. You will be in safe hands.”

I pressed a kiss to her forehead before leaving the room.

I made my way back to my wing of the mansion, it had been a long day, and I needed to prepare for our journey tomorrow.

In the bathroom, I turned on the shower and stepped under the stream of hot water, hoping it would wash away the heaviness in my chest.

But instead, my thoughts drifted to the human, the doctor.

She was the clumsiest human I have ever met.

I didn’t interact with humans often, only with those in power. Their presidents, governors, military heads, during peace negotiations between our kind and theirs.

Frail and weak as they were, they always tried to act bold and fearless.

But this one, there was something different about her.

Something about her eyes, they were the most gorgeous eyes I have ever seen. It looked like I had seen them before somewhere.

I was sure of it, but I couldn’t place where.

Those eyes could hold you captive, make you forget who you were if you weren’t careful. And her face, so innocent, so beautiful, almost ethereal.

I caught myself smirking before shaking the thought away. She was human, fragile, mortal, and off-limits. Besides, I don’t do weak women.

“You are fantasizing about the human. Are you considering—”

“I am not lusting after her,” I cut Ziti off sharply before he could finish. “She just seems interesting.”

“And very beautiful too,” Ziti added, his tone sly.

That caught me off guard.

In all the centuries I had lived, through all the countless women I had been with, my wolf had never once acknowledged any of them as beautiful. Not once.

He usually found them irritating, mere distractions. Yet now, he was calling a human beautiful.

“Don’t act like it isn’t obvious,” he snapped.

I couldn’t help but chuckle.

“You have never admitted that any she-wolf was beautiful except for Amy,” I said as I stepped out of the shower, wrapping a towel around my waist.

Ziti didn’t respond, he just retreated to the back of my mind.

I got dressed and sat at my desk, diving into work, pack matters, financial reports, and the endless correspondence tied to our businesses in the human world.

My pack wasn’t just the strongest; it was the wealthiest. Our influence extended far beyond our borders, reaching deep into the human realm.

Of course, we let humans handle the public front of it. Most werewolves preferred to remain within pack territory, far from human society. Except for the rogues, who had no choice but to wander.

After a few hours, I leaned back in my chair, exhaustion taking on my body. Sleeping was pointless. Ever since the curse, I barely managed an hour a day before the nightmares began.

Every time I closed my eyes, I saw fire, bodies burning, voices screaming in agony. No matter how many witches or sorcerers I had summoned to interpret the dreams, none could explain them.

Instead of trying again and waking up, drenched in sweat, I stood, grabbed my hoodie, and headed out into the forest.

The cold air bit at my skin as I shifted, bones snapping and reforming. Running was the only time I ever felt truly alive anymore.

I took off my clothes and hung them on a nearby branch before shifting into my wolf. My bones cracked, muscles stretched, and within seconds Ziti took full control.

We started running toward the forest, but halfway through, he suddenly went off in another direction.

“Ziti, where the hell are you going?” I demanded, trying to wrestle back control.

He ignored me, paws pounding against the earth. “I smell something,” he growled. “ I am tracing it.”

I sniffed the air too. There was something, someone was around my territory.

Ziti ran faster. His instincts sharper than mine, until the sound of footsteps reached our ears. Someone was out here, moving quietly, trying not to be noticed.

We slowed and ducked behind a tree, watching. Whoever it was, they didn’t belong out here this early.

Probably a trespasser or someone trying to leave the pack unnoticed.

The faint rustle of movement gave them away. The moment the figure stepped out from the shadows, Ziti leapt.

We collided hard with the intruder, sending both of us crashing to the ground. A scream tore through the silence of the forest, high and panicked.

The human doctor. She struggled beneath us, trying to crawl away. Her voice trembling as she cried out again