Gabriel

I looked a the woman laying in the bed, her eyes closed, looking so peaceful it irked me.

Why did she think it was a good time to faint?

All she had to so was agree to my damn proposal, and not fall into my arms like a needy cat.

Was the news that shocking that she had lost consciousness? Any woman would have been jumping to be bred by the Alpha King!

My eyes moved to her face, caught off guard once again by her beauty.

Fuck.

"What seems to be the problem, healer?" I echoed, swallowing a lump that had formed in my throat and turning my attention to the healer who was checking her.

I had smuggled the healer without Logan's notice. The last thing I wanted was him hovering over the woman he had so brutally rejected.

I didn't care for the reason things had gone sour between the two, but I knew he still loved her, and that gave me more joy than I would admit it did.

What better pay back than killing two birds with one stone.

"Her vitals seem normal, King. She recently got rejected, so her body is still weak from it. I guess she didn't take the full force of it when it happened, and now it caught up with her.

Logan was an idiot. Once again, I didn't care for their story, but I knew that tsetse fly he had chosen as a mate was far worse than the worst choice available.

I frowned when he injected her with a substance. "This is a calming solution." he explained. "It will help until she wakes up."

I nodded. "And how long till she wakes up?"

The man looked at his watch. "A few hours. She is a strong one."

I fought a scoff at his words.

After a short conversation, he made his way out, leaving just the two of us alone.

I stalked closer, having kept my distance all through the time the healer had spent in the room.

It had been easier watching her from a distance, but now as I stalked close, I was yet again, taken aback by her beauty.

Unable to stop myself, I reached forwards, and with two of my fingers, carefully removed her hair from her face.

The lighting in the room highlighted her features beautifully. But what caught my attention was her full lips, which even as she slept, managed to stay plump and inviting.

I blinked, then took a step back, cursing heavily.

What the fuck was wrong with me?A tiny part of me wanted to stay back in the room with her, but I quickly shut it down, shuddering in distaste.

One more minute in there with her was going to be pure torture.

Without looking back at the petite form laying in my bed, I walked out of the room, shutting the door quietly behind me.

~Two years ago, which also happened to be the last time I had stepped foot in the pack, I had met my mate.

Just remembering her brought a numbing ache to my chest. I had never been one to concern myself with finding a mate, as I had been brought up and trained in the hardest way. But when I had found scarlet, things had taken a turn.

She had been everything I would ever have hoped for, and I had thanked the moon goddess for bringing her to me.

But we hadn’t had the chance to recognise each other as Scarlet had been a late bloomer. The alpha king had convinced me to wait, instead of forcing the mating bond which would kill her and I had.

But my duties had pulled me away from the pack, and I had returned to see her wrapped in the arms of the last person I would have expected her to be with.

Now I didn't want a mate.

I had been having the time of my life, embracing my role as Alpha King when the council and their Elders had hit me with a stark reminder that had me seeing red.

To keep the throne, I needed an heir.

How on earth did I need that so soon, when I hadn't even stayed half a decade on the throne?

If giving another choice, I would have taken it without batting an eye. Anything over being vulnerable to a woman again.

I had tried it once, and it had scarred me.

Never again.

Thank goodness I didn't need a mate to have an heir. A breeder sufficed.

And what better choice than the ex mate of the man whose feathers I wanted ruffled?

I made my way over to the study, intent on avoiding my wing and a certain woman in my bed, only to bump into the last person I wanted to see.

"Shouldn't you be wrapped arms and limbs with your new mate, other than stepping in my way? Or the beating I gave you earlier wasn't enough?" I asked roughly, my eyes lowered to slits as I observed the man in front of me.

Only the title separated us.

Logan was every bit of an Alpha wolf like I was. We were both strong, but I had a slight upper hand. Heck we could even pass as twins!

His eye flashed blue. "You will like that, wouldn't you? So you could have my mate!" he spat, his expression pained.

Damn. I was going to enjoy this.

"You seem to keep forgetting the part where you rejected her, Logan." I inhaled as a dull throb started in my head. "She is not yours anymore."

His eyes flashed again, and he stepped back. "Why are you here? You said you were never coming back."

I had been expecting him to continue with his nonsense about Samantha, but his words stopped me.

He had asked me earlier, but in the heat of the moment, it had been easier to answer him like I did.

Now though, I faltered a little.

"I have to be here." I hated it. But I had no choice.

"Why?" Logan asked, his breath raspy.

A few months ago, I had first heard rumours about a takeover of Bellmoon. I had treated it then as just rumours.

But two days after my meeting with the Elders where they had given me the ultimatum of getting an heir, I had gotten information that was way too serious to not do anything about it.

Bellmoon, despite everything that had happened in the past, was always going to be my home and pack origin.

I couldn't stand by and watch it fall.

"I need a drink." I told him, and when he wanted to object, gave him a look that spelled just how serious I was.

I didn't need him to lead the way to the study which held a mini bar, as I knew the way myself.

Heck, I knew this pack like the back of my hands.

I pushed open the study door, allowing a frustrated Logan walk in, and shut the door behind him.

I mad my way to the bar, grateful when I saw the drinks there and poured both of us a cup.

"Here." I extended a full glass of whiskey to Logan who eyed it, then me, then took it.

Yes. As werewolves, we needed more than shots for the alcohol to actually hit.

"I need a breeder to give me an heir." I told him, ignoring his pained look. "And before you ask, the answer is yes. It is payback for two years ago." It had been two years but the pain of what had happened had never gone away.

Logan's stare was filled with unspoken words, but instead of saying them he nodded and looked into his cup. "She's not Scarlet."

"I never said she was." My answer was cold.

I didn't want to hear her name.

Logan nodded. "That's not the only reason you are here."

He knew me too much.

"No. I'm here because as it turns out, there is a little power tussle going on underground, and it's supposed to end with you six feet under, and Bellmoon in the hands of whoever the moron is, who is in charge." I replied irritably.

Logan's expression immediately went from that of pain to alertness.