The Alpha King's Hunt

Chapter 7

Valarie

I couldn't fight it.

The dinner had ended hours ago. Sophia was sleeping hard, exhausted from having to keep up a friendly and attentive façade. The castle was quiet. But I was restless with need.

I lay in bed, uncomfortable with how soft the mattress was beneath my tight body.

When I closed my eyes to the darkness I could hear the shifting of the leaves outside. I wanted the outdoors. My body wanted it...and something else.

But I would fight that something else with everything I had.

Slipping out of the bed and pulling a thin cloth robe around myself, I glanced across the living area toward Sophia's door. I paused and didn't hear any movement. Only a very soft, gentle snoring that made me smile.

If the King chose her, he'd have to get used to that.

Just the thought of Gabriel made me frown.

I still hadn't recovered from his hungry eyes on my body, his grip tight on my wrist. If I thought about it too hard I knew I would place his face – that clenched jaw, those sharp eyes – into any of the fantasies I'd read about in my books.

Which was why I needed to distract my body.

It was easy enough to unlatch the windows and step out carefully into the flower bed. The cool dirt felt good under my feet, and I scrunched my toes, tossing the robe back behind me into the room.

The full moon was just past now, beginning to wane. My back bristled with the feel of it's light overhead and my eyes swept the garden, unable to see the edges of it, checking for movement.

Luckily, coming so soon after the transformation, my vision was sharper. I tilted my head and scented the air to make sure I was alone.

And then I let go.

The muscles in my legs and back bunched and stretched as I leapt the clutches of flowers and kept tight to every turn on the garden path. I ducked tree branches, reached a hand out to scrape against the bark, inhaled deeply the scent of roses almost too far gone.

Rabbits out in the night startled and bounded out of my path. I panted, wanting to taste their blood, but knowing I had to fight the transformation. It was always painful if you forced a transformation without a full moon.

I ran until the itch under my skin was just sated enough that I thought I might be able to sleep.

I slowed to a bouncing walk, arms swinging at my side, goosebumps rising in the cool night breeze.

Glancing up, I saw windows running the length of the closest wall. Most had curtains drawn or were dark with sleep. But two close by were amber with light.

I heard a voice rise in frustration and ducked low under a lilac tree. I crept slowly closer, until two voices were clear, and then their words.

"Gabriel, you need to calm yourself."

"And why should I!?"

It was the Alpha's voice, and it struck a chord in me, setting my body on edge again. My breath caught. I knew I should move away...but I wanted to hear him speak again.

"I'll ruin them all if I have to. Just to make a point. None of them will escape the hunt, my own personal hunt, and I'll only choose from a ruined pack of slags –"

"That's a little...harsh, don't you think?" The other voice said, sounding strained.

"No. If I'm being forced to mate, why should anyone escape? I'll mate."

"You know that isn't what Queen Raquel intended—"
"I don't care what my mother intended. She's getting what she wants out of this Hunt. I will get what I want, as well. And that's all of them—on their knees and begging. I want to see every last princess degraded and submissive before me."

There was silence for a while except for the sound of pacing feet.

"Do you think that's...wise? With word of an uprising, do you think the packs will be happy to have a King with a ruined mate—"
"They'll get what they asked for, won't they, Charles? I'll choose a mate this Hunt. And I will remain king."

I lost my balance and tumbled backwards, barely catching myself on a rock ledge. I moved precariously away from the windows and glanced back only when I felt safe to orient myself.

I wanted to be able to identify the King's rooms again, if I decided to wander into the gardens. Because he was clearly one to avoid.

The hair at the back of my neck stood on end for another reason entirely now. The lust I'd felt for the King earlier had been drowned out by worry for the princess – I'd have to warn Sophia. Keeping her virtue during this Hunt would be the only possible way she could win.

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