L Y C A N

11.

King Thief

Alexandra worried her thumb as the descending sun cast a golden glow in the King's office, it glistened off the golden ornaments and the golden hue highlighted the harshness of his eyes and if possible it made her trembling far worst.

He was furious, that much was obvious and it only caused a sickening feeling to twist Alexandra's insides.

She had seen death before, but that was once a month when as a unit the pack hunted and feasted and to her that was beautiful, an ancient and sacred practice but she couldn't find words to describe what she had witnessed and how it made her feel, Dimitri paced behind her as she sat in his seat before the Queen and two trusted advisers.

"I knew I should've assigned all her guards at once, as of now Alexandra will reside with me-"

"That is absurd, surely giving her additional guards will do the jo-" the Queen objected immediately and Dimitri stopped pacing to level her with a hard glare.

"What's absurd Mother is that someone is sending a message to my future wife beneath my roof" he roared, ice settled over the Queen's eyes as she regarded her son, "I say she will be staying with me in the royal residence and I mean it"

Alexandra tried to calm her racing heart as the Queen mother and son had a silent feud, his Mother bowed her head after a moment but the tension didn't leave his shoulders.

"Who is she?" Alexandra addressed one of the advisers in an attempt to ease the tension that made her queasy, her voice sounded faint and weak even to her own ears.

The man, taken by surprise sputtered for a moment before clearing his throat "The girl is Annabeth Wintour" he paused seeming to debate with himself for a moment before continuing " she was one of the girls the Queen assigned as your maid"

A shiver raced down Alexandra's spine and she inhaled sharply, Dimitri kneeled before her, his eyes softened as he took her trembling hand in his.

She didn't want to appear weak to any of the members present but it was chilling and she couldn't quite hide how it affected her.

"Everyone leave" he ordered, not dropping eye contact, she saw the Queen mother hesitate, her stomach dropped and a shiver of annoyance skittered across her flesh. The Queen nodded reluctantly and led the men out.

His grey eyes were sincere but fierce "Alex, I promise you I will find who did this"

"Why would they kill her? I didn't even know her" her voice sounded faint even to her "Am I responsible for that poor girl's death?"

"No" he said firmly "of course not" this time gently, he shook his head, black hair caressing their intertwined hands "There are some who are against our union, I expected some sort of trouble to be caused here because of that but for them to kill someone this quickly, and with that message" his voice trailed off and a thoughtful expression crossed his face.

"they want to scare me away" she whispered

something danced in his eyes as he stared at her "have they?" her throat constricted despite her mental command to speak.

Nothing she had faced could compare to someone committing murder, Alxeandra knew that any woman in the process of ascending the throne was untouchable, if the future queen died and there was any foulplay suspected it would be an all out war, a war that Alpha's for the sake of their rank, family and pack would avoid at all costs, no one wanted a repeat of what happened hundreds of years before, which meant they had to force her out, dread filled her as the realization settled in that this woouldn't be their last message to her, she just hoped no other innocent had to die to get it across.

If she did decide to leave, facing exile she wasn't sure if he would just let her walk away or if he would fight for her the prospect frightened her but at the moment it didn't matter, because she wasn't one to give up easily.

'at one point you'll have to' a voice taunted and she agreed, at one point either when she failed at figuring out her origin story or when the King finally took a concubine but that wasn't now, starting off their opposition with such a strong initial message means they'd have to lie low, for now, anything they were planning to try would have to be under the radar, and that gave her time.

"No" she whispered

If he was relieved he didn't show it, just acknowledged her with a nod of the head "You know I expected you to put up a fight when I told you I planned on marrying you" he muttered, his callous hands trailing soft circles over hers, her nerves danced merrily as pleasurable waves shot through her.

She had expected that too, but then again, she finished high school early, took a few years off to figure out what she wanted and went away to California with Alec but the human world didn't entice her, something always felt off and while she couldn't explain the new feeling, she finally felt as if she was going somewhere with her life "I've worked too hard to build a life here, I wasn't going to give it up over one inconvenience" she finally said.

a crooked half smile graced his lips "this is an inconvenience?" her heart stuttered, he seemed to have that effect

"Slightly" she reached for a stubborn lock of hair, running her fingers through to tame it, he sighed in content "but somethings make it worthwhile" she said breathily

His burning gaze locked with her and slowly he rose from his crouching position to tower over her, leaning until they were eye to eye, lip to lip, her stomach burned with anticipation "what makes it worthwhile Alexandra?" his voice was silky smooth, sending goosebumps along her arm, she reached for him, hands -still trembling cupping an impressively structured jawline. "This"

She surprised herself when she closed the distance between them, meeting him for an innocent, slow and sweet kiss, he smiled, one of those full blown smiles that she'd do anything to see more of, butterflies sent a pleasant sthrill through her "why did you choose me?" she whispered airily.

He stared at her, contemplating "I didn't, the wolf did" he finally replied

She frowned "I don't understand"

"Neither do I" he whispered honestly

A/N

today is friday the 13 y'all, happy mini holloween