5
1238 Words
Erick
The morning sun had barely crept over the skyline, but I was already pacing my office like a caged animal. The walls, normally were silent witnesses to my power, but they felt too tight today.
Too stifling.
The silence wasn’t the usual welcome calm.
No. It was a void and it was her absence that filled it.
Sophia.
The woman I’d met less than forty-eight hours ago, the woman who’d walked into my life with fire in her eyes and boldness in her voice.
She wasn’t my mate.
I knew that.
And yet, here I was, restless and irritable, every second dragging like an hour as she remained out of my sight.
I sat at my massive oak desk, eyes skimming over documents that had once consumed my full attention.
A merger proposal.
A pending alliance with the South Lycans.
Nothing held my focus. My hand gripped the pen so hard it snapped. The ink bled across the paper, a blot of frustration I didn’t bother to wipe away.
“Where is she now?” I muttered, rubbing my temple.
My thoughts spiraled despite every effort to control them.
What if Caleb hurt her?
What if they imprisoned her out of jealousy or fear?
What if she never came back?
"She’s not our mate. Stop being so paranoid." My wolf warned, but I couldn't explain how I felt at that that moment and why. "You barely know her." He insisted.
However, none of that mattered.
I had already claimed her.
Sophia had stood in front of me and agreed to honor our vows, to bear my children, to be my wife. Not just in name, but in spirit. That kind of loyalty demanded protection, and if anyone had touched a strand of her hair…
The door clicked open. My head snapped toward it like a predator. My assistant, Liam, peeked cautiously.
“Your Majesty,” he began, his voice too timid for my liking. “The lady… she’s on her way back. Vladimir just called to inform us they are fifteen minutes out.”
I was on my feet before he finished.
My coat was forgotten, my documents left scattered on the desk. I stormed out of the office and into the black SUV waiting downstairs, not caring that my guards scrambled to follow.
The drive felt longer than the flight I’d taken to the Northern territories last winter.
The moment I stepped into the mansion, I saw her.
Sophia stood in the foyer, a faint smile on her lips, but it faltered the moment our eyes met. My gaze dropped from her eyes to the bright redness staining her left cheek.
My blood ran cold.
“What happened to your face?” I growled.
She opened her mouth to speak, but I was already storming toward the guards who’d returned with her. My vision blurred with rage as I pulled out my gun.
Without hesitation, I fired.
One bullet tore through the thigh of the taller guard. He dropped to the floor with a cry of pain.
“I told you!” I roared. “I told you she wasn’t to get a single scratch!”
The second guard stepped back, trembling, as I raised the gun again, But before I could pull the trigger, Sophia lunged forward. “No!” she cried, throwing herself between me and the wounded guard. “Please, stop. He didn’t hurt me. Caleb did.”
My finger froze on the trigger.
“He let it happen,” I muttered darkly.
“Maybe,” she said gently, grabbing my wrist. “But this isn’t the way. Please… Erick.”
The way she said my name.
It didn’t beg.
It commanded with warmth.
It soothed with fire.
Slowly, my arm dropped, the gun falling to my side.
“Take him to the infirmary,” I ordered coldly. “And if you fail me again, I won’t miss your heart next time.”
I turned back to Sophia. She was still close, and for the first time since my mother, someone had managed to calm the storm inside me.
She led me inside.
I let her.
We sat in the sitting room, the air thick with unspoken words. I reached out with a cold compress, pressing it gently to her cheek. She winced, but didn’t pull away.
“What happened?” I asked.
She told me everything.
About Caleb. About Sonya. About the slap. Every word she spoke fed the fire in my chest until it roared like an inferno.
“I should burn Moonlight Pack to the ground,” I said, jaw clenched. “I’ll make Caleb regret ever laying a hand on you. I’ll make—”
“No,” she interrupted. Her hand slid into mine, her touch surprisingly calming. “That’s not what I want.”
“Then what do you want, Sophia?” I asked, staring into her eyes.
She was quiet for a moment, her lashes lowering as she thought. “I want to become the best version of myself,” she said finally. “Not for Caleb. Not even for revenge. For me.”
I was quiet, impressed once again by her clarity. She wasn’t just fire. She was steel.
“And how do you plan to do that?”
She took a breath. “I want to work.”
My brows raised. “What?”
“My first project,” she continued, her eyes lighting up with a purpose I hadn’t seen before, “will be the one to highlight my skills. That way, I can prove myself. And Caleb will see that I didn’t need him to thrive.”
A smirk tugged at my lips.
She had ambition.
Grit.
A wicked streak like mine, but hers was pure.
Rooted in strength, not cruelty.
“You want revenge,” I said, leaning forward, “but you’re taking the high road.”
“Sometimes,” she said, “the high road leads to the highest throne.”
I laughed. A rare, deep sound that echoed in the room.
“I married a clever woman.”
She shrugged, but her smile betrayed her pride.
That night, we had dinner together. She spoke of her dreams, and I shared my plans. And when I carried her to bed, the fire between us reignited.
This time, it wasn’t rushed or desperate.
It was deliberate. Powerful.
The kind of night you don’t forget.
——-
The next morning, sunlight poured in through the tall windows. Sophia was still asleep when I stepped out of bed and grabbed my phone.
“Prepare the ballroom,” I told Liam. “Send out invites to all territories. I want every Alpha, every dignitary, every noble to be there tonight.”
“What’s the occasion, Your Majesty?”
“I’m introducing my wife to the world,” I said. “It’s time they knew their Queen.”
“And the announcement?” he asked.
“Make it public,” I said, a cold smile forming on my lips. “Let the Moonlight Pack receive a special invite.”
Liam chuckled nervously. “Understood, sire.”
“And Liam?” I added, just before he left.
“Yes, Your Majesty?”
My eyes gleamed with a vicious spark as I whispered,
“Give the alpha of the moonlight pack such a welcome that he realizes that no one disrespects my wife and walks.”
- Writer
