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1728 Words
Without thinking twice, I headed straight for the huge building that housed James's office.
“Good morning. I'd like to see James Carter,” I said, trying to sound confident.
The secretary looked me up and down with a mocking, pretentious smile. “Oh, yes. Do you have an appointment with him? Or are you just one of the women who come to seduce him?”
I felt the heat of embarrassment. I was about to respond to her indecency when a deep, gravelly voice boomed out right behind me.
“Is this how you treat my guests?”
I froze. There was James, in his impeccable black suit. He wasn't angry at my presence; he was defending me.
I was paralyzed, not knowing how to respond. But she spoke again. “Come on, don't waste my time. Find yourself another man to sleep with.” She waved her hand to dismiss me and turned her chair around.
I was about to respond to her indecency, but at that moment, a voice sounded right behind me. It was deep, gravelly, and the air vibrated, silencing the murmur of the office.
“Is this how you treat my guests?”
As soon as I heard that voice, both the woman and I jumped.
Damn it! There he was, sexy as hell in his impeccable tailored black suit. I swallowed hard as I looked him up and down, until the secretary's voice snapped me out of my trance.
“Mr. Carter... I...” she said, bowing her head reverently.
But her words fell on deaf ears as James interjected, "Perhaps you don't deserve to be my secretary. I see you don't know how to treat my visitors. I guess I'll need another secretary.“
The woman froze before falling to her knees and pleading, ”No, please, my king. Forgive me... I just wanted to know if the girl had an appointment... No...“
”You're fired," he said, gesturing for her to leave.
My eyes widened as the woman burst into tears. I was so stunned that I didn't even have time to process what was happening when James looked at me. “Follow me.”
He quickly began walking down the long, dark hallway toward an elevator.
I ran after him toward the elevator. As we went up, I looked at the Christmas lights in the city; they shone coldly, reminding me of the New Year's deadline. Soon we reached the top floor.
James stepped out of the elevator and began walking down a long hallway. I looked around, a little intrigued; in fact, I had thought James' office would be a single room, but I soon realized that it occupied the entire top floor.
The place was incredibly beautiful, with two glass walls overlooking the kingdom of the lycanthropes and the kingdom of the wolves.
“Well? What are you doing here?” James asked me, pouring himself a drink from the mini bar.
Damn, even in a simple pose, this man looked delicious. I heard my wolf purring like a b***h in my head.
But I didn't have time, so I forced a smile and stopped a meter away from him. “King James... I... I've come to make you a proposal,” I hinted, almost lost in his attractive face.
James raised an eyebrow, took another sip from his glass, and set it down on the counter. “What kind of proposal do you think might interest me?”
At that moment, I let out a sigh and began to explain the silly prophecy about my power.
In fact, the prophecy was clear: I had to be marked by a powerful man so that my wolf would finally come out, and I would offer my power to this man. But even though I knew it was nonsense, I was sure that James would not doubt a foolish omega with nothing to lose like me.
“I am the only one who knows everything that Liam and his family are planning against the crown. I offer you my loyalty and my power, King James,” I said, now determined.
James snorted, clenched his fists, and took a step toward me. I bumped into his muscular chest. I felt his delicious scent envelop me as he looked into my eyes.
“I am a king who has a whole world of alphas at my feet...” he said, but there was no mockery, only seriousness. “Why would I need your supposed power?” he asked with a slight growl.
“Because I am nobody,” I confessed, the truth of my trauma flowing out. “What better alliance than a hidden power that no one would expect?” I said.
***
Pov James
I watched the elevator door close behind her, that absurd old dress hanging from her shoulders. At first, I thought she had come to me recognizing our bond, but when I heard her, I almost fell flat on my face.
The reality is that I always knew that my destined mate would be a key figure. Not just a Queen, but an extension of my kingdom. When I was younger, I believed that fate had pointed me to a woman of nobility, one who came with alliances and armies. I allowed myself to believe in that connection, ignoring the alarms of my lycan,
However, she betrayed me, leaving me with the cold certainty that my title would always be my lover and my enemy. Since then, I swore that my heart would remain sealed. I hoped that my true mate would be a queen of power, not dignity.
So when I smelled the fragrance of cherries and chocolate on Bridge, I knew that my world of absolute control was about to shatter. She didn't come with a kingdom, she came with ruins. And that, surprisingly, was the only thing I had hoped for.
With that in mind, I couldn't help but remember that Christmas Eve celebration, my daughter's stupid and extravagant engagement dinner with Liam.
I had been irritated by the atmosphere: too many lights, too many gold decorations, too much fake Christmas spirit. I was surrounded by pretentious Moons and Alphas wearing new tuxedos for the occasion. The air smelled of cheap perfume and ambition.
But amid all that falseness, I smelled something that stopped me in my tracks. A sweet, rich, incredibly intoxicating aroma that hit me through the Christmas incense: chocolate and cherries.
My lycan, Kyle, roared at the connection. My mate was there. I felt a deep rage knowing that my mate was trapped in that cage of falsehood. I searched for the scent throughout the large hall, following the trail that was faint, as if she were trying to make herself invisible.
Finally, I found her: standing with a couple of drinks. She didn't look happy; on the contrary, she looked broken, and I saw the flame that had been rejected by that i***t Liam.
But when I approached her and took her to my suite, I knew she hadn't recognized me. Couldn't she feel the mate bond?
I knew Liam still had the bond with her, and he wouldn't break it so easily. So I wanted to mark her, but unfortunately, she ran away.
Without thinking about it anymore, I just focused on her beautiful face.
I was standing there, a breath away from breaking my years-long oath, about to let the truth slip from my lips: She is not “nobody.” She is the woman my wolf, Kyle, has been searching for, and I was willing to accept her alliance not out of strategy, but because her dignity compels me and will never allow me to let her go from my life.
“I think you are someone... you are...” I said, feeling the warmth of truth for the first time since the betrayal of my past.
However, before I could finish the sentence, the door opened with familiar insolence.
“Dad! There you are!” Nathalia burst into my space.
Shit. As soon as I heard her, my blood ran cold. I exhaled, and with that sigh, the mask of the evil King returned to my face.
The fire and connection I felt with Bridge were extinguished, replaced by cold duty. I took a step back from Bridge, breaking the intimacy we had forged.
Nathalia ignored me, focused on humiliating the girl. “Look what we have here: the maid who was only looking to seduce my fiancé. What are you doing in the King's office?”
I watched my daughter trample on my mate as my fury intensified in my chest. Nathalia was not only humiliating Bridge, she was ruining my only chance to redeem my wolf.
But I couldn't act. My alliance with Bridge would crumble if I defended her. Nathalia, my heir, must never know that this simple omega was even more powerful than me.
Nathalia approached Bridge. “Answer me. What are you doing in my father's office? Did you come here to figure it out too, you b***h?”
That sentence hurt Bridge, but it hurt me twice as much because I was forced to validate it.
I turned to Bridge. I had to be worse than Nathalia for the deception to work.
“Miss Bridge,” I said, my voice pure ice. I saw the pain in her eyes, the disappointment, and I had to bury the agony of my own wolf. “You have wasted my time. Your proposal is as insignificant as your social status.”
I didn't look at her. I couldn't.
“I...” she tried to say, but I interrupted, not wanting to hear any more of her suffering.
“Warriors, get her out of my building,” I ordered sharply to the two men waiting at the office door.
I watched as the guards grabbed her. She left. I saw the pain, disappointment, and belief that I was just like everyone else in her eyes, and I couldn't correct the misunderstanding. My fury grew knowing that my own daughter had forced me to push my mate to despair.
I knew she believed I had rejected her, leaving her with no choice but humiliation. I had to wait. But that night, under the Christmas lights of my kingdom, my heart was broken.
- Writer
