The Alpha King’s Lost Mate

CHAPTER THREE:THE ALPHA KING'S KINGDOM

ADRIAN'S POV

By six the next morning, I was already in the training grounds.

I preferred being there before everyone else.

The forest surrounding Blackwood territory was still covered in morning mist, and the cold air carried the scent of damp earth and pine. Behind me, the pack's warriors were beginning their daily training, but I had no interest in watching them yet.

I needed to burn off the restlessness that had followed me since yesterday.

Something was wrong with my wolf.

I could feel it.

He had been unsettled for days, pacing somewhere beneath my skin as if he were searching for something.

Or someone.

I hated the feeling.

"Again."

My opponent came at me.

I blocked his punch, caught his wrist, and twisted.

He hit the ground hard.

"You're dead," I said.

He groaned.

"Again."

He looked at me as though I had lost my mind.

"Your Majesty, we've been training for two hours."

"And?"

He pushed himself up.

I waited.

He attacked again.

This time I didn't hold back.

Within seconds, he was on his knees.

I stepped away.

"Too slow."

"You're impossible," Damien called from behind me.

I turned.

My Beta stood at the edge of the training ground with his arms folded.

"I've heard that before."

"Probably because it's true."

I grabbed a towel and wiped the sweat from my face.

"What do you want?"

"The council."

"Tell them no."

"You don't even know what they want."

"Whatever it is, the answer is no."

Damien shook his head.

"You really woke up determined to be difficult."

"I woke up determined to have a quiet morning."

"You are the Alpha King. You haven't had a quiet morning since you were twenty."

He had a point.

Unfortunately.

I walked toward the changing rooms.

"Talk."

Damien followed.

"The western pack has accepted your terms."

"Good."

"The northern Alpha hasn't."

"Then he can leave my territory."

"He says he has proof that the western border belongs to him."

I stopped walking.

"What proof?"

"A document signed by your grandfather."

I turned around.

"Bring it to me."

"Already did."

Damien handed me a folder.

I opened it.

The document was old, but the signature was unmistakable.

My grandfather.

I read the terms twice.

Damien waited.

"The land was transferred temporarily," I said.

"That's what I thought."

"Temporarily doesn't mean permanently."

"So?"

I closed the folder.

"The northern Alpha is trying to manipulate the council."

"What do you want to do?"

"Send him a message."

Damien sighed.

"Meaning?"

"Tell him to stop testing me."

He nodded.

"I'll handle it."

I started walking again.

"One more thing."

I stopped.

Damien's voice became more serious.

"The council has scheduled another meeting tonight."

"About my mate?"

"Yes."

I laughed bitterly.

"Do they have nothing better to do?"

"They're concerned about the future."

"The future will survive."

"That's not what they think."

I turned to face him.

"Let me make something clear. I will not choose a woman because the council wants an heir."

"I know."

"I won't be pressured into a relationship."

"I know."

"And if they bring up the Moon Goddess again—"

"You're going to threaten to throw someone out of a window?"

I stared at him.

"Possibly."

Damien smiled.

"I'll warn them."

I walked away.

The truth was, I wasn't afraid of being alone.

I'd always preferred it.

My father had spent his life devoted to one woman. After my mother's death, I'd watched the strongest man I'd ever known become a shell of himself.

I'd promised myself I'd never give anyone that kind of power over me.

That was why I kept women at a distance.

One night.

One evening.

Never enough time for feelings to develop.

Never enough time for someone to become important.

It worked.

Until recently.

I couldn't explain why my wolf had become restless.

But I refused to believe it had anything to do with a mate.

Because I didn't have one.

And I didn't want one.

---

By evening, the Blackwood estate was filled with the voices of visiting Alphas.

The council meeting had been moved to the grand hall because several pack leaders had arrived from neighboring territories.

Adrian entered last.

The room immediately fell silent.

He didn't need to announce himself.

His presence was enough.

He walked to the head of the table and took his seat.

His mother sat across from him.

Several elders exchanged glances.

Everyone knew what tonight's argument would be.

"The kingdom needs stability," Elder Marcus began.

Adrian leaned back.

"Then discuss the borders."

"We have."

"The trade routes?"

"Yes."

"The northern territory?"

"Handled."

Adrian's eyes narrowed.

"Then why are we here?"

Marcus hesitated.

His mother answered instead.

"You know why."

Adrian's expression hardened.

"No."

"The succession."

The word hung in the room.

Adrian slowly folded his arms.

"I've already answered this."

"You have refused to consider it."

"Correct."

"You cannot rule forever."

"I don't intend to."

"Then what happens after you?"

Adrian's jaw tightened.

Nobody spoke.

The question was reasonable.

That was what made it irritating.

Finally, he stood.

"What happens after me is not decided tonight."

"Adrian—"

"I said enough."

His voice carried across the hall.

Every wolf lowered their eyes.

The Alpha King looked around the table.

"I will not marry a stranger to satisfy a council. I will not claim a woman because she's politically useful. And I will not pretend to believe in a bond I have never felt."

He walked toward the doors.

Behind him, his mother spoke quietly.

"Be careful what you reject."

Adrian stopped.

He glanced over his shoulder.

"Why?"

"Because sometimes the things we reject are the things fate refuses to let us escape."

For some reason, her words stayed with him long after he left the room.

---

ADRIAN'S POV

That night, I stood alone on my balcony.

The estate was quiet below me.

I should have been thinking about the northern border.

Instead, I was thinking about one word.

**Mate.**

I hated it.

I hated how easily everyone said it.

As if some invisible force could decide who I would love.

Who I would sleep beside.

Who I would spend the rest of my life with.

No.

That wasn't going to happen.

I was Adrian Blackwood.

Alpha King.

I controlled my kingdom.

I controlled my decisions.

And I controlled my life.

I looked toward the distant lights beyond my territory.

Somewhere out there, thousands of humans were living ordinary lives, completely unaware that our world existed beside theirs.

I had no reason to care about them.

No reason to think about them.

And certainly no reason to believe one of them could ever matter to me.

I turned away from the balcony.

My wolf growled.

I froze.

Again.

That strange feeling.

That restless pull.

I clenched my jaw.

"Stop."

The growl came again.

Louder this time.

I didn't understand it.

But I would.

Whatever was disturbing my wolf, I would find it.

And when I did, I would make it stop.