Taming The Alpha’s Curse

Chapter 8

Xavier’s Pov

Aliyah was furious.

I could see it in the way her jaw tightened, the way her hands curled at her sides as she stood there trying to hold herself together in front of the elders. She was good at appearances. I had always known that about her. But right now she was barely holding on.

“I cannot believe this,” she said, her voice low and shaking. “She just walks in here and starts destroying everything.”

I said nothing.

She waited a moment longer, maybe hoping I would take it back or explain myself. When I didn’t, she turned sharply and walked out. Her shoulder caught Astrid hard as she passed, a deliberate knock that made the girl stumble sideways. Aliyah did not slow down. The door shut behind her with more force than necessary.

The room settled.

Now it was just Talon, and Astrid standing in the middle of the room looking like she was trying very hard not to disappear into the floor.

I looked at her properly for the first time since she had walked in.

She was beautiful. I had noticed it before, that first night when I told them to spare her, but standing here in the quiet of an emptied room it was harder to dismiss. Her hair was long and dark, so dark it looked almost unnatural, like it had swallowed every shade of black and kept all of them. And her eyes. They were the greenest eyes I had ever seen on any creature in any kingdom. Sharp and deep and full of things she was desperately trying not to show.

It did not matter.

She was a vampire. I knew what she was and I was not going to let myself forget it.

“The real work starts tomorrow,” I said. “Be prepared. Be ready when I call for you and do not come to me with complaints of any kind. None will be tolerated.”

“Yes, Alpha.” Her voice came out small and careful. She was trembling slightly, though she was trying to hide that too.

“You can go.”

She dipped her head low and left quickly, like she was afraid I might change my mind before she reached the door.

When the door closed behind her, Talon turned to look at me.

He did not say anything at first. He just had that look on his face, the one that meant he was choosing his words carefully because he found the situation amusing and did not particularly want me to know that.

“Well,” he said finally. “That was something.”

“Was it.”

“You have never wanted a personal maid. Not once. In all the years I have known you.” He said.

“There is a first time for everything.”

“Is there.” He leaned back slightly. “So what is the reason? Really.”

I thought about how to say it. Not because I was hiding anything from Talon, he was the one person in this kingdom I did not have to perform for, but because I wanted to be clear about it in my own head first.

“Her village wanted to attack me,” I said, looking toward the door she had just walked through. “I will break her. Slowly. The way her people deserved.”

Talon was quiet for a moment. “If that is what you want.”

“It is.”

“I only ask because she does not look like someone who will last long under heavy pressure.” He said it plainly, no judgment in it. “She looks fragile. Like she is already carrying more than her body can hold.”

“That is exactly why I want to do it slowly,” I said. “Breaking something that is already close to the edge is not satisfying. I want to watch it happen piece by piece.”

Talon nodded once. “Then I suppose things are about to get interesting.”

“Aliyah is going to be a problem,” I said.

“You think?” His voice was dry.

“I can handle Aliyah.”

“You always say that.”

“And I am always right.”

He made a sound that was not quite agreement and not quite argument. We understood each other well enough that it did not need to be either.

“The rogues,” I said, moving on. “What is the update?”

Talon straightened slightly. “The ones we caught are being held in the lower cells. Interrogations are ongoing. Three of them have already given names, two of which overlap, so we are getting somewhere. The witches who tried to breach the eastern boundary were dealt with. The territorial wards are being reinforced as we speak. Should be fully restored before the end of the week.”

“Good.” I nodded slowly. “Make sure the names they gave are followed up on tonight. I do not want loose ends sitting in cells longer than necessary.”

“Already arranged.”

I looked at him. “And when did you start calling me Alpha Xavier in front of servants? Since when are you that formal with me?”

Talon’s expression did not change, but something shifted around his eyes. “I was simply being respectful.”

“You sounded like one of the elders.”

“I have always been mature beyond my years.”

A laugh came out of me before I could stop it. Short and real. Talon’s mouth pulled up at one corner, which was as close as he ever came to laughing himself.

It settled quickly, the way things always did between us. No need to stretch a moment past what it was.

I stood and moved toward the window, looking out over the yard. The castle was returning to its usual rhythm after the chaos of the past few days. Warriors at their posts. Servants moving in lines. Everything looked the way it was supposed to look.

My hand moved to my neck without thinking.

The mark was still there. Faint, but I could feel it the moment my fingers touched it. A warmth that did not belong to my own skin. She had put her mouth there, her fangs, and poured something into me that had not left since. I had woken up from what should have been a death wound feeling stronger than I had in years. The healers had no explanation for it. The Moon Goddess was still searching for the vampire who had done it.

And I was standing here making the girl my personal maid.

My hair. I had said she would dress my hair. I did not even know why those words had come out of my mouth. Nobody touched my hair. Not Aliyah, not any servant, not anyone. It was not something I had ever allowed or wanted. It was one of the few things in this kingdom that was entirely mine and I had always kept it that way.

Yet I had said it. Out loud. In front of Aliyah and Talon.

As if I wanted an excuse to feel her hands.

I pulled my fingers away from the mark on my neck and said nothing about any of it.

Tomorrow would be interesting. I would give it that.