Hunted by the Alpha King

Eighteen

“Do you have a white wolf?” the grumpy man demanded.

Willow’s gaze snapped to him. His bulbous nose was reddened at the tip, and his bushy brows were in a constant frown. “Yes, but that doesn’t mean I’m royalty.”

“It does. Only Royalty had white wolves.”

“That was decades ago!” Willow yelled, throwing her hand out. It was ridiculous. She was the furthest thing from royalty. “I’m only eighteen years old!”

“Your wolf is older,” Belladonna said. “Ask her how many bodies she has had.”

Willow gritted her teeth. She refused to ask her wolf anything. She already knew that Rana was an ancient wolf. But that didn’t mean she was the wolf foretold. Or royalty.

Right? Willow asked Rana. Her stomach clenched when her wolf didn’t respond.

“Answer me, pup,” the old wizard demanded. Willow grit her teeth. Fiery rage spread through her body. She shook with the need to teach this old man a lesson. No one talked to her or her wolf that way. She demanded respect and was tired of not receiving it from the High Coven. Even if she wasn’t the wolf foretold, she was the Black Alpha’s mate. If they were hoping to gain favor with her mate, they would need to respect her.

“She’s not a pup!” Vaxon defended, stepping forward from the wall he was leaning against.

Her newfound friend’s ire settled her anger. This old man and his opinions shouldn’t affect her so greatly. She had been judged all of her life. She has always been viewed as a nuisance to her pack. What did one wizard’s opinion matter?

The story of the ancient Royal family played through her head. Lycans had become a thing of history. A myth to keep young pups in line. No one had seen one for hundreds of years. They were the wolf's version of a boogeyman. If she were a descendant of the Royal family, then shouldn’t she be more powerful than she was? Was that the reason she could change without a bite from her mate?

“I’m not a Lycan,” Willow supplied.

Belladonna stared at her before smiling. It was not a nice smile or one from someone who wanted to be helpful. Willow could see deception and anger in this smile. The pain and jealousy. “Your Lycan side has not been awoken. You will need to find your wolf mate.”

Willow thought back to Rana’s and Leif’s conversation. The reverence in which Leif interacted with his mate spoke volumes. His willingness to forego the rapacious tendencies of an alpha, his unwillingness to mate her while his host was unworthy, and the blinding desire to be with her at least once. Rana had called the shots in all of their interaction. Leif willingly bows to her will and desires.

“My mate is not a Lycan,” Willow said through gritted teeth. She didn’t want to reveal anything more about her wolf and her mating to the High Coven, but she hoped that they might be able to give her some details in what she was missing. She locked all of her muscles to stop herself from cradling her stomach. Willow didn’t want to remind the witches of the pup in her stomach. Of the bargaining chip and possible hostage. Of the power the witches currently held over her.

“He doesn’t need to be. Once you’re fully mated with wolf and host, then you will convert him.”

“Thats ridiculous,” Willow scoffed. She didn’t want to believe this beautiful tale told by the witches. There was no way that the weakest in her pack was suddenly Royalty. Her father was a tracker in their pack. He wasn’t some guard for the Royals. Plus, the timeline didn’t make sense. For it to be true, she must be over sixty years old. It didn’t matter if her wolf was old. The timeline still didn’t make any sense.

“Have you fully mated the Alpha?” Belladonna asked. When Willow didn’t respond, she looked over to Vaxon. He shook his head. Willow glared at him in betrayal.

“She wants wolfsbane to suppress her wolf,” he supplied.

“You don’t want to be with the Black Alpha? Even though he is your mate and the father to your pup?”

Willow’s gut clenched because, after being held hostage by witches, she realized that she did want to be with Ronan. She wanted the safety and protection that only her mate could give her. Especially if the world thought that she was Royalty. She needed his strength. But she had stubbornly listened to her parents. She had followed Rana’s decision. And now she was mateless, with an unborn pup, in enemy territory. Her enemies were telling her that she was a powerful wolf, hoping they could use it later to their advantage.

Her parents had told her to run. Willow assumed it was from Ronan. But what if it was from more than just her mate? She looked at each of the wizards and witches who sat around the large table, staring at her with open reverence. Some were hopeful that she would unite the world of magic together, that she would ascend the throne. Others thought she would bring ruin to everyone.

“Do you not want to be with your mate?” Belladonna spoke again.

“I do,” Willow whispered, almost ashamed. She was ashamed that she was confessing her inner turmoil to a group of enemies. She was ashamed that she had not asked her parents why she was running in the first place. Her night had started so simply. Ran from her mate to save her life. But why had her parents told her to run in the first place? Now it seemed so simple to ask them, yet she never had. She took her parents’ warnings and words as gospel, and now she was far away from home and pregnant without her mate.

“Do you know the prophecy of the Black Alpha?” Willow shook her head. “He is prophesied to be the end of the wolf clans. The destroyer of the worlds.”

Willow swallowed hard. Based on the tales she had heard about her mate, he was capable of destroying worlds. He was brutal and strong enough. He had just never had a reason before. And now she had run from him. Giving him a reason.

He’d destroy the world to get her back.