Zarek's POV
"No." I snapped at Orion who reeled as though I had just slapped him across the face, and I wish I had. I wish I would because maybe he deserved it.
Maybe he deserves it for hoping that I would willingly allow this madness he was stewing; for ever thinking I'll let him take Dahlia from me.
My mate.
My wolf howled at the thought… it was not a good one; and it made me mad. So mad that I wanted to throw a fist at him. So mad that I almost forgot how he was one of the few people I still loved. I shook my head.
"Zarek, that girl is in danger; and I am not saying that you cannot protect her, but the person who hurt her lives here… in this fortress. Not mine. Moreover, her daughter who now lives with me needs her. She's friends with mine–"
"Maybe they should live with me then." I snapped, interrupting him. "Since the daughter is the only solid argument you have to back up this madness you talk about, then bring her here. I want her to live with me."
Orion's eyes widened.
"Zarek, you don't mean that. Do you?"
"I do." I responded, leaning over my chair to pick up the letters I had abandoned "I'm not allowing you to marry Dahlia… not now. Not ever."
"But…but why?" He stuttered. "She's only but a slave and I know you do not give a fuck about the outrageous sum of money you used in acquiring her…"
"And that's where you're wrong." I snapped, even though deep down, I knew he was telling the truth. "... I care about the money and I am certainly not someone who would splurge a few million gold coins and let it go to waste."
"Alpha…"
"As for the perpetrator of the crime, I'll find them and I'll leave no stones unturned to ensure that I do."
At this, Orion went quiet but from the way his jaw ticked with irritation, I was certain that this was far from over. However, what seemed to set me off was his aversion to seeing reasons with me and why he felt that marrying her would give her all the protection she needed.
This was no charity case, that I was sure of. He wasn't doing this to help Dahlia. He wasn't doing this to save either her or her child.
He was doing this for his own reasons. He was because he wanted to.
But why?
'Maybe he's just as attracted to her as you are too' I thought to myself but as soon as the idea flashed across my mind, I instantly clamped it down.
This was the last thing I needed right now. So shaking my head, I turned away from him to the papers in front of me but while doing that, I didn't miss the glare he directed at me. I didn't miss the way his eyes seemed to darken with something akin to malice and this made me stunned.
A knock on the door just then happened to snap me out of my train of thoughts and I looked up just in time to see Pius– the last person I was expecting– saunter into the room.
He bowed. "Good afternoon, Alpha."
But there was nothing good about the afternoon.
"Good afternoon, Beta."
For the first time in my life, I felt somewhat uncomfortable discussing whatever I wanted to in Orion's presence so I turned to him and said; "Please excuse us, Beta."
His jaws literally dropped as his eyes bulged.
"I have a few things I'd like to speak to Pius here about. We'll continue with this conversation later."
He didn't say anything. He didn't need to. He simply stood up and left, leaving me with Pius who was just as stunned as Orion earlier.
"You can sit." I said and frowned when Pius hurriedly did as told, all the while maintaining an uncomfortable eye contact with me.
He leaned toward me, and from his position I couldn't help but notice that the first two buttons of his tunic had been let loose, exposing his well defined chest and neck. This annoyed and amused me at the same time, and choking back the chuckle that threatened to escape my lips, I drawled;
"So what is it?"
"Alpha, there's a lead." He said, his eyes shining with a mischievous glint, but his eyes were none of my concern. My concern was the way my heart began to hammer against my chest as soon as he spoke.
"What do you mean?"
"It has been discovered that three different women escaped Silver moon pack with their children in the past year, and while one is probably dead… devoured by the beasts of the wild, two are alive and well."
"Oh."
"However, one of them is someone of interesting background. She isn't a slave and has never been one."
"So she's out of the picture." I groaned, hating the direction this conversation was fast taking.
He dropped his head in respect– more like in submission– and then he whispered; "Alpha, we cannot totally rule her out."
Something about his words filled me with irritation and I clamped my lips shut to stop the insult that was about to follow. Father had specifically said 'a slave'! A goddamn slave, so I have no business with anyone else besides the slave girl who has my daughter.
I spat; "And why's that?"
"Because we recently found out that she is Missus Nyx Hawthorne… your used-to-be betrothed."
I froze.
That's impossible!
A tremor ran up my spine as a mixture of anger and bewilderment enveloped me, and right now, I couldn't help but wish that I never heard this bizarre news. That I could pretend that I never heard about Nyx and her daughter… and that some wheels in my head were not already turning… already imagining the prospect of her being the woman I was looking for. The mother of my child.
Shit.
"We also learnt that shortly after you left the pack for your training, your father demoted every member of her family and made them commoners because she had called off the engagement with you… so it is possible that the 'slave' your father talked about could be her, and that's because that was exactly what she was to him."
Now, I was speechless… and mad. Royally mad.
I had half expected the slave girl to be anyone– maidens I hated, girls I found ugly, even older women… anyone! – but definitely not her.
Nowhere in my subconscious did I ever imagine it to be Nyx. The woman who had taken my heart into her hands and crushed it without a moment's hesitation. The woman who had made it easy for me to live through the first two months of isolation, captivity, and torture because what she'd done to me felt far worse.
No!
Anger like no other welled up in my chest and I pinched the bridge of my nose to keep the headache brewing at bay. But it didn't help. I felt worse.
"End the search." I grunted, my voice barely above a whisper. "...End the search and send the warriors home, for I no longer wish to have anything to do with the mother of my child."
At the sound of my voice, Pius' head snapped up with almost-hope, but then he dropped his gaze, his eyes sad.
"I think that may be too late now, Alpha. We've sent for her and a few soldiers are on their way to bring her and her daughter to us as we speak."
If I was enraged before, then now there are absolutely no words to describe the amount of rage that had formed and settled at the base of my stomach.
Momentarily forgetting that none of this was Pius' fault, I turned to him and growled; "Get out!" watching with satisfaction as he scampered out of the room.
But still, I didn't feel better. I needed to do something… to feel something.
Just as if a light bulb had been turned on in my mind, an idea instantly occurred to me. I needed Dahlia. She was the closest to making me feel anything.
Anything else besides rage.