Chapter 3

Roxanne stood there for the next few seconds, confused and scared. What did the Alpha King mean by those words? Was he the one killing every of his women? If he didn't want any woman, why would he not just stay single instead of killing them?

Millions of thoughts ran through her brain all in a few seconds until the king dropped his glass of wine with a small deliberate noise.

He looked back at Roxanne, finding the frozen look on her face most appealing.

"Your... Your majesty. I do not understand your words." Roxanne diverted her gaze to the floor in a simple bow.

"You don't have to worry. It is yet to begin, Roxanne." he remarked and before Roxanne could reply or do anything, there was a soft knock on the floor.

Russo's gaze left Roxanne's brown hair for the door.

"Chief Guard Keeth"

"Get in," Giovanni ordered and the door opened. A man seemingly in his late thirties walked into the room and without sparing Roxanne a glance, he waltzed across the room to the king.

"Your majesty" he greeted.

"What are you here for?"

"I..." One more step from Keith led to him bumping his leg into the beautiful crafted stool.

A clattering and shattering noise filled the ears of the three people in the room. The tea cup that had been on top of the stool has shattered into several pieces.

Roxanne immediately felt the air in the room turned chillier and when she looked at Alpha Russo, she could see why. The man looked like a storm was going on right inside of him and his eyes held a monstrous gaze.

He looked at the shattered tea cup shards on the floor, his hand fisting into a tight ball. That tea cup was special. Roxanne could see it and Keith who had gone down on his knees seemed to know that too.

Russo looked like he would lose it and kill right the next second but he didn't just look it.

"Bastard" a growl left Russo's lips as he grabbed Keith by the head and snapped his neck without a second thought.

Roxanne gasped, losing her earlier on tight grip of her dress completely. She moved three steps back quickly, fear stricken but that wasn't all as Keith's head was detached from his body in one swift move, making blood splash all over the floor and Russo himself.

His chiselled chest dripped with red thick blood as Russo walked over to the broken pieces of the tea cup while Roxanne remained stiff and full of fear. If this man had just killed someone because the person broke a cup, then he was indeed the monster she had always heard him being regarded as.

She watched as Russo picked up each piece of the broken cup. The last piece of it was right in front of Roxanne and she panicked slightly as he picked it up and raised his gaze to meet hers.

Russo got up on his feet, towering above her with their height difference. He still had that killing aura surrounding him and his eyes still held that dangerous gaze.

"Please don't kill me!" Roxanne quickly begged in fear and just then she felt a burning sensation on her shoulder.

"You are not dying, at least not yet." Russo replied and Roxanne winced.

Her shoulder was burning more and starting to hurt a lot. She diverted her gaze away from Russo's face and glanced at her right shoulder.

It was shining.

"What the hell is happening?!" Roxanne cried out and Russo's gaze dropped to her shoulder.

"What's this?" Roxanne tried to quickly push the dress off her shoulder but she was unable to.

"Aaargh!" She let out a painful shriek but before she could say another word, Russo's hand had grabbed the fabric and tore it off her shoulder.

Roxanne gasped, feeling the world pause for a second as his fingers brushed against her skin. She almost forgot the burning on her shoulder with that slight touch. Almost.

Roxanne's gaze and Russo's gaze dropped to her bare shoulder and Roxanne was shocked to find a mark on her shoulder. It looked like a tattoo, perfectly drawn by a professional.

It was that of a black furred wolf with long fangs.

It was a tattoo Roxanne was sure she didn't have before now. She didn't have any body art on her and had never been to a tattooist shop.

"This." Russo narrowed his eyes at the tattoo, reaching a finger to the tattoo. Roxanne felt the burning vanish instantly with his touch. Her body calmed down and she felt a wave of energy run through her. It was something she had never felt before.

Russo fingers trailed the tattoo for a few more seconds and during those seconds, he felt something stir inside of him. It was something he was sure he had never felt before. He looked away from the mark to her face. She had beautiful hazel eyes which were dilated with fear, her nose was of a moderate size, not too pointed and then his gaze dropped to her lips which was slightly parted as she breathed out heavily.

Russo found his gaze lingering on her lips a bit longer than he intended to.

'Get a hold of yourself, Russo' he cursed at himself, looked back at the mark and then looked at the broken pieces of the tea cup in his hands.

Roxanne looked at it too and was surprised to see that the art on that tea cup was exactly the same as the tattoo on her shoulder.

"How is this possible?" Russo took two steps away from her. Denial clouded his face as he looked from the broken pieces back to the tea cup.

"Not you, you should not be the one with the mark." his words came in a low growl.

"What's the meaning of this mark, your majesty? Why... Why do I have it?" She asked but she got no response from him.

"Get out, Roxanne Delatrio" his words were an order that Roxanne could not flout. She turned towards the door and rushed out of the room leaving Russo.

As soon as the door shut behind her, Russo threw the pieces of the the cup across the wall, shattering them into several more pieces.

"Impossible!"

He immediately mind linked Simone, his beta.

"Come right to my room." He ordered.

"Yes, Alpha"

Russo didn't have to wait for long. A minute of boiling with fury and pacing around his room was what it took to have Simone standing in front of him.

"Your Majesty" Simone looked at the shattered pieces of the cup.

"Isn't that the cup of the mark?" He asked with a tone of urgency and then looked at the corpse that laid on the floor.

"I thought he broke it." Russo breathed out.

"He didn't?"

"No, Simone. The mark found its owner and broke, using him"

"And..." Simone chose his words slowly.

"Who is the owner of the mark? Cecile?"

Russo groaned and looked away.

"No. It's the new one. Roxanne Delatrio."