Chapter 5

Lothaire

Gabriel and Edward, my Beta and Gamma, stare at the photo of Leah that she attached to her application. “Are you sure about this?” Gabriel asks.

No I’m not. I do not want or need a breeder, but I love Valerie and witnessing her heartache every time her heat comes on is becoming unbearable. Her inability to have a child is starting to affect every part of our relationship, and I want us to go back to the way things were.

I almost scrapped Leah from my list, but her image kept haunting me – even in my sleep. That’s why I invited her to the final selection at the last moment, and I’m glad I did.

Every other girl lied or confessed that they wanted a more permanent arrangement. A few were sent by their fathers, powerful Alphas, and didn’t want to be breeders at all.

Technically, it’s illegal to sell breeders. The girls have to be willing to sell the use of their wombs, but it’s a lucrative business, and often the fathers of these girls will sell them to the highest bidders.

More often than not, breeders die young. Word about their fertile status tends to spread quickly, and the traffickers often kidnap them and sell them to desperate wolves. They are given no time to recover between pregnancies, giving birth to one pup after the other until their bodies give out.

Leah came here of her own free will, and only wants safety for her brothers.

She isn’t the most beautiful of the applicants, which will no doubt please Valerie, and she’s a barely educated, exiled wolf. Definitely not the best candidate for the job.

Still, there was something about her that intrigued me right from the start. Her bushy red hair, her haunted, honey-coloured eyes, and pale lips, all came together to form the picture of a vulnerable beauty.

And when I saw her, I realised why she intrigued me so much. She’s my mate. My fated mate.

Fated mates are rare these days. It used to be quite common in ancient times, but nowadays, just about everyone chooses a mate.

No one will ever know Leah’s my mate. Not my best friends sitting in my parlour enjoying an afternoon drink with me, not Valerie, not even Leah. She’s blissfully unaware of who and what she is to me, and I plan to keep it that way.

When all this is over, I’ll reject her and my feelings for her will die along with the bond. I can’t betray Valerie. She’s been a part of my life for nearly a decade now, and I love her more than life itself. She’s the closest I’ve ever come to taking a mate.

“We know nothing about this girl,” Gabriel says. “What if she’s a spy?”

“Oh, be serious,” I snap. “A spy for whom?”

Gabriel shrugs and mutters, “I dunno.”

His fears aren’t completely unfounded. The Lycans almost wiped ourselves off the planet as we vied for power. When the dust settled and we finally realised that we were exterminating ourselves, my father was the last king standing.

I inherited the throne, and he has since moved on to Goddess only knows where. The surviving Lycans live in the castle, or went on to join the humans, living quiet lives as normal people. I, alone, am responsible for the entire werewolf race now.

It sucks.

Edward snatches the application from Gabriel’s hand. “She’s kind of plain, isn’t she? Surely you could have picked a sexier one.”

I resist the urge to growl at Edward and rip his throat out for talking about my mate like that. “There’s nothing wrong with her,” I reply as evenly as I can. “She’s had a hard life.”

“Yeah,” Gabriel agrees as he looks over Edward’s shoulder. “Cut her hair and slap some make-up on her, and she’ll do, won’t she?”

“Stop it,” I hiss. “The both of you. Show some respect.”

I get up and walk to the bar in the corner to pour myself a drink, then perch on one of the barstools.

“She is just a breeder,” Gabriel says. “Why so protective?”

“Because she is a breeder,” I reply and empty my glass before I refill it with whiskey. “She deserves more respect for what she does. All of them do.”

Neither of my two advisors speak, but Edward does get up to pour a drink for himself and Gabriel.

“Eddie, I want you to do a thorough background check on her. Find out everything you can about her,” I order. “Gabriel, you’ll take her to see the doctor at three. Make sure the other wolf males don’t come near her.”

“What if I come near her?” Gabriel teases.

I glare at him. He’s not serious, and I know I can trust him, but I want to rip his throat out. I growl a soft warning, which is enough to make him back down.

“I’ll stop,” he announces and accepts the drink Edward is holding out to him.

I’m in hell. I don’t want to do this. Not at all.

For a while, none of us speak. Each of us is occupied with our own thoughts. I’m trying to keep mine on the woman I thought was the light and love of my life, but every time I try, Leah’s face swims into view.

I’d lie if I said that she does not impress me.

“How is it possible that there’s no genetic trace of the girl?” Edward asks after a while.

He’s still busy doing what he always does. Research. Finding answers. Protecting me and his pack.

Because of the shortage of breeders, doctors run a full genetics and DNA panel on every breeder in an attempt to prevent inbreeding. Every male who wants to use a breeder is supposed to do the same, but some don’t take it seriously.

I’ve run into packs that were so inbred, that some of them didn’t even look like wolves anymore.

“I’m just gonna take a wild stab in the dark here,” Gabriel answers, “and say her family never bothered.”

“Yeah, but her mother was a breeder right? There must be some record. Some trace of a niece or nephew, or another distant relative, but there’s nothing.”

“It doesn’t matter,” I say and pour another glass of whiskey. “She’s not related to me.”

“This really concerns me, Lothaire,” Edward says. A small frown creases his brow. “No one is this…blank.”

“That is why I told you to do a background check.”

My Gamma sighs, empties his glass and gets up. “I guess I’ll get started on that.”

“Thanks,” I mutter and stare into my glass.

What I wouldn’t do to get black out drunk right now, but it takes a lot of alcohol to reach that point, and I have to keep my wits about me.

“When should I bring the girl to you?” Gabriel asks.

“Never. Simon agreed to try artificial insemination,” I answer. “He has a new technique he wants to try.”

Edward loudly clears his throat and gives me a sideways glance. “Are you sure you want to try it that way?”

“Yes. I promised Valerie we’d try…alternative measures. I’ll only go to her bed if all else fails.”

“The cheek on that woman,” Gabriel says.

If anyone else talked about my consort that way, I’d knock their block off, but Gabriel has made his feelings about Valerie known a long time ago. Edward can’t stand her either. I think I heard him use the words, ‘manipulative shrew’ to describe her once.

“Lothaire-” Edward starts.

“What?” I snap.

“Artificial insemination has a low success rate,” my Gamma reminds me. “They can’t replicate the knot. You’ll…torture the poor girl. She’s only nineteen.”

“I know, thank you…but I have to try it this way first. You used a breeder. How did Gloria feel about it?”

I never bring up their child. The boy was beautiful and strong, a formidable warrior, but he was a wolf. He died decades ago. Edward and Gloria never fully recovered from the loss of their child. “She didn’t like it,” he says at last, “but she wanted a child, so she got over it.”

I feel like the world’s biggest worm. I shouldn’t have brought up the subject of Isaac. It was a low blow. “I’m sorry,” I give Edward a rare apology.

He nods. “Who am I to tell you how you should procreate? I’m just saying…if it doesn’t work, Valerie has to kiss her little dream goodbye or get over you having sex with another woman.”

“I know.” I sigh and push my glass away. “I have a meeting.”

Two Alphas. Neighbouring packs that are in a territorial dispute. They have been killing each other back and forth for about a year now. They asked me to mediate because the war is devastating their packs.

I get up and shrug into my jacket, do the top button of my shirt back up and tighten my tie.

Much as they disagree with me, I trust that my two advisors will follow my orders and do as I commanded.

As I stroll back to my office, my mind drifts to Valerie. When I’m not with her, I can think more clearly. Think about the way she affects me. The way I forget about my kingdom and myself when I’m inside her.

It scares me to death sometimes, but when I‘m with her, all my fears disappear, and all I care about is her.