Chapter 44

Jaxson

It doesn’t take long to spot the wolves who enjoy hurting their subordinates, and the ones willing to step back from their tortuous ways. My father lines up the warriors first, invading the mind link to see their past transgressions and then decide if they have what is needed to accept change. I try to help where I can, sweeping through their minds and picking apart the past incidents that they have be a part of.

I become ill early on into this hunt. To see my warriors, men I have trained, acting in such horrendous, unnecessary acts of violence against unmated commoner females; I see Aurora’s face in all of them. I see them beat her, hold her down and continue the charade as the commoner lays helpless at their mercy.

They are weaker, I understand that, but they cannot be lesser for that reason. They do not deserve this torment and suffering simply because we are stronger.

I miss my mate more as the scenes get more graphic.

I step out of the ballroom packed with royals, leaning against the wall with my arms stretched out, trying to calm my wolf and think of Aurora. She soothes me, her eyes so alive and determined. Her wolf, the white fur and lavender irises, it drives my wolf crazy. I picture my hands on her hips, finally getting back between her legs, but first to just lay there.

I miss her innocent, calming touch. So demure and gentle.

Dammit, Aurora, please! Lift the rejection!

I don’t here a response, or even the slightest link to her mind anymore, and I shudder, feeling sick with the realization of the fear she has had to have living here. I kept her locked up for her safety, and I knew the problems with commoners existed, but I never anticipated this.

I knew she was a commoner the minute I met here and while I had been surprisingly stunned, I hadn’t expected anything like what I’ve seen today. A cold sweat lingers down my pale complexion. I realize now just how badly I have failed my mate.

Hollering erupts in the ballroom, a commotion that I don’t have the mental strength to deal with, but I know I have to. I stalk back into the doorway, my father already shifted while a young royal is shifted under him, head hunkered down and snarling.

Stand down! I bark to the young royal, knowing my father will kill him instantly just for the mere thought of trying to fight my father.

He snarls, my father’s wolf black like mine, but larger with white specs around his muzzle. He is a little thinner than I recall but he doesn’t seem to show his exhaustion, standing taller than the royal before him, cowering.

“What the hell happened?” I growl, pushing through the warriors that watch on.

“He said it wasn’t right what you’re doing, sire,” another royal says, hands folded behind his back and standing erect, at attention. I face him, trying to keep from intervening as my father finally pounces forward and dominates the smaller royal. I urge him to keep speaking as the warrior is torn to shreds behind me.

“He said we protect the commoners and get nothing out of it in reward. We protect them from rogues and rebuild their towns when there are fires. Why should we not get to rule over them at least a little?” He shakes his head, cringing at the whines and yelps of the death behind me. “They are weaker, sire. It’s just how the world works.”

I hold back from wanting to drag my claws down his face, my father shifting back, covered in blood but baring no wounds. I look around the ballroom, furious and confused at the same time. How has this happened. Is the pack too far gone to be fixed?

“How many of you agree with that royal there?!” I bark, motioning to the royal face down, drowning in his own crimson puddle. I expect for everyone to stay perfectly still, too daunted by the fresh death in the room to agree with the corpse, but surprisingly, half the room’s hands go up. I look around, my father also in awe, as about half of the royal pack thinks that abusing and ravishing the commoners is appropriate.

My stomach knots tighter than ever before.

This is going to be more difficult than I thought.

We can’t reject them all from the pack, my father groans in my head, just as surprised as I am. That’s too much of a lose, Jaxson. We can’t lose half of the pack. It would leave us too vulnerable. Maybe this is a lost cause, son.

I turn to face my father, too damn shocked to say a thing to him right now. After what I told him about Aurora, about what he has allowed his warriors to do to him, I can’t believe he is protecting them merely so he doesn’t lose numbers.

With no better ideas I storm out of the ballroom and skip the usual afternoon in my mate’s room. I burst open the palace doors, breaking through the iron gate with a kick, before I shift and finally let my wolf take his charge. He is severely furious.

He weaves through the woods, climbing up mountains and just running until he can’t run anymore. I let him take the reins and feel myself weightlessly in a spiral. I see her face as I run, and I see her wolf running beside me, trying to keep up playfully but I slow down a pace so she can catch up. Her violet eyes look up at me and sparkle.

My wolf loses control, my mind too fogged about my mate and I shift in time to catch myself before I run straight into a ditch overlooking a cliffside. I look around, catching my breath, wondering how long I have been running and not paying attention. The sun is setting, proving that I have been knocked out and shifted for several hours now.

I try to make sense of my surrounding, feeling dizzy when I look over the edge of the cliff.

My father’s words return into my mind. Maybe this is a lost cause. I growl at the slightest mention of him thinking it’s okay to give up on my mate. She is alive, and she needs me. For once, I give up on trying to please my father and be present for my pack.

They’re filthy vermin anyways; or at least, half of them.

If my father won’t make things right, and I can’t do it without being alpha, then I conclude that my choices have dwindled to just two. I could fight my pack, try to redo the years of freeform chaos that we have allowed them to do and continue to let them terrorize young, unmated commoner females.

Or I could focus on my mate and do everything in my power to find her and keep her safe. I know she’s out here, looking over the cliff’s edge and seeing the world below. I don’t know what she is doing, or if she has even moved on to love her old friend, her first spark, but I at least need to know she is safe.

Safe with me would be the dream. I know I have to make it right with her, first. I have to show her she is safe and let her feel that she is protected with me, and I can’t do that in the royal pack. Everything I’ve learned up to this point has been to become a successful Alpha. A worthy king.

I’d leave it all for her if I had to.