Page 81 of The Alpha Wolf Defying Fate

A god damned warrior queen.

I could feel a sudden tug pull at my heart with that thought. A pull that I had expected to feel for Morus. The pull of a mate bond, his strength and power pulsing along the fate line connecting us together.

The sounds outside grew louder still, and the pulsing magic drew me in the direction of the commotion as a powerful urge to run and find the end of the bond and protect what was mine.

Just as I was about to move, a woman burst through the doors with a blonde man at her side. The two smiled as they looked around the room before gliding over to where Morus and I were.

Slowly, I stood up, the pain in my head disappearing as I clung to the imaginary cord connecting me to whoever it was at the other end. I took strength from them just as I sent some of my own back to them. The entire time, I couldn’t take my eyes off of the woman.

She was beautiful, despite the dark veins running along her arms and neck. They appeared like tattoos of dark vines growing along her pale skin, but nonetheless, marked her for what she was.

Her dark, veined eyes turned to me for a moment before she turned her full attention to Morus. I watched as she gave a deep curtsy, her companion bowing at the same moment. His movement swept the air around them both, and I could hardly contain the gag at the scent of death and decay mixed with the dark magic of the witch.

‘Why do they look so familiar?’

The voice in my head responded with a growl, but her voice was again blocked as the veil seemed to repair itself between us. Only not as strong.

I could still feel the wolf. My wolf. And she didn’t like these two. She didn’t trust them, and just like me, she recognized them. If only I could hear what she was saying, so she could tell me where it was that we knew them.

“What is happening out there?” Morus demanded. His voice was harsh and cold. Gone was the image of the calm and collective king he had been pretending to be with me.

“It’s nothing to worry about, Your Majesty,” the witch purred as she batted her lashes up at Morus. “We have it completely under control.”

Morus growled as he looked over at the doors, then back at me. He reached over and pulled me tighter into his arms; the feeling sending prickles along my skin. I fought against the urge to fight against him, suddenly all too aware of the immense power coming off of all three beings before me.

The vampire tilted his head to me, as if he had noticed the subtle revulsion that ran through me. I stared back at him in challenge, playing my part as Morus’s queen even as I felt the wrongness of that title, more so than ever before. He smiled back at me and tapped his nose before turning to the witch.

“Come now, Minerva,” he said. “Let’s let these love birds continue their celebration. I believe I hear the guards calling you to the front doors. We need to check with them and ensure the uninvited guests haven’t arrived.”

I jerked my head to the witch, her name sparking a muddled recognition inside of me. I knew that name. I had heard it before. Countless times.

“Yes,” Morus said, his voice cold as he stared at her, though the way she looked at him, I wasn’t sure she noticed. “Go and do that.”

“Yes, Your Majesty,” she said with another deep curtsy.

The vampire nodded his head at me with the same smile as before. He placed his hand on the witch’s waist and then led her away. For a brief moment, I could see her body shift against his touch. She leaned into him and her eyes brightened, the darkness fading as she looked the vampire in the eyes.

However, the moment she looked back at Morus, the dark veins pulsed back into place and the look of complete adoration was his and his alone once more.

I watched them walk away; the memories nudging at the back of my mind and bouncing off the veil. I knew them both. I just didn’t know how.

“Who are they?” I asked, my voice as even as I could make it as I watched the two disappear through the large doors of the ballroom.

Morus took my hand and twirled me back into a dance, my gaze with the door now broken.

“She is my most trusted advisor for the time being,” he said matter-of-factly, not an ounce of emotion in his voice. “The vampire is her mate.”

“Her mate?” I questioned. “It didn’t seem that she only had eyes for him.”

Morus chuckled as he spun me again. “Is My Love feeling jealous? Do not worry. I have no feelings for her. Though she has her mate, her loyalty to me is far more programmed into her than the bonds of her fate. A sort of requirement for the job she had to do. But her job is nearly over, and so will her devotion to me be.”

I looked up at him, the darkness in his voice reflecting at me through the dark shadows swirling in his eyes.

“Now then,” he said as he glided us into a fray of dancers, their forms now clearer than they had been before. Just shadows of monstrous creatures that had no place in the world anymore. “Our people await.”

Chapter Thirty-Seven

Ayden

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