Braiden
“My King, Dr. Adams is waiting for you.” Samuel dips his head and then bares his neck, averting his gaze as soon
as my eyes drift over to him.
I have finally done it. Even he can no longer look at me. My last ally, gone.
I couldn’t even blame him. The last four years had broken me. Left me a shell of my former self. Made me ruthless.
Unkind. Hard. It was only the weekly injections that k ept me functioning.
I grunt, and as I pass Samuel, I catch my reflection in the mirror. The man I see there is not even recognizable to
me.
Eyes that remain black, the grey from before gone. To match the blackness of my heart. The only reason I know it
still beats is the pain that shoots out of it. As it is doing now. White strands intertwine with my hair's black, the last
years aging me overnight. Turning me into the name I was now known by—King of the Werewolves, the Black
Death.
I ignore the pain in my chest, leaving my office to head downstairs. I hesitate, as I always do, my eyes drifting over
to the room at the end of the hall—the one I made for her.
Samuel’s presence behind me forces me forward as I descend the stairs and head to the dining room, where I am
met by Dr. Adams, my parents, and Selene.
“My King, how are you feeling today?”
The same fucking question every time he is here. Dead. I feel dead inside.
But instead of saying that, I say what I usually do.
“Fine. Let's get on with it.”
I sit down at the table and offer up my arm. Selene sits beside me, her hand on my other arm. While Dr. Adams
pr epares the injection, my gaze drops to Selene's hand, gently rubbing my flesh. I hate it. It doesn’t even tingle, let
alone spark. But I don’t say anything. She stood by me all these years.
“You need to increase the dosage. The efficacy is decreasing,” my mother issues the instruction before taking a seat
next to Selene.
“We need to talk about the future of the pack. It is time for you two to get married.”
This again.
“The pack is unstable. If you don’t fix this, the human government will get in volved. More and more pack
members are becoming rogue. It stops now. I will start making plans. You will be married in a week.”
Selene looks at me from under her lashes, pretending she is unaware of this. I know better, but I say nothing. She
has always wanted this. Now, with the royal pack falling apart, this is the perfect time to push her agenda —an
agenda she shares with my mother.
The worst part is that they are not wrong. The royal pack was falling apart as hard as I tried to ke ep it together. This
impacted other packs as more wolves became rogues. While they understood my situation, I also had a
responsibility to them, and their understanding was reaching its limits.
“Fine.” Selene giggles while Samuel gasps and then coughs, trying to cover up the sound. Even before Ava, he was
against this union.
But that was then, and this is now. My mate was gone. Dead.
With the drugs swimming through my system from the prick of the needle just moments ago, I get up, leaving
everyone at the table. They don’t seem to care. Selene and my mother are already talking about the colors of the
wedding and her dress, while my father chats to Dr. Adams about a rash he has on his arm.
Samuel follows me as I head out the front door. I can feel he wants to say something, but no words come when I
look at him.
“I’m going to see her.” He nods, and then I shift, turning into my black wolf.
The medication subdues my anger, but in this form, it sits on the edges, reminding me of its presence and the
reason for it.
One I come up to minutes later, as I shift back to my human form.
I dust the headstone off and then sit on the stone bench facing the flowery meadow below. The perfect place for my
Ava to rest.
It feels like just yesterday that I received the first package. The package containing bloodied silver pieces and a
note from whoever had taken her.
Telling me she did not survive.
This was after a year of nonstop searching for her. I had successfully closed more underground operations than in
the prior twenty years combined, but none led me to her.
I didn’t believe it and continued looking, until I received the second package. A USB.
It contained the proof—pictures of my beautiful girl, drenched in blood.
Dr. Adams said the volume of blood and the amount of cuts on her body were too many. There was no way she
would survive.
This was further confirmation of what I wanted to deny. My mate was gone, my beautiful, sweet Ava.
Anger bubbles up as tears stream down my face.
I should have protected her. I failed. That guilt created this monster. This man I had become—one who loathed
himself and hated the world for taking away his only peace.
Now, no one would have peace. I had made it my mission to find every member of The Underground. To kill
anyone in volved in her demise. And I had killed many. All exc ept for the man truly responsible. The Butcher.
Always one st ep ahead. We had been close last week, but somehow, he was alerted at the last minute, fleeing
before we could capture him. Someone in the pack was helping him, but we couldn’t find out who. While I had
suspected my mother and Selene all those years ago, we never found any solid proof. And as time passed, I
couldn’t believe they would do something like that. Not after everything I went through. They wouldn’t put me
through that. I was sure of it.
An incessant pushing in my mind makes me growl. Samuel should know better. No one disturbed me when I was
here.
I open the link, allowing my annoyance to flow through.
“My King, I am sorry for disturbing you. But you need to come to the Southern border. Someone is here. They
claim to have information you should hear and verify for yourself.”
“What information?” Samuel hesitates a long time before answering.
“About Ava, My King.”
The blood drains from my face as I stand up, my heart pounding until I can even hear it in my ears. I shift, and my
wolf howls before claws dig into the sand, tufts of grass flying as I run through the forest. Perhaps this information
would lead me to Ava’s killer. The thought spurs me forward, the muscles in my body burning as I push myself,
closing the distance until I am here, breaking through the tree line to see Samuel standing with a group of royal
guards.
I shift and take a pair of shorts one of the guards has ready for me.
Fear overwhelms me. Not only from my guards but also from the wolf they are surrounding.
They st ep aside, and the small female st eps back, her eyes wide in shock and fear.
She is no taller than 5’2” with short brown hair and big brown eyes.
“What information do you have for me?” The question comes out gruff, and she stumbles backward, almost
tripping over a small rock. In the distance, I can see a small, beat-up Ford.
“My-My King. The Queen...,” the she-wolf stutters, her hesitation making me impatient.
“Spit it out,” I growl, unable to ke ep my cool.
“She is in trouble.”
I look at Samuel, who looks at me with the same confusion I feel.
Confusion that is morphing into rage.
“The Queen is dead.”
The she-wolf looks between Samuel and me before whispering words that make my stomach turn and my heart
nearly stop.
“She is alive.”