Damian
I want her.
The room went dead silent.
Her head snapped up, and finally, those hazel eyes met mine. Wide. Shocked. Afraid.
I heard two growls—one from of course her father, and the second from the man standing beside Alpha Sean. Xander.
Alpha Samuel stood up so fast his chair nearly tipped over. "Absolutely not." His voice boomed across the hall. "She's my daughter."
But my eyes were narrowed at Sean's son, Xander. Anger flared hot in my chest, and my inner Beast snarled inside me.
Was he her boyfriend or mate?
"She's not—" Alpha Samuel continued, his face red with fury.
"She's not what?" I interrupted, still staring at Xander. "Not worth the lives of your entire pack? Not worth avoiding the war that will kill hundreds of your so-called wolves?"
I looked at Samuel then, and I let him see the coldness in my eyes. The promise of what would happen if he refused me.
"You said anything, Alpha. You said I could ask for anything. We have a deal."
"This is not reasonable!" His shout echoed off the stone walls. "Evelyn is my daughter, for fuck's sake!"
Evelyn.
So my little she-wolf's name is Evelyn.
I wanted to taste her name on my lips. What kind of king had I become when just hearing a mere girl's name brought me this much satisfaction?
"It's perfectly reasonable," I said, my voice calm. Too calm.
"It can't happen." Xander's voice cut through the tension like a blade.
His voice irritated me. In a blink, I was standing in front of him, and I watched his eyes widen when he realized how fast I'd moved.
"Do you have a problem, kid?" I asked, my tone dangerously low.
He needed to know his place.
"Evelyn will not go with you," he said while trembling, still trying to sound brave.
I hated hearing her name from his mouth. I reached out and wrapped my hand around his neck, lifting him slightly off his feet. His eyes bulged.
"I could kill you right now." I said, my voice was soft. Deadly. "No one here can save you from me. If anyone challenges me, I will kill each and every person in this room."
"No, please!" Sean shouted from somewhere behind me.
I ignored him. My grip tightened on Xander's neck, and I felt his pulse racing beneath my palm.
"Please don't do that."
Evelyn's soft voice cut through my rage like nothing else could.
It irked me more than it should have. Why the fuck was she worried about him? Was my suspicion right? Did they have something between them, any romantic relationship?
The mere thought burned something dark and possessive inside me.
I threw Xander across the room. He hit the wall with a sickening thud, and everyone gasped, but I didn't care. My eyes were already searching for her.
I found her standing near her father, and her eyes were focused on Xander's crumpled form.
"Don't look at him," I said, my jaw clenched so tight it hurt.
Her eyes snapped to me, wide and startled. I began walking toward her slowly, deliberately. She trembled, but it wasn't fear I smelled on her. It was something else entirely. Something that made my Beast purr with satisfaction.
Those hazel eyes kept changing color, flashing between human and wolf. She was fighting for control, does her wolf want to fight me?
Before I could reach her, Samuel moved, placing himself between us and hiding her behind his back.
"King Damian." His voice was firm despite the fear I could smell rolling off him. "I cannot accept your request. My daughter is not something I can trade."
"I want Evelyn," I said simply. "I want to make sure you honor this deal. And what better insurance than your daughter living in my palace? Under my protection?"
I paused, letting my words sink in.
"If you break the deal... well, then she suffers the consequences."
Because I didn't trust these animals. Not one of them.
Murmurs rippled through the gathered wolves, but I didn't care about any of them.
I only cared about my little wolf.
She was still staring at me from behind her father's shoulder, and now there was something else in her eyes. Not just fear. Something harder. Something that looked like rage.
Good. I liked her anger.
"I won't be your prisoner," she said, and her voice shook but it was firm. Strong.
I smirked. "You won't be a prisoner. You'll be my guest. You'll live in my castle, and have everything you need."
"Everything except my freedom."
"Freedom is overrated."
She stepped out from behind her father then, and I watched her hands shake.
"Why do you want me as part of the deal?"
The question caught me off guard. I didn't know how to answer it, to be honest. I just knew that something in me needed her, a magnetic pull. I wanted her close, where I could see her, touch her, know she was safe.
I didn't say anything, and I saw something flickered across her face. Disappointment, maybe. But she hid it quickly.
"You can't do this," she said, taking another step toward me. "You can't just take me like I'm some object. Like I'm nothing."
"I can," I said simply. "And I will. Unless your father wants to reject my deal and go to war instead."
I turned my gaze back to Alpha Samuel. "What's it going to be, Alpha? Your daughter, or your pack's lives?"
Jacob shifted beside me. I could feel his confusion. He was trying to understand why I was doing this instead of following our original plan.But I didn't owe him an explanation. Not yet.
"Think carefully, Alpha Samuel," I said. "I'm waiting."
"I will not agree to this, King Damian." Samuel's voice was steel. "We are ready to fight."
I raised my eyebrow at him, then looked back at her. "Is that so?"
Before I could say another word, Evelyn spoke.
"I agree."
The room erupted. Samuel turned to his daughter, reaching for her, while her mother let out a broken sob from across the hall.
But Evelyn moved toward me, and suddenly she was close. Too close.
Her soft, feminine scent invaded my nose, and I had to stop myself from inhaling deeply. From pulling her scent into my lungs and holding it there. Her proximity did something to me, something I couldn't quite control.
And by the way her breathing changed, by the way her pupils dilated, I knew it affected her too.
Interesting.
"If I come with you," she said, her voice was steady now, filled with authority that shouldn't have turned me on but did, "then you will leave every werewolf here unharmed."
I tilted my head, studying her. "Yeah."
"I'll come with you, but I have conditions."
"What are they?" I asked, genuinely curious now.
"I will stay in your land for six months. Not more than that."
"Evelyn, what are you doing?" her father pleaded.
She turned to him, and her expression softened. "I know what I'm doing, Dad."
I almost smiled at that. Almost.
"What if I don't accept your conditions?" I asked, my voice dropping lower. "What if I keep you in my kingdom forever?"
Her eyes flashed gold for just a second.
"Then we fight," she said quietly. "And we lose people from both sides. I'm ready to die if I have to. You'll have to kill me, before you harm my pack."
Kill her.
My Beast roared inside me, furious at even the suggestion. And I realized with startling clarity that I couldn't do it. I couldn't fight her, and I damn sure couldn't kill her.
What the fuck was happening to me?