FATED TO ALPHA HUNTER BY VENNEH LISAH

𝐇𝐔𝐍𝐓𝐄𝐑

𝐄𝐏𝐈𝐒𝐎𝐃𝐄 𝟕𝟓

𝐀𝐍𝐈𝐀'𝐒 𝐏𝐎𝐕:

My heart sank when Dwight told me about Rina's living conditions, and the king only made it worse when he said, "I know Rina is hurting, but I can't stomp into Alpha Kelly's territory and drag her back here. She has to be willing to come back. We don't interfere with mates and their bonds. And when she wants out, I promise I will bring her back."

"What do you mean? Rina is hurting?" I asked. I had only thought she was being neglected. Arman sighed and pinched the bridge of his nose.

"The chest pain - it's caused by his infidelity, not something being wrong with her. The mate bond can feel it. But you two girls were never taught any of this stuff, so she thinks there is something wrong with her. But it's because Kelly is screwing other women who aren't his mate," the king spat. I growled; my anger was emblazoned and so hot I wanted to hurt something.

"Shh, calm down. You can convince her to come home. She only needs to reject him, and it will be all over. She can come home then. I promise we will get her back," Arman said, his hands sliding up my arms and rubbing them as he stepped closer.

I explained to Arman that her phone was turned off, and he let out a sigh.

"I'll call Kelly and ask him to get her to call you," Arman responded, pulling out his phone from his pocket. I followed him over to the bed as he climbed into it.

Arman dialed Kelly's number, I crawled onto the bed, and he patted his chest. With a sigh, I laid down, placing my head on his chest. I listened to the phone ring, and it didn't take long before Kelly answered it. Arman put it on loudspeaker so that I could hear better without straining my ears.

"Good afternoon, my King," Kelly answered, his voice rather chirpy. I growled, but Arman's hand clamped over my mouth.

"Kelly, Rina isn't answering her phone," Arman said.

"Oh, yes, she dropped it in the sink by accident. It got wet, so I have ordered a new phone for her," Kelly replied.

"Are you with her now?" the king asked him.

"Ah, no, I'm working. She is at the pack house with my wife," Kelly said.

"So, you told her about your wife?" Arman asked.

"Of course. She was shocked but accepting since we have three kids together. They have been getting on great," Kelly said. My brows furrowed, and the growl that left me was loud and unable to be stifled with just his hand as I reached for the phone, wanting to demand to speak with her. Arman moved, rolling on top of me and nipping at my neck, the calling seeping into me louder, forcing me to relax beneath him.

"You seem to have your hands full, my King," Kelly said with a laugh.

"Hmm, well, I want Rina to call this number as soon as possible. My mate is missing her friend and is very concerned after learning that you were already married. And with them being so close, I am sure you can imagine how upset my queen was to learn her friend ran off with a married man," Arman blurted.

"Oh, my wife was fine with it. They will be like sister wives in no time," Kelly said.

"My mate's concern is for Rina, not your wife. Have Rina call us, or I will be coming down with Ania to see her," he told the alpha.

"Oh, no need. Rina is perfectly fine. I will have her call you in the morning when I return home," he said.

"Video call," I mouthed to Arman, who pressed his lips in a line.

"Get her to video call, or we will come to visit," Arman told him.

"Certainly, my King. First thing after the ladies get the kids ready for school, I will ensure she calls," Kelly said. I glared at the phone, wanting to snatch it off him and yell at Kelly. I didn't like his tone of voice. Something was off, or maybe I was just too angry with the man because he tricked Rina.

"Very well, speak soon," Arman said, hanging up. He leaned over and placed the phone on the bedside table before looking down at me. I pushed on his chest, and he exhaled but rolled off me.

"Tomorrow, you will speak to her, alright? If something was wrong, he wouldn't have put her on, and he said she's okay with it," Arman said in a persuasive tone.

"I know Rina, and there's no way she'd be okay with sharing her mate or being lied to," I protested.

"Well, we'll find out tomorrow, won't we?" Arman replied. I growled, and he rolled onto his side, pulling me closer.

Just as he was about to turn me to face him, there was a knock at the door. He looked towards the door, and it opened a crack.

"My King, it's Travis. Zara sent me up with your dinner," Travis announced, and Arman sighed.

"Just put it on the coffee table," Arman said, sitting up and swinging his legs over the side of the bed. He patted my hip with his hand.

"You should eat," he suggested. I glared at the wall, too upset to eat.

"Thank you, Travis," the King said, and I heard Travis leave as the King got off the bed.

"Ania, get up and eat, or am I going to have to start calling you my princess?" he joked. I rolled my eyes, knowing he would keep nagging me, so I forced myself out of bed. I walked over to where Arman was sitting by the fire and sat next to him.

"I'm actually the queen now, since my parents are deceased, and I was next in line," I teased him, and he nodded, smirking as he slid my plate over to me.

"Very well, my queen. I'll inform the staff of the update. Now, please eat," he said, pointing to my plate. I picked up my knife and fork and started on the steak and salad, while Arman had a different assortment of raw meat.

"You never eat salad?" I asked him, noticing his usual preference for meat.

"I do, but it's rare. Vae-wolves are primarily carnivorous, and our sense of taste changes over time," he explained with a shrug.

"So, I won't enjoy vegetables and salad as much after a while?" I asked, and he seemed thoughtful for a moment as he chewed his food.

"No, you'll still enjoy all kinds of food. You'll just have certain preferences, but if it's any consolation, Desmond is a vegetarian," he added.

"I can't believe Desmond is a vegetarian," I said, a little stunned. Arman chuckled, but it explained why I had never seen him eating meat.

"I suppose you also never noticed that he has no interest in relationships," Arman stated.

"Is he gay?" I asked, shocked once again. But the king shook his head. "No, he is a eunuch," the king told me, and I gasped in shock. I didn't know what I thought a eunuch man would look like. "A eunuch?" I asked.

"Yep, which is why I assigned him as your guard, plus he asked to be placed as your guard when you came," Arman explained.

"He is so good-looking to be a eunuch," I muttered. The King growled.

"Excuse me?" he asked.

"What? You said it yourself; he is a eunuch. I was just making an observation," I laughed.

"I don't want you checking out my guard, my queen," Arman growled.

"I wasn't, but come to think of it, Gary is nice-looking too," I teased, seeing him become jealous. I had no interest in any of them, and none were as gorgeous as Arman.

"Oh, and..." I started, but Arman growled, and I laughed.

"Say one more, and I will put you over my knee," the King warned, but his words didn't scare me. Instead, they sent a thrill through me, wondering if he actually would spank me.

"Dwight is alright, too. I can see why Rina likes him," I snickered. He leaped over the table, his growl ripping through the air as he landed on top of me, making me laugh.

"Are you teasing, my Queen? Because if you're not, I may have to kill my entire guard to stop your wandering eyes," he said, pinning my hands to the floor while he nipped at my lips and rolled his hips against me.

"You can't kill your guard because they don't just belong to you. Besides, Desmond is my guard, not yours, so you can't kill him," I told him.

"So not only are you claiming your title back, but you are now claiming my guard? Anything else, my Queen?" he asked, and I pursed my lips.

"Hmm, I am yet to claim my King. I think I will claim him too," I told him. The King growled, and his lips pressed against mine hungrily.

My bond flared to life as he pressed his entire body against mine. His tongue dominated mine, tasting every inch of my mouth. His skin against mine made my whole body tingle, his scent invaded my nose, and a purr escaped me as I kissed him back with the same desire. I wanted to mark him, the bond screaming for me to tie him to me. My canines slipped out, nicking his lips, and he growled, rolling his hips against me. Then suddenly, there was a knock on the door. He growled before telling me he had work to do. And just like that, he was gone when he was informed the cars were ready .

𝐃𝐖𝐈𝐆𝐇𝐓'𝐒 𝐏𝐎𝐕:

I was saddened by the fact that Rina didn't want to come back home with me. I had so much anger in me that I became agitated with even the slightest things. One day, I blew up on our guard to the point that the king noticed and told me, ''Why don't you direct that anger towards the person who hurt Rina?''

So, I set out to find him, and Richie would pay too. Travis came with me. He was part of the guard and had an iron gut, but he was also silent as the night when he wanted to be. He and I were both messed up in the head, which is probably why we got along so well. I was the only person who knew his mate before he came to work as Arman's personal guard.

Travis never spoke about his past; he said it haunted him. But out of everyone, he and I had no secrets, and I even helped him cover up what he did. Arman was aware that something had happened, but I didn't think he truly knew who she was to Travis.

Arman, Gary, Travis, and I were best friends, but I knew there were some things that Arman and Gary would look down on Travis for, especially after what he did to his mate. So, we never told them. However, I was pretty sure they suspected something was up because Travis never showed interest in looking for his mate, and that was because he had already found her.

Twenty years ago, he met Sheila, a normal she-wolf who rejected him on the same day they met. The problem was that Lycans cannot be rejected, as the bond doesn't just disappear for them. The bond only ends when one of them dies.

Despite this, it took twenty years after her death for the bond to completely dissipate, something he never thought would happen. He had assumed that he would be stuck longing for a bond that didn't want him, even after it was dead and buried due to her betrayal. He held out hope that she would come to her senses.

This made him cold and unfeeling, causing him to detach from everyone. The only time he felt anything was when Arman sent him on missions that nobody else wanted to do, and usually, I went with him for those jobs. I made a promise to Travis that I would remain a bachelor forever and keep him company in his solitude.

Then Rina came along, and I wanted her. I wanted her love, which removed my belief that I was content being alone forever. Rina stirred up feelings that I didn't think I was capable of from the moment she accidentally walked into my quarters. It was an obsession that I wasn't sure was healthy, but it was still better than the void I had felt for years.

"So, we're going back for that Richie guy?" Travis interrupted my trail of thoughts, and I looked over at the man. He had a massive scar down one side of his face that ran from his hairline to his chin. Travis was almost blind in that eye, which was ironic, considering he was our best gunman. Not that we had much use for guns, but they made things easier than risking the king when he traveled.

Like the rest of us vae-wolf men, Travis looked to be in his mid-thirties, but he was nearly 90 years old, still young considering how old I was.

"Him and another," I answered him as he unrolled his knife pouch to make sure he brought them all.

"Who else?" he asked as he ran his thumb down the blade and let it slice his thumb to test how sharp it was.

"The butcher, when we find out who he is," I chimed.

"A butcher?" he chuckled. "Well, that's interesting. I wonder how he'll feel when he realizes it's his meat you'll be cutting into," Travis said, glancing at me and smirking.

"Does Richie, and his mutt mate, know that we're coming?" Richie asked.

"No, but I have the paperwork in case they kick up a fuss," I replied.

"To bring him in?" he asked. I snorted and smiled.

"Well, I suppose the king wouldn't have sent you if it were as simple as taking them in," I said, as he rolled the pouch back up.

"So, what did he do to the King?" Travis asked.

"Not the King, Rina," I corrected him. He exhaled before pushing his fringe from his eyes.

"That's your girl, right? The one you buy candy for all the time?" he asked.

"Yes, when I get her back," I replied. I would get her back, even if I had to go behind Arman's back; I wasn't losing her. But for now, I would wait like he asked to see what he comes up with.

I knew he would have to, if not for me, then for Ania. I had heard the call go out earlier in the night about her wanting a specific tangerine, and almost the whole castle went out in search of it. I wondered what kind of craving that was. I nearly choked on my spit at the thought that he would allow it, considering the king was iron fisted and not easily persuaded, but I think he would allow anything she requested if she batted her eyelashes at him. She would learn that he was putty in her hands. She just needed to recognize that.

Going at Arman headstrong wouldn't get her anywhere, but she had other ways to get what she wanted. She just needed to come out of her shell and play on that, which I knew Arman was dreading when she figured that out.

He knows he's screwed when she does, especially with her bloodline. The Devonshires were known to have certain gifts, so it will be interesting to see if she inherited any of those traits. She had her mother's eyes, so it will be fascinating to see if she inherited her mother's abilities or if she inherited her father's. Time would tell, I thought to myself.

"So, what did he do?" Travis asked, interrupting my thoughts. I growled at his words, and he nodded understandingly.

"Enough said," he said. I nodded in agreement. We spent the rest of the drive in silence. The long, windy roads were boring, and I pulled over and swapped places with Travis when I felt myself nodding off. By the time we arrived, it was the early morning hours, with the sun just creeping above the trees of the sleepy town.