(Alnilam)

After dealing with Tarian and his pack, I want to check Amaia’s room so I ask one of the guards where her room is.

He hesitates, terror occupies his gaze.

"Your Grace! Forgive me, but Alpha Tarian had her stuff thrown out, and that room is now used as a store room."

That hurts to think.

"Asshole, you should have let me wrench out his windpipe. He dared touch our mate’s room," Snow fumes.

"Take me to the room," I order the guard. He bows, taking me to a room in the back building. 𝒻𝘳𝘦𝘦𝘸ℯ𝒷𝘯𝘰𝑣ℯ𝑙.𝘤𝑜𝘮

He opens the rickety door, the paint badly needs a job. I enter.

The room is small in size, with cartons, broken furniture and other stored items haphazardly thrown in there. No indication whatsoever that she ever lived here apart from some posters ripped off the walls.

"Did she always live here?" I question the guard, moving closer to the dirty wall, where the paint is chipping off.

"No, she had a room in the Alpha’s residence before. But after the passing of Alpha Kalistain, Alpha Tarian took that room for himself, since he wanted to have a separate place for drinking and games. So, Amaia shifted here."

’Of course! Bastard even deprived her of her room and didn’t share his with her. The sign of a weak man, who is afraid of a strong woman. He won’t share his space with her, an act of control and manipulation.’

At Orion, as faculty members, Jamina and I couldn’t share rooms due to the rules. But if it had been elsewhere, we would have lived together by now.

Once it was a prospect for me. Her warmth attracted me, my parents approved of her but now my heart just felt heavy. That feeling of being consumed by someone you love has gone missing since Amaia had slowly crawled her way inside my beating organ and occupied it.

Something is scribbled on the wall. I take another step closer and observe. It’s Amaia’s cursive handwriting.

Aziel!

’Who is Aziel? Why would she scribble his name instead of her mate’s?’

Could it be her brother?

I remember she told me she had a brother but I didn’t remember his name.

She must miss her family immensely. Living in a pack that didn’t accept her, mated to a man who didn’t respect and love her.

Why didn’t I find her before?

Why wasn’t she meant only for me?

My fingertips traced along her writing and my heart trembled at what I had been planning to do.

Will I really be able to reject her?

My breath didn’t come smoothly. The very thought of letting her go hurt my soul.

Turning around, I left the room. I have to leave because there is another man I want to visit.

And his fate is not going to be very different from Tarian’s.

My sentinels are waiting for me. Elders of the Silver Shade Pack have gathered to make one last plea.

"Please! Consider your ruling, Your Grace. Alpha Tarian made a wrong choice. Grant him forgiveness."

"I have already given my ruling, the rest is in the hands of the werewolf council now."

I know the matter will be thoroughly investigated. Since the Reavers handling Amaia’s case are dead, there is no one to tell the council that Amaia possessed magic.

Jamina would never betray me, and just like others, she believed that we never found the magic wielder that day.

I ride out, my next destination is the City of Thousand Wives. It’s time Huradis answers for his crime too.

His city is chaotic, messy, and smelly with brazen sinful activities being performed on the streets. People with rotten teeth and rags for clothes litter the streets. Huradis doesn’t care for the well-being of his people; he is always too busy stuffing his pockets.

I watch them with pity, my sentinels hand out coins to those who come begging.

Humans can be disgusting, especially those who don’t care about their hygiene.

We arrive outside his palace and I dismount my horse. Both sentinels remain sharp by my side. We are in human territory, even though it’s part of Tarathia, the human kingdoms are independent from Orion and don’t come under our jurisdiction.

Huradis is their king and his say is supreme. He has an agreement with us but that’s about it.

"Take me to Huradis," I ask one of his guards. He nods and tilts his head, asking me to follow.

I just hope I won’t find him with his harem of women. The bond between a man and a woman is sacred, not supposed to be shared with anyone or ogled at while being intimate. That’s at least how I feel about it, and it is the main reason I don’t want to have Amaia as my mate. I won’t be able to share her with others.

The walls of his palace are plated with gold. What an irony, when people outside are dying of hunger and here is this man, living a luxurious life.

To my relief, the guard takes me to his throne room, and Huradis, for once, is alone, sitting lavishly on his gold throne.

He is a small, chubby man with rotten teeth and bad breath. No way someone like him can attract so many women.

The scene with him touching and kissing Amaia surfaces in my brain, and my body goes taut from anger and resentment that rage through me.

"Alnilam, always a surprise to have you here. Come have a drink." He spreads his short arms and flashes me his crooked teeth.

The low table beside him is covered with red and gold cloth with different-sized bottles and glasses occupying the space on it.

"No thanks. I am here to ask you some questions." He knows I don’t drink and yet he never fails to offer.

"Ah! Enforcers, always so uptight and straight to the point." He never refers to me by my other title, trying to exert his own dominance in front of me.

"I am here to ask you questions related to Amaia Zhāng. The girl you were so conveniently kissing the last time I was here." I cross my arms over my chest so I won’t scratch his hateful face.

"What did you make her drink to have her kiss you?"