Chapter 16: How Dare You?

“I am asking you again, omega,” the Lycan king growled, “Who do you think you

are to say such things?!”

All other omegas bowed their heads and only Roxy stood there, trembling.

Riannon’s lips parted in shock as she took him in. Today he was wearing ripped

jeans and a grey T-shirt that was slightly too tight around his muscular body. He

had sunglasses on which he took off right before their eyes met.

He was a fine specimen of a Lycan. Tall and broad-shouldered as if he spent

most of his time training and fighting. Yet his green eyes gave away his sharp

mind and experience. Someone like him wouldn’t buy the pathetic lies of the

scheming omega in front of him. And for some reason, it made Riannon very

happy inside.

“I am so sorry, Alpha,” Roxy started stuttering and Ria thought to herself that for

the first i e ever this might have been genuine. The aura around the Lycan King

was deadly and even she could feel it.

“I am afraid a simple sorry is not going to cut it, little girl. You are not that little

thought to not know any rules. Or now that you found out that you are the Alpha’s

mate you decided that you are above everyone and anyone?” Gideon chuckled

darkly, “I hate to break it to you, but even Alphas are not above our laws. And

you are still a no one as of now. I don’t see a mark on your neck, do r?”

No one dared to speak and Roxanne’s head was getting lower and lower.

“Not to mention that even if you did have a mark,” the Lycan king stepped closer,

“I could still demand your life as a tribute to me for your insolence. And, trust me,

your Alpha would kill your himself in an instant just to appease me. If he is not a

complete i***t, of course. Which I am starting to doubt...”

“What is going on here?” Brayden showed up from the side leading to the training

field with Ash and his best warriors, all sweaty after yet another exercise round.

He looked worried when he saw the scene unfolding before him and Ria decided

to take a step back simply watching what would happen.

“What happened, Alpha...”, Gideon paused, not even trying to hide that he did

not remember Brayden’s name.

“Thorn,” the wolf tried to suppress a growl but it did not work very well.

“Alpha Thorn,” Gideon practically spat the words and Riannon enjoyed that way

more than she should have, “Your mate here disrespected me. And your Luna

too. She is too brazen

“My apologies, King Stormhold,” Bray was forcing the words out of his throat. He

was a strong Alpha and submitting came hard to him, “It is my fault. I have to

teach her better. She didn’t have the opportunity to learn since in her previous

pack...”

“I don’t want excuses,” the lycan did not even try to hold back his growl, “There

are things that even mice in the house know. And if she is that not ready to meet

people, maybe you should look into that and stop parading her at parties for the

time being. After all, you don’t want the whole pack to pay the price for the stupid

words that leave her mouth, right?”

“Of course, not,” Brayden got pale. No one wanted to mess with the lycans. This

was a war lost before it even started and everyone knew that. There were less

lycans than werewolves in the world but they were bigger and stronger, and way

more powerful. And there was a reason why everyone obeyed them. There had

been wars where werewolves tried to end lycan’s dominance and they all ended

badly for the wolves. So, no one tried that before. It did help that lycans, however

cruel if crossed, seemed to be reasonable rulers. They implemented ľ s that more

or less took care of everyone under their wing. However, there was one thing that

they did not tolerate and it was disrespect.

“I am so sorry!” Roxy rushed to fall into Brayden’s arms with eyes full of tears

again. The girl was shaking uncontrollably as her mate wrapped his hands

around her protectively.

Gideon turned to look at Riannon and she sighed, rolling her eyes, which only

made him smirk and clench his fists. He looked like he was ready to tear the

omega apart any moment now. That got Ria worried. For the first time, she

realised that now she really needed Roxanne alive for her plan to come true.

A small part of her still cared for Brayden and it made her mark ache to see him

so protective of his mate. But in the end, more than anything now she wanted her

freedom. And her pack. If Gideon killed Roxy now, Bray would be devastated,

yes. But he would survive. And never ever give her a divorce. And she wouldn’t

have grounds for that and for taking her pack back as well.

No, this was not good for her.

“How about we forgive her just this once,” the Luna stepped in between the lycan

king and her husband who held his clinging mate in his arms, “We will all teach

Roxanne and next time we will be sure she is not even around when you visit if

that’s what you like.”

“As you wish, Riannon,” Gideon raised his chin but his facial expression warmed

up as he looked at her. Everyone around them was stunned at how easily he

listened to her and how he

Anyway, I came here to discuss a few things and to have a look at your pack.

How about you show me around?”

“It would be my pleasure,” she gave him a soft smile and this time he worked

really hard to suppress an internal and possessive growl.

“I will go with you,” Brayden said all of a sudden as Roxy still had her fingers dug

in his skin.

“I think you have your hands full, Thorn,” Gideon chuckled not even bothering to

add the title Alpha, which probably meant that he wasn’t considering his

opponent one.

For the first time ever Bray looked at his mate as a nuisance as his wife came

closer to the king. But he couldn’t do anything about it in front of so many people.

“Then at least my Beta..” he wanted to suggest Ash go with the two of them.

“There is no need,” Ria smiled innocently, “This is an informal visit, Bray. And I

am not in any danger from King Gideon. Go deal with your important matters and

let Ash do his work. While I’ll do mine.”

With that, she turned on her heels and gestured for Gideon to follow her which he

did after giving her husband a look of disdain. Making others feel inferior to him

was a gift sent to him by the Moon Goddess.

They walked in silence for a while and Ria contemplated how to start a

conversation with him. She was telling him this and that about the pack but he

did not seem interested at all. And from time to time she caught him watching her

with a gaze that made her lose her breath and feel the heat inside.

She tried to control her emotions just the way she was taught but couldn’t do

anything about the blush that appeared on her cheeks. Just why was she

reacting to him like that?

“And here we plan to build a few new rows of living houses. Our population

increases rapidly in the past few years and we want to create more separate

houses for new families,” she went on and on, even though she knew that he

was not interested. But he kept listening to her and watching her every move

without interrupting her.

Until they came to the main gardens of the pack and walked up to a little lake

with ducks swimming in it.

She did not know what else to say and was about to ask him bluntly what the real

reason for his visit was when he turned to face her with a very serious face.

swallowed. Just what was it that he wanted to know?

“Of course,” she mumbled, feeling worried.

“What happened to your wolf?” the words cut through her mind.