Magnus

This is genuinely weird for me. It's been years since I last slept in the Alpha residence. When I stopped doing that and decided that the couch in my office will do just fine, I was alone in here, in that deafening silence I couldn't bear.

And now I am back. And there isn't silence. There is a female fighting with her clothes two rooms down. I am picturing Antiope taking all her frustration on her few belongings, on the wardrobe door, on the shelves and drawers and I smile. She looks fiercely cute when she gets mad. Which is all the aspect of emotions I have experienced with her.

I am sitting on my bed, a bed that seems so foreign to me, and I am listening tentatively. I hear her open the door to the indoor bathroom and I shift uneasily. When the faucets turn and the water runs, I know she will be naked in there.

"Can't we join? We need a bath, too."

It has been a drag to keep Henrar in check. From the moment Antiope and her wolf Maximo submitted to us he is bugging me to complete the Mating. Like a chant in the back of my mind that reeks of sexual frustration and has me going around trying to hide my erection.

But I won't go there. I can't get close to her. It's better that she fears me like she did a while ago in her room.

I think of her reaction. Of course she would think that I would rape her. I dragged her here against her will, I am forcing her to be the Luna. Why wouldn't The Butcher also be a rapist?

I decide that I can't be here any more and so I decide to get some work done at my office. I wish to be alone and the moment I sit on the leather chair that fits me so snuggly, I go back to my old workaholic self. I start with the pile that has gathered while I was away. But the words swim before my eyes and I can't concentrate.

That's also a first. Work is all I am. All I do is take care of my pack. This desk is where I spend most of my days. What has changed?

"Seriously?" Henrar offers.

It can't be her. I just met her and despite the qualities that make a perfect Luna, I don't really know her. And she doesn't know me.

What I do know about her I approve. Antiope Everstone is the perfect Luna. With her by my side the pack will be safe and will get stronger. She may not see that way now, but she will in time. If she is as driven as I read on her file from the Academy, so determined to lead, she will understand. From what I read, all she did during those years was train, study. An overachiever, an ambitious girl, a workaholic like me. She can be all she dreamt of and rub it in her father's face. I can give her the power she desires and more and perhaps she wouldn't mind living with a monster.

I am still in deep thought when the door opens and Egil enters.

"Knock first," I demand in our mother tongue.

"I did. Three times. I guess you were lost. What are you doing here, Alpha?"

"What does it look like I am doing?" I point at the mountain of papers.

"It looks like you are working when you just got back with your mate. You should be locked with her in there for at least a week."

I stifle a laughter. Locked in with Antiope would get me killed most likely. Even so, the images that suggestion brings are anything but violent. Well, there is some violence included but it's the kind to make you scream in pleasure.

"We can make them scream," Henrar declares.

"Could you please not think about it in front of me. You reeek of sex and it's weird," Egil says. "Or disgusting. Yep. I am going with disgusting."

I look up to my Beta and try to pretend that I am not again hard thinking of her. This is getting tedious.

"Magnus?"

He is not only my Beta but also my only friend, the person I trust the most in my life. I have to tell him the truth. He may not know I was cursed not to have a mate but he deserves to know what is going on.

"It's not what you think," I say. "Antiope is my Luna but not my mate."

"What?"

"I needed a Luna to get everyone off my back. I found her."

"What did you do?" Egil knows me too well.

"That girl trespassing. It's her sister."

Egil looks at me and his mind works overtime.

"That's why you... Don't tell me you threatened her."

I growl in annoyance.Egil shakes his head and pinched the bridge of his nose.

"What the fuck, Magnus? Couldn't you be a normal person and court the girl? You are not that hard on the eyes and you got money to spend."

I frown.

"You know how to flirt, right? It doesn't include throwing people around or blackmailing them into a relationship," Egil says. "By the Goddess, don't tell me you-"

"I haven't touched her. And I won't touch her."

I am annoyed by how easily my own Beta would think I would force myself on a woman. Is that who I am? How others see me?

"You can't force someone to be your mate. She won't stay."

"As long as she thinks her sister is in danger, she will. After a while she will come to."

"That is sick," Egil places both hands on the desk.

"You will do as I order," I warn him. "I am still your Alpha. You will obey. Now, start the preparations for the Luna Champion. After that, I will present her to the Council and the Royal Court."

Egil throws me one more look that begs me to reconsider. There's nothing to reconsider. I got what I needed and soon Antiope will see that I gave her what she needed.

"What about love?" Egil tries one more time.

Love? That's a concept I haven't thought about for a while. Love is stupid. A leader cannot love anyone but his pack. I should know. Lucky for me, my Luna doesn't seem to be a romantic fool.

"I don't need love."

"What about her?"

"She doesn't either."

"OK," Egil is not giving up. "What about sex then? You said you are not going to touch her but she have needs. And she is a beautiful-"

I get up and grab him by the throat. The rage I feel is burning me. The thought alone that another male will touch her makes my blood boil and has Henrar growling in my head.

"Are you offering, Beta? Will you dare touch what is mine?"

"No."

I throw him at the floor and watch as he gets up. He is not angry or aggressive. And he is not scared. He seems amused. Without a word, he walks out the room whistling.