I want to throw him off the dais.
“I cannot have heirs without a queen,” I say, gripping my armrests so hard the old oak throne might crack. “I figured a king’s advisor would know that at least.”
Rurik has served three kings. My grandfather, my father, and me. He is not cruel, but he is not kind. He believes in the security and longevity of the pack above all else.
Happiness has never factored into his calculations.
“Pups can be bred without the mating bond,” he says, like it’s so damn easy. “The Gods can turn a blind eye when the security of the kingdom is at stake.”
“Enough,” I growl, loud enough to turn heads. “You know how I feel about unnatural breeding. I willnotdiscuss this again. Approach!”
The first male in line turns white as he looks at me.
He wants a permit to open a new market in the south.
Being king is not all glory and action. It’s mostly this. Administrative work. Ruling on border disputes, diffusing feuds that threaten to turn bloody, anything ranging from a complaint over a wolf trading metal tools with humans to a request to commission a new road. I hear it all. And it’s exhausting.
Rurik lives for this and helps by providing his valuable input. He can be frustrating as hell, but I’m thankful to have him for this part of the job at least.
“What is this?” I whisper as an older mated couple approaches with their daughter. She’s about twenty-three years old, all done up in a fine dress with flowers in her curly hair. I smell something fishy.
“Let’s hear what they have to say,” Rurik says innocently.
I can tell by his stiff posture that he’s set this up. I should hang him from the castle by his toes.
“My Alpha,” the male says, bowing low along with his wife and daughter. “Allow me to present my daughter to you. Smart, cunning, and beautiful as a flower in spring. This is Vespera.”
She offers me her hand.
“Lovely female,” Rurik says with a humming voice. “Don’t you agree, my Alpha?”
I glare at him.
But I’m a gentleman, so I take the young lady’s hand.
“It’s a pleasure, Vespera,” I say with a forced smile.
There’s no spark. No tingling. No nothing.
I think they all sense that because the excitement and hope withers and dies before my very eyes. It turns awkward. Vespera’s cheeks blush with embarrassment.
And they quickly shuffle off the stage.
I grit my teeth as I turn to Rurik, who’s suddenly very interested in a spot on his robe.
“Rurik.”
“The kingdom needs heirs,” he says, the words bursting out of him like he can no longer hold them in. “Vespera is perfectly suitable as a queen. She’s from a prosperous family and ready to breed.”
“I. Don’t. Want. Her.”
“Then let me find someone you do want,” he pleads. “The security of the kingdom depends on it. There are whispers all over the Moonborne Kingdom of a Wolf King with no heirs and no wolf. They believe you are easy pickings and it won’t be long before you are challenged for your crown. Violently.”
I grit my teeth. “Let them try.”
But deep down, I know that without my wolf, I would not last a fortnight before I was overrun. My pack has always been intensely loyal to me, but even the most loyal pack will not fight for an alpha with no wolf.
“No heirs meansvulnerability,” Rurik goes on. “Vulnerability means danger. The lives of your subjects depend on it.”
