Chapter 2 Her Inner Voice Is Very Special

Kylan's POV

“Choose me.”

“As long as I become the old Luna Queen, Father can get the mine west of the royal city.”

“He’s even more terrifying than the rumors say... but if I can conceive an heir, it will all be worth it.”

The voices drilled in from all directions, dense and fine, like countless needles churning through my brain.

The bonfire crackled. The elders of Gray Valley were still going on about royal power and the continuation of the bloodline, while the “candidates” standing before me wore just the right amount of shyness. Their eyes were clear, but in their hearts they were calculating what benefits their families would reap ten years from now.

I am the most exalted Alpha King of this pack, and also a bloodline cursed by the Moon Goddess.

From the day I inherited the throne, I have been able to sense everyone’s fear, lies, and desire, to hear what they truly think.

In the council hall, some profess submission on the surface while calculating when I will die; on the battlefield, some shout loyalty while planning to flee in the chaos as they charge; my stepmother appears to support me in becoming Alpha King, yet behind my back she never stops trying to seize power for herself...

I had long since grown used to the noise in my head, used to seeing through everyone’s heart before they spoke.

Lies, fear, desire. As long as they stepped into the range of my senses, the thoughts they least wanted exposed to the light would come flooding in. Day after day. Night after night. I have not truly slept for a very long time.

“Alpha King,” Elder Marlow was still saying, “we all hope Your Majesty will choose a marked mate soon and secure the royal city—”

“This old man is so annoying. What business is it of his whether anyone takes a marked mate or not? He should worry about his own beard freezing solid first.”

I lifted my eyes.

That voice was light and brisk, like a pebble suddenly striking a frozen lake.

There was no scheme in it, no calculation. She was only seriously wondering whether she should hand each elder a broom and send them off to sweep snow.

Absurd.

I should have dismissed it with contempt.

But amid the nauseating clamor filling my ears, that bit of absurdity made me feel, for the first time, patient enough to keep listening.

She was a young girl who did not look wealthy.

A warrior had just broken his mate agreement with her, yet she had not shed a tear. She could even stay optimistic enough to mock the elders in her head.

Interesting.

“Face, ninety-eight. Figure, ninety-nine. Danger level, minus one hundred.”

I fell silent for a moment.

She was actually scoring me.

“Enough.” I cut Marlow off and walked toward her.

When I asked her name, her back and shoulders straightened. She said she was an orphan. She looked calm and composed, but I heard her praying frantically inside.

“Please don’t kill me. If you have to, at least leave the body whole. My face is pretty, after all. I can’t die looking too ugly.”

I nearly laughed.

So timid, yet every other word in her head was about killing. Interesting. Still, that face really was not bad. What a pity it would be for someone so young to die. I thought I should keep her.

“The castle needs a maid, Avira. Report to the castle tomorrow,” I said.

“With a castle that big, it shouldn’t be lacking maids of all things.”

Her heart clearly resisted, but she lowered her head at once and said, “I am willing to serve the Alpha King.”

Words and heart at odds. That performance played out before me every day.

But this time, I did not seem to dislike the girl in front of me. I only found her a little amusing.

Marlow was dissatisfied, as expected. “Alpha King, Avira is only an Omega. There are many suitable young girls here tonight. Even for a maid, you should at least choose a beta or—”

“Choose my younger sister.”

“If you choose me, my father will immediately offer his private soldiers and strengthen the pack.”

“Has the Alpha King taken a liking to that orphan? Why her?”

More voices crashed down at once. My temple throbbed sharply.

“I said, enough. Do I not even have the right to choose a maid?”

This time, no one dared speak again.

I turned and left. The crowd parted on its own. Behind me came a scatter of footsteps as the steward took Avira to pack her things. She walked slowly, but her thoughts did not stop for even a moment.

“Being a maid isn’t so bad. I heard the castle pays pretty well by the day, and food and lodging are included, so I can save money.”

“The Alpha King has a bad temper. Minus thirty points. But if the pay is high enough, the points can go back up.”

“Whatever. Lysander looked so awful just now when he saw I was being taken back to the castle. My happiness gets ninety-seven extra points for that alone!”

I swung back onto my black wolf and, for the first time, found hearing other people’s thoughts not quite so unbearable.

The party passed through snow-covered mountain paths. A messenger sent by the elders caught up and respectfully asked through the carriage window, “Alpha King, where do you intend to place Avira after bringing her back?”

“If only they could stuff me into the farthest laundry room. I could earn gold coins and stay far away from that madman.”

Her voice came from inside the carriage.

The wind lifted one corner of the curtain. I saw only her clutching her little bundle, curled in the dim carriage.

“The outer hall of the main castle,” I said.

The messenger froze. “That is very close to your bedchamber.”

“So? Is that a problem?”

His mouth closed. His thoughts vanished at once, leaving only fear.

I could not be bothered to look at him again, so I turned my gaze away.

Inside the carriage, Avira was clearly frightened too.

“Isn’t that sending me to my death? Actually, it’s not like I absolutely have to have gold coins. I think my life should come first and gold second.”

She feared me. It was real. She wanted money. That was real too. There was no greed hidden behind flattery, no calculations circling the throne.

Amid the noise filling the city, her thoughts were unusual.

I should have thought her greedy and lustful.

But that small, practical, reckless voice mixed among everyone else’s scheming somehow made everything less revolting.

At last, the castle’s spires appeared before us.

I swung down and waited for Avira to get out of the carriage with her little bundle in her arms.

She looked at the high walls. Her face was pale, perhaps from the jolting ride, yet when she saw me, she forced out a proper smile.

“Alpha King, where will I be staying?”

A question she already knew the answer to.

“Hurry up and change your mind. Better yet, find me annoying and put me somewhere ten miles away from you.”

I looked at her and answered in an even tone.

“The maids’ quarters outside the main castle.”

Her smile froze on her face.

Pellets of snow struck the castle gate. The wind roared in my ears, drowning out her thoughts.

I watched her expression. A rare streak of malice surfaced in me, and I added one more sentence.

“Starting tomorrow, you will answer to me directly and serve as my personal maid. You need not concern yourself with anything else.”