Chapter 4 Chapter 4

Alpha Raja:

Few weeks ago:

After leaving Isabella to rest following her near-death experience, I made my way back to my room.

As I closed the door behind me, the air shifted, turning unnaturally cold. Dread pooled in my stomach as my eyes landed on the table.

Kade was sitting there, casually peeling a pitch-black apple with a matching dagger. I had never seen a black apple in my life before.

"What are you doing here?" I demanded, fighting to keep my voice steady while fear gripped my throat.

A dozen thoughts raced through my head. Was he here to kill me since he had failed with Isabella? My eyes drifted toward the bottle of Vexin oil on my nightstand. If I could keep him talking, I might be able to reach it.

"Just checking up on my future father-in-law. Is that a crime?" He did not bother looking up, focusing on the fruit as if nothing else mattered.

I edged closer toward my bed, forcing a scoff. "Over my dead body."

"If I were you, I would choose my words carefully," he warned, turning his head to flash a sharp grin. "Your Highness." He stretched out the title, thick with mockery.

I was almost there. Just one more small step toward the nightstand.

"Don't even think about it." he warned me making me freeze on the spot.

He stood up, letting the dagger and apple drop onto the table, and began walking toward me.

Panic locked my joints. I could not bring myself to move, and I could not blame myself either.

This was only our second meeting. The first time, he came to warn me about giving up my daughter, promising I would regret it if I refused. Now he had slaughtered my people just to prove he was serious.

"Don't waste your energy, it doesn't work on me. Or didn't your daughter tell you?" A small smile touched his lips, but his eyes were completely lifeless.

The frost in the room grew heavy, making my teeth chatter. He was altering the temperature on purpose, and if it kept dropping, my body would give out entirely.

"What do you want?" I forced the question through my shivering jaw.

"You already know why I am here. I am not repeating the details." His golden eyes cut straight into mine. "If you don't give me your daughter, many more are about to die."

"I don't care how many you kill," I insisted, shaking my head to anchor myself. "I will never give her to you."

"Hmm, I see." He turned his back, taking a few slow steps away. "Have you ever wondered how you suddenly ended up in so much debt?"

My breath caught as the truth hit me. He was the one pulling the strings behind my downfall.

"I can make it disappear," he offered, tapping his boot against the floor. "And I am offering five hundred silver coins to take my bride peacefully."

The amount he called left me speechless. The highest bride price ever paid was fifty thousand gold coins. No sane man spent five hundred silver on a woman, let alone a werewolf they viewed as beneath them. That money could buy farmlands, cattle, horses, and build a brand new castle.

He caught the hesitation on my face, a dark glint flashing in his eyes. "I am being generous here, Your Majesty."

"Will you really give me that much?" I stared at him, unable to process the number.

"I am a prince. Why would I deceive you?" He scoffed, stepping back to the table and picking up a small golden box I had not noticed before.

He walked toward me, stopping just enough to put a distance between us, and then he pushed the box across the floor with his boot. I knelt down and opened it. Bright silver coins gleamed back at me.

My fingers trembled as I lifted one to test its weight. It was heavy, cold, and genuine.

"They are real, Raja, and they are all yours. I just need my bride," he stated, his tone turning sharp.

I let out a long breath. Since he wanted my eldest daughter this badly, I had no choice.

It would clear the debt, end the slaughter, and keep us out of a war with the Serpent kingdom that we could never win.

"Fine," I conceded, closing the box. "I will inform my daughter, Sophia."

"Sophia?" He raised an eyebrow, then bent down close enough for his icy breath to brush my skin. "Oh no, Your Highness. You are confused." He leaned in, his voice dropping to a low whisper. "I want Isabella."

Horror slammed into me as it felt as if my soul had left my body as I stared at him.

"No," I gasped, backing away from him. "No, you can't have her! You can have any of my other daughters, but not her!"

He threw his head back and laughed, thoroughly amused. But just as quickly, the laughter died, his face hardening into pure anger.

"You think I would pay this much for just any girl?" He stood up and glared at me as if I was a piece of trash, his voice dark. "You won't give her to me because she is a healer, right?"

The moment he said those words, the room spun. I scrambled up from the floor, my hands trembling.

My late wife and I had kept that secret locked away. No living soul knew, so how could he possibly know?

"How... how did you..." The words broke in my throat.

"That’s not what you should be worrying about right now, Raja," he noted with a lazy yawn, strolling back to the edge of the table. "You should be worrying about whether I decide to keep that secret to myself."

He picked up the dagger again, returning to the black apple.

"I wonder how people will react when word gets out that a healer still exists, living right under the roof of a werewolf king." He spoke offhandedly to the fruit, but the slight lift of his mouth proved he was enjoying every second of my terror.

My knees buckled.as I fell to the floor and pressed my palms together in desperate plea. In the beast world, a king kneels to no one, not to other rulers, not to princes, not to anyone.

But this was for the sake of my daughter. I would bow to a heartless monster like Kade if it meant protecting her.

"Please, Kade, I am begging you," I sobbed, tears spilling down my face. "She is all I have left since they killed my wife. Please."

"Why are you crying, Raja?" He looked down at me, his features twisted in annoyance. "You are making me look like the villain here. All I asked for is my bride, and you are keeping her from me."

He stepped forward, pointing the tip of the black blade directly at my face.

"I also know she is immortal. I tested that out by killing her that day, so that makes her far more valuable." he gave me that knowing smirk.

Since Isabella was the last healer, she inherited the combined power of every healer before her, giving her the gift of immortality. I used to think it was just a myth, but seeing her wake up proved it was real.

I didn't tell her when she woke up because I didn't want to frighten her, and now this monster knows the truth.

He had killed her on purpose just to test the theory. What kind of sane person would do something like that? And now, he wants her for himself.

"Another five hundred silver coins, Raja. I will bring them the day I come to collect my bride." He stepped closer, pressing the flat of the dagger under my neck, forcing my head up. "If you say no, I won't repeat my request. I will make sure your kind goes extinct, and I am not joking about this."