In His Territory
When Bella first heard about the Lycaon Palace, she had expected it to be massive, elegant, and beautiful like one is meant to be. But she still was shocked by the beauty standing tall in front of her. It looked like it was constructed by the best architect and worth millions of dollars. But what did she know about how expensive it was. The building was impressive, though, decorated with statues of Lycanthropes in the front.
In total, seven hunters were visiting the Palace. Bella, her father, his deputy, her brother, and three other high ranking werewolf hunters. They were immediately welcomed by servants leading them to the entrance of the enormous building.
“Weapons aren’t allowed in the Palace, please.” A guard announced to the hunters with a
silver tray in hand. “You’re to drop any on you here, and you will be able to collect them when leaving.” He advised with an impassive expression on his face, just like every other guard they’re surrounded by.
The announcement caused the hunters to stop in their tracks and exchange looks. They
all had weapons on them, that was for sure. No hunter leaves his home without one as you
don’t know when you might need them in emergency cases. And there was no way they were
entering into their enemy’s territory unguarded.
“That would be impossible for us.” Brian Nightshade stated as the head hunter with determination. He was here to see their King. But he would do that armed with a gun in his hip. And he was determined to achieve his goal today with nothing stopping him.
The servants also shared a look as they weren’t supposed to let armed visitors into the
Palace. But at the same time, their King had ordered them to receive the hunters in. Were they
supposed to alert the King about the hunters not adhering to the usual protocol for entering the Palace? They were a bit confused about the issue.
“Ah, what is this?” They felt him before he even stepped out. Adorned his red royal robe with a crown fixed on his dark hair, The King of beasts’ powerful aura couldn’t be ignored, not even by the hunters who were humans. The servants all bowed their heads at the presence of the most powerful beast, and not one dared to make eye contact. His mate stood beside him in her own robe, her head held high with a small, confident smile on her face.
Bella had heard stories about the Royal Lycans, but she had never crossed paths with any of them. And the man standing in front of her really carried himself like a King. His dark hair was a bit longer and for a man believed to be centuries old, and he looked like he was only a bit older than Ethan. His mate beside him stood regal with her golden locks packed up in a bun. were ancient.
“I am King Aldrich, and with me here is my mate, Queen Alissa.” His Majesty introduced with his mate flashing her pearly white teeth at the stunned hunters. They quickly regained their composure and stood rigid once more.
Clearing his throat, Brian Nightshade moved forward. “We’re…pleased to finally meet you. I am Brian Nightshade, the head hunter in Canada, and this here is my son, Ethan Nightshade, and my daughter, Belladonna Nightshade.” He introduced each one of them, who only nodded back at the royal couple.
“I have to say, we’re were both surprised and overly curious to discover you wanted a meeting with our council and us.” Queen Alissa commented while her mate nodded along.
“Indeed. We were. We hope our kind isn’t giving you too much trouble for you to handle.” King Aldrich joked with his lips moving in a smirk, but no one laughed.
“We can handle your kind perfectly. But we do need to discuss something on that matter.” Brian responded without blinking away from King Aldrich. He was human, so he barely felt the
power he oozed.
King Aldrich nodded his head in understanding before moving his piercing gaze to the
servants. “And why hasn’t the hunters be invited in?”
The previous guard who had asked for their weapons bowed lower to reply. “Your
Highness. They refused to adhere to the usual protocol of no weapons allowed in the Palace
building.” He added another low bow at the end, not wishing to be on the receiving end of the
King’s wrath.
King Aldrich let out a light laugh at the guard’s words. “And why is that a reason to deny them access. Are you scared they would attack you with them? Let’s not be silly. Let them in.” He stated before spinning on his heels and walking away. His mate followed after, leaving the
servants to lead the hunters.
The werewolf hunters weren’t too happy about the King’s statement, though. He had indirectly implied that the hunters couldn’t inflict any sort of injury on them even with their weapons. Lycanthropes weren’t affected much by wolf’s bane and were much stronger than the average werewolves the hunters were used to fighting. Nonetheless, they couldn’t do
anything but ignore his statement and walk after him.
The walk to the conference Hall was long as Bella had guessed, seeing how big the building was. She had thought the outside to be beautiful, but the inside was even better, and above them. It was in this process when she felt a burning stare on the side of her face that was enough to make goosebumps rise on her skin. She searched around to find the source or figure out if it was just her mind playing tricks on her since the Palace had many servants discreetly staring curiously at them. But she found no one and continued on her way with her fellow hunters to the conference Hall.
On the next floor from where Bella was walking with her fellow hunters led by The King and Queen, Logan stood behind the railings with his eyes fixed intently on only her. He was a bit surprised to see her here and hadn’t prepared himself for her visit. He knew the hunters had requested to have a meeting with his father and the royal council, but he only thought a few old geezers would be coming and not his Princess.
Just like when she’s on a hunt, she smelled of nothing but dirt and earth, and he hadn’t quickly known she was here. But out of sheer luck, he had caught a glimpse of her dark brown locks among the crowd. And what the hell was she wearing?! She only had on what seemed to be a leather tube top covering her chest and dark leather pants also. She was showing way too much skin for Logan’s comfort, especially since there were too many males around to witness. And he was supposed to be in that meeting, in the same room with her. He doubted he would be able to control himself with her choice of dressing and the fact that she was now in
his territory.
“This is an interesting sight.” A voice taunted behind Logan, and he didn’t have to turn to know who it was. He tried to ignore his brother, but the little rascal always took pleasure in his torment. “I have to say, I admire your self-control. How long has it been? Four…five months?”
Logan clenched his jaw with his teeth grinding against one another as they both watch his
mate disappear into the conference hall. Reagan was right, though. He had been starving
himself of his mate for far too long, and his beast’s hunger grew every day. Scratch that. Every minute. Sometimes, he was even scared to shift as he feared his beast would run towards Bella and claim her without a second thought.
Turning towards Reagan, Logan noticed he was still in his sweatpants and even had no top on. Arching an eyebrow at him, he asked, “Aren’t you coming for the meeting?”
Reagan let out a sigh, leaning on the guard railings, “As much as I’m curious as to know what those pesky hunters want, I would rather spend the entire day in bed.” He stood back up to face his brother, who was dressed for the meeting. Reagan could escape meetings like this
but not Logan as he was the Crown Prince and next in line to take the throne.
earlier were gawking your mate, I doubt you’ll meet her without a mark on her neck.”
Logan wished he could punch his smirking brother right in the nose, but that would only
waste his precious time, which he didn’t have. He spun on his heels without a word and hurried
down to the hall. Reagan stared after his brother’s retreating form with an amused smile
before shaking his head and retreating back into his room.
The door to the conference hall barged open, and everyone’s attention directed to that side. Logan bursts in right after, interrupting the ongoing discussion as he stood paused at the door. His eyes searched the room for only one person, and immediately they landed on her,
they remained frozen.
He may see her almost every night, but he still was struck by her beauty. He had seen and
been with different ladies, but none evoked the feelings that she did in him. His loins burned for
her, waiting for her to satisfy the aching feeling she arose in him. Her green eyes were enough to seduce him and make him her captive. And just like that, it felt like the whole world had come to a standstill for them as he couldn’t keep his eyes off her.
Bella wasn’t left unaffected. Her eyes couldn’t stray away from the magnificent creature that just walked in, and she was scared if she blinked, he would fade away. His short messy black locks fell over his forehead and almost covered his eyes, giving him a daunting look, and his azure colored eyes were enough to pierce through her soul. Face chiseled to perfection with his sharp jawline and smooth skin, she thought him to be too good to be true.
Just like the King, he had on a royal red robe that a servant helped take off immediately be walked in. The suit he wore stretched over his broad shoulders, and Bella wished he exposed more skin so she could find out more. What was she thinking? She had a boyfriend…kinda. But what was this strange feeling she had for their young man that just walked in? She was frozen to her spot but felt hot all over. And she had this strange urge to walk over to him and…
“Bella?” Ethan’s voice beside her pulled her out of her dangerous thoughts, and only then did she realized everyone had stood up except for the King and Queen. The council members introduced to them when they had walked in were on their feet, and the hunters had followed suit except her.
She immediately stood to her feet, feeling shy all of a sudden when almost everyone’s
eyes fell on her.
“I apologize for my late intrusion and without waiting to be announced.” That voice. Bella thought. Sounds so familiar.
But he ignored him. Bella’s eyes trailed after him, and she soon realized that he was the King’s son. The resemblance was uncanny and the fact that he also sat beside him. Everyone took back their seat immediately after he did.
“Since my son is here now, I guess we can start with the discussions. Head Hunter Brian, you may proceed.” King Aldrich urged. And Bella immediately sat up in her seat, but as she looked up, her eyes only met with a pair of azure not willing to look away.