Malcolm McLean

I woke up before Isabella. She was still fast asleep, wrapped in the silk bed sheets. Her naked backside half covered.

After several weeks and nights of being careful around Isabella and Alexine. I was glad that last night her and I had a little time to ourselves. I took full advantage of it and worked her until early morning. I should be exhausted but I was quite the opposite.

I took a quick shower and quickly put on a black t-shirt, boxers, and jeans before a knock came from my bedroom door. I walked over to open it before Isabella was woken up from it. I was not surprised to see that it was Damon who stood on the other side.

He looked stressed and I knew immediately from the look on my friend's face that the King has indeed arrived. The obstinate voices coming from outside in the courtyard and filling the great hall was another indication the King has made his arrival.

"He's here and he is not happy," Damon stated. "He wants to speak to you immediately."

A large threatening aura entered my home. I looked down from the second-floor landing and saw the King entering my home without permission. But that is just how he was. He didn't need permission to enter. He commands and he expects it to be followed through. It wasn't going to go over well. The King is a reasonable male lycan but he is also very temperamental.

I headed down the stairs. The King looked up immediately when he heard me. No smile graced his face. He looked furious to have to travel this far.

"My King." I bowed my allegiance to him before standing up.

He nodded and walked over to a chair without being asked to. He sat down at the end of the dining table. His forest green eyes looking at me but revealing no emotions.

"There are rumors spreading around, Malcolm. I hear things that I don't like." He started and waved me to sit down next to him.

One of my servant came running out with a pitcher of Scotland's finest liquor. He poured the King a hearty cup before giving me one. It was too early in the morning but in this case, I think we all needed it. The King picked the glass cup and took a long swig of it before setting it down.

"I can explain," I said after he finished his liquor.

"Damn right you will. You killed three male lycans within a year. There has be a reason as to why you found the need to shed what very little blood we have left." The King growled, his eyes flaring yellow with his lycan.

I lowered my gaze to the table in respect, "It is a long story. If you would allow me to explain from the beginning you will understand the reasoning behind all this."

The King's jaw ticked slightly before he nodded. I told him about Gregory—my first kill. It led me to Pete which was my second. Lastly, I told him about Isabella.

"She's my marked mate. They challenged me for her. It was a fair fight." I explained and stressed.

"There are other methods in punishing the wrong, Malcolm. What you have done was killed two very good male lycans." The King countered. "I don't approve of what you have done but I can understand why you did it."

I shook my head, "You don't know what they have done. Their pack members turned they're back the minute their lycan leader is dead. There was no fight or rage. I even have one of Pete's pack members living with me. She lived directly under him. He tortured and abused the female lycan to the point of where she is scared to even be around males."

"Gregory did the same to Isabella. I wouldn't have stand in the way. It was either kill or have the females be killed. We are a better race than that. We should not allow the male population to dominate our females in such a way. I wasn't raised that way and I sure as hell won't stand aside and watch." I continued feeling my own rage simmering inside of me.

The King lifted his hand for me to stop, "Where is the two female you mentioned? I need to speak with them."

His command couldn't be ignored. Ten minutes later, Isabella and Alexine came down the stairs with Damon following behind them. Isabella's eyes met mine and she gave me an assuring smile before walking towards us.

I heard a sharp inhale from behind me and turned around to see the King looking at Isabella. His eyes looking over her features not in a lustful manner but in surprise.

"Lilith." The King breathed before standing up.

Isabella's steps faltered and she looked as confused as me. Then the King blinked and shook his head before opening his eyes and taking a second look at Isabella.

"I apologize, you look familiar but I know you are not her. Are you by chance related to someone by that name?" He stood up from his chair but didn't move from his location.

"She's my mother," Isabella replied.

"Mother?" The King looked surprised. "Did she have a mate? Was she marked?"

I found it odd that the King was asking about Isabella's mother. What did the King have with Lilith's mother? Isabella's frown deepened and she tilted her head to the side to look at the King oddly.

"How do you know my mother?" She asked.

The King seemed to have snapped out of his stupor because he straightened his body and his face was again masked.

"We are friends." He simply said.

Isabella didn't seem to believe it. The King sat back down. Isabella and Alexine moved to sit down next to me. Alexine sitting at the other end of Isabella and Damon taking the seat next to Alexine.

Alexine slowly cleared her throat which earned her the attention from the King. He took his time observing the female in front of him. Anyone can see clearly that the female was very malnourished. Although she had gained some weight back, it will take at least a year for her to look normal again. The King's gaze darkened upon observation.

"What did Pete do to you, child?" The King asked gruffly.

Alexine refuses to look at the King. Surprisingly she flinched and leaned towards Damon without knowing. Damon's lip thinned unhappily. He patted Alexine's shoulder to reassure her everything will be alright.

"He used me in every way possible. Imagine the worse and that was what he did. He chained me most of the time with a thick metal chain. There were days I will go without food and when I did something good he will throw a piece of bread at me." Damon squeezed Alexine's shoulder and she took in one deep breath. For the first time, her eyes lifted and met the King.

"I am glad he is dead. He was a horrible male. He hurt many people and destroyed families discreetly. Anyone who spoke of it was severely punished. His pack members lived in fear of him." Alexine announced.

The King sighed deeply before rubbing his forehead. "But that doesn't stop me from questioning, who killed Alastair?"

Isabella stiffened next to me and I reached over to squeeze her thigh. I heard the slow deep inhale she took before she placed her hand above mine. I ordered a guard to bring in Prisilla. She needed to be here so that the King can see for himself what kind of female she was.

"I believe it is the female that is living under me. Her name is Prisilla. She is not yet mated but after Isabella left me, I used her to my benefit. She must've thought that her place next to me meant a lot more- "

A door creaked open and everyone in the great hall glanced toward it. The medical examiner walked in. For humans, they perform an autopsy to see the cause of death. Lycans do the same thing. Before burial, the body is examined to see the cause of death.

The wintery white hair male walked up to us all and bowed down to the King, "I am sorry to interrupt but I feel that this information is vital."

"What is it?" The King asked.

"When performing the autopsy on Alastair, we noticed that his body was in perfect condition but upon examining the blood in his body—it had hardened rock solid. I have never seen anything like this. It must be some form of witchcraft." The medical examiner announced.

"Witchcraft?" My eyebrows furrowed in confusion.

The medical examiner nodded, "Only dark magic can perform this kind of death."

"But no one here knows-"

"Witchcraft is transferrable. All they have to do is place a spell or a curse onto an object and transfer it here." The medical examiner stated.

I nodded and waved him away which left us all to ponder who would hate Alastair enough to have him killed that way? Uncle Alastair isn't the most pleasant lycan to be with. Even with me, I found it hard to like him.

Isabella leaned forward and played with the bracelet on her wrist, her eyes were distant as if she was someplace else.

"Where did you get that?" The King's voice pierced the air. His eyes narrowing in on the bracelet. The grip on the glass cup tightened.

Isabella looked at the King before looking down at her bracelet. She lifted it into the air slightly for the King to get a better view.

"It was my mother's. She told me it very important and that I should keep it with me always. She talked in riddles at the time but she said something about this bracelet is my escape from the hell that we were in." Isabella answered. "That the person who sees it and recognizes it will know what it means. I couldn't wear it when I was with Pete but I carried it with me always. I had only just recently put it on."

The King's eyes flickered back up to look at Isabella. He took his time scrutinizing Isabella that even my lycan was starting to get slightly irritated. I moved to block Isabella from his view. The King took in a slow, unsteady breath before looking at me.

"I know what it means." He said.

Isabella pushed me away so that she can look at the King. She leaned forward clearly interested in what the King had to say.

"What does it mean?" She asked.

Noise coming down from a corridor snapped everyone out from the conversation and towards the corridor. Prisilla's screeching voice screaming bloody murder to everyone can be heard throughout the home.

When the King saw Prisilla even he was taken aback at how insane she looked. Her long black hair sticking out in all kinds of places. Her eyes flying all over and not staying in one place too long. She twisted and turned in the arms of my two guards.

"This is the female that had been sleeping with your uncle." The King asked.

Prisilla noticed us then. Her eyes flying from one person to the next until it fell on Isabella. She screeched at the top of her lungs.

"I'll kill you! I'll kill you! You took what was mine! You took Malcolm! He is mine! I'll kill you and he will be mine!" She screamed, her face turning red with rage.

Surprisingly and oddly, the King moved to stand in front of Isabella, almost in a protective stance which irritated me even more because it was my job, not his.

"Did you kill Alastair?" The King asked.

Prisilla lips curled up wickedly, "The old bastard deserves to die. He was a coward. Wouldn't do what I told him to do. He wanted to challenge Malcolm. So, I killed him. Yes, I slipped the ring onto his hand. The poor male was weeping like a child."

"You have committed a crime. A crime that will be punished by death." The King told her immediately.

Prisilla screamed and tried to escape my guards' grasps. She wanted to attack the King. The female was clearly becoming delusional. Her needs and desires were blinding her.

"I won't die! I will never die! Not until she is dead!" She screamed.

The King ordered my guards to take her outside. Prisilla's crimes will be announced and she will be killed immediately. I can feel a sense of relief wash over me. All this will come to an end and I can then spend more time with Isabella.

The King turned around to look at Isabella one more time.

"The bracelet on your wrist is mine. I gave it to your mother for when she conceives my child she will wear it." He announced suddenly.

"What?" Damon and I said at once.

"She's my daughter and I am taking her home." The King stated simply.

Isabella glanced at the King and then back at me. Without asking me for permission or what I thought, he stalked towards Isabella—my marked mate.

Growling, I started towards Isabella.

"You aren't taking her." I snarled.

"She's my daughter and heir to the throne. You and I both know how important it is that I have one. She is my daughter. She's going home with me." He took hold of Isabella's right arm.

"She is my marked mate!" I snarled and took hold of her left arm, yanking her closer to me.

"Stop!" Isabella put her hands up. Both the King and I looked down at her. She looked at the King. "I'm not going."

"You don't have a choice, child. You are my direct bloodline. My only bloodline." He stressed how important it was that she knew her role.

"I understand the importance of your place and what it means to be your bloodline but I can't go. I don't even know if you are my father. Pete told me I was his daughter." She shook her head and tried to remove her arm from her father's grip.

"The bastard must have told you a lie. Your mother must have hidden the truth from you so that you and I don't know. She ran away from me one night when she caught me in a bad situation. She lost her trust in me but if I had known she was carrying you I wouldn't have done it." He insisted. "I needed an heir and I thought she couldn't conceive."

"Did you love her?" Isabella asked.

The King sighed, "I held an affection for your mother that no one can compare not even the Queen. That was why I gave her the bracelet. I hoped and prayed that she will conceive."

"So, if you knew you wouldn't have let her go?"

"Of course not!" The King looked angry.

"Then you can't force me to go." My back stiffened. She didn't say it but I knew the meaning behind it. She was carrying my child, my baby. My grip on her arm tightened and I spun her around to look at me.

"Are you sure?" I asked.

She nodded, "I found out just recently. I wanted to wait till all this is over but it seemed that it can't wait any longer."

I pulled her into my arms and hugged her tightly. Happiness floods me like a waterfall. She was carrying my baby and I was going to become a father. I knew how blessed I am and I will be a fool to let her go.

The King sighed and rubbed his forehead, "This leaves us with only one option. Either way, you will have to come with me. Your place and your studies need to begin immediately."

My jaw ticked in irritation. He was still bent on taking Isabella. The King's eyes met mine.

"Do you love her enough to leave your pack behind for her?" He asked me.