Reclaimed By My Alpha (Natalia and Andrei) novel Chapter 405

Natalia’s POV

A little while later, I found myself sitting in the opulent dining room with the Winter King across from me. I wore a luxurious red dress with a plunging neckline and fur trim around the bell sleeves and hem. I wasn’t hungry. I didn’t want to be here.

But I smiled anyway. If only to buy myself more time.

“I imagine you have more questions,” he said once we were settled.

“Many.” I folded my hands in my lap. “You’ve built something… impressive here. It must have taken years. How did you do it while living in Ashmoor?”

His eyes lit up. Good. One thing that I had deduced about him was that he always seemed eager to brag. I could use this to my advantage.

“It took decades of careful planning and quiet delegating, actually,” he said. “I started with nothing. Just a vision of what the world could be. A world free from the chaos and corruption of the packs. A world of order. Perfection.”

“And your soldiers,” I said carefully. “How many do you have?”

“Three hundred and forty–seven as of this morning.” He leaned back in his chair. “Each one perfect. Pure. Unburdened by the weaknesses that plague naturally grown wolves.”

The servants brought out the meal–a cup of soup, a cut of red meat drenched in butter, crusty bread. My stomach growled at the sight.

“Three hundred isn’t enough to take on all the packs,” I pointed

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“Not yet.” He took a sip of wine. “But with your help, Natalia, we’ll triple that number within a year. Perhaps more, given your history of producing twins.”

I swallowed hard. “And the other mothers? The women who birthed these children before me?”

“I’ve had seven wives over the years. Each one carefully chosen for their bloodlines, their strength.” He gestured at me with his fork. “You’ll be the eighth. And the most powerful.”

Seven wives. Seven women forced to breed for this monster’s army. I tried not to let my horror show on my face.

“What happened to them?” I asked quietly.

“Some unfortunately died in childbirth. Others… outlived their usefulness.” I hated how fucking casually he said it. “But each one gave me dozens of children. Beautiful, strong children.”

Dozens. Each woman was forced to give birth dozens of times, only for those babies to be aged into mindless soldiers. Or worse–twisted into those hunched, broken things cleaning up blood.

“Helena was one of them,” I said, testing him. “Wasn’t she?”

His expression shifted. “Ah, my fourth wife. Brilliant woman. Ambitious. She understood the vision better than

most.”

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Chapter 405

+25 Bonus

“And Celeste?”

“She was our first daughter. I knew right away that she was more powerful than any child I’d produced before her. Helena was supposed to raise her in Bloodmoon, find her a suitable mate, then return with both of them.” His jaw tightened. “But… Well, I suppose you know the rest.

“You must have been upset that it didn’t work out.”

“Upset?” He laughed. “I was disappointed that Helena failed in her duty. But her death solved that problem. And now I have you–someone far more valuable than Helena ever was.”

We ate in silence for a moment; well, the “king” ate, but I just picked at my food. I tried taking a few bites, although it tasted ashy in my mouth. I only choked it down to keep my strength up.

“Your prisoners,” I said after a moment. “The ones you’ve captured. Where do you keep them?”

He paused with his fork halfway to his mouth. “Why do you ask?”

I leaned forward slightly, letting the candlelight catch the low neckline of the dress. His eyes followed the movement. “Andrei will come for me, you know.” I tilted my head. “What will you do when he comes? You won’t kill him right away, surely. I know you’re more creative than that.”

“Well, of course I would torture him,” he said with a shrug. “He did kill my fourth wife. I’m still mad about that.”

Well. Celeste killed her, I wanted to say, but didn’t.

Instead, I smiled and said, “Have you tortured many others? As you know, Andrei is hard to crack. But I could help you; I know him better than anyone. I’d like to see your methods first, though, so I know where I can offer pointers.”

As I spoke, I rested my elbows on the table just so, ensuring my breasts pushed together ever so slightly. This man was a glutton for sex, opulence, food, women, power. He stared openly at my cleavage, just as I expected.

“Would you like to see the cells?” he asked, licking his lips. “Would you like to see me torture someone?”

My heart lurched, but I smiled. “I would like that very much.” Damon had to be locked up in the cells, if he was still here. I hoped he was here, so long as that didn’t mean he was being mutilated or tortured. If that were the case, I hoped he was dead.

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