The Ruthless Lycan King Fell For His Slave Mate novel Chapter 48

The day after the engagement ceremony, Julian held a meeting with Alphas from packs around the kingdom to discuss the issue of the corrupted wolves.

He had kept the matter confidential until then while he tried to gauge the extent of the problem. While there had been no incident reported in any of the packs, his investigations showed that there was a huge presence of the corrupted wolves, and it would only be a matter of time before they became a menace to the kingdom.

To make sure it did not get to that, he had to alert all Alphas of the looming danger and create strategies to flush out the corrupted wolves and deal with them before they became a public menace.

“This is surprising news,” Alpha Black said after Julian was done with his briefing. “I don’t think any of us have had any sightings of tainted wolves in our territories. Your Majesty, is there a possibility you received the wrong information?”

Julian pinned the other male with a steely gaze. “Are you suggesting that I would call this meeting without fact-checking my sources?”

“Of course not,” Alpha Black said, looking at some of the other Alphas. “I just think it would be impossible for such a problem to go unnoticed by all of us. Or, has anyone had any reports of corrupted wolves in their packs?”

The Alphas exchanged looks, many of them shaking heads. Of course none of them had come across corrupted wolves, otherwise the entire kingdom would be aware of the issue. Julian was glad that it seemed that the corrupted wolves had not shown anywhere else besides the royal forest.

“What are you driving at, Alpha Black?” Julian asked. “Do you suggest that we sit like ducks and wait for the attacks to start before we can take action?”

“Oh no,” Alpha Black said. “I just think we have many other issues to deal with rather than spending our time on something that probably doesn’t exist.”

“It sounds to me like you don’t want us to do anything about it,” Julian said. “Maybe you are the one behind the corrupted wolves?”

Alpha Black frowned. “What? Your Majesty, why would you say that? I would never do something like that!”

Julian got up from his seat and looked down at the group of Alphas. “Now that I think of it, this could be an inside job. I’ve fought one of those wolves myself, in the royal forest. My patrol guards have evidence of their presence. And yet, they seem to be well hidden and well-controlled. Whoever is behind this knows what they are doing, and they are waiting for the right time to strike. And here is Alpha Black, wanting us to do nothing about it.”

Alpha Black shook his head, looking a bit panicky. “Your Majesty, you misunderstand me. I did not know you faced one yourself. In that case, you are right. We should do everything to tackle this problem once and for all.”

Julian levelled a hard look at him. “You had better not be in collusion with witches or anyone who could be behind this.” It was the first time he had made any indication that he suspected Alpha Black of colluding with enemies of the kingdom. Rather than keep playing a game of cat and mouse, he wanted the other male to know that he was on his case and he would catch him if he made even one wrong step. “Anyone who poses a threat to the security of this kingdom will pay a hundredfold.”

“Of course, Your Majesty,” Alpha Black said, his tone cooling off. He looked away from Julian, as if afraid that the king’s gaze would uncover all his secrets.

Seeing his reaction, Julian was more convinced that Alpha Black not only knew something about the corrupted wolves but also might be involved in their presence. If that was true, it would be treason of the highest order and Black would pay with his life.

Since Julian had made the issue public, he expected that Alpha Black would rush to cover his tracks. During this time, Julian would watch him even more closely.

After putting the meeting to an end, Julian met with Asher in his office for a briefing. Now that the meeting was done, his mind went back to what had happened the previous night. He had noticed that Lyra had been nowhere to be seen all day. She couldn’t have escaped, right? If she went missing, he would have heard about it already.

“Where is Lyra?” he asked Asher. “I have not seen her with the other guards today.”

Asher’s brows pulled together. “Didn’t you order her to patrol the western border for rogues today? She has been gone since this morning.”

“What?” Julian snapped. “I gave no such order. Did she say that?” he asked, suspecting that she had used that as an excuse to get away. Was she really going to run away from right under his nose? Was she not even a little afraid of him?

No, it didn’t.

Julian approached carefully, taking in the shewolf in front of him. Her white coat glittered in the sunlight filtering through the treetops, making her look even more majestic. The energy pulsing off her body was stronger than any he had ever felt before.

As he got closer, Lyra’s wolf turned towards him. Her eyes were a blazing red, positively glowing. Julian had faced many powerful werewolves before, but none had emanated such menace with a simple look. He never, ever, cowered in the face of any enemy. But as he faced the majestic shewolf in front of him, he felt his hackles rise instinctively.

“Are you afraid?” Yuri asked, his tone mocking.

“Shut up,” Julian bit out. Lyra’s wolf had said that she was out of control. He would be foolish to not be cautious. Any other werewolf in her state of mind would be dangerous. Her? He did not want to think of what she could do if she went rampant among others.

But how was he going to bring her down? Yuri said that even her wolf could not reach her. He had not imagined such a situation so he had not brought anything he could use to control her.

Lyra growled at him, exposing her sharp fangs. Then, her shoulders bunched up as she prepared to pounce on him. Julian realised his only option in that moment was to keep her distracted while he asked Asher to bring a tranquilliser. If he got her to chase him around the forest, he could buy time.

Just as he was getting ready to take off, though, the shewolf slouched forward, her big body dropping to the ground. A moment later, Lyra lay in her place in her human form, hunched into herself.

Julian shifted instantly and rushed to her, falling to his knees and lifting her in his arms. She looked at him with a confused expression, her eyes glazed. She was not entirely herself. His plan was to knock her out–lest she shift again-and bring her back to the palace and have Beryl check her.

“If you don’t want her to go on a killing spree,” a sudden voice said to him, “mark her right away and complete your bond. Otherwise, she’ll go insane and fall into uncontrollable bloodlust.”