The peace he had been feeling was now gone, replaced by seething anger rolling off of his now bulging muscles. This must be the one after the woman that is mine. He recognized him as the pack's Breva, the leader he had briefly met upon arrival. “ I beg forgiveness I didn’t realize…” he trailed off

“What do you want?” Ander barked in his direction then turned back to Mara to study her reaction. She had gone stiff in the presence of this man with her head turned away from them both as if she wanted nothing to do with him. Hardly the behavior of a lover.

“My sincerest apologies, I was told that Mara had gone to the woods. I simply wanted to find her and bring her back,” This earned him a death glare from Ander. What right did he have to chase his mate and take her anywhere?

“I-I’m not sure what happened but you made it clear you needed to speak with her. She should not have run from you. I assumed you were still back with your men. I-I had no idea you’d already found her,” the man finally stopped rambling long enough to take a breath.

He seemed to be expecting a response from his King but when he got none he continued. “Please I don’t know what she has done to call the attention of the Tabbe, or you King Alpha. Whatever it is I can assure you it was done in ignorance and without malice. She is very young and does not know much of the world outside our home,” that got an angry hiss out of her as she snapped her head in his direction.

But the look on his face was still one of concern. Whoever this man was to her he cared enough about her to recklessly interject in matters above his pay grade.

“And just exactly how young is she?” he’d known she couldn't have been more than a century old just by looking at her. If she was younger than that it could explain her disbelief in his identity.

Plus getting information out of her proved to be difficult. He might as well use this bastard for what he was willing to reveal before he dispatched of him.

“She’s naught but twenty-two,” Fuck. She's not even a quarter of a century. No wonder he’d not found her even though he’d searched for millennia. She hadn’t even been born yet.

“Please your majesty, take this into consideration,” the Breva made a plea to his King.

He must also be under the impression she was in some sort of trouble. Both of them had assumed this so readily he wondered just exactly how much difficulty she had caused in the past to earn such a conclusion at the first sign of displeasure from another.

The fact remained that although she wasn’t “in trouble” when he’d first arrived, she had managed to make her way there rather quickly.

“Please, if punishment must be dealt for any offense, I would ask that you allow me to bear it in her stead,” the second plea from the Breva of this pack.

Suddenly her hostility toward the Breva disappeared. She seemed to soften towards him at this offer.

Jealousy coursed through Ander outraging him further. The offer of sacrifice did not matter. As if Ander could ever harm her. He was born to protect her, care for her. Doing anything else would be against the very nature of matehood.

“ Why would you do that for her? What is she to you?” all he needed was for him to confirm his suspicions.

“She’s my daughter. I would do it gladly,” he’s her father? How could that be? He was a wolf and she wasn’t.

“How is that possible?” Ander demanded.

“Not biological, of course. My mate and I took her in as a babe and she’s been ours ever since,” With this explanation Ander allowed himself to calm down. Perhaps he had been a bit too quick to rule out all other possibilities.

Matehood had taken a stronger hold over him than he knew was possible. That didn’t mean he needed to let them know it. It might be cruel to her father to continue to let them expect a punishment, but maybe the threat of one would help put her in place.

Mara’s eyes shone with a delighted sparkle. He hadn’t abandoned me after all. She had had a clamp squeezing her heart with dejection until her father had said those words. Once she heard them, her heart grew so strong the clamp burst into pieces with the next heartbeat.

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Of course, Ander had to ruin the tender moment.

“If you are to assume her punishment surely I should explain the transgressions you will be paying for,” He may be as pretty as a greek god but right now the look he donned made her want to rearrange his face. With her fist.

Her father closed his eyes solemnly fearing what he was about to hear next. She couldn’t have felt worse. As it turns out this guy might actually be the long lost Alpha King. Her father’s behavior had cleared any doubts about that.

Oops.

Even worse, he was now about to suffer at her expense. She couldn’t let him do that. Before she could interject Ander continued on.

“ Number one..” he declared, making it known there would be more to follow. He may be Alpha but he was still an asshole. He was taking pleasure from this! His stature straight with formality and his hands clasped behind his back he acted as if she were already on trial and he was addressing the jury.

“ I was spoken to as an inferior peon, given less respect than a cat,” He was mad about the way he was spoken too? What about those possession comments? He thought being Alpha meant he owned everything and everyone? She had to make it clear that this was not the case with her. She was simply informing him of that.

“Secondly, the feeble creature before us had the audacity to strike me across my face. A crime no one has ever even thought about attempting before,” Okay she could have refrained from slapping him, but she only did because he’d pushed her to it!

“Finally, she had the nerve to accuse me of impersonating my own self! What was it you said? Ah yes, that I must be having ‘delusions of grandeur’ to consider myself King,” He turned to look to Mara. He had a smile and cockiness in his eyes that could make someone melt. He might as well have said, “told you so”.

She realized then, that for whatever reason, he didn’t seem as mad with her as one would think. Most people would be expecting an “Off with her head!” order by now. In fact aside from keeping her from running from him, he hadn’t punished her in any way. He’d certainly had plenty of opportunity to. Weirdly enough he acted as if he… wanted her. She’d felt him grow hard as he had wickedly sent vibrations down her body.

He seemed more irritated than mad. He was probably just bothered that she wasn’t going to fawn over him like she was sure he was used to.

“ I'm sure it won't be her last offense at the rate she's going. Perhaps we should set up some sort of account to settle the debts of any future misbehavior,” Although her father was freaking out, she suspected he was bluffing. Only one way to find out. Push harder.

“What his Royal Highness Majesty the Alpha King forgot to mention,” she made sure her words were dripping with sarcasm,” Was how he treated me. How was I supposed to know who he was? Talking to me as if I was a piece of property he owned! Grabbing me about and not letting me go like I’m some kind of hostage! You are the one who should be punished!”

“Mara, please stop this now!” her father begged her, looking like he was about to keel over. She was trying to provoke him further, but he seemed more irritated than mad as if her objections to him were meaningless and her protests only annoyed him.

He let out an exasperated sigh, “I grow weary of this. I will have your father put in stockade for a week's time. Will you shut up now?” Her jaw dropped. He couldn’t do that. What was he trying to do? What did he want from her?

She had heard her father say he knew Ander wanted to speak with her, but that was before they’d even met on the roof. He hadn’t even known her name then. So why would her father think he was looking for her?

Whatever the reasoning, she would have to find out later. This had absolutely gotten way out of hand. She actually might just swallow her pride and plead for him to keep her father out of this. She couldn’t bear the thought of her father being humiliated in such a way. All because of her.

As if he sensed her resignation he finally took a step back and casually leaned against a tree. He picked up a small rock and began tossing it into the air over and over while he contemplated the situation he found himself in.

She would have a life here she might not want to leave behind. He had been confident that once he found his mate she would be ecstatic at the idea of an immortal King as her keeper. One who would provide for her anything and everything she could desire. All thoughts of what her life was, would be left behind when he told her of the role she would play in the deliverance of what was now their lands.

It was turning out not to be the case.

She stood strong with her hand on her hip and the other fussing with her hair. She was nervous and although it was adorable, he would have to try and control himself as much as possible. If he couldn’t make her comfortable with him then collecting her and returning home might be harder than he had planned for. And they didn’t exactly have all the time in the world.

She couldn’t be living in this realm and not know how wolves mate, so at least she’d know how things would go from here once he’d made his claim known. But it was obvious she didn’t realize that’s what was going on here. Since he couldn’t determine her species it would be best to proceed with caution. If his body would allow it.

It was finally happening. What he long gave up searching for, his mate to complete him was standing in front of him at last. Time to change tactics.

“Of course I could be swayed towards leniency,” she did not like the sound of that.