Chapter 4
Killian’s Pov
You know the thing about power?
It's not about strength you have or the armies you can command or even the goddamn bloodlines. It's about knowing exactly where to stick the dagger and doing it with a smile on your face.
I was born in blood, raised by steel and taught by war so I knew exactly who and where I'd stick my dagger in. I've been doing that for 8 years and I haven't had trouble doing it. It made me know those who were loyal to me and those who are supposed to be dead to me.
And one of them was none other than her unroyal highness — Larisa Starr.
She'd been acting weird for days. Not the usual she-wants-to-kill-me kind of weird. No. This time was different.
She was pale, gagged at the scent of meat, even though she used to tear into fried chicken like a starved wolf; snapped at any Omega who laid out her clothes in the wrong order; stared off in space like a lovesick puppy. And by god, the mood swings? Jesus Christ. It drove me crazy.
One moment she was closing at my throat and the next she was crying over a spilled cup of tea like someone's had torched her favourite dress.
I was getting sick of it.
It was pathetic and infuriating.
Yet it made me curious.
What was happening to the fiesty Larisa Starr?
I told myself to let it go for a while but when her mood swings grew to a point of no return, I decided to take action but from afar. After all, I like watching people crumble without lifting a claw. I know. It's a gift.
Larisa fainted during morning drills, right in front of the warriors, fell asleep in meetings and even threw up at the smell of cigars.
Something delicious was brewing and the healer confirmed it.
She came rushing into my study like her ass was on fire, breathless and wide-eyed.
“A - Alpha, it's the fifth time this month, please don't let your wife join the morning drills. She's not strong enough.” she said.
I raised an eyebrow.
“She's pregnant. Her fainting isn't good for the baby.”
I remember blinking at her as she stared, expecting me to weep with joy.
“Alpha? Your wife is pregnant.” She said.
Hmmm. Is she?
“Of course she is,” I drawled, lounging back in my chair. “She probably tripped and landed on someone's stray seed while wandering the palace.”
The healer's face turned red. “Alpha —”
“I haven't even touched her,” I said, narrowing my eyes. “And I don't plan to. So whose baby is crawling around in my wife's womb?”
She stuttered but I smiled.
Her silence told me everything I needed.
And because I am who I am, I didn't scream. I didn't rage. I simply poured myself a drink and toasted to the scandal, and told her to leave my office.
By nightfall, I had my men pulling every thread of that night she disappeared before the wedding.
They reported back to me and boy, I could not believe my ears. Larisa Starr was not the innocent girl she posed herself to be. She was wild.
A week before our wedding, she'd snuck out and ended up in some grimy bar on rogue territory. Drank herself stupid and spent the night with a stranger.
And not just any stranger.
But Damien fucking Ace.
Of course, it had to be him.
That mangy, rebellious piece of filth had held the title of been a pain in my ass ever since the Border Wars. I've spent years hunting him like a dog and now, his filthy blood was growing inside my house. Inside my wife!
I should've exploded with rage.
I should've hunted him down and ripped him apart.
I wanted to do it.
I so wanted to.
Instead, I laughed.
Because fate, my dear, has handed me a weapon. One wrapped in scandal and sealed with betrayal.
Larisa Starr, the mighty, cold, untouchable Lycan princess, is carrying the child of my worst enemy and that makes her the perfect bait.
I changed my “ways” and became the loving husband Larisa thought she deserved.
I became the ever forgiving Alpha who'd lay down his life for her
I hated hysical contact but I held her hand in public, kissed her forehead at dinner and even against my wish whispered sweet, sweet poison in her ears. At first I thought she'd see through my disguise and expose me but the bitch lapped it up like honey.
She thought I changed. Thought I was softening and that I finally loved her.
One time she told me she loved me and even kissed me.
Ah. It took everything in me not to burst into laughter when she looked at me with those tearful silver eyes.
I had to hold it all in.
She smiled warmly like I was saving her.
But oh no, darling.
I'm saving you. I'm burying you.
I was going to a big hassle but I told myself that I'll keep pretending until the moment I decide to light the match and let it all burn to ash.
And when Damien comes running?
When he tries to rescue the little family he doesn't know he has?
I'll gut him.
And then I'll kill her.
And I'll blame it all on war.
Three problems. One massacre.
In the end, I'll be doing the world a huge favour.
I'll be putting an end to a stupid rivalry I've let go on for years.
I'll stand at the top as the hero of the day. My name will probably be written in the history books.
For now, I'll keep parading Larisa and our “heir”
I'll make them all know she's mine while holding the dagger to her throat.
What Killian wants, Killian takes.
I'll be the Alpha who’
ll finally rid the realm of the rogue plague and the Lycan corruption in one glorious bloodbath.
Now, that’s what I call power.