“You sent for me, sire?”
“Yes, Renard.” Damian gestured to the chair in front of him. “Sit.”
“Is anything the matter, sire?”
“Yes, of course. There is a matter. I found out something very surprising today…”
“Surprising? As how?”
“Katrina… is pregnant, Renard.”
Renard’s heart leaped with feelings of joy and fear at the same time. He already knew why he was called here. He already knew the questions alpha Damian was about to ask.
“My former mistress… Katrina… is pregnant, and I have no idea who it might have been. I know it’s not me, because my mate and I have been married for almost a year and I have not since touched Katrina after that time. So, it’s definitely not me.”
“Who… who do you think it is, sire?”
Damian shrugged. “I don’t know… you tell me. I placed her in your care, Renard. You’ve been watching her like you said. You’ve clearly spent more time with her than I did the past few months so you must have an idea of who this expectant father is.”
Renard bent his head, not daring to raise his eyes to meet with Damian’s raised brows. Not wanting for the alpha to see the answer boldly written on his face.
“Renard?”
“Y-yes, sire?”
“Who is the father of Katrina’s baby?”
.
.
.
Damian got impatient after the prolonged silence.
“I will not ask you this again, Renard. Who is the father of that child Katrina is carrying?”
Renard gulped, feeling as if he swallowed his whole throat, as he let out the answer slowly.
“I-it’s me, sire. I think… I should be the one responsible for her pregnancy.”
Damian slapped his head on his arms. Not knowing whether to tell himself to feel frustration or anger towards his beta’s actions. With the way Renard was fidgeting, he’d already seen the truth, even before he let out the answer.
What he didn’t understand was how it all came to be. Damian has always known Katrina to be proud and have high taste. He’d never thought that Katrina would settle for someone with lower ranking than an alpha. If there was anything that Damian was finding hard to understand, it’s what was going on now.
“Renard?”
“Yes sire?”
“Are you stupid…? I asked you to do one simple thing for me… I asked you to take care of a woman who was emotionally vulnerable… I placed her under your care because I wanted you to protect her from those that might want to take advantage of her present stage… instead you turn out to be the first one to impregnate her.”
“Sire… I never meant for it to…”
“What do you mean you never meant for it to happen? Where you sleeping when it happened or did she rape you?”
He shook his head, “no sire.”
“Then how did it happen?”
“It was something that… we both wanted to happen… no one forced anyone sire.”
“Oh, so you took advantage of her and seduced her?”
“No sire… I would never do that… my feelings for Katrina are genuine and we both feel the same way for each other. I did as you asked…. I protected her, I cared for her, but then there are some things that happen in life you can’t control… I fell in love with her.”
“I don’t understand any of this, Renard. You fell in love with her, does that mean you had to sleep with her?”
“No sire.”
“Couldn’t you have at least given her more time to figure out what her heart truly feels? How are you sure she even feels the same way about you?”
“I’m sorry sire…. I might not know of Katrina’s true feelings for me. But if there is one thing I can guarantee you with my life… it’s the fact that I love her. I love her and I would never do anything to hurt her… much less take advantage of her.”
“That’s not enough, Renard… telling me that you love her is not enough to prove that you have her best interests at heart.”
“Then what do I have to do sire? Tell me what I have to do to prove to you that my love for Katrina is genuine and not a lie.”
“Katrina is very special to me, and I will not have you dishonor her in such a manner. You will have to take responsibility for your actions by wedding Katrina immediately.”
**********
It’s been a struggle trying to sneak out of the night shadow packhouse without her motives getting discovered. As Walden seems to keep a closer eye and her now, and with the fact that she now has less number of men to work with, Samara is almost near discouragement, but her anger and hatred for the Lotus princess keeps fueling her drive.
Thankfully today, Walden was busy from court and field activities, so Samara didn’t see much of him today. She figured this would be the perfect night for her steal away, as Walden would have been dead tired to worry about her by the time she’d have left.
Her plan worked; as she left the packhouse alone that night undetected, and headed to King Rakur’s castle.
“Greetings Samara. I was not expecting your visit at all.” Rakur said as he watched her walk into his court.”
“You should have been, especially since you failed to go along with your part of the agreement.”
“What do you mean by that?”
“I have been awaiting your response for weeks, sire. Time is passing and Miranda is getting stronger with every minute we let pass by without attacking.”
Rakur chuckled, “Samara, Samara… you should watch the way you speak. Who told you that I have no plans to follow through with what I told you?”
“I have not heard even much as a word from you since the last time we spoke. You told me not to kill Walden yet and wait for your response as you’re developing a strategy. For weeks I heard nothing. How do you expect me to know if we are still partners?”
“I am a man of my word, and believe me when I say that I want this plan to work as much as you do. We only have one chance to do it right, and that’s why we shouldn’t rush things. You should have been more patient, instead of waltzing in here to rage at me like you own the place. You could get killed for that.”
Samara bowed, “I’m sorry sire. I just… have a lot getting hit at me all at once… Miranda seems to be making my life difficult as time passes by without even trying… that’s why I want to get rid of her so quickly.”
“And you shall. I was about to contact you before you came here anyway, but let this not happen again.”
“It won’t sire.”
Rakur then headed straight to reveal the plans he’d been preparing.
“I have been working on restarting the war, as I have begun to send a message to all territories to ready their defenses. We will be getting rid of the silver alpha first, and for that, I’ve prepared an ultimate weapon to use.”