9

ZANE
Getting summoned to court by my own elder council for breaking my own rules had to be one of the things I never would’ve expected to happen to me in all my years of life. One would say I expected to be called to law after my rash actions, but having the people that were so below me questioned me didn’t sit very right with me. How demeaning. Since it was my law, I should be able to twist and bend it to accommodate my wishes, but it seems I didn’t even leave the room for that.
“You should have been more careful, Zane. I’d always known that slave would be nothing but trouble, and I told you so. Besides, we have all noticed you have been acting strangely ever since you brought that slave home. Is there something I need to know? Perhaps to be able to defend you better when we arrive at the courtroom” Mark asked as we walked side by side, and I scoffed, shaking my head. That didn’t seem to sit well with him, and he groaned, “Come on, man!!! I am your beta. You shouldn’t be hiding anything from me, especially if you want me to defend your ass and keep you out of trouble,” he said, and I smiled.
“Come on. Who do you think you are talking to? I am Alpha Zane Mackane, and I can assure you my ass does not need saving or defending. Besides, it’s nothing serious that you should be worried about. Trust me, I can handle myself.” I said proudly, slightly patting him on his back, and he shrugged my hand off of him.
“That sounds a lot like what you said when I voiced my concerns the day you bought and brought her here and the next thing I know, you’re killing one of your own because of a mere slave and then you are being summoned to the courtroom. Do you know the level of damage this could do to the reputation you’ve been building over the years? All your hard work? Do you want to ruin all that because of a mere girl, a slave at that, not even worthy of attention?’ he asked, his tone firm, and I could feel Grey growing upset at the words he was saying. It was obvious that he didn’t like his choice of words with our mates.
“If I tell you the issues at hand, you won’t be able to help me out, so let’s go to the court and handle them. I have everything under control,” I told him, quickening my pace to avoid more of his interrogation.
When we arrived in the courtroom, everyone’s eyes were immediately fixed on us, and when I took my seat, they all got up bowing in respect before taking their seats too.
When the court was called to order, an elderly man walked toward the eye of the court with a file in his hands and I masked an irritated smile, knowing exactly what it contained without having to be told. It was about the killing of a supposedly innocent guard and the huge amount I had spent on the purchase of Eleanor, which, to them, was not worth it, but to me, it was. And although I couldn’t tell myself the truth, I would rather purchase her again, over and over again, with double or even triple that amount if needed. I would rather have her than let her get claimed and taken away by some bastard that wasn’t me. Call it possessiveness, I didn’t give a fvck anymore.
“Do you accept now that she is important to us?” I heard Grey say through the mind link, and I rolled my eyes.
“Oh don’t go get me wrong Grey, I’d rather have her to fvck and have her body bend to my every whim than let someone else claim her and put their hands on her,” I answered with a scowl.
“Still in denial, aren’t you? I wonder when you’ll finally get off your high horse and accept her as ours. I hope it won’t be late for you by then,” Grey said, and I was about to answer him when I heard the gavel being slammed repeatedly on the slate, bringing me back to reality.
“Alpha Zane, you are distracted. This is a serious issue being presented to the court, and your attention is needed. Especially since this was a law that was imposed and protected by you. The court thinks you should take full responsibility for your actions,” council elder Lancelot spoke out and I blinked the moment the words fell out of his lips, followed by loud uncontrolled laughter that I could not help.
“A gamma…..” I started slowly, “whom I had given specific orders to carry out, knowingly went against them. I am sure you are all well aware of how much of an offense disobedience is to me. He had to face the music, and whatever happened was nothing more than the consequences of his own actions, and since when was it required that I gave a detailed explanation of my orders? You think I don’t have other things to do than sit here, discussing a guard’s deserved punishment?” I said in a low voice.
“This is different, Alpha Zane, you killed one of our own for a mere slave” council elder Philip countered, matching my tone, and I could feel my jaw clench in annoyance.
“So, my orders had been disobeyed, and I should’ve just let it pass because she was a ‘mere slave’? Is that what you are saying, Elder Philip?” I asked, my voice growing loud enough to be a yell.
“That’s not what he meant, Alpha Zane” James, the youngest of the council elders, interjects calmly, “he didn’t mean it that way. It was just….. strange to us. Everything surrounding these happenings is strange, actually. The reports here are saying you bought her at a ridiculously huge price and then it was reported that she had slept on your bed a whole night which was supposedly what she’d been getting punished for before you had a gamma killed because of a mistake and never even let her finish said punishment. Forgive us alpha, but we believe we have every reason to suspect.”
“Suspect what? That I’m taking a liking to the omega?” I asked challengingly.
“You are taking a liking to her,” Grey said in my head, matter of factly, and I growled in anger, finally pleased with something as they all cowered. Exactly. This was how it should be. They should have their heads low around me. They should fear me. For as long as my rule over them still stands, they should never speak to me like we were equal.
“We are sorry, alpha Zane. We have no right to judge you on that, but you gave us no choice other than to think of the inevitability. You made us think this way,” Council leader Lancelot said, and I sneered at his statement.
“You had the right to ask me questions, but you all failed to do that and then went ahead to assume things that are far from the truth. What stopped you all from coming directly to me with your concerns instead of raising suspicions and causing a scene?” I asked, none of them willing to answer as their lips remained sealed.
“Listen,” I started with a tired sigh. “She spent the night in my room because I had worn her out. Is that enough of an explanation for you all or would you like me to give you a detailed explanation of my sex life and exactly what had transpired in that room for her to have been so worn out?” I asked with a raised brow, taking the pin-drop silence as my answer before continuing, “Regardless of that. She was punished. If she had been somewhat important like you all are desperate to believe, why on earth would that have been my next line of action?” I was greeted with silence again, some of the council members keeping their eyes glued to the floor, guilty.
I sat up straighter, making sure my next words were loud enough to reach every corner of the room, “She is nothing to me, and the law still stands. Whoever dares to break them or disobey me will meet the same fate as the gamma wolf, and I do not care if the person or who the defaulter would be, I will have their heads and that would serve as a lesson to others. The law can be scrapped when the moon goddess herself comes down from the sky and tells me to stop it, which I believe is impossible. This should be the last time I’m summoned to something like this. When you all have doubts about your alpha, send a representative to speak with me. This is the last time I will be humiliated like this. If that is all, I will now take my leave.”
I stood up, and they all did too, their chairs scraping at the floor as they rushed to bow as I left the courtroom with a discreet smile on my face. That reaction was all I needed to know. I had reminded them who the Alpha was and that I would never be manipulated or guilted into submission. No way.
With that out of the way, it had been three days since I last saw or heard a word from Eleanor. I was furious to have dismissed her that way and forbade her from coming to my room. Now, she might be thinking that she’d gotten free from my grasp.
A smirk crept on my face. She didn’t know what had befallen her. Mate or not, I was determined to break her, I was going to crush every hope she visibly still held of defeating me. I was going to leave her so broken down that she would have to crawl on her knees and beg me to spare her.
I turned to face Mark, who was walking beside me, his head buried in the file he was reading, “Where is the slave girl right now?” I asked in a mumble, and he finally looked up from the papers, staring blankly at me.
“Come on, Mark, stop playing dumb with me. Where can I find Eleanor?’ I repeated clearly this time.
“You should retire to your quarters, Alpha Zane, I will have one of the guards bring her to you,” Mark suggested, and I shook my head.
“No need for that. Right now, I feel like a predator wanting to hunt for his prey. Catching them unaware is the best way to do it, don’t you agree, Mark?” I asked with a glint in my eyes, and his eyes narrowed before he sighed.
“Damn Zane, you are acting strange. I do hope you know what you are doing and don’t forget to tell it to me whenever you’re ready,” Mark said, and I shrugged.
“Let me contact the head of the slaves… give me a minute” Mark informed me after getting no reply, and after a moment of silence while he conversed with the head of the slaves through the mind link, the information of her whereabouts was passed on to me and I immediately bid him farewell before making my way towards my prey.
I could now see her from where I stood. I had to watch as a smile slowly bloomed on her face, and she released a sigh. Wow. She really had no idea about the mate bond, did she? Not even an iota of anxiousness or maybe, I don’t know…. guilt at the fact that I, her mate, was being interrogated because I had gotten her out of trouble? Or could it be she was pretending not to feel any connection between us at all?
Was she so driven by hate for me that she didn’t notice that her mate was standing right in front of her? I clenched my fists in anger. I couldn’t believe I was beating myself up daily about the fact while she remained unbothered or pretended that I meant nothing to her. Was she playing some kind of sick game with me? Games that were driving me insane.
For a brief moment, I wanted to wrap my fingers around her neck and remind her who she belonged to. She was mine to break and put back together. Every emotion she felt should be caused by me, and she had no right to be so cheerful when I didn’t let her.
I was going to savor every part of her until I finally grew tired, and then I could get rid of her without feeling cheated out of my money’s worth.
I grew more and more annoyed, watching how she continued to walk, so pleased with whatever it was that she was thinking, enough to not notice me, her worst nightmare, walking closer until I was standing right in front of her, waiting for the moment she finally noticed me, and then-
“Ouch!!! That hurts… watch where you are goi-” she freezes when she finally looks up to see me.
‘Good.’ I thought as I watched the fear flash in her eyes, clearly not expecting to see me. It seemed like she had gotten too used to her freedom that she’d forgotten about me, the power I held over her, and apparently, the fact that I could be anywhere I wanted to.
She took a few steps backwards, scrambling away from me on instinct, but that was a bad idea, seeing as she was now trapped against the wall and I. I had to take a breath so as not to growl anomalistically at the look in her eyes. It filled me with so much satisfaction and maybe even arousal, how much she looked like a cornered prey that was oh so aware of its fate.
“You have been given freedom for so long that you now think you could glare at me like that? I will surely see to it that you’re punished for neglecting your duties, ” I stated, leaning in closer, a hand going to rest on her shoulder with my lips close to her ear.
Woah. Bad idea.
I realized fast enough that I shouldn’t have done that, to be so close to where her pheromones were the strongest, that is, they flooded my senses immediately and I felt the urge to bury myself in them forever. I wanted to nuzzle into that scent and keep her next to me forever. I was brought back to reality when I heard her breathing grow ragged, her chest rising and falling rapidly as beads of sweat started to form on her forehead.
Good. She was scared. So much so, and I didn’t even have to do anything except be here to render her so boneless. I was now certain that it was arousal. I felt back then because now it was heightened and I could feel my dick grow excited at the sight of her so pliant and spineless.
I would take her right here and now, but she has a punishment to finish, and I had to reel myself better. I will make sure she’s given hard labor for a while and after that, undoubtedly. She seemed to be so gone that she wasn’t paying attention to me anymore, and I tapped gently at her neck, gaining her attention once again before I flashed one of my signature smiles. One that held a promise of no good.
“I hoped you enjoyed your freedom because that would be the last of it till the Alpha summit,” I said in a grave voice before swiftly turning around and walking away.
Soon. She will come to me on her knees. But until then, I have to keep conditioning her till she becomes exactly what I want.