Claimed by the Mad Lycan King

”Yes, she is my mate, and she is the future queen of the Shadow Blood Kingdom,” Zade replied without a trace of hesitation. He looked at them one by one, challenging them to say otherwise.

But they held their tongues, since they had learned what happened to the previous three packs who tried to deny this woman as the future queen of the kingdom.

Even so, they were clearly not happy with the way such a weak woman became their leader. She was too timid. They needed a strong figure to look up to, especially at a moment like this.

”Is there anything else you want to say?” Zade asked; his voice was as calm as a quiet lake, but no one knew the current beneath it.

The twenty alphas looked at each other, trying to gauge one another’s reaction to the question, but none of them were trying to say something. Even the scariest alpha, Alpha Sebastian, pressed his lips together.

Meanwhile, Seara sat up straight. She tried not to fidget with her fingers and glanced at them one by one. She didn’t look them in the eyes, though. Instead, she stared at their foreheads, the trick that Zephyr had told her.

Still, it was nerve-wracking for her. Couldn’t they be less scary and dominant?

”If there is nothing else, the meeting is dismissed. You can rest in your respective room before you return to your pack,” Zade said assertively. In unison, all of them stood up, bowed their heads, and then walked out of the room with their beta or gamma.

Some of them would stay the night because their pack was far, but the alphas whose pack was nearby would immediately return to their place, waiting for the command next week about what stand they would take against the humans.

It was such a critical time, and everyone was on edge about everything.

And once all of the people left, it was only Zade, Seara, and Ace who were still there. Only then could Seara let out a long breath.

”I...” She wanted to say something, but she was hiccupping instead.

Seeing this, Zade was laughing. He kissed her cheek while Ace poured her a glass of water. Seara accepted it and thanked Ace after she gulped down the entire glass of water.

Even so, her hiccup didn’t stop.

”It... doesn’t stop...” Seara frowned.

”Yes, I can see that,” Zade laughed.

”Don’t... laugh...” Seara hit his arm lightly to stop Zade from laughing at her misery.

”Fine.” Zade grabbed her hand and stood up. ”It has been busy in the past few days, but I have wanted to show you the sunset at the beach. Come with me.”

Ace reminded Zade that their next meeting with the Lycans would be held online.

”You can take care of that one,” Zade replied. Since it was still early in the attack, they knew that the main topic of discussion would be the updates on each of their territories.

And Zade was right, because twenty minutes later, when Ace sat in the meeting, he didn’t see Asher and Altair’s faces on the screen but instead their betas.

”Damn it! Strangely enough, our kings’ brains wire in the same direction when it comes to this,” said Dmitri, Asher’s beta. He clicked his tongue unhappily because he had to face Ace and Kaleb.

”Come on, just get it done quickly,” Kaleb said, scratching his head.

***

”Zeph, is the meeting done?” Jeremy asked. He had not yet taken a bath after his training. Therefore, when he approached Zephyr, the gamma scrunched his nose.

”Which trashcan were you falling from?” He stretched out his arm to put distance between them. ”Keep your distance, young man; I can’t stand your smell.”

But instead, Jeremy came closer and even stood chest to chest against him.

”Oh, you annoying brat! Get off me!”

”I have something important to tell you; this can be very helpful!” Jeremy insisted. He grabbed Zephyr’s outstretched hand, which made the gamma scrunched his nose in disgust. 𝘧𝓇ℯℯ𝑤ℯ𝘣𝓃ℴ

”Seriously, you smell!”

”Listen to me!” Jeremy was frustrated. He wanted to go to Ace, but he was in the middle of an online meeting, and the king was on the beach with his mate. He didn’t dare to bother him.

Therefore, his last option was Zephyr.

”I will listen to you, but don’t touch me with your dirty hands without my consent.” Zephyr moved away from Jeremy. He pinched his nose exaggeratedly and breathed through his mouth. ”I can almost taste your sweat on my tongue, yuck.”

Losing his patience, Jeremy kicked Zephyr’s shin. ”I have a spy among the humans. Actually, I have a spy in the Brooks family.”

”What?” Zephyr put down his hand. Jeremy’s smell was not that bad, but Zephyr had been under stress because of the situation, and this was how he vented his frustration: to make other people frustrated with him. ”Is it Olivia? Did she call you? And you picked up?!”

Jeremy blinked his eyes in confusion. He knew Zephyr was smart, but was he a clairvoyant too?

”Yes, why?” Jeremy dragged out his response. For some reason, he felt as if he had committed a grave mistake in some senses.

”Fuck!” Zephyr cursed and mind-linked the warriors around the house to ask about where Zade was as he rushed downstairs to get Zade immediately.

Meanwhile, Jeremy ran behind him. ”What? What happened?”

He didn’t understand where he got it wrong. Zephyr didn’t even try to listen to his explanation when he ran away. At least, he should have listened to his explanation to find out whether he was in the wrong or not, right?

”What have I done wrong?” Jeremy skidded when Zephyr suddenly stopped and turned around to face him. He glared at him, something that he didn’t usually do.

”I have told you to turn off your phone, but how could you still receive a phone call?” Zephyr asked darkly.

”I...” Jeremy gulped down with difficulty. ”I am sorry, I forgot.”