The Lost Werewolf King's Mate

Chapter 43: Mathew's POV

CORONATION PART III

Former alpha Gideon had the most menacing smile on his face.

"I had my suspicions that the young King here was unable to shift. Look at him! None of you have ever seen his wolf. What kind of Werewolf king doesn't have a wolf. He's going to lead us all to our deaths."

I saw Ken and Keyon slowly moving through the crowd to get to Gideon, but mindlinked them to stop. If I didn't confront Gideon right now, my authority would always be questioned.

I released my royal aura over the crowd and they all dropped to their knees, struggling to even look up. I looked at Killian and Maxwell. They were the only ones strong enough to withstand the intensity of my aura. But I could tell by looking at their faces that they were struggling to keep this up.

I felt pure raw rage. I was angry that Orion, my other half, was refusing to shift. I was angry that he had left me to deal with the pain of losing her all on my own. I was angry that despite everything I did, he refused to forgive me. He has watched me suffer in agony all these years and not once did he relent and try to pull me out of the sea of despair I was drowning in. And even when we were so close to finding her, he still refused to talk to me.

And now he was risking everything I've accomplished in the last three years.

I saw some people desperately trying to get away from me because my royal aura was making them suffocate. Most of the lunas and even a few alphas had left the field due to the intensity of my aura.

Gideon was now also on his knees with his kneck outstretched to me.

Because I couldn't shift, I would have to do something so remarkable and downright impossible to remind everyone here that I am their king and anyone who opposes me would die.

I could feel the doubt ebbing in my link to the werewolves her. Some of them were now questioning my ability to rule over them, some were asking whether I was even really the Werewolf king and some even seemed delighted that there finally seemed to be a weakness they could manipulate. And yet, a majority of them did not question my strength and still held firm that I had ushered an era of prosperity for werewolves.

I walked to Gideon and knelt down to his level when I got to him.

"Shift", I ordered him in a low growl.

I saw him struggle to contain his beast for a few seconds. He was trying to disobey my command.

"SHIFT", I roared.

His large grey wolf ripped out of him the second my order left my lips.

He didn't waste any time and tried to grab my neck with his teeth, but I ducked and grabbed his front paw and lifted him up before slamming him against the ground.

The thud and impact of his beast hitting the floor left people gasping in shock and some lunas who were strong enough to withstand my initial royal aura were even screaming and running away from the scene unfolding before them.

I watched Gideon's wolf struggling to get up. I had broken its leg.

"SHIFT", I roared again.

He shifted back into his human form without trying to fight my command this time. He still had his clothes on since the Black Claw pack has that special river that enables them to keep their clothes even after they've shifted.

I looked at Gideon and he had so much fear in his eyes. I wished I could stop this right now, but he had forced me to make an example out of him.

"SHIFT", I repeated. I needed them all to understand that I wasn't just the ruler of the Werewolf kingdom. I also ruled their beasts and if I commanded them to shift or even die, their every fibre would be compelled to follow my order no matter how much they tried to fight it.

His grey wolf ripped out of him again, and I pounced on his back and grabbed his neck.I was going to break his neck right here for everyone to see.

The beast was roaring and thrashing violently on the ground as it tried to shake me off, but I wasn't going to let go. Gideon had to die today. There was no other way to salvage the situation.

"Stop! Please, stop!" I recognised that voice immediately. It was Audrey. She was obviously pleading for her husband's sake because Jonathan knew as well as I did that death was the only thing left for Gideon. He wouldn't dare ask me to stop.

I stopped with the large grey wolf's neck still in my hands. It had lost all its strength to thrash and try shaking me off. Now it was just whimpering.

Everyone looked shocked. No one is supposed to be able to fight another person's beast in human form. It is unheard of and thought to be absolutely impossible.

I looked at Audrey. She had tears streaming down her face.

I sighed and let go of the wolf in my hands. It immediately shifted back into Gideon. His leg and arm were broken and the bones were sticking out of both limbs. His chest was barely moving up and down, but he was still alive. It would take a few days or weeks, but both he and his wolf would heal.

Audrey started running to Gideon's side, but I stopped her.

"Leave him", I roared. "He will heal."

I heard her gulp as she walked back to stand by her husband's side. Jonathan's eyes were red.

"Jonathan", I mindlinked him, "you know he left me no choice."

"I know", he responded, "it had to be done or else you would have had a target on your back."

I watched the crowd as I tried to steady my breathing. Killian looked outraged. He was even clenching his teeth. Queen Merrida's face was covered in fear. However, the alphas and betas here all looked at me with pure admiration and pride. I had successfully showed them that I was more than strong enough to be their king.

"Who here thinks they are worthy of fighting the Werewolf king in wolf form?", I asked the crowd.

They all stayed quiet. I saw Killian abruptly leave the field.

I scoffed. "When a worthy opponent reveals themselves, I will gladly shift into my wolf."

They all erupted into loud cheers and applause.

Kendrick and Keyon, understanding the situation at hand, shifted into their wolves and within a few seconds, all the alphas and betas followed. I started running and led the run of the werewolves through the seat of the kingdom in my human form.

***

"How could you f*****g do that, dad? Do you realise that you just made a mockery of the Black Claw pack? My pack?" Jonathan was shoving his dad against the wall in my study. He was livid and Kendrick and Keyon had to tear him away from Gideon, who was still severely injured.

"I was right, wasn't I? He can't shift!" Gideon almost spat this out.

Jonathan was about to throw a punch at him, but Kendrick held him back.

"Gideon", I said as I stood from my chair, "there's clearly something you want to say to me. Why don't you come out and say it?"

The man looked at me with a scowl. "You don't deserve to be king, Mathew. WE were the ones who had to bury our loved ones. WE were the ones who lived in constant fear for years. WE were the ones who had to watch kids die and being drained of their magic. WE were here and YOU weren't. You were out there with the humans, not giving a damn about us."

I couldn't help but feel guilty about this. Even though it wasn't my fault, he was right. While they all suffered here, I was in the human world oblivious to this entire world and its existence.

"I had to build my pack from the ground up after losing my fated mate. Do you even know what that is like? To survive that kind of pain and still have to raise your child and ensure the survival of your pack? Do you have any idea what almost every alpha and beta here has had to go through? You didn't have to go through any of it! But now you have the audacity to waltz into our world and tell us you're our king." His eyes were red and he was desperately trying to control his breathing due to his injuries.

I walked to him and stared into the man's desperately anger-filled eyes.

"You're right, Gideon."

They all looked at me with confused faces, even Gideon.

"I failed you. I failed your pack and I failed this kingdom, but I'm trying to make up for it. I really am, but I need everyone to work with me or else all the suffering you've been through will continue. It will continue and increase until there's no one left. So you have a choice to make. Are you going to remain stuck in the past or are you going to walk into a new future with me?"

I wasn't going to bother fighting him on what he said. No matter what I've done in the past three years, it could never make up for the fact that they all had to deal with the witches while I was safe in the human world. It was also my magic that awakened Raphael so I really didn't have much to defend myself with. I needed to own up to this. I would never understand the pain they went through. I wasn't there when they all needed me.

He just scoffed at me and limped out of my office.

Jonathan sighed. "Thanks for sparing his life. I know he was supposed to die after what he did."

"You should thank your luna, Jonathan. If she hadn't intervened, I would have killed him."

He nodded his head. "Yea, she's always saving my butt. Don't know what I would do without her."

I narrowed my eyes at him. It seemed like he was holding back on something.

He finally succumbed to my stare and continued talking. "He hasn't been the same since we found out you're the werewolf king. He's just so angry and bitter all the time, and I don't know how to help him because he won't tell me what's wrong."

Kendrick put his hand on his shoulder. "Well, I think we know what's wrong with him now. He blames Mathew for not being here."

Jonathan sighed. "I'll try talking to him again. Your memories and wolf being suppressed and you being in the human world was not your fault, Mathew. I just want you to know that I don't blame you for it."

I couldn't help but feel relieved that he said that. Jonathan has become one of my most trusted friends. I would have hated to think that he resented me as well.

"Thanks, Jonathan. I really appreciate that."

***

As soon as Jonathan left my office, it was time to have a meeting with Keyon and Kendrick.

"Kendrick", I asked him, what did King Maxwell tell you about the kelpies?"

"You're not going to like this boss", he said as he sat down on the couch. "The gryphons seem to be the only magical creatures who have books that describe what happened when Raphael first attacked the magical world."

"And what do these books say?"

"Well, according to King Maxwell, during his first attack, Raphael struck a deal with the kelpies. They helped him track other magical creatures and, in exchange, he would leave their kingdom alone."

"What the hell?", Keyon and I shouted almost at the same time.

"It gets worse, boss", Kendrick continued.

"Apparently kelpies do not like being around other magical creatures, and prefer to keep themselves isolated. The reason we haven't been able to find the kingdom is because they keep moving it so that other magical creatures can't find it. If other magical creatures do find them, they are usually killed or tortured. It doesn't seem like there are a lot of magical creatures that survive an encounter with them."

"Does he know how to find them?", I asked him. "We have to find them before Raphael finds them. It may already be too late."

Kendrick sighed. "Yea, he does. There's an ancient compass that can lead someone to the kingdom, no matter where it is. Luckily for us, he brought it with him. He said he figured we would want to use it as soon as we found out about the kelpies."

"Damnit!" I slammed my hand against the table.

"Why would the gryphons just sit with information like this? Why didn't they try to do something?"

Kendrick just shrugged. "The gryphons have never really cared about other magical creatures, boss. As long as they're okay, they don't concern themselves with the rest of us. But King Maxwell said this 'Star fire' that King Killian keeps mentioning changed their minds about how they treat others."

"King Killian must be really smitten with this person if she was able to change their minds like this", I muttered almost to myself. "He said his seers told him she would be at the coronation. Tell the guards to find out who she is. She may be able to help us reason with Killian."

They both nodded their heads.

I stood up and started slowly pacing in my office. We had to go find the kelpies and we had to go now. I had to try and stop them from siding with Raphael or if they already have, convince them to side with us. What they were doing was stupid. Raphael would kill everyone in the end; even those who helped him.

"This compass, did Maxwell say we can use it?"

"Yea, boss. There's one condition though. Because it's one of a kind, his wife or whoever that woman is that he came with insists that she come with us to find the kingdom. She wants to make sure nothing happens to the compass."

I nodded my head. "Seems like a reasonable compromise. We'll leave tomorrow morning."

"Wait!", Keyon yelled out, "I also have to report back to you boss."

"Of course, Keyon."

"I found her."

Those three words made every part of my body spring back to life. I could feel parts of me that I hadn't felt in years suddenly shake awake. I was starting to lose hope, but he had saved me by just saying those three words.

"Are, are you serious right now?" I asked in disbelief.

"I'm serious, boss", he chuckled. "I told you I could feel it in my gut that someone was going to mess up and stop cloacking her."

I felt a smile creeping up on my face; something I haven't felt in so long. It even felt strange on my face.

Ken eyed me suspiciously. "Are you smiling, boss?"

I jokingly punched him in the stomach.

"Where is she?", I asked Keyeon.

"My trackers are currently following her and that Mike guy. I don't know where she's going, but I have her exact location and I'll have it for as long as I'm tracking her. We can go get her at any time, boss. I can have my team bring them in or we can go to her. It's your choice."

I felt Orion rumbling in my head. He wasn't quite out yet, but he was on the move now.

I had a choice to make. I either go and find the Kelpie kingdom or I go and bring Elizabeth back to me; where she belongs. I didn't want to risk telling the trackers to bring her in. If they made even the slightest mistake they might end up losing her again. I had to go myself. I had to be the one to bring her back.

I looked at Kendrick and Keyon and they both immideiately knew what my decision was before I even said anything.

They both smiled at me.

"You go get your girl, boss. I'll go find the Kelpie kingdom.", Kendrick laid back in his chair and stretched his arms behind his head.

"And I will stay here and watch over the kingdom like I usually do", Keyon chimed in.

This was it. I was going to get the love of my life back.

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