The King's Return

31| A ROGUE IN MANCHESTER

LOGAN'S POV

"We've got a problem." Since yesterday, I haven't seen Jake. He's been avoiding me, and I believe it's because of what I asked him to do for me.

I know it's unjust, and I don't like it either, but I'm confident that if I do have to justify why I'm doing this, I'll do so without leaving anything behind.

"Which problem are you referring to? It's morning, Jake."

"I'm sorry for coming to your room at this hour, but this cannot be postponed. I haven't paid much attention to it in recent days, but it seems to be out of control."

"You'll have to give me more than that, I believe. I'm really trying to figure out what the issue is, but it won't be possible if you keep telling me irrelevant information first." I despise problems.

"A wolf was seen wandering around the pack territories a few days ago, and a few people in the area were complaining. I didn't want to trouble you because I thought it could be Sebastían.

"I tried to look into it myself and discovered that it was someone else. I'm not sure if he's a rogue or not, but he's not from this area."

I haven't learned anything about rogues in this region in a long time. In reality, I assumed they'd all vanished.

I did everything I could to assist them in their transformation, and I even welcomed most of them into my pack. I'm not sure where this one comes from, and I'm not sure I want to see what he's up to.

Lone wolves are very different from us, and while not all of them are dangerous, we must be mindful of their presence and the danger they may pose.

I can't believe anyone is out there, posing a threat to any human being in my territory.

As long as I'm still here, as long as I'm still the king of werewolves, I've always believed that humans are safe in this city.

"I wanted to learn as much as I could about him. He is from London, and after his father was found guilty of rape his pack banned him and his mother.

"His dad had for years raped young girls and humans across their territory. No one spoke up, and the girls were afraid to speak up until he was caught red-handed.

The fact couldn't be denied, so he was put to death after the news had reached his alpha. He allegedly attempted to rape the Alpha's 9-year-old daughter, and when the Luna found out, she personally killed him.

"However, I'm not sure why he chose to come here. It's not as if we were involved in any way."

I'm not sure either. If he was thinking clearly, the first thing that should've come to mind was to seek help rather than go about town causing trouble.

"I'm afraid he's following in his father's footsteps. In the last two days, there have been four recorded cases of rape in this town, and when I investigated, the girls all said that they were raped by a werewolf."

"How could they know it was a werewolf?" I'm sure he wouldn't tell them he can change whenever he wants."

"No, that's not it at all. He shifted in front of them, and they all said the same thing. One of them also claimed that she initially mistook him for a regular wolf before she witnessed his transformation."

I don't know what to do. I had planned to go and check on Amira before I start my day and learn how she feels about my fake wedding but it seems like I won't be getting that chance.

I was hoping we could, maybe I could even ask her what she really wants. I know what I'm doing is wrong or rather the way I'm going about it but I know the reason I'm doing it.

I was hoping I could explain the situation and even though the news is fake, they are enough to convince her that I want to marry Kiera and not her.

She will leave after that and there will be nothing I can do about it. I hate this and I also hate that our love will come to an end.

I don't know how everything will turn out but I can only hope I don't regret my decision when everything is done.

I know I will never be able to love someone and even if I do decide to get married for the sake of having a queen in the future, no one will ever take Amira's place in my heart. No matter how good the person would be and no matter how easy it is to love her.

I know that even if I do decide to marry Kiera for real, I will always treat her as my sister and I hope that even if she agrees, she never expects me to love her.

I know she has a life now, a life that she has always wanted and I would never force her or ask her to do what she doesn't want to do.

I can't believe this is me. I never wanted to be a werewolf, let alone a powerful one but destiny had other plans for me.

Even though I'm powerful, I can't have the one person that I want the most in my life. I have to stand by and watch her being taken by someone because I want to do the right thing.

I could've just done what Connor suggested, I should've fought for her, no matter what the outcome would've been.

She would hate me for doing so but eventually, she would understand my feelings for her and reciprocate them. That would've been easy and I would be happy.

"Your Majesty, are you coming?" I had completely forgotten about Jake, in fact, I had forgotten about the matter at hand. We have to find the person who is putting people's lives at risk and put an end to this.

AMIRA'S POV

I hate waiting. The servants are busy talking behind my back and it seems they are not planning to tell me what they are talking about and I don't want to ask them.

I don't want them to think it is bothering me, which means I will have to wait for Brittany to find out everything.

I don't want to rush her but I'm also running out of patience. I want to know what is going on and I don't feel like going out.

I've noticed that for the past few days my whole skin has become pale and I don't want people to think that I'm sick.

I don't know if it's because my wolf feels rejected or what but ever since Logan started avoiding me, a lot has been changing in me and I don't even know what to do nor do I understand the meaning of it all.

It's not like I can make Logan make time for me, and I've also realised that I've given it my all. I've been waiting for him to apologize for everything, and despite the fact that it's been more than a few days, I'm still hoping he'll come back to me and tell me he won't ignore me any longer.

I understand this is all wishful thinking, but there's nothing else I can do but hope; hope has never killed anyone before, and I'm confident it won't start with me.

My life has changed significantly since I arrived in this country, and it continues to do so; what is happening now is just one example. I shouldn't take it seriously because I know it will pass so everything I'm going through now will be worth it.

I don't want to think about it because I don't need any more stress in my life. Whatever is going on in this castle is already stressing me out, and if I start worrying about how pale my skin is, it will just add to the tension, and I'm not sure what I'll do then.

"Lady Amira." Brittany! I've been waiting for her for far too long, I hope she knows what those servants were saying behind my back.

"Come in, I've been waiting for you." She smiled at me as she entered the room.

"I followed your instructions carefully. The other servants have somehow heard that Kiera is coming to the castle, and they are concerned about you because everyone knows how close she is to His Majesty.

"I'm not sure if what they heard is real or not, but I'm afraid my lady will not like it."

"Go on, I want to know everything." I want to know what it is that she thinks I won't like.

"They used to only say whatever came to mind, but now they are certain it is right. According to what I heard, Kiera is visiting the castle for her engagement with the king and everyone is speculating that the king will propose to her before the princess's birthday party, which could happen at any moment.

"When I asked them where they got such details, they confidently stated that they overheard the king telling his beta that he was ready to marry his childhood sweetheart.

"I couldn't argue with them, so I kept quiet and came straight to you. One of the reasons I believe it is true is that I am certain the king will not encourage them to gossip.

"I'm sure he's aware of what's going on in the castle. If the servants' claims were false, he would order them to quit fabricating lies."

Yeah, that's true. I can't believe I've made such a fool of myself. What the hell was I thinking?

Logan and Kiera have been together since they were children; they were meant to be together, and no matter how much I want Logan to be mine, he will never truly be mine.

I know he's my mate, but I'll never be able to persuade him to abandon Kiera for me. I'm well aware that I'm not really deserving of that.

Kiera is flawless in every way, and no amount of time spent trying to imitate her will ever be enough. I'm not sure why I felt he was different from other guys, to be honest.

I guess I'm oblivious to his flaws because if I wasn't madly in love with him, I'd see right through him, no matter how many layers he has.

"I apologize, my lady; I understand how you feel about His Majesty. I understand how deceived you feel right now, but I believe you should talk with him first before jumping to any conclusions.

"I've never had a boyfriend and have yet to meet my soul mate, but I can see that His Majesty genuinely loves you as well."

Of course, I know Logan loves me, but is it true that his feelings for me are stronger than his feelings for Kiera? I'm not a fool; I understand how difficult it is to let go of first love. I've seen it happen too many times.

"I appreciate what you did; I'm sure it was difficult for you to go around asking people to tell you everything.

"You've done me a big favour that I'll never forget, but you're under no obligation to give me advice. I know what I need to do, and it isn't to wait for Kiera to arrive here.

"I don't want to squander what little dignity I still have."

I'll leave from here, but I need to talk with Logan first. I want him to look me in the eyes and say that I was never important to him.

I'd like him to tell me that he chooses Kiera over me, his mate. I'd like to hear it straight from his lips. I don't care what other people have to say; I just want to hear it from him, and I'm sure I'll be satisfied.

I know whatever he says isn't going to be what I want to hear, but there's no way I'm going to wait for his engagement with Kiera. Never, ever!