Chapter 3: The way it works

KURT

The first thing I saw were those eyes. Those wonderful eyes. They weren't exactly brown, as there was a very reddish undertone there, like her hair. Even though Rosamund was bruised and battered, you could still see how beautiful she was. The delicate, thin nose, the slightly full mouth, the oval shape of the face. Her neck was thin, of course, after all she was malnourished. Lower down, her breasts. Yes, I know, that's awful, but I couldn't help but notice the beautiful volume she had there. Maybe because she was so skinny, she was able to hide it all under her baggy coat. Now she wore a hospital gown and you could tell she was graced with a nice pair of round breasts.

No, I wasn't staring. And I hope I was discreet enough that she didn't notice that I looked at her bust. Shame on me.

“Hello, Rosamund!” I said, smiling and trying to gather my composure. I wasn't the most handsome guy in the world, I know. The beautiful scar on the right side of my face didn't help matters. I usually avoided smiling, because the wider the smile, the worse it got. I smiled lightly, so as not to scare the poor omega away.

"Hi," was her reply, in such a beautiful voice. She looked down, but I noticed how her thoughtful blushes slightly.

“Welcome to the Shadow Moon Pack! I hope you recover soon, and then we can talk about whether you want to stay or want to leave.”

I hadn't thought about that, but the truth was, I couldn't keep her in my pack unless she needed to accept being part of it. She hadn't broken free from the Midnight Pack, which meant she was just a visitor to our pack.

Leave. What if she wanted to leave? It bothered me, for some reason. But I didn't have time and I didn't want to dwell on why.

"Thanks, Alpha," she said, her head still down.

“There's nothing to be thankful for. Follow everything Dr. Hanna says. She is an excellent doctor and you couldn't be in better hands.”

“Oh, thank you so much, Alpha Kurt.” Hanna smiled sincerely. She was a good soul, always happy, but also very responsible and capable. I admired her.

“I just spoke the truth. Now, excuse me. I have a few things to attend to, but keep me posted on our patient, will you? Dr. Hanna, Rosamund.” I bowed my head and left.

I walked back to the packhouse, as walking helped me think. I needed to resolve the issue with the Council. Let me explain how this works: We are one kingdom, with many packs. My pack is the one that stands out the most. The King, my cousin, is in need of an heir. His wife is barren. He wants me to get married as soon as possible so that my son can become the heir to the throne. Not only does this ensure that our bloodline will remain in power, but it will also prevent fights between the other packs over who will be the new King.

Each pack has a Council, smaller, but with at least ⅓ of official participants, that is, envoys of the King. And there is a larger Council, the Royal Council. This will have at least 1 advisor from each side, plus the King's advisors. They decide many things, in order to save the sovereign a lot of stress about things... superficial and mundane, as they say.

Well then, my pack Council is pestering me to get married right away. I was once married, but things didn't go as planned. She was my fated mate, and yet she betrayed me. She almost killed me actually and that's when Hanna found me. The thing is, I don't want to get married. If my own female, linked to me by divine ties, betrayed me, imagine a female who is completely alien to me? Of course, once I mark her, she'll bond with me in some way, but that's different. Our souls will not be united, you see?

But I need to get married and have an heir. There is the possibility of surrogacy, but I don't want that. The child would not have a mother, as the female who bore him would have to leave. And I don't want that for any pups. I know what it's like to grow up without a mother.

The female I choose to breed with must be a female with 'high quality' blood. She needs to have Alpha or Beta blood. The Council picked a few possible candidates, and that's why I went to that damn Midnight Pack. I know Idris, I already had contact with his daughter, before, when she was younger and I can say that her temperament has not changed at all. If she has changed, it has been for the worse. She's insufferable and there's no way I would marry her. I still have one more candidate to visit and I hope this one is less insufferable, or I'll need to look for a Beta. And that will be offensive to the Alphas, since I rejected their daughters.

“Uncle ‘Kut’!” A voice I already knew called me. Thomas, son of Finn and Audrey. I turned around and saw that beautiful child with curly hair, full, with a dimple on the right side and open arms. He has called me “Kut” since he was still little.

I bent down and spread my arms.

"Hi, champ!" I hugged him as he threw himself on top of me.

“Uncle! I… I… I fell!” He made a sad face and showed me his knee, still recovering.

“No! But how did it happen?” I asked, making a face of extreme concern. I glanced up to see Audrey walking towards us. She was Finn's wife, a beautiful brunette, friendly, kind, but also, itchy when she wanted to be. Sometimes I felt sorry for Finn.

"I fell out of the 'tee'," he said and shook his little head up and down.

“Tsk tsk. But you need to be more careful! What were you doing up in the tree, young man?”

He looked down and I saw his full little cheeks moving. Then he looked up at me, his eyes shining.

“It was a cat. A babe cat!”.

“Oh, the kitten. Got it. Be more careful next time. You are the next Beta of this pack!”

He wasn't even two years old, but he loved watching everything about fights and superheroes. This generation had more contact with human things. And when he learned that his father was a warrior, he wanted to be one too. As soon as he heard the word “Beta”, his eyes lit up even more. He vehemently nodded in agreement.

"He'll be more careful, Alpha Kurt," Audrey said, putting her hand on her son's head.

"Where 's Finn?”

“He must be at the packhouse, waiting for you. This fuse here already had lunch. I believe the others are waiting for you, as well.”

I had completely forgotten about it. I was so lost in thought that, for the first time in a long while, I forgot to eat.

“Oh yes. I'll quicken the pace then.”

She just nodded and I was gone. When I arrived at the door of the Packhouse, I smelled something different. Someone was visiting.