3

Bryan

I pulled out a hair product to slick back my dark blond hair when I caught the sound of approaching footsteps inside my room. The growl ripped through me, as everyone in the pack knew I preferred my privacy. The outline of my beta's lean build came into view first before his citrusy scent hit my nose. I tapered down my growl and returned to looking in the mirror.

"What do you want, Gunner?"

He chuckled. "Looks like not getting any lately has really messed with you. Maybe you should apologize to that sexy witch of yours so you can get laid."

Another growl emitted from my throat as I sprayed the mousse into my hand and threaded my fingers through my hair. "Annalise is long gone. Not sure if that hag is even lurking around in our kingdom anymore. She knows I've sent scouts out to find her."

Gunner's shaggy black hair and gray eyes came into view while he wore a smirk. The asshole was far too laid back for a lycan, in my opinion. The dominance in him could rival my own if he found his mate before I found mine, and I didn't have the power of all the lycans in the kingdom tied to me. Dominance equaled power. Power made lycans crave violence. Yet Gunner was the least violent person I knew. He could wipe the floor with anyone who challenged him, but he also never sought a fight. There were times I purposely stirred the pot in a bar just to have a fight. Not Gunner, though.

"Seriously, dude. I just think you need to get laid."

"If only that could happen, but Anna's curse makes every female repulsive to me. At least, that's what I think the curse did to me."

"You told a witch you didn't love her—after she confessed her feelings. It sounds like the perfect excuse for her to curse you so every female looks hideous to you."

I sighed. That could be it, but something I hadn't told my beta was that females still looked sexy to me. That was the problem. I had the appetite, and I wanted nothing more than to take them to my bedroom and make them scream my name. However, the urge to actually act on these impulses and desires wasn't there. It was as if the witch made my dick stop working. That was a problem for a lycan. We craved touch, craved sex.

Not me.

Not anymore.

Anger surged inside me. "I could kill the bitch for doing this to me. She had no business cursing a king!" I gripped my sink, and I heard the crack from the marble as my anger coursed through me. This was why I didn't think about Annalise. Thinking about her made me want to tear everything apart.

Another reason to have the scouts looking for her. Over the years, I had delved into the lore of a witch's curse and how to undo it. Most of the lore stated that only the witch could remove any spell she had cast on you. It was her magic that needed undoing, and only hers could reverse it. Considering that the use of magic was limited to magic wielders, it wasn't like I could find ingredients and perform a spell myself. That would be too easy.

If she wouldn't remove this blasted curse, then the lore said I could kill her to lift it.

Killing something right now sounded incredible. Killing Annalise sounded much better than that.

My silence must have made my beta uncomfortable. It was his throat-clearing that pulled me out of my thoughts. Bloodlust had a scent, and I must have smelled like it for Gunner to look at me the way he did. I let myself relax just enough for that look to disappear.

Gunner crossed his arms over his chest and leaned against the door frame when I calmed down. "You just need to find your mate, boss."

"Like that is simple to do," I snarled.

He chuckled. "It would be if you actually planned a route through the kingdom. It would be good publicity for you as king to visit the packs. It's also a way for you to meet unmated females and find your mate."

That wasn't a bad idea at all. I had done something similar over the years, but nothing too lengthy because I didn't want to be away from the pack for long. It could take me a couple of months, but I could travel through the kingdom to find my mate.

Gunner wasn't mated, either. If I found my mate and brought power into the kingdom and pack, it would be even better to have a mated beta as well. But there was the concern about leaving the pack without an alpha or a beta. I'd have to leave the kingdom and the pack in the hands of my third. The man was good as a gamma, but he didn't have the experience running the pack like Gunner did during the last time I left for a few weeks.

"Before you try to back out of that kind of plan just because you don't want to leave everything to Eric, stop."

I looked over at my beta, and his gray eyes hardened at me.

"You are a king. If you want the kingdom to thrive, you need your queen at your side."

That was a sobering thought. A mate was about to bring balance to the lycan, and mine was throwing himself at the cage to be let loose to run. He didn't like the idea of not adventuring through the kingdom to find our mate. Maybe if I did this and found her, I could finally get some rest.

"What would be the best route through the kingdom?" I asked Gunner.

He smiled, and I could scent his happiness. Gunner seemed to have hoped I would ask that question from the look on his face. "If that means I get to plan the trip because I'm coming along, I'm in. My lycan has been craving a mate for the last few months. No one in our pack has caught his fancy."

This was why I figured I'd be leaving everything to Eric, my gamma, while we were gone. Wherever I went, Gunner followed. That's how it had been since we were kids, and it hadn't changed. I chuckled. This was why I needed Gunner as my beta. His laid-back energy and jokes made the day breeze by. "Sounds like a plan. Want to talk about it after we go for a run?"

He smiled. "Fuck yeah! Let's let the lycans out and then plan our way through the kingdom. Maybe during the trip, you can get laid to settle down."

That got a laugh out of me as I left my bathroom. I knew better than to give in to thoughts of having sex with anyone right now because of the curse.

Either way, my life would get better after this trip.

I could feel it.