Boris didn't even know why Axel had called it a "favor." Maybe it was a favor. Maybe it was a test. All he knew was that Axel had told him—ask any questions if you have one. So he did.
"How did the pack react?" Boris asked, trying to keep his tone casual. "To the announcement. A Luna Guard selection… that's not a small thing."
Axel shrugged. "Surprisingly fine. I thought there might be a stir, especially among the she-wolves. Some of them had… expectations. But they'll recover. I mean, who wouldn't want to compete to be the one guarding the Luna and be at least close to Alpha Malakai? The Alpha only wants a single guard. One. Imagine the honor."
Boris said nothing at first. His throat had gone dry. A single guard. For his Luna.
So this Alpha Malakai already has a Luna?
He didn't mean to say it aloud. The words just leapt out.
Axel didn't notice the edge in Boris's voice when he asked though. "He doesn't have a Luna yet. But he has a mate. That's for sure."
Boris felt cold. And hot. All at once.
His chest tightened with something like nausea. Not heartbreak. Not exactly. Just… pressure. As if something was pushing out from inside him. Something heavy.
Somewhere in his gut, Boris had known this day would come. The signs were there. The way Alpha Malakai had never spoken to him again. The fact his parents had warned him—sever the bond. The way everyone seemed to talk about the Alpha like he was untouchable and sacred…
And now he saw it. The plan was unfolding. Of course Alpha Malakai had someone else in mind. Of course it would be a woman. Powerful. Beautiful. Probably an Alpha in her own right. A partner to match him perfectly.
Boris had been a mistake made by the moon goddess, their bond could be a prank by the moon goddess who was bored perhaps. Nothing more.
Still, his mouth moved before he could stop it. "I bet he's not even that attractive."
Axel burst out laughing. "Not every wolf is as pretty as you, Boris. But trust me… Alpha Malakai? He's manly." Then he pointed to the wall-mounted screen. "Watch."
The screen lit up.
Boris blinked. The channel that appeared was dedicated entirely to Alpha Malakai. Not created by Alpha Malakai himself, of course but by the pack. A whole broadcast network, just for him. The public wanted updates, reports, maybe a symbol of unity.
Blood Hound Pack was the strongest of them all with three sub-packs beneath it. Four territories united under one Alpha.
Alpha Malakai.
A booming voice filled the room. A man appeared, presenting the news with formal pride. "We begin today's cycle with word from the Beta of Alpha Malakai, I, Ralph Jaguars. The Luna Guard selection trial will commence this afternoon…"
Then the camera shifted. And there he was. Alpha Malakai.
Boris forgot to breathe.....
Boris forgot to breathe.
For a second, the world just stopped. The screen burned with the image of a man whose presence bled through even the pixels. He was tall, massively so, with broad shoulders and a body built like a war god. His skin was deep and sun-warmed, his jaw sharp, lined with stubble. His mouth was serious, his eyes heavy-lidded and coldly a thick shade of brown.
And he was handsome. Not beautiful. Not elegant. Not like Boris.
He was… Manly. He was power carved into flesh.
There was nothing soft about him. No hint of apology. He looked like the kind of man who could destroy a city by walking through it. The kind of man who never had to shout, because silence itself obeyed him.
Boris's heart pounded in his chest.
Axel turned to him. "Did you hear that?"
Boris nodded without looking. "Yes," he said softly. "Yes, I… I did."
But he was lying. He hadn't heard anything the man on the screen had said. Instead, he'd heard something else from his stupid head. 'This is my mate.'
And suddenly, everything made sense. Why his parents had been afraid. Why they told him to cut the bond. Why Alpha Malakai had never wanted to see him, never tried to talk to him.
Because he wasn't just any Alpha, he was Alpha Malakai. The ruler of four packs. A red hound wolf. A legend.
And Boris?
Boris was just a pretty-faced gay Omega with a healer's license and no rank to his name.
He clenched his jaw. 'He's way above my level.'
He had actually thought Malakai would be like the others; just ordinary. Like the arrogant Alphas that passed through the healing house with too much cologne and too little brain. But this one?
He was a big, bad wolf. And he looked dangerous.
Boris felt sick. What if he finds out? What if he finds out that his mate is an Omega who slept with someone else?
He shivered. A thought came before he could bury it, and out loud, he muttered it, "What if he kills me?"
Axel paused in the middle of straightening his healer tunic. "What are you on about? Who's killing you?"
Boris blinked. "Nothing. Never mind. I'll just get ready."
"You should start leaving now," Axel said, buttoning the last of his fur coat that had his beginner level badge of an all supernaturals healer. "You don't have the speed the rest of us do. You know. Being… what you are."
It wasn't mocking. Axel wasn't that kind of Gamma. He just said it plainly, like the truth shouldn't hurt.
Boris stared back at the screen for a moment longer, imprinting the image in his mind.
'He doesn't even know what I look like,' he told himself. 'Maybe he never will.'
That would be better.
If Alpha Malakai never recognized him, then Boris could do his job at the selection trial. Work quietly, stay in the background, all while being useful. And then survive.
He swallowed hard.