Chapter 741 – Hidden Desires of the Werewolf King Novel

Filed To Story: Veiled Desires of the Alpha King Novel

How could he call himself an Alpha when he couldn’t give his Luna a comfortable life? And this was not about a comfortable life. It was about preserving Talia’s life.

Just last night, Talia was in the forest, fighting rogues, and he had no idea she was in danger!

What if something happened to her? How could he step in front of his people and expect them to believe he will protect them when he couldn’t protect his mate? How could he look into the mirror knowing that Talia was harmed on his watch?

The anguish ripped his heart into pieces at the thought that Talia was nearly kidnapped. What would they do to her? What if he couldn’t find her? What if… Dayson balled his hands into fists until his knuckles turned white.

Talia didn’t know what was on Dayson’s mind, but she could sense that his mood was off. Actually, he looked a bit murderous.

“Dayson? Dayson?” She called. “It will be alright. We will figure this out.”

Dayson stared at Talia blankly. Was she comforting him?

He reached for her and hugged her tightly until there was no space between them.

“Promise you won’t leave my side,” he said.

Talia nodded right away and asked, “Do you need rest, or can we address some important things?”

Dayson released a sharp breath. “I am OK. Let’s do this.”

He was squeezing her, which told her he was not OK, but James and Cornelia were watching, so she wanted to make this quick.

“Three things. First, we need to find out how much Stephanie knows about the current situation and to confirm if she was the one tipping off Lisa. Second, Grady and Varya will enter our pack in a low-key manner, and we will try to isolate them as much as possible. And third, when we reach home, I want us to meet with Lulu’s father personally. Do you think we can do that?”

Dayson confirmed. Visiting Lulu’s father will be emotionally challenging, but there were no obstacles to make it happen. As for the other two… “Maya will ask Rosa to prepare one side-house for Grady and Varya. I am hoping that Gideon can do the ceremony right away, and with them being a newly-mated couple, they won’t come out of the house for days. By then, we will figure out what to do with them. The fastest method to find out who is working with rogues would be to get our hands on Lisa, but she is with Tristan now, and that won’t be easy.”

Dayson rubbed his forehead while thinking about other options. “I can use my aura to force Stephanie and others in the packhouse to confess, but that will tip them off, and the innocents will be offended. We can go with the roundabout tactic by telling a different lie to each person and keeping an eye on Tristan’s movements…” Dayson’s voice trailed, and he turned to look at James.

“Do you have any spies that can keep an eye on rogues?” Dayson asked.

James’ eyes widened. “You want to spy on rogues?”

Dayson confirmed. “I wish to find out about Lisa’s situation.”

James thought for a moment before responding, “I don’t have anyone, but my father might. Give me a second…” It took him a second to think of something. “I will take care of it.”

Dayson was surprised by James’ confidence. “You will?”

“My father expects secretive information since I’m spending time with Alpha Natalia’s special advisor. I will tell him I overheard you talking how one of your close friends got mated to Tristan. If I say that she grew up in the packhouse as your sister, I’m confident that my father will not spare resources to investigate that.”

“You can also say that Lisa was Tony’s girlfriend,” Talia said.

Dayson’s face fell. “That’s right. Lisa had information on the Lightclaw pack also. We should warn Tony and Kalina.”

“This will make my father more interested in her,” James said. “With any luck, my father might try to get his hands on the female so that he can get information from her personally.” There was also an option of Alpha Edward and Tristan collaborating, but James didn’t want to mention that. Whether they were associated or not, Tristan won’t give up on Lisa willingly.

Dayson liked James’ plan. The boy was a genius. Will it be too early to ask him to join the Shadow Fang pack as a Gamma?

“If you ever consider leaving the Red Moon pack, I might have a position for you,” Dayson said.

James was surprised by this switch of topics. “What kind of a position?”

“A high-ranking one. You just need to say you are willing.”

James shook his head. “I am flattered, but I must ask, are you willing to risk my father starting an open war?”

Dayson pursed his lips. He knew that James had a point, but… “You could be my Gamma. That position will grant you liberties and power you don’t have now. In the Shadow Fang pack, you and your mate can be together openly. As for the war… my future Gamma is the smartest guy I ever met. I’m sure he will figure out how to make it work.”

James was aware that Dayson was sweet-talking him into trouble, but hearing Dayson praising him felt damn good. His father never did anything like that.

Any good words that left Alpha Edward’s lips about James were when he was talking to others, how James was his son, the best future Alpha, and how their pack will prosper. It was just an empty talk Alpha Edward used to make himself look better. It had nothing to do with James.

That was why this was different. There were no witnesses and no benefits, and James knew that Dayson meant it. Alpha Dayson of the Shadow Fang pack called James the smartest guy he ever met, and that meant a lot.

“Your offer is appealing, Alpha Dayson. I will consider it seriously,” James said with a little bow.

Talia and Cornelia exchanged smiles, both hoping that this will work.

Talia liked Cornelia from the beginning, and having another high-ranking witch in the Shadow Fang pack would be a bonus.

Cornelia liked that she could move about in the Shadow Fang pack freely, Amelia was there, and it would all be a hundred folds better if James could be with her also. No more hiding.

James cleared his throat and said, “As for the issue with your mole, give me a few days, and I will let you know if my father takes the bait. I recommend that before you take Grady with you, you stage his death. Make it look like guards beat him to death during interrogation. They can drag his body out of the dungeon for others to see. Regardless of what you do later, Tristan will believe that Grady is dead, so he won’t come searching for him.”

—

After they finished talking about Lisa and rogues, James asked Dayson and Talia if there was any other information they could give him about their packs that was not threatening. Considering how much time he spent away from Alpha Edward, he needed something to prove his worth.

They came up with a few stories that had just enough facts to make them believable yet not useful. James didn’t plan on using those unless necessary; they were just in case his father got impatient and tried something crazy.

With that, James and Cornelia left with Cornelia’s room as their intended destination.

Now that the official work was over, James was slightly embarrassed about his meltdown where he cried like a baby in front of his mate. That was not manly at all. Did she think less of him because of that?

James was grateful that Cornelia didn’t bring it up, and he was happy that she didn’t leave his side. She was letting him hold her, and she held onto him as well, like she understood that her proximity made everything better.

James’ hand landed on the doorknob, and just as he pushed the door open, his eyes lost focus.

Cornelia noticed. “What is it?”

James looked at her with a complex expression. “My father wants to see me.” He didn’t want to leave.

“We knew this would happen,” Cornelia said, and she pulled him into the room. “Hold me for a minute before you go.”

James was quick to wrap his arms around Cornelia, happy that she was clingy. The confirmation that his beautiful mate wanted his proximity was the best thing ever.

He buried his face in the crook of her neck and inhaled her sweet scent of wild berries.

The time was running out, but instead of letting go of Cornelia, his hold on her intensified.

“Jay?” It was getting difficult to breathe.

“I don’t want to go.”

Cornelia didn’t want him to go either, but… “You must. It’s part of the play. To be honest, I am surprised he didn’t call you earlier.”

James realized she was right. During the night, James shut down his mind link. However, after returning to the packhouse in the morning, James was available, yet his father didn’t reach out.

It was uncharacteristic, and James could think of only one possibility. “What if my father was part of last night’s attack?”

“You don’t know that.”

James stepped away from Cornelia and rubbed his face while thinking aloud, “Didn’t Dayson say how my father didn’t disturb Talia at the event? I remember how eager he was to get close to Alpha Natalia, the Alpha of the Midnight Guardians pack. Why would he stay away? Talia was right there, yet he only watched from the side. My father is not the one who will sit on the side and watch unless he has an agenda.”

James started pacing around the room. “Should I believe that he was afraid of provoking Alpha Dayson? Or that he put his hopes how I will open the door of the Midnight Guardians pack for him? Now that I think about it, it makes sense… he knew someone will try to kidnap Talia. And if he was behind it, it explains why he didn’t approach her. It was because he was planning to talk to her later, when she was in his hands.” And knowing Alpha Edward, it wouldn’t be just talking. “We were thinking of using Lisa for information, yet the one behind it all was my father. How come I didn’t see it?”

Cornelia moved to block his path, and he stopped an inch before they collided.

Cornelia poked his chest with her finger. “Stop doing this to yourself, James. No one expects you to know everything or to save the world. Edward Redmayne did many bad things, and you can’t be responsible for them. I won’t allow it.”

James snorted. Saving the world? He was unable to save himself and his mate. How could he save others? Besides… “I did bad things also.”

Cornelia cupped his cheeks with her palms. “And I am confident that whatever you did was to survive. I will never blame you for it. You are NOT like that man. He is hurting others for power, for greed. You are doing it to save yourself. There is a big difference between those two, Jay.”

James knew she was right but knowing and putting it into practice were two different things.

It was easy to blindly follow Alpha Edward’s orders when he didn’t know who was impacted. But since he came to the Shadow Fang pack and met Dayson, Talia, Maya, Jaeden, Petra, Erik, Zack, Cornelia, and many others, things changed. James changed.

.

People like Dayson and Talia acknowledged him as a person, not as Alpha Edward’s son, and not as the future Alpha of the Red Moon pack, but as a person.

Dayson offered him a position of a Gamma in the largest pack in North America. And that would be because of what he, James, can do. And that meant the world.

James wondered, was he worthy of such a position?

What would a good Gamma do? Would he turn a blind eye and pretend that things were alright only so that he could survive?

James knew Lulu, and she was gone now. Even Marcy died, and if Alpha Edward was behind this attack, how can James move on like it had nothing to do with him?

But retaliation meant punishment, and probably more, and James now had to worry about himself and Cornelia. Putting Cornelia in danger was unacceptable.

James looked at Cornelia, whose deep brown eyes held so much love that he wished to stay in there forever. He didn’t want to disappoint her because if she stopped looking at him like that, it would be the end of everything worth fighting for.

“What do you expect me to do?” James asked.

Cornelia’s eyebrows shot up. If it were up to her, they would get rid of all problems with a spell, or maybe with a potion. They didn’t need to kill anyone. Turning them into imbeciles would be enough. But she guessed that things couldn’t be that simple. “You are asking me?”

“Yes. Should I come clean and face my father’s wrath? With any luck, I might survive, and everything will be over. Or should we run? With different identities, they won’t find us if we are careful. Or…”

“Kiss me.”

James paused. It’s not that he didn’t want to, but how will that solve anything? “What?”

“You don’t expect me to make a life-altering decision without thinking it through? I hear you want my input, and I will think about it. Once I come up with something, I will let you know, and until then… kiss me.”

James smiled a bit and leaned to peck her lips, fearing that if he did more than that, he would drag her to bed, and then Alpha Edward would go ballistic because he had to wait.

The kiss was brief, too brief, and they stared at each other in silence because it was too soon for him to leave.

“Jay, there is no solution that will guarantee a happy future.”

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