_C H A P T E R T W O_

Nikolai's P.O.V

         "It is a truth universally acknowledged, that a single man in possession of a good fortune must be in want of a woman!" My father barked into my sensitive ears making me wince slightly.

     I withdrew the phone from my ears and took a deep breath. My dad had been pressuring me to marry the daughter of a neighboring pack's alpha for two weeks now and it had been driving me insane.

     Even though I had been waiting for my mate for seven years and had no luck, I was still adamant to take a Luna that wasn't legitimately mine.

      "Father, I admire your taste in books but quoting Jane Austen will not take this conversation anywhere near forward. I can't take Andrea as my Luna, I will not." I took a deep breath and stilled to control my rage before continuing in a much more calmer tone.

      "It's not even about the fact that she isn't my soulmate. Andrea is power hungry, her father is insane and her mother is indifferent and vain. Marrying Andrea would equal solidifying a pact with her pack and what is worse is that the pact would be sealed by marriage!" My self-control was gradually slipping.

    "You know the Daylight pack was formerly notorious for omega-trading/ slavery and even if they claim to have stopped it, we know they haven't and that's why they have criminal records with our elders here in the royal pack. Binding my pack to theirs is a horrible idea!" I growled out in fury, my wolf felt like he was being challenged and tried to surface but I pushed him down for the third time and tried to calmly address my father.

       "I get that you want powerful grandchildren and powerful future heirs to the pack but this isn't how to do it, father."

        "Then find your mate! Throw balls, organize search parties and go from pack to pack.. That is if she's a shifter. I give you one more week, Nikolai." He threatened and cut the call. I growled and ran my hands through my dark wavy curls. My father had always been a difficult man, then and even now.

       "Alpha Romanov, the alphas are waiting for you.. Should I tell them you're busy and reschedule the meeting?"

My beta Eros, mindlinked me, cutting my train of thoughts off.

I could feel his concern for me because we share a link, my pack members and I. I could feel their emotions and it was required of me to meet their needs as their alpha and king so I had a lot of responsibility on my shoulders.

       Naturally, having a mate would have made me feel less stressed as her presence would have a calming effect on me at all times but right now, I felt overwhelmed. Anyways, it wasn't anything I couldn't handle. I was king after all.

        "No, Eros." I replied calmly and pushed off my bedroom door, taking full control."Tell them I'll be with them shortly, I had some little "kingly" duties to attend to."

        I walked calmly to my wardrobe and picked an outfit. I made sure I took my time to dress and groom my self. I was always one for impeccable dressing and neatness. We can't have a shabby king now, can we?

        I looked in the mirror and let out a breath as I ran my fingers through my hair before messily placing a crown on it.

         Popping a cherry in my mouth, I strolled out of my room and walked down the long hall in big but relaxed strides, my long legs eating the distance quickly, only stopping at the elevator that will take me to the conference floor. Walking in, I punched in the number of the floor I was heading and leaned on the wall, scrolling through my phone.

        "I can't imagine that I'm stuck with this human, keeping all the alphas in the world waiting. Who do you think you are??" My wolf- Alaric yelled at me before realizing his last words and shaking his head. "If you reply what I think you'll reply, then you're a stuck up fool."

          I laughed as the elevator chimed and opened to reveal maids scurrying past me, all freezing to look then cower under the power of my presence. It's mostly that way, though. Anytime I talked to my wolf, it emitted this intimidating and terrifying aura that made people want to submit and run. Maybe it had to do with the fact that my wolf was a million years old.

        I smiled at them kindly even though it did nothing to alleviate their fear and got out of the elevator to walk towards the conference room.

         "I am the king, Alaric." I replief my wolf who only rolled his eyes and huffed.  "And I'm not late, everyone is simply early."

     I felt him reluctantly agree with me as the words fed his ego and I laughed out loud for the second time that day before pushing the door to the conference room open to see precisely 1,949 Alphas and Betas.

     The eyes and faces all turned themselves towards me and guiding myself by them, as by a magical thread, I stepped into the room.

                              Word count- 1013

                                               Edited.

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Tara.