Sold by my Alpha, bought by my Mate Chapter 70: Checklist

Jeremiah

Ava was nowhere to be found; she seemed to have been swallowed by the earth. The king didn't know where she was, but he didn't seem too worried either; the truth was… we had more complicated problems ahead of us.

The eclipse was approaching, and I tried to convince His Majesty to take matters into his own hands. The solution was not going to fall from the sky; we had to work at it in order to defeat our enemies.

"The vampire is right, my lord," said Constantine, who, though I always knew he was on my side, had a hard time confronting His Majesty.

"The human is almost certain to choose Asher. And we don't know how Randall will react. We have to be careful; he'll most likely claim that there was a preference, or that we helped Asher. Or he might fight for his mate. The bond between them is stranger and more complicated than we think; he might retaliate, and..." I said, but Maximus interrupted.

"So I suppose you're going to tell me to go to war and prepare as usual, are you?" asked Maximus with a bored look on his face, as if he didn't want to be here.

"That is possible... but the first step is to call our allies, the Alphas who answer to you, those who believe in the right order in the wolf world," I told him and he snorted.

"Do you think they will answer to me? The Wolf World has been in chaos for some time now," he replied.

And he knew very well that it was his fault.

"Of course they will respond," Constantine said. Maximus seemed to think about it for a while.

"Others will respond as well, the vampire clans, maybe other creatures. If they know of the evil to come, they will," I said. I was pretty sure he would refuse, especially that last part, but today he seemed to be in a weird mood.

"Send messages to all the packs, to the vampire clans, and to those who may have some power and soldiers. We will call a Council. Warn them to prepare, to protect their borders..." Maximus said.

"Let us warn the packs to be vigilant. We will prepare a good announcement that will not cause fear and despair," the advisor said, and the king nodded.

"There is another matter..." I added.

"Ohh, let me guess, Jeremiah..." he said bored.

"A mate, Your Majesty. The mate bond would give you strength and save the whole kingdom, I'm convinced."

"I told you, I don't have or want a mate.... no woman will control me, whether I choose her or not."

"Your Majesty, there is no woman who can match your power.... but a mate will give you stability, and by marking her, she will give you the power your wolf needs," Constantine said, giving me a sideways glance.

We knew we were in this together; Maximus was a hard wall to move, but between all of us, maybe we could do it. We need it, our people and friends need it.

Not only the wolf world was in danger, not even the supernatural world. Humans and other innocents were in danger. It was our duty.

"I think it's a side issue; please, let's prepare the Council first," the king said.

"Maybe we could look among the relatives of the most important members present in the Council, probably an Alpha's daughter or..." I said, but Maximus just got up and walked away. Constantine sighed, and I nodded at him.

I followed the king on the way to his rooms when I noticed that he was holding onto the wall. Without saying much more, I helped him to his bed.

"You don't even have to talk anymore... I can already hear your damn words in my head. You are impossible even without talking," he said wearily as I held up one of the potions I had prepared for him.

"Believe... I understand your position..."

"No, you don't understand, friend. You're just like Alpha Asher... lusting after his mate. I never wanted her…" he told me.

It was true, I had lived alone for too long; I looked everywhere for my mate, I won't deny it. But unlike Mr. Gig Alpha... I had patience and faith.

"Your mate could be the solution to all our problems, if you didn't do it for you, I know you will do it for your people," I said.

"You are using a manipulation I have never seen in you, my friend. This is possibly the most complicated decision of my long life, much more than a war, than the destruction of an enemy kingdom, than the choice between life and death”

“Maximus…”

“No, Jeremiah… what you don't understand is that mates are like half the soul, they can't live apart, they are weak separated. If I had a mate... I wouldn't be alive, right now. In so many years, I would have already gone mad as Alpha Asher's wolf. So I concluded that my soul was already good and whole. I didn't need a better half, I didn't have it. I was what I was…”

"Then even better... you don't have to share anything with anyone, you just have to form an alliance and let the mate bond help you. A convenience, a simple transaction" I told him. But he didn't respond.

At least I felt like I was making some progress; I sneaked into the Omegas' area and spent several hours eavesdropping here and there.

I heard that there was a new assistant that nobody knew about. I talked to the service manager, but she seemed as lost as I was.

"We haven't hired anyone, let alone a member from Red Moon," she exclaimed.

"Have you seen a she-wolf near Alpha Randall's quarters? She had dyed red hair, looked high status..."

"If she had been around; she had been hiding quite well, sir," she answered me. Not at all... I saw her. But the Castle was huge.

It was all suspicious, and I thought Miss Mildred was right; this woman could be an enemy or a spy here, hiding right under our noses.

I also asked about some explorers who had traveled out of the country to gather information, but there was no news of them either. The demons… I needed to know more about them.

To make matters worse, no one knew where Ava was, and the time I had to wait for her was used up.

The rest of my friends were happy in River Ash, while here we prepared to contain the war and whatever came.