The Human Girl Who Tamed Alpha King Chapter 208

LAWRENCE

I stepped out of my room and found Jace waiting in the connecting area between our bedrooms. He looked up and gave me a knowing smile.

"I'm guessing you did the same thing I did," he said.

"Yeah," I laughed. "Aurora says they're doing fine. Atlas insisted on staying with her while I'm gone."

Jace nodded. "Atlas has always been protective of Aurora. Since he was small." He sat down on one of the plush chairs. "When he was just five, some of the pups in the pack teased Aurora about not having a wolf. Atlas used his Alpha compulsion to make them apologize."

"At five?" I was genuinely impressed. Most wolves couldn't access Alpha commands until puberty at earliest.

"Yes. That's why he wears that wolf tooth bracelet you've seen." Jace rubbed his temple. "It seals his Alpha power. It's bound with ancient moonlight magic and can't be removed until he turns sixteen."

I sat across from him, processing this information. "So you have two years to teach him control."

"Exactly. I make him wear it when we're not training or when I'm away from the pack. I'm the only one who can stop him." The weight of responsibility was clear in Jace's voice.

"I've always thought Atlas was a good kid," I offered.

Jace's eyes met mine. "Oh, he is, he truly is. But that's a lot of power. I doubt I'll be able to stop him when he's eighteen. He is the true King after all. The one who will rule all packs, not just the American ones." He paused. "I have no doubt he'll be an excellent and fair King. But it's a heavy burden for a teenager."

I nodded, feeling a strange mix of awe and protectiveness toward the boy who would someday be my King. "I promise I'll help however I can."

Relief washed over Jace's face. "You're a good man, Lawrence. I'm glad Aurora found you, despite all the trouble that came with it."

His words warmed something inside me I hadn't realized was cold. For years, I'd been a lone wolf, feared for my scars and fighting skills. Now I was "family" to a King.

"We should head down for dinner," Jace said, standing. "Try not to kill anyone, no matter what they say."

I snorted. "I'll do my best."

Walking down the corridor, I steeled myself. Tonight I'd sit across from the man who slaughtered my family. My mouth tightened into a hard line enough to hurt. Rocky growled inside me, his rage matching mine.

*Focus on Aurora. Focus on your pup.* I reminded myself, breathing deeply. *You're not a lone wolf anymore. You have something to lose now.*

---

The dining room was elegant but tense. I could feel Jace's displeasure at sharing a table with people who had tried to harm Aurora and me, but he was too diplomatic to refuse Alpha Louis's hospitality.

Louis had placed Jace and me at opposite ends of the long table, each of us next to him. I found myself engaged in conversation with the pack's Beta, Gamma, and their mates. They were actually pleasant company, curious about America and respectful of my position as the mate of King Jace's daughter.

Across the table, Jace and Louis discussed Alpha business and rumors about the werewolf King. I half-listened while maintaining my own conversation, until a scoffing laugh from the other end of the table caught everyone's attention.

Alpha Charles, the man who had murdered my parents, was smirking. "Kings are meaningless. I've heard this bullshit theory about the 'true' King. Pardon my language, but I will never bow to some pup just because he's supposedly the King. We don't need a child to maintain peace in our werewolf world."

Louis replied calmly, "I think the idea of werewolves worldwide united under one leader King is good. Perhaps we could finally reduce the number of rogues."

Charles laughed again, his eyes fixing on me, then Jace. "I rule the Italian packs, not some King who knows nothing about our packs..." His eyes narrowed at me. "Just like your father, who shouldn't have taken my destined mate just because she chose him instead of me. Look where that got them, dead by my bare hands, along with your two siblings. Oh well, you know the story."

*Don't answer.* Jace's voice came through our mind link.

But it was too late. Rage exploded inside me, a red haze clouding my vision. In an instant, I was across the room, my hand around Charles's throat, slamming him against the wall. I drove my knee hard between his legs, making him wheeze in pain.

"You will never speak of my parents again!" I snarled, my face inches from his. "Be grateful you're still alive. Be grateful I didn't kill you when I was tracking you down years ago, step by step. Stay out of my life, and I'll let you live your miserable, pathetic existence. You can keep that territory. I'll even sign those damn papers if you leave me the fuck alone."

The monster inside me—the one I'd spent years controlling—was clawing to get out. I wanted to feel his throat collapse under my fingers. Wanted to watch the light fade from his eyes. This man had taken everything from me.

"Lawrence," Jace's voice cut through my rage. Not a command, just my name. "Let him go. Now."

I released Charles, watching him slide down the wall, gasping. I turned to Alpha Louis and bowed deeply.

"I deeply apologize, Alpha. I never meant to disrespect your kind help and hospitality. I truly am sorry."

Louis nodded, his expression understanding. "Your apology is accepted." He turned to Charles. "You, on the other hand—you're all here to get results, and I don't appreciate your disrespect toward my guests. I believe this dinner is over."

Jace put his hand on my shoulder. "Go back to our suite. I'll stay and talk with Alpha Louis."

I nodded and left without looking back at Charles. My hands were still shaking with rage as I walked through the corridors. Rocky was howling inside me, disappointed we hadn't torn out Charles's throat.

*He killed our family,* Rocky growled.

"I know," I whispered. "But killing him won't bring them back."

*But it would feel good.*

I couldn't argue with that.

---

Back in my room, I lay on the bed, staring at the ceiling. The confrontation with Charles had reopened old wounds I thought had scarred over. I wished Aria was here to calm Jace, and Aurora to calm me. Just thinking of her gentle touch and fierce spirit made my heart ache.

My hand drifted to the pocket where I kept the ultrasound picture of our son. Our boy would grow up surrounded by family—something I'd lost too young. He would know his grandparents, his uncle Atlas, his aunts. He would never know the loneliness I'd carried for decades.

I closed my eyes, picturing my beautiful mate's face as sleep slowly claimed me. Tomorrow would bring the DNA test that would clear my name. And then I could go home to Aurora, where I belonged.