The Human Girl Who Tamed Alpha King Chapter 230

ATLAS

I slammed the weights down with a frustrated grunt. My arms felt like jelly, muscles burning from the intense training session. Dad stood over me, his face showing no emotion.

"Again," he commanded, crossing his arms.

"Dad, I can't," I protested, wiping sweat from my forehead. "Something's wrong. I'm getting weaker, not stronger."

Jace Carter, King of the American werewolves and my father, simply raised an eyebrow. "Again, Atlas."

Arguing with my father? Complete waste of breath. I grabbed the weights, arms trembling as I forced myself through another set. My vision blurred at the edges. What the hell was happening to me? Just last week, I'd lifted twice this weight without breaking a sweat.

"That's enough," Dad finally said after watching me struggle for an hour.

I collapsed onto the bench, gasping for air. My inner wolf, Luke, growled in frustration.

*We shouldn't be this weak,* he rumbled inside my head.

"Tell me something I don't know," I muttered back.

"Atlas."

I hadn't heard the door open, but suddenly her scent filled the room. I jerked my head up, exhaustion instantly forgotten.

"Sister," I breathed out.

Aurora stood in the doorway, smiling. "Brother," she replied softly.

I bolted across the room and wrapped my arms around her. She felt so small, so fragile in my embrace. Just weeks ago, I'd watched her bleeding, screaming in pain while giving birth in a filthy cell while our captors watched. The memory made my stomach twist.

Inside me, Luke went suddenly, completely quiet.

*She's good. She's safe. She's safe now,* he whispered in my mind.

"I'm fine, Atlas," Aurora said, pulling back to look at me. "Dad told me your original wolf has been asking about me. So I wanted you both to see for yourselves that I'm okay."

"Yes, he's been anxious," I admitted. "We both have."

The next few hours felt almost normal. Dinner with the family. Talking. Laughing. Everyone pretending I hadn't killed a man weeks ago. Aurora hadn't almost died. I wasn't suddenly carrying powers that made furniture fly across the room when I had nightmares.

Family. They were everything to me. I would die for them without hesitation. Had already almost done exactly that.

Later, I found Aurora sitting on the garden steps, staring at the moon. I dropped down beside her, welcoming the cool night air against my skin.

"Though it's not full, it's still beautiful," Aurora murmured.

I nodded, feeling Luke stretch contentedly inside me. He'd been a restless storm since our transformation, but Aurora's presence had calmed him completely.

"Are you okay, brother?" Aurora asked, eyes still on the sky.

"Yes, I think this is the first time I've felt truly calm since my shift."

She turned to me. "Then what else is bothering you? I can feel that you and Luke still have something on your minds."

I stared at her, surprised. "How did you know his name is Luke?"

Aurora smiled. "Everyone in the pack knows, Atlas. Everyone felt him awaken. And I think because you're the true wolf king, they all immediately knew his name."

"That makes sense," I said, studying my hands. Normal hands now. Not the massive clawed weapons they'd become when I'd ripped that Alpha's throat out.

"I'm sorry, Aurora," I blurted out. "I almost didn't save you in time. After he killed Vanessa, he nearly killed you too. You almost died."

Aurora wrapped her arm around me. "Atlas, and you too, Luke—listen to me. You did save me. And you went through the most traumatic shift possible. Your first shift should never have been like that." She squeezed my shoulder. "But I'm alive, and so is Anthony, your nephew, who shares your birthday, by the way."

"What a pain," I joked weakly.

Aurora playfully swatted my head. The gesture was so normal, so sisterly, I almost wanted to cry.

When Lawrence appeared to take Aurora and Anthony home, I felt oddly peaceful watching them leave. My family was safe. For now.

That night, lying in bed with music playing, Luke spoke again.

*Do you think we have a true mate out there?*

The question caught me off guard. "I don't know," I answered aloud. "Do you want one?"

*I've never had a true mate before. The last wolf king chose his own mate, as did the one before him. And the last primal wolf king rejected our true mate because she was just a servant, a low-ranking Omega. I tried to stop him, told him her status didn't matter, but he wouldn't listen.*

"You mean the wolf king my father's bloodline traces back to?" I asked, suddenly interested.

*Yes. I tried to stop him when he went to kill his daughter too. I tried so hard. But in the end, we follow what our human sides decide.*

I thought about Luke's words, guilt twisting in my stomach. All those kings before me, making choices that hurt others. Would I become one of them? The pressure of being the "True King" sometimes felt crushing.

"I promise you this," I said firmly. "If we have a true mate, I will never deny you the right to be with her. Whatever decisions we make, we'll make together."

*Thank you. I like that promise.*

*I trust you, young wolf king,* Luke added. *I feel in our soul what kind of king you wish to be. I believe together we can be that. I sense family matters greatly to you, as it does to every wolf and primal soul.*

His words made me pause. "I never considered that before. Even though you're our strongest part as wolves or primal wolves, you're still forced to follow our decisions. That's not really fair, is it? Without our wolves or primal wolves, we wouldn't be who we are at all."

I stared at my ceiling, tracing the patterns of moonlight. Dad had often spoken about the responsibility of power, but he'd never mentioned the sacrifice our wolf sides make. Every king before me had dominated their wolf, forcing it to submit. But what if true strength came from partnership instead?

The prophecy called me the True King, but maybe that didn't mean what everyone thought. Maybe it meant being the first king to truly respect the primal wolf within.

*Goodnight, young wolf king. Tomorrow is a new day, a new adventure.*

Luke retreated into the depths of my mind. For the first time since that night I'd shifted and killed a man, my thoughts quieted. I closed my eyes and rolled over in bed.