15. Restless

“Welcome back, Your Majesty.”

A servant’s voice welcomed me as I strode through the main entrance of the palace. I barely acknowledged her presence, and continued walking without slowing down. I sighed in exhaustion as I made my way to the Royal wing, my body aching with exhaustion due to back-to-back meetings with the council. At some point, it had drained all the little patience I had left.

On top of that, the media had been relentless, I couldn't even remember the amount of time they'd reached out to me, requesting for interviews, photos, and public appearances with my newly mated Omega. They wanted to see the face of the person who had finally “tamed” the Lycan King.

Tamed. I wanted to laugh. They said it like I was some kind of beast that was now 'tamed’ by an Omega. It was ridiculous.

Let them wait. I didn’t give a damn about their whims or the public’s curiosity. Silas would be shown when I decided it was time.

I climbed the grand staircase and glanced at my wristwatch, it was already nearing evening. The realization made something in my chest tighten unexpectedly, and without meaning to, my thoughts drifted to him.

My wolf stirred immediately, pressing forward with insistent urgency. Repeating the words that he's been saying for the past few days like a mantra, that now felt like nightmare to my ears.

Mate. Go to mate.

The instinct was growing stronger every day and getting more difficult to ignore. It annoyed the hell out of me. I was the Lycan King, I certainly did not answer to base instincts or a weak, broken Omega. And yet…. here I was, on my way to him, having no choice but to answer to my wolf. His weariness was now begining to get to me, all because of that stupid bond.

The last time I saw him was two nights ago. I had slipped into the chambers in the middle of night like some pathetic creep. I didn't get a wink of sleep on our wedding night, my alpha made sure of that, because I believed I could stay a distance from my mate right after marking. Oh I was wrong.

The second night was the same, he was restless, agitated, pacing relentlessly inside me, it affected me directly because we were literally the same person. By the third night, I had given in. I stood in the corner of the room for a long time, just watching him sleep from afar. Then, against every rational part of me, I had moved closer, and sat carefully on the edge of the bed, just looking at him for several minutes, until my Alpha was satisfied.

I stared long enough to have his face etched into my mind. My eyes drifted across the fresh mating mark on his neck that stood out starkly under the moonlight that streamed in through the window. Eventually, I had forced myself up and left, shifting into my wolf form for a run through the forest to clear my head.

It hadn’t worked.

Now, two nights later, I found myself heading toward his room earlier than planned. I told myself it was only to satisfy my wolf so he wouldn't keep me up at night, nothing more. I badly needed rest tonight. But due to the fact that the bond was still new, I just needed to confirm that he was still breathing and recovering, and the restlessness would ease. That was all.

I reached the door to his room in no time, and the two guards stationed outside his door straightened immediately at my approach.

“Your Majesty,” one of them greeted. He looked like he wanted to say something but I didn't wait before opening the door and stepping inside.

I halted in my steps at the emptiness of the room, he was not here. Clicking onto the thought, my wolf surged forward with a low, dangerous growl that vibrated through my chest. The bed was neatly made, the window seat where he often sat was vacant, there was no sign of him.

The faint trace of his jasmine scent lingered, but it was very faint, like he'd been out of the room for hours.

“Where is he?” I asked, my voice dangerously calm as I turned back to the guards.

They exchanged nervous glances and one of them swallowed hard. “I was just about to tell you. Prince Zira came by earlier, Your Majesty. He…. took His Highness with him.”

Zira.

My hands clenched into fists at my sides. Like magic, the exhaustion from the day melted away in an instant, replaced by somethin darker as I turned on my heel without another word and stormed down the hallway toward my brother’s room.

It didn't take me ten seconds to reach his door. I raised my fist and knocked like I was being chased. When no immediate response came, I raised my fist to knock again, but the door swung open before my fist could meet the door.

Zira stood there, arms crossed, wearing a glare that matched my own. His eyes narrowed the moment he saw me.

“Where is my mate?” I demanded immediately.

Zira scoffed, rolling his eyes in that infuriatingly casual way only he could get away with. “He’s inside, relax. You’re releasing enough pheromones to choke the entire wing. You stink.”

Irritation burned hot in my chest with the way he spoke to me, but I kept my cool. My sole mission right now was to see Silas, my wolf was clawing at me too insistently to waste time arguing.

“Let me in,” I growled.

Zira didn’t budge. “Lower your voice. He’s asleep.”

The information hit like a switch, and surprisingly, my wolf immediately settled, and I understood immediately that he didn’t want to disturb our mate’s rest. His calmness made the tension in my shoulders loosen, which made Zira finally step aside and me in.

I didn’t waste a second and walked in. But I stopped short in my tracks at the sight before me.

Silas was on the floor, leaning back against the frame of the bed with a large bowl of popcorn that looked too big for him rested in his lap, though most of it had spilled onto the blanket thrown over his legs. The TV played softly in the background in low volume.

He looked… small, and peaceful in sleep. His head was tilted slightly to the side, dark lashes resting against his pale cheeks. His lips were parted just a little, and even the faint rise and fall of his chest under the blanket pulled at something deep inside me.

I glanced back at Zira, who was still standing by the opened door, leaning against it with a smug expression. “I told you he was asleep.”

I ignored him and moved closer to silas, kneeling on the floor in front of him, a position I would never allow myself to be in if he were awake. kneeling before the Omega I claimed was nothing more than a vessel. But here, with him unconscious and unaware, something in me gave in.

I carefully took the bowl of popcorn from his hands and set it aside, then gently moved the blanket off his legs. When I bent to slide my arms under him to lift him up, a new scent hit my nose that made me stiffen. The scent was sweet, but it had a tinge of something else.

I grabbed his jaw with one hand and tilted his face toward me. I leaned in close to his parted lips and inhaled the scent of his breath. I was right, there was a faint smell alcohol in his breath.

I glared up at my brother immediately. “You gave him alcohol?”

Zira rolled his eyes again. “I didn’t force it down his throat, he wanted it. It was just fruit juice with a little bit of alcohol. He had a few cups too many, that’s all. Why are you acting like he’s a child?”

I looked back down at Silas. Up close like this, he looked almost… fragile in a different way. His dark lashes were long and soft against his cheeks, which still carried a faint flush from the alcohol. His nose was delicate, slightly upturned at the tip, then my gaze fell on his lips, they were pink and slightly swollen, on top of that, the mating mark on his neck stood out clearly as always, my claim visible for anyone to see. He looked peaceful, vulnerable and… mine.

Zira’s voice cut through my thoughts, snapping me out. “If you’re going to ogle your mate like that, at least get a room, don't do it in mine.”

I snapped my head up immediately. “I wasn’t ogling him.”

Zira just snorted. “Keep telling yourself that.”

I ignored him and lifted Silas effortlessly into my arms, he weighed almost nothing. His head lolled against my chest, and his scent, jasmine and cream mixed with the faint trace of alcohol and… Zira, filled my lungs.

“He reeks of you,” I growled, glaring across the room at my brother.

Zira shrugged, completely unbothered. “Of course he does. He’s been here all day.”

Deciding not to waste my time with him, I walked out his room with Silas secure in my arms. Once in the hallway, I paused and turned back to face Zira one last time, to give him a warning. But he beat me to it.

“You should treat him better, Zenith.”

The words landed like a challenge to my ears. My brother watched me with a look I hadn’t seen from him in years, it was disappointment mixed with frustration.

I did not give a fuck. “You have no idea what you’re talking about.”

“Oh I already know. And before you go turning into a monster again, it wasn’t Silas who told me, I asked someone else. He didn’t say a word about you.”

His eyes flickered briefly to Silas’s sleeping face before returning to me. “I know you hate the idea of having a male as a mate, let alone a male Omega. I get it, It’s not what you wanted. But that doesn’t mean you have to treat him like this. Mates are gifts from the Moon Goddess, Zenith. Even you can’t deny the bond. You should be treating him like one, not like a prisoner… or a tool. Rejecting him would be better than this.”

He paused, then added more quietly, “And if this is still about the spy accusation… don’t you think you should look deeper into the case? Instead of handling things in such a barbaric way?”

“I know what I’m doing.” I said coldly, refusing to listen to his words. I did not want my brother lecturing me on things he didn't know about.

“You’re acting like a damn idiot, that’s what you’re doing.” he said irritatedly.

His tone made anger flare up in my chest, and I growled low in my throat “Watch who you’re talking to. I am your King.”

“And I am your brother,” Zira snapped back, refusing to back down. “The same brother who’s watched you isolate yourself for years. The same one who’s now watching you destroy the one person the Moon Goddess chose for you. Your stupid decisions have already set Elara off. She doesn’t even want to come back to the palace right now because she's furious with how you’re handling this.”

I shrugged, completely unmoved. “I couldn’t give a fuck less if our cousin no longer wants to visit.”

Zira stared at me for a long moment, and I saw something like pity flickering in his eyes. It only made my blood boil hotter.

I adjusted Silas in my arms, holding him a little tighter. “And I don’t want you anywhere near my mate anymore.”

Zira rolled his eyes, “No promises.”

Then he slammed the door in my face.

The sound echoed down the hallway as I stood there for several seconds, staring at the closed door. My wolf was still restless, torn between the satisfaction of having Silas back in my arms and the frustration of my brother’s words digging under my skin like thorns.

I turned and continued walking back toward his room. Silas shifted slightly in my hold, a soft, unconscious sound escaping him as his head pressed more firmly against my chest.

‘You should treat him better.’

I shoved Zira’s voice out of my head. He didn’t understand, none of them did. Silas was a necessity, a mistake I was forced to tolerate for the sake of an heir. The bond was a curse, not a gift.

Yet as I carried him through the quiet halls, feeling the warmth of his body against mine and his jasmine scent filling my lungs, I couldn’t completely silence the small, traitorous voice in the back of my mind.

The one that whispered my brother might not be entirely wrong.