FATED TO ALPHA HUNTER BY VENNEH LISAH

𝗔𝗡𝗜𝗔'𝗦 𝗣𝗢𝗩

As I woke up, I realized that Hunter was gone and I growled in frustration. He always took off when he knew I would have questions. I threw off the blanket, found a robe, and headed to the door to ask my guard, Kim.

Lemmy was outside, dancing and singing to himself. He froze when he saw me and smiled deviously, calling me "My Luna."

"Do you know where the alpha went?" I asked him.

"He's questioning Ben, and in the meantime, you have to figure out how to drop your command on Kim, Valentine, and Joe," he replied.

"Pardon?" I asked.

"You commanded them not to follow or touch you, so now they can't do either," Lemmy explained. I sighed and rolled my eyes.

"Wait, why does he want to talk to Ben?" I asked.

"I'm not sure," Lemmy answered. I furrowed my brows in confusion.

"What's wrong, Luna?" Lemmy asked.

"Nothing, he just never answers my questions, or he runs from me when I have them. And now he's questioning my supposed uncle and hiding from me again!" I told him.

"Hunter seems to be a stubborn man," he said, smiling slyly. "There will come a time when he can't run." I raised an eyebrow, waiting for him to elaborate. He chuckled and I asked, confused, "Was that supposed to help me?"

"I don't know, did it?" Lemmy laughed again.

"You're an odd man, Lemmy." I laughed and shook my head.

"That's why I'm so much fun," he replied, winking at me.

"What about Rina, where is she now? Any word on the reopening of school? I'm damn tired of staying here," I asked.

"Rina is with Valentine, though I know the alpha wanted you to wait here until he returned. As for school, the county government will decide that." I raised an eyebrow at him.

"With that look, I don't think you intend to wait around for the alpha to return," he laughed.

"No, I want to find Hunter," I told him firmly, and he nodded in understanding. Lemmy cleared his throat as I headed towards the stairs, and I looked back at him.

"It would probably be wise to put some clothes on under your robe, my Luna," he said. I looked down and realized that I was still naked underneath. I let out a sigh and quickly rushed back into the room, putting on a dress before heading out. Lemmy followed me down to the alpha's office, where I could hear some arguing going on.

Pushing the door open, I stepped in, and the arguing instantly came to a halt. "You're awake!" the alpha exclaimed with relief. I nodded in confirmation, moving into the room and taking a seat in his chair. He was standing over Ben, who was seated across from me, while Joe stood behind him with his hands on Ben's shoulders.

Kim leaned against the bookshelf in the corner of the room with an angry expression on his face, while Joe looked like he needed to crawl into bed.

"Everyone stared at me, and the room fell silent," I said, breaking the tension.

"You should go back to the room. I will be up in a minute," Hunter told me.

"Ben is supposed to be my uncle, is he not? If you're speaking to him, I have a right to know what's going on," I insisted. Hunter growled, and Ben tried to suppress a smile, but I kept my gaze fixed on the alpha and said nothing.

"Wait, I thought you said I commanded Valentine, Kim, and Joe to walk away?" I turned to face Lemmy.

"You did. You commanded them not to follow or touch you. You came here. Plus, I dropped the command. Don't you remember Valentine helping you with your nail issues? And if you do that again, you'll be stuck with it forever. You know that's not fun, don't you?" Hunter stated, shaking his head.

"Still, Ben is supposed to be my uncle. I have a right to sit in," I repeated my request.

"Oh, she has a point," Lemmy said from the doorway.

"You were supposed to ensure she remained in the room," Hunter told him. Lemmy shrugged, not caring for his anger.

"Would you rather me pin her to the bed or tie her down?" Lemmy asked, and Hunter growled. "I am your gamma, not a babysitter. I am not good at it like Kim is," Lemmy opened up.

"We can continue this later," the alpha said, and Joe growled but let Ben go, stepping away from him.

"Continue what later?" I asked curiously. Whatever it was, it was once again being kept from me.

"The alpha thinks I am not being genuine with my protection over you. I explained how it is impossible to harm you, even if I wanted to, not that I intend to anyway, my princess. It is all just a huge misunderstanding!" Ben said. Hunter growled at him in warning.

My eyes moved to Kim. He shrugged when he met my gaze. "He can never hurt you. We are both oathed to Devonshire's throne," Kim admitted.

"I still think there is something slimy about him,he should go through trials," Hunter accused, narrowing his eyes.

"I'm sorry, can someone explain what's going on? What trials are you talking about?" I asked, confused.

Kim stepped forward to explain. "Before the hunting began, we used to compete to determine who would become the alpha, beta, gamma, and guards. The positions were chosen based on how well we performed in the trials. However, Hunter became the alpha because he killed the previous one."

Joe interrupted, "But if Ben wants to be close to the princess, he must go through the trials like the rest of us and take an oath for the Mooncrest pack. No shortcuts."

Hunter added, "No cheating this time. If you want to prove yourself, do it fairly."

Ben sneered, "Don't let your prejudices against me get in the way. We all know why you're trying to keep the princess away from me. You think I'll take her to Devonshire, where she rightfully belongs."

"She rightfully belongs where her mate is," Joe retorted.

Lemmy chimed in, "And if you cheat, you may end up like the king of Devonshire, who may have only gained his position through unmerited means."

Hunter growled, "Enough! Ben, if you want to be free to be around my mate, enter the trials like everyone else." He turned his gaze to me and said,

"The King and alphas compete separately from the Guard ones. We competed, but the Devonshires always won, even when it was undeserved. So if your supposed uncle wants to be by your side, I will offer him a position as a guard. But only if he enters the trials under the Mooncrest pack, under my tight scrutiny. And if he wins, he has to take an oath. Only then will he be allowed near you," Hunter explained.

"Wait, slow down. How come I never heard about this back in my pack? I never heard of these trials. You were just born in whatever position you were born in. Alphas passed their titles to their children, and so did the betas, gammas, and omegas," I said, confused.

Hunter sighed and walked around his desk. I got up out of his seat, and he sat down, pulling me onto his lap. Joe took the seat next to Ben, and Lemmy took the couch. Kim rubbed his hands together.

"Storytime!" Lemmy squealed, making Kim snort at his enthusiasm before he forced Lemmy to move over. I turned my attention back to Ben.

"So what about the trials?" I asked, glancing around at everyone. Joe let out a sigh, while Hunter leaned forward and opened a drawer, placing his hand on my belly to keep me from slipping off his lap as he did so. He retrieved a scroll and handed it over to Joe, who unrolled it on the desk. I leaned in for a closer look, and Ben grabbed a paperweight to keep the map from rolling back up.

The map looked ancient, with the paper yellowing around the edges. Ben pointed to a vast kingdom by the river. "There are four kingdoms. This one is the Augustus Kingdom, which explains Hunter's last name and where his pack falls," Ben explained. "Their kingdom fell, leaving only packs. But as you can see, your former pack was not among our associations in the kingdoms, so the rules didn't apply to them."

"Your last name is Augustus?" I asked, looking back at Hunter over my shoulder.

"Yes," Hunter chuckled. Ben looked at me incredulously.

"You don't know your mate's last name?" he asked.

"I never bothered to ask, which I probably should have," I replied, my cheeks flushing.

"Hunter Allan Augustus, of the Augustus Kingdom," Hunter whispered into my ear. He then kissed my shoulder, and I nodded, turning back to Ben.

"Wait... Hold up, all the Kingdoms are named after the reigning King, right?" I asked, and Ben nodded. "Let me get this straight, if that is the case, it only means that Hunter here was a King or is a king or a prince?" My mouth and eyes went wide with surprise.

"Wow, so our Luna is not a blonde after all," Lemmy commented, and Kim slapped his shoulder. "That's correct. He was a prince," Joe chimed in.

"The Augustus Kingdom, which was your mate's kingdom. Also, the first Kingdom to fall when it was raided by hunters, and only the alpha survived. The Augustus Kingdom was the largest Kingdom," Ben said.

"All of them died?" I asked. Hunter nodded sadly.

"Your mate was the crown prince and the only one that survived in that bloodline, and only because he was away from home at the time of the massacre," Joe explained. I turned around and hugged my mate, and we were engulfed in a tight embrace. "That is why you might never have heard about the trial, but the trial Ben must go through it if he has to come close to you," Hunter said.

"Or we can have a blood oath by her blood and mine after all she is ours," Ben argued.

"No!" Hunter snarled behind me, making me jump.

"If we want something that will make you all trust me, I can't go for trials alone, and if we form a crowd of opponents, the trial will attract humans, setting us up as a target," Ben growled.

"She's pregnant, definitely not! I won't put my unborn child or mate at risk!" Hunter spat at Ben.

"But it's only a little amount of her blood, and you'll be there with your calling to make sure she isn't in pain," Beb argued.

"What is he talking about?" I asked, but Hunter shook with rage and Ben glared at him.

"Meeting dismissed, everyone out, now!" Hunter ordered, and they jumped to their feet to leave.

"What? No!" I growled, twisting in his arms.

"Enough, we can talk about it later," Hunter snarled.

"Why are you so hell-bent on keeping away the only person who is willing to give me answers? What are you so afraid and insecure of?" I yelled at him.

"I'm not afraid of anything, nor am I insecure, so stop causing a scene. As I said, we can talk about this later!" Hunter growled. A scene? I was causing a scene!

"Yeah, you keep saying that, but later never comes, does it, Alpha Hunter?" I snapped and tried to climb off his lap, but he refused to let go. He nipped at my mark in warning, which only angered me further. My claws slipped out, and I stabbed them into his thighs.

"Let me go!" I snarled.

I struggled to get out of his grip. Kim paused by the door, waiting to see if I was leaving. Hunter tightened his grip around my waist and gripped my wrist with his hand, prying my claws from his leg. "Let me go," I repeated. "Do that again, and I will put you to sleep!" he snarled. "I just want answers, Hunter. Ben seems to be the only one who is willing to answer them, so let him in as my guard if that's what you want, without the terms and conditions," I pleaded.

"No...!" Hunter growled. "I am not going to let you bond with another man through blood, so he can plant ideas in your mind to leave and go somewhere else." I could sense his insecurity.

"But I am marked and mated!" I growled back.

"You're a Devonshire," Hunter said.

"What's so special about being a Devonshire?" I demanded to know. Hunter went silent and glared at me. I begged him to answer, but before he could, a voice boomed through the door.

"Devonshires are not tied to anyone by a mate's bond. We are too powerful for that," Ben said, stepping back in. "You can choose to leave Hunter and get bonded with another mate, maybe a real king or prince who has an actual kingdom, without any consequences. That is what your mate is worried about. You could leave him and build a kingdom with a king, making you and our kingdom so powerful," Ben taunted, glancing nervously at Hunter.

Hunter let out a roar that sounded painful, and his aura hit all of us like a shockwave, making me feel queasy. He moved so quickly that I fell off his lap onto the floor as he shoved me away and grabbed Ben. He slammed him against the door, and Lemmy jumped back, startled.

"Hunter!" I shrieked, watching Ben's face turn purple. I got to my feet and grabbed Hunter's arm.

"Let him go," I told him. Hunter's eyes were wild with rage, his nostrils flaring and his hair standing on end as he fought the urge to shift. Ben tried to speak, his mouth opening as he gasped for air, but Hunter didn't let him go. I looked at Lemmy, who moved the moment I did and gripped Hunter's shoulder.

Joe also stepped in next to him from outside the corridor. "My Alpha, you don't want to kill him and start a war with Devonshire. Think about it because we won't win," Joe growled, and Hunter growled back, but his grip loosened. Ben gasped loudly, but Hunter didn't let go completely.

"That's what you're worried about? That I would leave my own mate?" I asked Hunter. "I can never leave you, Alpha Hunter Allan Augustus. I love you so much forever. It's just me and you." I whispered, and he let go of Ben completely.

"Is the history lesson done?" Hunter snapped. Ben swallowed before nodding, and though I had more questions, I figured it would be best not to push him with the way Hunter's aura was rippling out. "There are still real kings and princes out there with actual kingdoms and power," Ben sneered.

Lemmy quickly pulled Ben out of the room, followed by the rest of them. Hunter wandered over to his safe, poured himself a glass of whiskey, and then another. Three glasses later, his aura settled, but he was still angry. I waited for him to speak, but he didn't. After 30 minutes, he simply walked out of the room.

I raced to catch up to him, slipping my hand in his. He stopped and looked down at my hand in his before sighing. He lifted it to his lips and kissed it, then pulled me to him, hugging me tightly before pressing his lips to mine with urgency.

"I'm sorry," he whispered in my mouth as his tongue explored every inch before pulling out.

"I'm not leaving you, Hunter. I'm just curious about who I am and what I am. You don't need to feel threatened by any of it," I whispered, running my fingers through his hair and gazing deeply into his eyes. I saw nothing but love in them, which I could feel through our bond. He kissed me again.

"I'm not going anywhere, my love," I said when he kissed me to his satisfaction. He nodded but didn't say anything else.

"I am going to visit your old pack today, and you're coming with me," Hunter said firmly, taking my hand as we walked back to our room. We indulged in passionate love-making, and Hunter claimed my body once again, intensifying our bond until we both climaxed. After cuddling for a few minutes, Hunter got out of bed and looked at me.

"We need to prepare," he said in a firm voice. "It's supposed to rain today, so make sure to wear warm clothes." I was still feeling dazed and sleepy, and I protested, "I don't feel like going with you. I just want to sleep."

However, Hunter chuckled and replied, "There's no escaping this. We're going together." Realizing there was no point in arguing, I got up and started getting ready, knowing that I had no choice but to accompany him.