Astrid's POV

I had lost my mind.

How did I know that I had lost my mind?

Because with Alpha Jaxon looking down at me, his eyes a stormy gray that hinted at annoyance and his dark hair falling slightly over his forehead, all I could think about at this point was how handsome he looked.

His scent was undoubtedly the best thing I had smelt. He smelt like cedar, sweet wine and so undeniably male. I could get lost in his eyes and his hair, I was just dying to touch to feel if it was as soft as it looked.

I felt a tingle work itself up my body.

A growl escaped Alpha Jaxon and his gaze darkened, his arms around me tightening making me gasp out in pain.

"When I am talking to you, I expect a response."

My lips parted. "I."

But what did I have to say? What would I tell him and where would I start from and where would I end?

I couldn't tell him about the fact that I left the pack house without telling him why and the last thing I wanted was for him to also find out that I was royalty and try to use me like Xavier had planned to with his father.

No, I had to tell him something entirely different but what bothered me about that was the fact l felt like he would know if I was lying.

I found my voice looking into those gray depths. "I am Xavier's mate."

I saw something spark into life in Alpha Jaxon's gaze.

"Was his mate." I clarified. "He rejected me the moment he found out because he believes I am an omega and not good enough for him."

Talking about it refreshed the entire situation in my mind. How he had rejected me so easily.

He said that I was worthless when actually it was the reverse that was the case depending on how one looked at it.

Considering the fact that I was the daughter of the Alpha king and he wasn't even the Alpha of his pack yet, I outranked him.

I felt tears build in my eyes as I looked at Alpha Jaxon who just watched me intently.

"Even before we discovered we were mates, he abused me and humiliated me at every chance he got so I got angry and left the pack."

I still didn't regret my decision despite my current rather precarious situation and the fact that I had gotten kidnapped. If there was anything that I would do over again, it would be to choose a better hotel to pass the night or to have continued my journey into the night.

Alpha Jaxon raised a questioning eyebrow as though to ask me if a ransom had been put on my head for that reason alone.

I shrugged slightly, a smile coming to my lips at the thought of what I had done.

"I might have also pushed Xavier's favorite car into a lake and bashed his girlfriend's car."

Alpha Jaxon's eyes widened momentarily as though I had shocked him and I was glad to note that I rather liked the thought of surprising him.

Alpha Jaxon's shocked look faded to that of disbelief and doubt.

"Is he the one who put the bounty out on you? What rank does he have in the pack to do something like that?"

Now it was my turn to be shocked that he didn't know who Xavier was although I made sure not to let it on.

How was this possible? I thought all Alphas knew themselves. I suddenly recalled how Alpha Finn always put in so much effort to remain unnoticed by Alpha Jaxon.

Was it possible that he had also hidden the identity of Xavier so that he could spring him up when it was time to take the throne of my father the Alpha King?

I thought quickly. If he found out that I was the mate of the heir to the Moonshadow pack then he could let me go because I was too much trouble.

"He has close ties with the Alpha and the heir of the Moonshadow pack."

Alpha Jaxon narrowed his eyes at me. His grip on me tightened almost threateningly.

I was surprised to feel the entwining of fear and arousal within me.

Alpha Jaxon snarled at me baring his teeth.

"You had better not be lying to me or there will be consequences."

I swallowed hard, making eye contact with him so as not to further rouse his suspicions.

"I'm not lying. Please believe me. Anyone at the Moonshadow pack can attest to my story."

And I was right. It wasn't really a lie. Xavier was close to the Alpha of the Moonshadiw pack being his son and he was close to the heir of the Moonshadow pack seeing as he was the heir himself.

I must have sounded like I was telling the truth because Alpha Jaxon frowned slightly, his brows furrowed.

"If all of that was true then your exmate is a fool."

I blinked at him, surprised by his words. He never struck me as the sentimental type that would curse out someone simply for how they related to me.

He inhaled sharply making goosebumps break out across my skin from how class se he was to me.

"You don't smell like an omega but an Alpha." He said the words with a faintly confused and intrigued air.

I was struggling to think at this point because was it just me or had the car gotten like ten degrees hotter?

"I don't?"

His hands slipped from my shoulders where he'd held me down, one hand drifting to my waist, the other hovering dangerously close to my breasts.

Alpha Jaxon dipped his head in the juncture between my neck and my shoulder.

"You smell like dominance,"

His voice was deeper and it went straight to my core, I barely stopped myself from moaning. What the hell was wrong with me?

He dipped his head again, his hot breath moving over my skin making a small gasp escape me.

A growl left Alpha Jaxon's lips and he moved us faster than I could exclaim in shock pulling me partly under him on the seat.

In that movement, I felt him settle between my legs. Felt his hardness against me.

Another moan escaped me and I couldn't find the strength within myself to hold it in.

He slid his hand into my hair, fisting it in a way that was just shy of painful but extremely hot.

Then Alpha Jaxon dropped a kiss on my neck making me shiver before whispering against my skin.

"You smell like berries and wildflowers."

No one has ever spoken to me like that. With that dangerously sensual voice and something even rarer, honesty. It melted my heart and very nearly disintegrated my panties.

I opened my eyes that I had not realized had fallen shut to see his hooded eyes staring at me with undiminished desire.

"Alpha Jaxon." I meant to call his name to bring him back to himself but it came out as a low drawn-out moan.

I saw a look of dark amusement and intense pride come over his face.

"You are so aroused by my touch, Astrid. If I touch you, will I find you wet?"

I think I had a mini orgasm at the sound of my name on his lips. It was official. I was going to lose my virginity in the backseat of a car with a heartless Alpha who wanted me to have his child in exchange for 50,000 USD.

And the scariest part was that I was going to enjoy it. Hell, I might even be an active participant.

There was. just something about Alpha Jaxon that made me unsure of who I was outside his touch.

My silence seemed to be insufficient to satisfy his curiosity and his hand began to drift lower.

Over my belly, lower abdomen. he began to lift the shirt up to slip his hands beneath the leggings I wore underneath.

This was where my hand of its own accord caught his stopping his descent.

"We." I panted through my words, my inner thighs trembling at the thought of his fingers inside me. I needed him now. "I. We are just getting to know each other-"

He didn't let me finish before pulling my hands off his, a dangerous glint in his eyes.

"No one says no to me, pet."

Then he slid his hand directly over me on top of the leggings making me gasp sharply, the wet sound from the movement slightly louder than my gasp.

I was so wet that I had soaked through the leggings. Alpha Jaxon smirked at me and the car came to a stop.

He started hovering above me for a few seconds, his eyes in contact with mine, the scent of my arousal thick in the air.

He removed his hands from me straightening and as if on cue, the car door opened and he shoved me out such that Beta Caleb broke my fall.

He didn't even look at me.

"Take her to the pack doctor to check her ovulation and put her on the list."

What list was he talking about?

Astrid's POV

When I got to the Crimson Moon pack hospital with Beta Nathan, I was more than confused.

What exactly had Alpha Jaxon meant by the list and why did he want a doctor to see me?

The injury on my cheek was already healed. I might not have a wolf but I could heal even though it was way slower than a regular wolf's.

The doctor seemed pleasant at least.

"I am Rachel and in your time here as your time here as a surrogate, I will be your guide and confidante."

I looked at the smiling doctor with cropped blond hair and almost angelic blue eyes. My supposed confidante. She was from the Crimson Moon Pack and ultimately one of Alpha Jaxon's people. I couldn't trust anyone but myself here.

She turned to face Beta Nathan who seemed to stand straighter under her gaze.

"Wait outside the clinic and give this to the Alpha."

Rachel handed him an envelope. Beta Nathan accepted it and gave me what I assumed was a don't misbehave look before walking away.

I turned back to you the doctor. Had she sent him away so that I could feel more comfortable?

"When you said confidante, did you really mean it?"

Rachel smiled wider, her face a picture of serenity as she hooked my arm with hers.

"Of course, I intend to help you along with everything I possibly can."

She escorted me into a room still speaking. "To carry a child, your mind must be at peace, your body fully rested and primed on your goal."

Right. Just in case I had forgotten my primary objective here. Being Alpha Jaxon's surrogate and giving him an heir as quickly as possible.

The room had a bed and numerous sterile equipment that instantly made me feel nervous.

Rachel at least allowed me to change behind a dressing screen even though she stood right in front of it and spoke to me while I dressed.

I didn't know if it was because she was trying to get me familiarized with her or because she didn't want me to escape.

I stepped away from the dressing screen wearing the extremely thin hospital gown feeling exposed in more than one way.

"Do-Rachel. I've not done anything like this before."

Hospital check ups that weren't critical weren't in the cards for omegas at least not in the Moonshadow pack so I didn't even know what to expect from a female examination.

Rachel seemed to misunderstand me though as she laughed and waved away my concerns.

"Don't worry, getting pregnant isn't as scary as it seems. It also helps when the sex itself is good."

My cheeks burned and I was almost sure that even my neck was on fire. Was she always so blunt?

But then again from the little moment we had in the car, I knew that sex wouldn't be a problem for us. That quickly, I was back in the car with Alpha Jaxon touching me so expertly, I thought of his lips on my skin-

I shook my head as though that would get rid of all the nonsense in my head.

I noticed Rachel staring at me as though waiting for a response to her earlier words.

"I. I don't know what to say to that."

She smiled at me as though I had said just the right thing.

"You don't have to say anything. Just relax and let me work."

Rachel ushered me to the bed and a nurse, Matilda, came in. Then she began to work.

And when I say work, I mean lots of it.

To say that at the end of it, all I felt disvirgined wouldn't be a stretch.

They took my blood, took several vaginal swabs, poked me with something that felt cold and slightly uncomfortable and Rachel also gave me a breast examination.

Throughout, she told me everything they were about to do before they did it and asked me questions like if I was okay and if I needed to take a break. I didn't take any breaks because I wanted it to be done with as quickly as quickly as possible.

Then finally she was done and proceeded to ask me weird questions like when I had my last period, confirming my virginity.

After I returned from changing, Rachel told me my verdict.

"You are fertile and your ovulation days fall in a week's time after Freya and before Kiara."

A tension that I didn't realize was within me relaxed. In our examination, I had gotten a brief and effective sex education lecture that I had soaked up like a sponge. Ovulation days were my most fertile days so those were the only days that Alpha Jaxon would touch me.

"So I will not have sex with Alpha Jaxon till next week."

It was good. I would have some time to prepare myself for opening myself to a man who was practically a stranger to me. It was going to be purely transactional. I would get money and protection and he would get his child.

Then something hit me. I looked at Rachel questioningly.

"Who are Freya and Kiara?"

She seemed surprised by my question.

"You don't know? Like you, they are Alpha Jaxon's surrogate."

The list.

Finally, I understood it. What an arrogant prick. Just because he was so powerful didn't mean he should keep an entire surrogate harem.

Another thought came up in my mind.

"If he already has so many surrogates, why does he need me?"

"He might have surrogates but he has no children."

I blinked at Rachel confused. Was this the catch? I thought that an Alpha having surrogates to have his children instead of his mate was weird enough, paying them 50,000 USD was weirder. Was it because he was unable to have children?

Would I never leave this place?

Rachel seemed to read the fear on my face and she patted my hand assuredly.

"I assure you that he is physically fit in every way possible and can father a child but the Goddess has not seen fit to give him one just yet."

But I was not assured. If the Goddess hadn't seen fit to bless him yet what made me different from the other surrogates? When would I be able to leave this place?

"******

Alpha Jaxon's POV

I flung the report away and swept all the things on my table to the ground as I trembled with anger.

None of my surrogates were pregnant even with IVF and I was almost out of time.

It all began with the curse of a witch on my great-grandfather after he apparently impregnated her and denied the child. On her deathbed, she cursed him and all of his lineage to die after the age of thirty if they did not have children.

It was as though as the tears passed, the curse became more rooted. My Father died just before my birth on his 30th birthday.

My mother raised me herself and taught me to be as ruthless as possible so that the council put in place to rule the pack in case of our lineage dying out would not usurp my power.

Even though I grew up as ruthless as possible I thought she was exaggerating the matter.

After all, how could an Alpha in his prime just drop dead because of what a witch said centuries ago?

That was before my twenty-eight birthday when I had begun to lose my vision without warning. When I suddenly became weak and dizzy even though I had eaten and rested fully.

The episodes came and went quickly but now that I was almost 29, I was running out of time!

It was a well-kept secret so that my enemies would not know and use it against me. My surrogates were treated well and monitored yet there was no child coming.

That was when I began to track down the descendant of the original witch. And last week, I found her after months of searching.

I held my claws to her throat.

"Cure me witch or lose your head."

She had been stubborn initially.

"Even if you torture me, I have nothing to give you. I am not as strong as my ancestors. The line has gotten weaker."

I raised my eyebrows unimpressed by her lies.

"It is one curse. Surely you can lift that."

The witch protested. "That is not where my gift lies but in prophecy."

Then she was useless to me.

I threw her at Caleb's feet. "Kill her."

She could curse me if she wanted to, I was already going to die anyway.

I turned to leave only to be stopped by her desperate cry.

"Wait!"

I paused and she continued speaking quickly. "If there is a chance for you to meet the woman destined to have your child, I will find it."

I smirked. So she wasn't ready to die after all. I turned back to look at her.

"You have five minutes."

The witch closed her eyes and looked like she was having a fit or something and the hairs on my hand rose. as something shifted in the room.

When the witch spoke again, her voice sounded deeper than before and her eyes were almost completely white.

"You will find her exactly one week from now with the slave traders around the Moonshadow pack lands."

I wasn't cowed by her display. She would have to do more than that to impress me.

"That is too broad, be specific."

"She will have the scent of an Alpha."

And Caleb had found Astrid. I had come to see her personally to verify the scent. She was my last hope.

I looked at Caleb, my body still trembling in rage.

"When is Astrid ovulating?"

"Next week, Alpha."

A week. I could wait a week for my chance to be cured of this curse once and for all.

Caleb hesitated. "Should I call in Freya?"

I had completely forgotten. This week was her ovulation week and her turn with me.

"Call her in." I told Caleb roughly but deep down I was so fucking tired.

Astrid's POV

It was surprisingly cool to be a surrogate.

Imagine that. It was cooler being a person who sold their body for money rather than being a powerless omega.

I was given a big room on the top floor with windows that had a magnificent view of everything.

No one disturbed me and Alpha Jaxon didn't come to force himself on me or anything else like I feared. In fact, I would have thought that they had forgotten I was in the house if not for the servants that attended to me.

Yes. I now had servants. Servants that brought me whatever I wanted, cleaned up my room, styled my hair even though I was going nowhere and dressed me up.

They attempted to bathe me as well but I drew the line there. I wasn't a child.

I wasn't allowed to work hard - so as not to strain myself and affect my conception - so I always had a maid on hand in case I wanted to change or do anything strenuous.

I slept well for the first time in a long time.

I ate and gorged.

And I grew bored.

I know what you are thinking. For someone who was used to suffering surely I should have enjoyed the welcome change and milked it for what it was worth.

But I was used to working. To doing things. Sitting idle made me feel like I had things to do that I was ignoring. My body was just used to suffering to relax.

So I explored and tried to learn everything about my new home. That was how I found myself in the library for the first time.

The librarian bowed when she saw me making me startled.

"Good day my lady, how may I be of service?"

My lady? I was now a lady?

I felt instantly self-conscious. Maybe she was mistaking me for someone else.

"Don't worry, I can find my way around."

The librarian followed me into the library and refused to let me be.

"As a surrogate, you must not do any hard work."

I paused, turning to look at the librarian. "How do you know I am a surrogate?"

The librarian looked at me looking faintly embarrassed. "Only the surrogates can wear blue silk here."

I looked down at the ocean blue dress that I was wearing. Somehow I hadn't noticed that all my dresses in the closet were varying shades of blue until she said it.

From the pale blues that looked white to the darkest blues that seemed black until hit by a ray of sun in the right direction.

Even my clothes advertised what I was. How crazy was that?

"Alright." I tucked my hair behind my ear. "But you don't need to bother. I don't intend to stress myself. I just want to look around and read a book or two."

The librarian didn't seem to hear my silent plea to be alone. "I will help you with the retrieval of the books."

I finally allowed her to tag along with me because what other choice did I have?

She helped me retrieve the books that I wanted then I dismissed her and read.

I found myself returning to the library often and becoming better acquainted with the different librarians.

Initially, I just read novels but on my second day at the library, I saw a military journal and thought to myself. What better way would I get to research on the mysterious Alpha King but in the library?

I would need all the knowledge I could to find him after I left this place.

It must have been close to a week that I had been coming to the library when it happened.

"We have to close the library."

I looked up from a particular interesting story about my father to Wendy, the librarian.

"May I borrow this book then?"

Wendy smiled at me apologetically.

"It is too heavy to have in your room. You may try to lift it without any of your maids present."

She was right. I would try to lift it. It was just one book, I knew that the Crimson Moon pack was anxious to have a child but this was ridiculous. At this rate, if I got pregnant, then they would never let me stand up from the bed.

I blinked at Wendy.

"But I am so bored. I never have anything to do and reading books is the only time I feel like myself." Tears filled my eyes. "I have not even been with Alpha Jaxon. You shouldn't bother about me carrying heavy loads."

That was another thing that bothered me as well. I felt guilty for all of this princess treatment when I hadn't done anything to deserve it.

"These are the rules." Wendy shrugged but I could see the sympathy in her eyes. "But. I can leave you the key to lock up later."

"You can? Thank you!" I nearly jumped as I hugged her.

After Wendy left, I realized something. This was the first time I was completely alone in the Crimson Moon pack. This might be the only time I would have an opportunity to escape.

I didn't want Alpha Jaxon to punish the librarian but my Dad was still out there.

I glanced at the closed library door that my guard stood behind, my heart in my throat. If I wanted to escape, I would have to use the window.

I looked for a window that would be best for climbing out and I lifted my leg to climb out only to hear footsteps behind me.

I froze. I was so done for.

I turned and my jaw nearly dropped in shock. "Xavier?"

My former mate smiled at me brightly.

"You don't need to pass a window, I'm here to take you home."

****

Xavier's POV

"This is all your fault! You are a disgrace."

When Astrid left, I was the one who took all the blame.

"Father, how was I to know that she would escape?"

My father had been inconsolable.

"If you had not been so mean to her, she would not have escaped!"

I knew he cared for the omega as much as I did. He only cared that our only shot at the throne was at stake.

"Father-"

"She is our ticket out of being oppressed by Alpha Jaxon and your ticket to the throne!"

Alpha Jaxon's swift and total rise over the years had humiliated my father and when he finally began to show off his strength my father never forgot or forgave.

He would not be satisfied until he had shown that upstart his place.

"I will find her and bring her home." I promised my father.

But the truth was even if he hadn't demanded it, I would have gone after her anyway.

My wolf wasn't letting me be. He wanted his mate and he wanted her now.

I couldn't touch Lyra much less kiss her even when I wanted to and the past nights before I left the pack, I couldn't sleep without Astrid's scent next to me.

Her omega scent was slowly driving me mad. I had never felt this way before and even when I saw what she had done to Lyra's car and my car, all I could do was fight a laugh which was ridiculous since I didn't even like her.

I tracked her scent to a shady-looking hotel then it was gone as though she had simply evaporated from there but I knew what territory I was in and the only people who could mask a scent like that.

It didn't take long to find the bounty hunters.

I showed her picture to the head of the hunters.

"Where is she?"

The burly man didn't even look at the picture as he drank his beer, his men around him primed for violence.

"Don't know her."

I dropped a wad of cash that had him glancing at the table.

"Does she look familiar now?"

The man grinned showing his yellow, slightly blackened teeth.

"Add another and I'll see."

I added another stack of cash.

He nodded and his men greedily pocketed it before he turned to me with that same annoying grin.

"Don't think you can get her back. Sold this one right off to Alpha Jaxon. Messing with the Crimson Moon pack will get ya killed."

The Crimson Moon Pack had her?

I growled at the head of the slavers and he looked frightened for a second. "She is mine and I will get her back."

Then it was a matter of preparation and greasing the right palm and I was in.

It was harder than I thought sneaking into the Crimson Moon territory but the person I bribed informed me that Astrid frequented the library so that I didn't waste time.

I just watched and waited for the right opportunity. Now was that opportunity.

I looked at my mate standing in front of me. She was perfect. Everything I wanted.

Her hair was no longer greasy but glossy and fell in full dark curls around her. Even her face seemed to glow in this dim lighting, her green eyes as pale as jade.

She seemed different.

Instead of her coming running into my arms, Astrid maintained the distance between us.

"I am not going back with you."

I was shocked.

"You would rather stay here locked up with a murderer and a terrible man than return home?"

Her eyes burned with more anger than I had ever seen in them.

"The Moonshadow pack was never my home. You and all the other pack members made it clear. Besides, are you not a terrible person as well?" Her anger was not that of an omega but a princess. "You broke our bond immediately after you found out I was your mate."

I was running out of time. I folded my hands together acting remorseful.

"I made a mistake. I'm sorry. Please give me another chance."

Astrid looked away from me.

"I can't. I can no longer trust you."

My anger grew and I could no longer pretend.

"You give me no choice. I will take you back home forcibly."

Astrid's eyes widened with fear.

"What?"

I pulled her arm and yanked her forward ignoring her struggles.

"You have been brainwashed by Alpha Jaxon."

She pushed against me.

"No, I have not. Let me go!"

I yanked her harder and she gasped in pain.

"Am I interrupting something?"

I looked to see who was interrupting. It was Alpha Jaxon.