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.

Alpha Jaxon's POV

I saw the shock spread across their faces as they processed my presence.

The man who held Astrid in his arms let go of her slightly, probably from the shock but that was all she needed to pull away and race away from him to hide behind me.

This close, I could perceive his scent on her and it enraged me. How dare this man touch what wasn't his?

If not for my need to check up on Astrid after the librarian had informed me via the pack link of her leaving Astrid alone in the library, I would have never known.

This rage I was feeling was unfamiliar.

I didn't even know Astrid all that well but I was bothered. Bothered was an understatement. I felt undeniably possessive about her.

She was mine. I had bought her straight and clear and she had also agreed to our bargain.

The man in front of me looked and smelled strangely familiar and there was the look he had been giving Astrid.

I was willing to bet that this was her former mate who had been stupid enough to let go of someone like Astrid. I would never make the same mistakes as he had.

I called out to my men who were already in the library.

"Seize him!"

"I wouldn't do that if I were you." He spoke up finally, his voice aiming for brash and lackadaisical but his nervousness crept into his words. "I am the heir to the Moonshadow pack."

I hid my surprise. No wonder he smelt familiar. Like his father. So Astrid had lied to me in the car as I had suspected. I would deal with her punishment later.

I lifted an eyebrow unimpressed at the sight of Finn's son.

"And that matters to me how exactly?"

Xavier seemed flustered by the fact that I wasn't immediately bowing over just because of who his father was. "No matter how powerful you are, Alpha Jaxon, even you cannot kill the heir of an Alpha unprovoked."

Did he really believe that nonsense? No wonder he had been fearless enough to sneak into my property. Someone's head would also roll for that later.

"You have trespassed on my property, boy." My annoyance with him was also growing. "You have also touched another of my property without permission. I am well within my rights to kill you immediately."

"Your property?" Xavier seemed confused initially. Then he seemed to understand what I was saying as his gaze cleared and panic returned.

He moved forward trying to Astrid from behind me.

"Astrid, tell him that I am your mate!"

Her grip on the back of my shirt tightened.

I growled at Xavier. "Talk to me, boy, not her."

Xavier turned to me, obviously annoyed at being ignored by Astrid.

"Call me boy one more freaking time and I will-"

"You will what? What can you do to me?"

I interrupted him. Had he been about to threaten me? Goddess, the boy was more than beyond dumb.

I took a slight step up to him, enough to scare him but not enough to dislodge Astrid's grip on my shirt.

"You are weak and pathetic. Same as your father. Even if I were to kill you right now, your family would be unable to do anything about it."

Xavier's voice shook as he responded to me and the light whiff of his fear hit my nostrils.

"You will start a war."

I folded my hands.

"And I will end it. I will add the Moonshadow pack lands to mine and your names will be forgotten."

Xavier growled at me, his eyes growing darker. "Over my dead body."

I smirked at him.

"As you wish. Lock him up, Caleb."

"Yes, Alpha."

Caleb began to move forward quickly.

Xavier threw one more look in my direction but not at me, at Astrid perhaps.

"I'll come back for you, my mate."

Then he was running. There was only one door in and out of the library and I and my men were blocking it but I shouldn't have bothered because he ran and shifted mid-leap, breaking the biggest window in the library escaping through.

"Go after him and don't return without him dead or alive. " I ordered my men and Caleb and some others went after him through the windows also shifting as well.

The rest of my guards went out through the door to circle him leaving Astrid and me alone.

She sagged against my back as though she were tired but I was far from done with her.

"You lied to me."

***""

Astrid's POV

"Huh?"

I paused at Alpha Jacin's words. What did he mean by saying that I lied?

That was when it came to me. How I had beaten around the bush to explain the tie of Xavier to the Moonshadow pack. Xavier's true identity.

Oh Goddess, I was so done for.

Alpha Jaxon didn't wait for me to respond before his hand wrapped around my arm removing my fingers from the back of his shirt to pull me in front of him.

His steely eyes glared at me without even a hint of forgiveness in them.

"Are all the words from your mouth lies?"

I couldn't meet his eyes. I was too ashamed and scared.

"I'm sorry."

He seemed confused. "Sorry?"

I folded my hands together anxiously running my fingers together.

"I thought that you would give me back to Xavier if you knew he was my mate as well as the heir of the Moonshadow pack."

Alpha Jaxon released a sigh then his hand went to my hair and I squeezed my eyes shut waiting for him to pull on it or hit me.

Instead, Alpha Jaxon simply stroked my hair like I was a child but the way he looked at me was anything but that. His gaze was burning me up from the inside out.

"And why would I do that?" He said finally and I was left scrambling for words.

With him being an Alpha like them I thought they would have more in common and it would be a smarter deal for him to give me to them and simply find another surrogate.

Alpha Jaxon was still stroking my hair.

"I've told you that I do not care for what the Moonshadow pack thinks." He pulled me close to him with one smooth movement and my breath caught as he spoke directly into my ear softly. "Only what you can do for me."

The feel of his breath against my skin made me shiver or it might have been the cold air coming in from the broken window courtesy of Xavier.

Alpha Haxon dropped a kiss on my exposed neck and my body melted against his.

"Are you cold? Do you want me to warm you up?"

He didn't wait for my response before his hands began to wander all over my body touching my neck, my breasts, squeezing my ass.

"Alpha Jaxon." His name left my lips as a moan before I was even conscious of what I was saying.

He kissed my neck again and this time, his tongue darted out tasting me and licking the salt off my skin. "You smell divine."

My fingers were buried in his hair now even though I had no conscious memory of even touching it.

"Please." I moaned.

I didn't know what I was asking for. I had never been with anyone like this but he seemed to understand what I couldn't say as he lifted me, his hands going under my ass.

He placed me directly on top of the librarian's massive desk. My cheeks flushed but he wasn't even done yet.

He began to push up the voluminous skirts of my gown pulling me to the edge of the desk where he pressed up against me, his erection rubbing against me and making me feel so darn hot.

I moaned louder and Alpha Jaxon kissed the top of my breasts making me shiver.

When he raised his head, his eyes were darker and his voice laboured.

"Today is your ovulation day, right?"