Chapter 2. Red Streaks

Rhys’ POV

“I can’t believe you came all this way to attend this wedding and you plan to spend your time here.”

Mars, my annoying yet loyal Beta, nagged me as soon as we got out of the sun. “Here” was a modern private suite put together just for me by the Alpha of Clawride Pack. It was not as furnished as any suite back in my pack, but still comfortable. Smooth, crafted wooden chairs were arranged next to an antique drawer, and a wide bed took up most of the space in the room.

My pack, Plum Paradise, was the biggest and the richest in the country. That in turn made me the supreme head, the Alpha King, and the other packs paid their respects to me. Constantly, packs sought out help in fighting wars and protecting their territories. It was a huge responsibility that rested solely on my shoulders, nothing I couldn’t handle, of course.

“I can’t believe I came all this way to attend this wedding. Period,” I retorted, examining the room I would be staying in for at least a day. How Mars and Matilda, my old caregiver, had managed to convince me to even leave my room for this wedding was still a miracle to me.

“Alpha, this is for your own good. Clawride Pack is known for its beautiful and fertile women. We might be lucky to find a solution to your… condition here. Don’t give up hope yet. I haven’t, and neither has Matilda.”

I paced the room, looking for what to do with my hands, and tried not to lose my temper. It was an embarrassing truth, but the fact was that I had never gotten hard before, as in, never. My pack was filled with beautiful females of various sizes, but none of them had ever gotten me sexually excited enough to have an erection. It was distressing, the one flaw in me that was too big for me to overlook.

Tilly, as I fondly called my old caregiver, partnered with Mars and had searched for numerous concoctions, potions and anything to help, but it was hopeless. I could not be fixed, and no matter how hard I tried to pretend it didn’t matter, it ate at me from the inside, making me doubt myself. How could I possibly be a man if I could not perform the basic intimate task required of all men?

“I really think you should come. You should get to know the people who pay homage to you.” The fight was out of his voice, his tiredness now obvious from his slumped shoulders.

I kicked my shoes off my feet and attacked my bow tie. “You and I know that Keller did not invite me to his son’s wedding because he and I are best friends. He is merely trying to win my favor or to prove to his guests that he has connections in high places. Don’t be fooled by this cheap establishment.”

Mars opened his mouth to protest, but I held up a finger to shut him up. Mars was my Beta and also the closest thing I had to a friend. However, he knew his place and never disrespected me, despite all the weird things I made him do. Since I could not satisfy them, Mars slept with my mistresses on my behalf, keeping them blindfolded and ignorant. That way, my secret remained safe from the world.

My feet took me to a tall, vertical mirror standing beside a window. I was wearing an old navy blue suit with white pearl buttons that Tilly said had belonged to my father, the former Alpha King, a great man who had died from heartbreak. It was sad that something as small as that had defeated a warrior like him.

I was only twelve then, when I returned from a fishing trip with friends, only to find my mother in the arms of another man. My mother, Serena, was without doubt a very attractive woman, and many said she was a replica of the Moon Goddess. She was also adventurous and confident, and, because they were mates, Father had fallen helplessly in love with her. Nevertheless, his love for her had become a weakness and eventually, his downfall.

The day I saw her moaning in pleasure, pleasure derived from a man that wasn’t my father, was the day my hatred for women was born. Women were manipulative creatures, weaving their charms around you until you became their slave. They made you feel special and then stabbed you in the back. My fists formed balls of fury as I remembered how my father had died alone, and it was a reminder to me never to let any woman get to me. I had carved out my heart and buried it with my father, determined to never die the way he had: broken and less than a man.

“Okay. If you won’t come to the wedding hall with me, at least promise me you will take your concoction.”

“Don’t you know when to give up, Mars? Nothing ever works! Not now, not a change of environment, not even your silly potions can help me. I have kept countless mistresses, sexy women have offered me their bodies, yet nothing! I only agreed to come here so I could have some rest. Go have fun and leave me alone!”

I watched him through the mirror, his lips in a thin line. At last, he removed our overnight bags from the chairs and took them to a closet. He arranged my nightwear on the bed, kicked my shoes under the bed, working in silence. Immediately, he slammed the door behind him, and I sighed from the depths of my troubled soul, my huge shoulders slumped in defeat. My head ached from where a string bound my long hair. I tugged at it roughly, and my hair fell onto my shoulders, heavy and as dark as midnight.

My reflection stared back at me as I undid the first two buttons on my shirt. Old scars and heavy tattoos decorated my chest, each one having its own significance. No one had seen my face, no one knew what I looked like except Tilly and Mars, and I hoped for it to remain that way. My pack members made up for their lack of knowledge about their Alpha by spreading rumors about me. I heard most of the rumors from Mars, though I really didn't care about the gossip.

Some said my eyes were cold enough to freeze hell over. I agreed that my eyes were a bit odd. Not many people had amethyst eyes, that I knew of. They said the reason I hid within the walls of my palace was probably that I had an awful scar or I was a flesh-eating monster. The rumors were endless, and some were wilder than the others.

I wasn’t bothered by the rumors, anyway. I was more concerned about fixing myself. If there were no solution, I would never feel the warm body of a woman underneath me. I would never taste the pleasure, the sheer pleasure of having a woman at my mercy. I would never be complete. It was a fear that consumed me, and the thought of it made me crazy. Emotions had no meaning to me, and I could not imagine myself obsessing over a woman, but it was like there was something out there that I was missing out on.

Suddenly, I heard footsteps outside the window. Taking two steps to the left, I saw a young woman bent over a pot of flowers. She was dressed in simple clothes, and her blonde hair had red streaks. Her lower lip was caught between her teeth as she put the flowers back in place, focused on her task. Once she was done, she ran her tongue over her lips, and I imagined myself biting down on that full lower lip. She stopped for a second and raised her head, and as if planned, our eyes met. A heated sensation ran down my back, and I gasped softly in shock.

Forest-green eyes clashed with mine, and acting on impulse, I pulled the curtains closed. My hands were shaking for no reason, and I felt excitement in my belly. Who was she, and why did she have such an effect on me? I gripped the window bars so hard that they squeaked. Blaming the stress from the long journey, I finished undressing and slipped into the bathroom to steam off. As water spilled onto my face, I closed my eyes, and my mind brought up her image again. Her lips, her eyes, her hair like fire burning a wheat field, all in my head. Goddess, who was that woman?