Chapter 14. I’m in Trouble

*Maddox*

I wake up the next morning with a hard cock and the memory of a very vivid dream about Isla.

This girl is affecting me in ways I never would’ve thought imaginable, and I don’t know why. It isn’t as if I’ve never seen an attractive woman’s naked ass before.

Still, I have to take another cold shower before I can go to the office, and my hand is already sticky from my dirty thoughts of her the night before when I couldn’t fall asleep.

As I pass her room on my way to the office, I hear someone moving around behind the door and imagine it must be her.

The urge to burst in and go to her floods my mind. She belongs to me, after all. I can take her anytime I want to.

I could never force a woman to do anything against her will, though. I might be brutal on the battlefield, but not in the bedroom.

Well, not like that, anyway.

I keep my feet moving. Temptation is high, but I will persevere.

In the office, I start working and manage to get through several reports before Seth knocks on my door. I sigh and tell him to come in, knowing it’s him because of the way he knocks. It’s always the same every morning.

He walks in looking like hell, and I have to wonder how long he stayed up entertaining our guests. “Good morning,” he says because it’s expected, not because he means it.

“Seth,” I say, trying not to laugh. “What the hell happened to you?”

He shakes his head. “Zabrina happened to me, Alpha. That woman doesn’t know how to… shut up.”

A chuckle erupts from my mouth. “I’m sorry,” I tell him. But I’m not really.

He shakes his head and sits down across from me to give me an update. “We’ve heard that there are more attacks happening along the borders of Duster pack and Pine Tree pack. Alpha Hayes seems to think he can infiltrate Alpha Bhamers territory and just take it.”

I stare at him for a moment. Alpha Hayes of Duster pack is one of the bigger threats to the peace of our kingdom. I don’t like it when one Alpha attacks another, but in this case, I know why he’s doing it. Alpha Hayes wants to prove he’s capable of being the greatest leader in the kingdom.

Greater than me.

He’s not the only Alpha who has this affliction, but he’s one of the more serious ones. And it doesn’t hurt that he has five strapping sons, so if he were to become king, there’d be no question that the bloodline would continue.

I am meant to have a child by now… If I don’t have one soon, the Alphas will be able to rebel against me and see it as justified.

Thirty is the cut-off, and I’m almost there…

“Anything else?” I ask Seth as if his announcement isn’t surprising or troubling to me.

He raises his eyebrows. “No, that’s all. Except Alpha Jordan spent a great deal of time last night trying to get me to speak to you on behalf of his daughter.”

I roll my eyes. “I’m not interested in Zabrina.”

“I know you’re not,” he says. “But… if you’re not planning on using the girl you purchased—”

“I didn’t purchase her,” I correct him, feeling anger begin to bubble up inside of me. “I merely accepted her in exchange for a debt.”

“Isn’t that the same thing?” he asks.

Narrowing my eyes, I tell him, “No, it’s not.”

He shrugs. “Anyway… you know you only have ten months left before you turn thirty.”

“I am aware of when my birthday is, Seth.”

“So, you need to do something, Alpha. Or else, we’ll have even more problems on our hands.”

He’s right, but I don’t want to talk about it. “Go down to the military barracks and tell Commander Taylor to send a detail to Duster. I want to keep an eye on that situation and make sure that it doesn’t escalate out of control.”

He seems surprised at my dismissal of his comments without a remark. “Yes, sir,” he says. “But Zabrina wants you to have dinner with her again tonight… alone.”

“And Zabrina can want whatever she’d like,” I tell him.

“You may as well give her a try. If you don’t, he’ll just keep asking and complaining. Why don’t you have dinner with her, and if you don’t like her, you can tell Alpha Jordan it wasn’t a match?”

The thought of having to sit through a dinner date with Zabrina makes bile rise up in the back of my throat.

But, as usual, Seth has a point. “Fine,” I tell him, shaking my head. “Arrange it. But you’d better think of a way to get me out of there quickly.”

I can tell he’s fighting a smile. “Yes, sir,” he says, getting up to leave the room.

I watch him go and then swear under my breath. This is the last thing in the world I want to do.

Having a baby with Isla would make things much easier, but I don’t even know why she’s here. I could go speak to her, but that would be dangerous.

I return my attention to my work, hoping to lose myself in what needs to be done. But my mind keeps flickering back to her. The soft curve of her breast, the tight muscles of her bottom…

I’m in trouble.