Xander Nightwalker's POV
I slicked my hair back down as Sage and I gathered ourselves. She walked out of my office as I was running my hands over the wrinkles in my shirt. I watched her ass sway as she walked through the door and shut it. Now, time to get to work on something that's not a blonde.
I grabbed the stack of papers left on the coffee table and brought it over to my desk. So many rouge sighting in the last few weeks. Instead of killing them off, I need to question them. Why now? What brought them to the capital now?
It seems the moon goddess answered my prayers as soon as they were mentioned. My royal advisor, Alexander Quellem, walked into my office.
"Have you forgotten how to knock?" I asked, still going through the papers.
"Sorry alpha, but this is important."
"It better be. Is it a rouge?"
When he didn't respond, I looked up at him. His face was weary and tired looking.
"Alec?"
"We don't know. She was found by Mystic Lake a few minutes ago. What do you want to do with her?"
"Mind-link them and have them bring her to our cells. I'll question her in the morning."
"Yes, alpha." And with that, he took his leave.
Well, this is a stroke of luck. At least now, I don't have to hunt down a rogue myself, even though I did enjoy the chase.
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It was midday when I was once again confined in my office, going through more incident reports with my brother, Gus.
"These damn rogues don't know when to quit," I mumbled under my breath.
"Speaking of rogues, didn't your men catch one last night?"
"Yeah." I sighed and leaned back into my chair. "She was injured and is out cold in the cells."
"Shouldn't we treat her? What if she dies and has valuable information?"
"Doesn't matter. She's just one rogue. There are hundreds that we need to worry about."
A sudden wave washed over me. My heart thumped at the feeling and made me feel uneasy.
"What the hell?" I whisper to myself. Something's not right.
"Bro, you okay? You look sick."
"Yeah. It's nothing."
There was a knock at the door that grabbed both of our attention.
"Enter," I commanded.
In walked Alec, once again with a worried expression.
"What is it?"
"It's the rogue. She escaped. It's bad, sir. We need to contain her now."
Without hesitation, Gus, Alec, and I ran out of my office. Alec led the way, and soon, the commotion echoed through the palace. The source of the noise was coming from the ballroom on the east side.
We burst through the doors to see a pile of soldiers and werewolves hovering over something-no, someone. I commanded them to stop and they obeyed. Walking closer, and the aisle was formed for me. I kneeled near the bloodied girl and tried to get a better view of her face.
While brushing her hair aside, my fingertips grazed her face and that feeling came back. Deep in my mind, I knew what it meant. I knew what she was.
"Mate."
Gus and Alec kneel alongside me and their closeness to her cause a low growl from my end.
"She needs to be treated right away. Have her taken to the palace doctor."
Some of the guards tried to help but I growled at them. "Not you. You've done enough." They backed away and soon a few nurses came to collect her.
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She's been sleeping for hours. I wonder if any of the medication was helping her heal. If it was, she'd be up by now!
I deeply exhaled and dug my nails into my biceps as I crossed my arms.
This isn't like me, I unconsciously told my wolf.
I sighed and headed for the door. It's four o'clock in the morning. There's no point in waiting for her. As I neared toward the exit, ratting chains made me pause in my movements. It was slight at first, but then grew louder and I realized she was struggling to be free.
She's awake. My wolf growled.
"They're there for a reason." I broke the silence to get her attention.
Her eyes landed on me and squinted her eyes trying to put a face to the voice. I approached her in quick strides. When I asked for her name, she gave me the most ridiculous answer I've ever heard. Does she think she can lie to someone like me?
After a few minutes of going back and forth, I announced that she's my mate. When she tried to refuse me, my wolf stirred inside me, causing me to lash out at her.
I left her alone with her thoughts and retreated to my office, with anger still boiling in my blood.
She tried to reject us. My wolf spoke.
She won't. The words gritted out in my mind. "She won't. I said it again, only this time to myself.
The next day, one of her doctors approached me as I left my mate's room again after questioning her.
"Alpha." She bowed her head. "I have something to discuss with you."
"What is it?"
"It's about the escaped prisoner. She told me something strange and I don't know what to make of it." She glanced down at the folder in her hands while she spoke.
"If this is about her identity, don't worry about it. She's lying."
"Yes, she is, but-" She tried to find the words to say, but when she couldn't find them, she handed me the folder.
"I remember learning about the Westerlie Kingdom in school."
"And?" My thoughts froze over as I opened the folder. It was a picture of the Royal Westerlie family. One of the women in the picture was a girl who looked exactly like my mate.
"That picture was painted over one hundred years ago."
"You don't believe she's telling the truth."
"No, I don't. The real Robbin Drakon was killed a century ago."
"Yeah, that's what I heard. How did it happen?" I asked while running my fingers over her image.
"No one knows for sure, but the story goes like this. She wanted to kill her brother to be the next heir to the throne, but her grandfather heard of her plans and tried to stop her. She didn't want anyone knowing of her plans so she killed him. She was later caught and sentenced to death for her crimes."
"Is that a story or the truth?"
"It's what's written in the books, sir. Also, there's something else you should know."
"What is it?"
"I did a brain scan while she was sedated and found severe brain trauma. It's possible she might have brain damage from both incidents."
"Both?"
"When she was found, she had a bad head lac, and in the ballroom. This might have confused her reality, making her think she's someone else."
"And since they look so much alike, it was easy for her to believe this?"
"Exactly. But I don't think she's lying about being a Westerlie born citizen. She has a strong Westerlie accent.
"Will her memory return?"
"It's hard to say. The damage is bad so there's a very slim chance."
"Thank you, doctor." She bowed and took her leave.
It all made sense now. I was wondering why she came up with this lie. I thought it was because she was hiding something, but now that I know the truth, I can rule that out.
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Two weeks passed while my mate was healing. Every so often I'd visit her and ask her questions regarding her identity, but her story never faltered. The doctor told me not to push it, but I couldn't help it. This game was growing old to me.
She also told me that her wounds here almost fully healed. I decided to have her restraints removed and brought to me. It's time we discussed her role here.
There was a knock at my office door and I sensed who it was.
"Enter." The door opened and my mate along with the guard who escorted her stood there. The guard bowed before leaving us alone.
"Come," I commanded. She was hesitant but finally decides to approach his desk. There was a look of frustration on her face as she looked at me.
"What is it?"
"How can you ask that? You're keeping me here against my will. I want to go home." Her voice held anger but I didn't care.
"I told you. This is your home now. You're never going to leave this place, so stop whining."
"You'll regret those words when our dragons come to slaughter you all." She spat out.
Her outburst was adorable and hilarious. She honestly believes this lie.
"Okay little dragon, how about we make a bet?"
"What are you talking about?"
"If you can give me physical proof that you are who you say you are, I'll let you go."
"Physical? How do you mean?"
"Speak the Westerlie tongue." Her body tenses up and I cock my eyebrow up.
"That wouldn't prove anything."
"It'd prove you were born in the Westerlie kingdom." Of course, I already knew this; her accent gives her away. I just wanted to see if she would follow the rules.
"I can't. We aren't allowed to speak our tongue to outsiders."
She passed her first test. Of course, I didn't want to mention that the rule her people followed for centuries had been changed a few decades ago.
"Fine." I lean back into my chair with a smirk. I knew a sure way to trap her in this lie.
"Show me your dragon eyes."
She looks down and lets out a small sigh. "I can't."
Gotcha.
"When I was banished, they stripped me of my mental connection with dragons, which included my dragon eyes."
"Hmm, how convenient."
"It's the truth!"
"Well, then I guess that isn't the only thing they took from you."
She furrows her brow at me and I spoke again.
"While you were being treated, we ran your blood to find out where you were. Surprisingly there was no trace of dragon blood."
"When I left the is-" Her eyes grew wide as she stopped herself. " When I left the prison I was kept in, I was exposed to this world once again. It must've triggered something. Me being away for so long must've caused it to disappear."
"Now you're just talking nonsense." I stood up and walked over to her. "Enough of this. I brought you here for a reason. Since you're the mate of an alpha, you'll have certain responsibilities to uphold as a luna. There's also your coronation, but we'll discuss that later."
"I am not your luna. I refuse to be."
"Well too bad. You don't get a say in this."
I mind-linked the guard to come back and take her to my room. He walks in and bows at us.
"He'll take you to your new room. Try not to cause any trouble."
And with that, they left. The argument was still annoying me and I needed to let off some steam. I mind linked sage and told her to come to my office right away.