Chapter 124 

Chapter 124 

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Caleb thought that his blissful torture of Harper would facilitate few answers, but as he walks away, he remains as confused as before. Withholding her pleasure, while enjoyable, had only managed to further prove just how stubborn she is. 

He hates how much he likes that about her. It would be so much easier if she was as eager to please him as the other women in his harem. All he had to do with them is make a suggestion of a desire, and they would bend over backwards to see that desire fulfilled. 

He could tell Harper to her face what he wants and she would just ignore him. 

Impossible woman. 

Annoyed, Caleb does not attend to his regular duties of the day, deciding that he is much too frustrated for that. Instead, he heads out into the courtyard to look over the new guards who are being brought into his service – including the one that Harper befriended during their warrior training. 

Caleb wanted to throw the man out immediately, for daring to lust after one of his harem, but even the Pitmaster approached him to tell him that this one – Ted, I believe she called him – was a good sort with a strong sense of loyalty and a promise with the blade. 

After the coup, Caleb couldn’t afford to be turning away any candidates. Nearly half of his guard turned out to be traitors. 

Now, though, it was exceedingly difficult for him to trust anyone. Who was to say that any of these new guards wouldn’t turn against him with the right motivation? 

The paranoia scratched at the inside of Caleb’s skull like a squirrel who had climbed into the attic of a house. Annoying. Insistent. Sometimes easy to ignore, sometimes impossible. 

Tristan said that he had vetted each and every guard here. He held them to tough standards, interviewed their families, spoke to several references. He even conducted intense interviews to test their loyalty and their ability to maintain composure under pressure. 

With all of that, Caleb still struggled to trust. Tristan, he believed, would only do his best to attempt to keep Caleb safe, but Tristan was bond to Caleb with a blood bond. 

Maybe he should start requiring blood bonds from all of his guards and slaves and servants… 

The new guards are lined up in five rows on the courtyard, with ten to each row. Each is standing at attention, with their gun held at their side and their heads held high. 

Caleb walks among them, glancing at their faces as he passes. As trained, none make direct eye contact with him, not even Ted, who Caleb is inclined to distrust. 

Until, the last in the second row, nervously glances up and meets my eye. I stop, glaring. Immediately, the young man’s gaze dips away. 

He couldn’t have been older than twenty, though he is tall and broad–shouldered. With a gentle sniff, Caleb determines that this guard has the alpha potential, though for him to be here, he has clearly been passed over for the role within his pack. 

Suspicion immediately floods through Caleb. Perhaps this young man has bigger ambition. Instead of a pack leader role, he might have his eye on the crown. 

“Which pack are you from?” Caleb asks. 

Chapter 194 

The man, straightening, swallows hard. “Crimson Dusk, King Carb 

Caleb frowns. “The current pack Alpha is an older werewolf, isn’t he?” 

“Yes, Sir.” 

“So why aren’t you attempting to earn that role?” Caleb asks. 

“The Alpha’s son will take that role.” 

“You did not think to fight him for it?” 

“I have to desire to… King Caleb.” 

All of the alarm bells in Caleb’s head rang at that response. “Why not?” 

“I… uh… I’m not much of a leader, Sir. I don’t want to be.” 

Lies. Everyone wishes they could lead. “Do you think that by coming here, you might have a shot at my crown?” 

“What?” the guard’s eyes go impossibly wide. “Of course not!” 

Some of the other guards subtly start to shift away from Caleb and the guard he’s interrogating, as if they don’t want to be caught in the potential bloodshed. 

Good. The rest, at least, will be subservient to Caleb. This one, 

“I think you are lying,” Caleb spits. “And liar’s should not be tolerated.” 

Caleb raises his hand, and the guard flinches. Yet before Caleb can strike, Tristan is immediately at his side. 

“King Caleb. A word.” 

Caleb shifts his fiery gaze to Tristan. How dare he interrupt this man’s punishment? 

However, even with the scratching inside of his head, Caleb trusts Tristan enough to lower his arm. He leads Tristan away from the group, to a more quiet area along the walls of the palace where they can speak without being overheard by the recruits. 

“This had better be important, Beta,” Caleb snaps. 

“You would have killed that new guard.” 

Maybe. Or maimed him. 

“The others need an example,” Caleb says. “Or they will all think I am weak enough to be overrun.” 

“With due respect,” Tristan says gently. “I do not believe that to be the case. This group is already loyal, my King. I’ve interrogated each of them myself. Even under the threat of death, they would not turn against you.” 

“There should be no problem, then.” 

“When I threatened them, they would not turn against you, King Caleb. For you to threaten them is a different matter. Such ruthless treatment might quell unrest again. Their loyalty should be rewarded, not punished.” 

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Chapter 124 

“You have no true knowledge of what you speak,” Caleb says with a note of disgust. Tristan mag Caleb’s most trusted 

servant, but he is just that. A Beta will never have the knowledge and strength of an Alpha, especially one like Caleb – a King 

“Look for yourself,” Tristan says, motioning back towards the recruits. 

Just to prove him wrong, I do look. There, I see a level of nervousness among the mercenaries, as if some are reconsidering their dedication to their new chosen profession and its cause. Chef among them is the man Caleb threatened. Now, he seems more angry than afraid. 

“I will need to interrogate them again,” Tristan says. “To see if their attitude toward you has changed. Where before they saw you as a powerful and brave figurehead, now they might see you only as a brute” 

Caleb snaps his gaze to Tristan. “Is that how you see me?” 

“I know what you’ve been through,” Tristan says. “I know all that you have suffered to make you into the person you are today, with both your good qualities and your bad. So no, I do not see you as a brute. But these people do not know you beyond the tales of heroism they’ve heard. It’s those tales you are shattering now. You could have easily lived up to their expectations.” 

“If one angry outburst causes them to turn, Tristan, then I don’t trust them at all. Throw the whole batch away.” 

Tristan straightens, taken aback. “But, King Caleb –” 

“I don’t care for your excuses or your reasoning or your worries. I said, demote all of them and find more.” 

Tristan closes his mouth a moment, though his eyes speak of his disagreement and his anger at Caleb’s decision. Caleb doesn’t care. The scratching in his mind is full on pounding now. He can’t trust anyone here; he’s sure of it. 

Maybe he can’t even trust his Beta. 

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