His Lost Queen-Sequel to Kidnapped by My Mate

Chapter 3

Grayson

I stood stoically at the edge of the training grounds as I watched my pack members continue to train. After my conversation with Kyle, I had decided I needed time to process things and he had left me to go continue training with the others. I had to keep reminding myself that Kyle was right. I shouldn't take my anger out on my pack members. Sure, they had treated Belle horribly while she was here, making her feel unwanted and unworthy, but they had no control over their actions during that time in the same way that I did. But still, I couldn't stop the fury that formed in my chest as I watched them. I wanted nothing more than to act on that fury and take down each and every one of them.

After a while longer, I felt something small wrap itself around my leg. My first instinct was to growl and kick the thing off of me, but then I looked down. It was Zoe.

Zoe was only five years old and one of our more rambunctious young werewolves in my pack. I wasn't surprised to see that she had somehow managed to sneak away from the packhouse where all of the younger pups were supposed to be. Zoe was always finding ways to get into trouble.

She didn't say anything as she hugged herself onto my leg like some sort of monkey. She simply watched the werewolves in front of us with wide eyes, filled with interest and wonder. I had always liked Zoe. And she had always seemed to like me. She was the reason that I wanted to have kids. We formed a bond a while back, as soon as she could talk, and ended up spending a lot of time together. She would always sneak into my office and ask me what I was doing, constantly interested in pack affairs. I had a sneaking suspicion that she would become a higher-ranking member of a pack someday, maybe even an alpha. She showed all the signs of being a great leader—except for her disobedience and inability to follow orders.

I sighed. "Zoe, what are you doing here? You're supposed to be at the packhouse," I said, bending down to pick her up.

Zoe pried her gaze away from the warriors. Her eyes widened when she saw me. "Your eyes are red," she told me matter of factually. Her voice dropped into a whisper. "You look like a demon."

I couldn't help but crack a smile. I didn't even realize that my vampire was the surface of my consciousness, making my eyes red. It was probably due to all of the anger that I was feeling. I was surprised that, rather than being frightened, Zoe seemed interested in my red eyes. "That's because I have a vampire inside of me now, just like how you have a wolf. I have both species."

Zoe nodded. "Yeah, I know," she said, shrugging nonchalantly as if it were the most normal thing in the world. "My mom told me. She says you are really strong because you have a vampire and that it's good to have you as an alpha. That's also why you turned into a giant!" She spread her arms out wide, trying to express how large I'd gotten.

I chuckled. "Yeah, I have gotten pretty big, huh?"

Zoe gripped my shoulders, inspecting them. "Yeah, you're basically the biggest person I know."

I laughed, but before I had a chance to respond to her statement, Zoe placed her palms on either side of my face. "Your beard is scratchy," she said. "Like my dad's."

I nodded, amused by how quickly her thoughts jumped around. "Yes, well—"

"Hey, your mate is pretty. I saw her," she interrupted.

I immediately tensed at the mention of Belle. Zoe must have seen her sometime before she left. My wolf whimpered in my chest. "Thank you," I replied. "I think so too."

Zoe frowned, wiping her messy brown hair out of her eyes. "She was sad. That's why your wolf is sad and why you look so angry."

It was hard to believe but this five-year-old was calling me out on my shit right now. "I guess you're right," I said.