Chapter 2

Maddox POV

The slurping sound of the woman on her knees in front of me used to be a turn on to me. This would have been a great release. Now though, after centuries of countless women who were not my mate meant nothing to me. I was just going through the motions really. This is one of my few regulars. I wouldn’t exactly call it a harem, but I do have a section of my castle set aside for them to live in so that they are easily accessible. If they find their mate they are free to go whenever. I do have a favorite, Monica, if you want to call her that. I wouldn’t pick her as a chosen mate or anything. She has just been around long enough to know what I like. I groan my release as Monica swallows it all down greedily. I remove myself from her mouth and place myself back into my pants.

“My king?” Monica asks, confused as to why I am not going any further.

“That was all I needed you for today. I have an important meeting this afternoon at the academy that I need to prepare for.” I say to dismiss her. Monica has been a part of my harem for going on twenty years now.

“I could come with you, my king. I know how stressful you get with these meetings. I could be there to help you relax.” Monica purrs as she thrusts her breasts out trying to entice me. I admit if I was presented with this opportunity while I was younger I would have jumped on it. The last century or so it does not interest me. If I need a release while I am there I can easily find someone.

“No. You are to stay here. I am not in need of your services anymore today. Please go back to your wing now. I need to prepare to leave.” I dismissed her.

She didn’t look happy about it, but I did not have the time or the want to care about that right now. She knew what she signed up for when she agreed to be a part of the harem. They all know they are free to have relations with anyone else, they just need to ensure they are available to me when the need arises. It doesn’t happen often anymore. Usually I call for Monica just because it goes quickly due to her knowing my likes, but even that has been less and less as the years have gone by.

I used to have Monica in my bed every night and others during the day. I admit I was a manwhore back then, but after the first century of waiting for my mate I reasoned that my mate would be understanding if I got my wild ways out of the way before she came. My s****l desires and needs have waned tremendously in the last seventeen almost eighteen years. In the last six months I have only called for Monica a handful of times. I haven’t had the need for the others either.

King my wolf says that’s because our mate is coming of age! It has to be the reason!

I think about what he said hoping that he was right. Could that be what my lack of desire towards these women means? It would be an amazing thing if it were true. Maybe I should make arrangements to disband the women and redecorate and repurpose their wing of the castle. I don’t want my mate to come here seeing that and thinking that she would not be my only love and only partner. Just then my Beta entered my office as Monica was walking out.

After the door closes behind Monica, Kurt, my Beta, says, “I figured you would have tossed that one away by now. What has it been two decades now? Are you going to make her your queen?”

I roll my eyes at him. He should know better by now how I feel. He has been with me since we were young pups. “You know better than that.” I say.

Let me explain some things and introduce myself. My name is Maddox King. Not very creative on the last name right? Well I can thank the goddess for being not so clever with it. Especially since my wolf’s name was already King. You see Selene and I have a bit of a past. I was once a mortal man long long ago. I met Selene when I was just a young boy, no older than ten. My father, the village chief, sent me out into the woods to prove my prowess as a hunter and tracker for a full moon cycle or roughly about a month's time.

It was a right of passage in those days. If I came back I was proven to be a man. If I didn’t then my father would start to train my younger brother to take over the village after his death. It was a different time. We were wilder in those days. There was more wilderness than civilization. We were a nomadic people when I was just a young boy of five. When I turned year nine we found a lush fertile valley surrounded by forests as far as the eye could see and beyond. The village elders decided that this was the place to set up a permanent home.

I was following the tracks of a deer. I had my spear ready to launch if I came across the deer or another predator. I found the deer drinking water from a small stream. I took aim and released the spear through the air. Before it could hit its mark however a large beautiful glowing white wolf pounced on the deer snapping its neck instantly in its large jaws. My spear, having reached its mark, impaled the wolf just by its hindquarter.

It yelped loudly and I rushed to it. I didn’t mean to hit the majestic creature. The wolf was whimpering when I approached and then proceeded to snarl at me. I had tears in my eyes. My mother would be so disappointed in me. She descended from druids of old, and she felt that we should only take what we need from the earth and then give back. I was devastated that I had hurt this creature. “Shhh. I am not going to hurt you. I am going to try to pull the spear out. Please don’t bite me.” I said.

The wolf c****d its head to the side as if it understood me. “I am going to move to your side now. Ok. Don’t bite me. Please, please, don’t bite me” I kept saying over and over. I swear I saw the wolf nod its head. I placed my hands on the wolf's hind side and poked a little at where the spear had pierced the flesh to find a gentle way to remove it. Unfortunately for him and the wolf it was going to be so easy. He can’t push it through because it would be going through bone. “I’m sorry but I am going to have to cut it out. Or it will do more damage to you. I don’t want you to be unable to hunt.” I kept talking to the wolf. Explaining everything that I was going to do.

Finally after a few tries I got the spear out without much more damage to the wolf. I tossed it to the side and then placed my hands on the wound to try and stanch the bleeding. After a few minutes the wolf nudged my hands away from the wound and began to lick it clean. I was shocked to see that the wound was closing up right before my eyes. Soon there was nothing left except the faint red color left behind on its fur.

I just stared wide eyed at the wolf and soon I watched as the wolf transformed into a beautiful woman. She was dressed in a white cloth that hid her body. She smiled at me and I passed out. When I came to a while later I thought I must have dreamt that whole thing. I was back in the cave I had found to make a shelter out of. Though I don’t remember having started a fire yet. I sat up looking around and noticed that there was a large hunk of meat placed on a stick over the fire. I don’t remember doing that either, I think to myself.

“That is because you did not do that Maddox, I did.” An ethereal voice had said to me.

I looked around and saw there beside the fire the same woman that the wolf had turned into. She was rotating the meat a quarter turn to ensure even heat reached it.

“I know you are confused, young one. That is fine. I will explain a few things to you and then I want to ask you a few questions.” I just stared and nodded at her so she continued and said, “My name is Selene. I am a goddess of the moon.”

I gasped in shock. I have heard of this goddess of the moon. The wolf people worship her. She is the one who created them. The wolf people were once wolves, but were combined with humans to create these strong almost unbeatable creatures to stop an evil that had been cursing the lands. Unfortunately after the evil was extinguished they no longer served a purpose and started to fight and kill the people they were meant to protect. Now they are feared by many for how wild they are.

“Yes. Unfortunately I did not think that far ahead. I had hoped that my children would be tamed a little more by their human halves. I fear they are just more animal than human. Which is why I have come to the earth in search of something to help control them. Tell me Maddox, how do you really feel about the wolf people, as you call them?”

An odd sensation came through my body then and I spoke without giving my lips permission to even move and said, “I find them to be fascinating and wish I was one. Then I could protect my village and family from evil creatures and men.”

A smile graced her lips when she asked, “How do you feel about living forever? Is that something you have ever wished for my child?”

Again my lips responded without me allowing them to and said, “It would cool to never worry about dying. It was very sad for my mother when my grandfather died. I don’t want her to be that sad about me, but if I lived forever what about my family? Would they live forever too? If not, that would be very lonely.”

“It would indeed be lonely. What if you had a friend or three who lived as long as you did? Would living well after your family be better if you have a group of friends with you?” She asked.

Again I immediately responded, “That would make it better. It would be sad for a while, but I would eventually move on like I did when my grandfather died. I think I would be able to handle that.” I said.

Her smile was large and bright now when she said, “Maddox, what if I were to tell you that I came to the mortal world to search for a leader for my Lycans, or wolf people as you call them. That I have been searching for many years and I have finally found him, in you.”

I was shocked and excited, and didn’t even mind when my lips moved on their own again when I said, “Thank you. I will not let you down!”

She gave a small laugh and said, “Very well. Come here. We have a couple of things to talk about first.”

That is the day I met King for the first time. I didn’t shift until my eighteenth year. On that day I became King Maddox of the Lycans. My best friends Kurt, Jed, and Ralf were also turned into lycans the same day I turned. They thought they had gone mad when they first heard their wolf’s voice in their minds. My friends and I were different from the other lycans though. Selene said it was because she blessed the human with the wolf spirit instead of the wolf with the human spirit made it easier for the human side to control the urges of the animal side.

It worked for a while too. Until the more wilder Lycans became harder and harder to control. They were going feral the longer time went on. Eventually I lost my control over some of them. I had to lock them away from the world. Soon it was becoming a bigger problem and I sent a prayer out to Selene for help. She came to me then and we sat down and discussed what the problems were. King had been able to reach out to them and try to understand what was going on. It turns out the animal side was lonely. They wanted a life companion. So that is how the matebond was born.

Selene ensured every one of her children had a mate or as it is called nowadays by humans soulmate. The other half of the wolf’s soul. She started out with the more feral ones to see if that solved the problem. Once we had confirmed the solution worked she did the masses. She warned my friends and I that with our extended life our perfect match may not turn up right away and we will have to be patient, but they will come.