His Sweet Little Mate

"It's nothing but a suicide mission."

There was no way Arthur could bring himself to agree to something like this and put not only himself but also his soldiers in danger. And danger didn't even begin to cover what they had to go through if he dived in blindly to fight that man.

Calpin was a dark mage. The people of this kingdom weren't even familiar with normal magic users, and they would choose to keep them at arm's length even when they encountered one.

Their kind was literally despised in this continent, often pushed to the back of the mind and rarely tolerated. It was so rare for witches to be accepted, even Mirella couldn't be considered well respected, even though the late alpha of the Red River pack seemed to have no problem letting her live so close to their pack.

It was safe to say that they knew next to nothing about the magic users or how to deal with them, let alone dark magic users like Calpin, who would stop at nothing to achieve his goals.

Meanwhile, Abby expected him to react like this, and understood where he was coming from, after all, she fought Calpin herself, and knew how unmerciful and cruel he could be.

But he must be stopped, regardless of whatever it took, they at least had to try. Not just to save Micah, but also because of the chaos he would stir in this realm once he completed what he started all those years ago before the great witch stopped him and locked him up.

It was her responsibility to stop him for the greater good, just like her ancestor had done. Just like her own mother tried before she fell victim to his cruelty. If her mother had been alive, she would have dealt with him no matter what. Just like the day she died, where she fought with him even at the brink of her death.

But her mother failed, because she was greatly injured trying to save Abby, who had a sudden power backlash. For a while, Abby struggled with the harsh truth, she didn't feel she deserved to escape death that day. She wished she had been the one claimed by death, instead of her lovely mother.

Then she was forced to face Calpin, right in the middle of a f*****g chaos back in the Black Claw pack, where that bastard tried to burn her mate alive. At that moment, she finally understood why her mother didn't hesitate to put herself between death and her daughter.

Seeing your loved one in agony, how could you be able to sit back and do nothing? She couldn't either, and that was how she found herself fighting Calpin, because she wanted to do everything in her power just to save Micah.

Now, her mate was in danger again. She had already had to delay this for so long, just to be able to give birth to her precious baby safely, but only she knew how excruciating it was.

For the past three months, every other waking moment of hers had been spent reaching for the mate bond, just to make sure Micah was still alive. Her heart was lodged in her throat long back, and it was still hard to breathe even now.

But now she couldn't wait anymore, it was really unbearable not knowing why she couldn't feel Micah on the other end of their bond.

If she could tell all this to Arthur, she wouldn't have hesitated. But it would only complicate things and they would be running in circles, with no possible solution to this problem. So she took a deep breath and regarded Arthur again. "I didn't say it wasn't a perilous task. Or that I don't understand what we have on the line by actively seeking him..."

"Countless people's lives, that's what would be on the line if we make a move on him." Arthur sounded even more grim having to say it outloud.

Every time they fought that dark magic user, there had been countless deaths on both sides, always them ending up with the short end of the stick. Because, Calpin didn't really care about the rogues he had to expend in these battles, while Micah's side only lost more and more people, innocents and warriors alike.

Even alphas weren't spared the last time Micah marched to that supposed rogue base, and the former king was left to think his own son was no more until today.

"Yes, countless people's lives." Abby agreed. "However, did you forget the outcome would be the same whether we try or not?"

Arthur didn't look convinced. "Isn't that what I'm saying, we cannot fight someone like him?"

"If no one stands in his way, how else do you want to ensure the people of this kingdom make it out alive after he gains even more power?" Abby wasn't agitated or anything, she just wanted the former king to understand the gravity of the situation. "He didn't bat an eye even when his own puppets were being slaughtered, while letting them annihilate a whole pack, just to set a trap for Micah all those months back in the Black Claw pack...

"And now he has Micah, God knows what else he was going to do if my mate's worth to him was exhausted." Abby stressed her words as she patted her son, who was still fast asleep in her arms. But he would wake up soon. So she needed to wind this conversation up quickly.

"I'm aware of it too. Then again, you and him belong to the same kind, but even you don't know how to deal with him either, let alone a bunch of warriors who know nothing but relying on brute force to get things done." Arthur couldn't convince himself to feel it was a good idea to follow Abby's suggestion, even though he agreed Calpin should be stopped.

"But we have to try somewhere, somehow. Arthur, Micah is still alive. For now. But what if he kills him? What if he is already dying? It's been months, and we don't know what kind of situation your son is in right now." She took a deep breath, shaking her head to clear it off unpleasant thoughts. "I know I'm asking for a lot from you, but as I said, no one in this kingdom is more suitable to lead those warriors out there."

"I want to save Micah too, but I don't think this is the way to do it."

"Do you have any other ideas then?" Abby was exasperated now.

He didn't have any, but then it wasn't really his battle to fight.

"No, but it feels like you should be the one dealing with this problem, given his strange obsession to kill you." Arthur blurted out when he recalled what he heard from Alpha James after the several times Abby escaped death by that dark magic user's hands. "I don't deny he tried to kill me several times now. But do you think he would just stop at that? He would be content after getting rid of Micah and me?" Abby looked at him sharply. "You aren't naive enough to think so, are you Arthur?" Arthur didn't have an answer to her question, actually he did, but it wouldn't be in his favor to open his mouth now.

Seeing him falling silent, Abby clucked her tongue. "Exactly. You do realize his main aim is to conquer this kingdom, right? So even if I was captured or killed by his hands, he would still remain a major problem to this kingdom's people...

"And trust me, if I thought letting him take my life could stop him, I could have readily offered it to him, because like I said, I was the only one who could seal him away or have the power to do so. But I'm just one more obstacle in his path to get hold of this kingdom, even though I know with certainty that no one but I can stop him...

"At the end of the day, it all burns down to his goal to control this whole kingdom, and all I'm asking for you to help with is to stop him in any way possible before he becomes even more powerful."

Abby didn't need to explain why she thought what she thought because Arthur had his own people who had been keeping him updated with information related to Calpin.

There was a stark difference between the first time those rogue attacks started in the capital city and the war which broke out in that forest, where Micah went missing. And the worse thing was, they didn't even know if Calpin had been holding back until now. That was why the whole royal council had been urging Abby and the others to speed up the process of the investigation and come up with a way to deal with Calpin once and for all.

"Also this might be our only chance to save Micah, so if you truly cared about your son, you will be on board with this arrangement. We have to try, no matter how little chance we have to come out victorious." Abby was still calm, her tone flat, as if she would understand whatever Arthur chose to do.

Arthur started pacing again, before his gaze was drawn to little Arlo's face, who was sleeping contentedly in Abby's arms and then sighed. "Let me think about it."Published by Nôv'elD/rama.Org.

Abby regarded him for a moment. "I'll wait for a day for your answer."

She needed to plan accordingly so she could only spare a single day for him to make up his mind.