Protect Me, Alpha King

The rogues continued firing at us while I rooted on the ground, shivering in fear. My blood went cold as one of the bullets passed through and hit the seat of the coach.

I shrieked. Breathing was labored.

"River! Do not panic or it will kill you!"

King Maxxwell continued protecting me even if it should never be the case. I should be the one protecting him! Not the other way around!

I glanced at him. His eyebrows met. His fist clenched.

My lips quivered, tears brimming in my eyes. "Your Highness, will we die now?" I whispered under my breath.

He looked at me and scoffed.

I shrieked again when another bullet grazed my skin and fell to the ground.

"No one is dying, River. You have to serve me, first in return for helping you. Stay here," he commanded.

Before he could go away, I grabbed his hand. I gasped when sparks flew between our connected hands. He gritted his teeth as he stared at it for a long time.

What. Just. Happened?

Confused, I pulled my hands and touched them. The alpha king felt it too, right? There was no way I was the only one who felt the spark. Right.

Whether he felt it or not, the alpha king did not comment on that.

Knowing there was far more important thing than the shared electricity between them, King Maxxwell said, "Fall on the ground. My warrior will help us.”

"Where will you go, Your Highness?" I asked, my voice coated with worry for his safety.

"Outside. To kill them,” he said nonchalantly.

My heart skipped a bit. As ungrateful as it sounded, I did not care what happened to him, outside. But if he died in my company, the people will blame me for not protecting my master. And if the alpha king died, the customs dictate that all the servants and horses will go along with him.

I shuddered at the thought. I did not want to die. Yet. I wanted to look for my parents.

"B-be careful, Your Highness. Your people are waiting for you.”

“You are not included, River?”

“I am included, Your Highness. I am your servant.” Out of courtesy, I muttered, "What if something happens to you, Your Highness? We can just stay here," I offered.

He scoffed. "Stay here and let the bullets enter our skulls? I would rather go outside and fight, River. An alpha king is never a coward. He will fight for his people.”

Are the people worth it? I asked in my mind.

However, what he said hit a spot. If there was a coward between us, it was me for cowering in fear right now!

"But Your Highness..." I protested.

"Can you go outside and kill them for me, River? While I waited for you inside the coach?"

I shut my mouth.

I couldn't do that. I don't know how to fight and I couldn't even defend myself from the bullies. When I did not answer, he said, "I know you are useless to me. I wonder what had gotten into me when I asked you to be my slave when in fact you cannot even fight.”

I played with my hands. The gunshots continued. But it seemed like it was no longer directed to our carriage.

"Y-you can teach me, Your Highness. I can be your weapon.”

"Are you sure about that? There is no turning back, River.”

I gulped and stared into his eyes. “In return for something, Your Highness.”

He cocked his eyebrows. "Do tell me."

"Marked me as yours."

His lips pressed into a thin line. "Such a topic needed a thorough conversation. We will talk about that later when we reach the palace.” And with that, he jumped outside and shapeshifted into his dark wolf.

He was magnificent. Jealousy attacked my heart. If only I also had a wolf with me.

King Maxxwell reached the ground on all fours, looked at me, and howled. It was a long and soulful one as if his wolf was calling for me. As if it knew me for a long time.

I held my hand, wanting to reach his wolf, but put it down. If I had my wolf with me, it could communicate with the alpha king's wolf.

The dark wolf turned its back on me and went in the rogue's direction. The next thing I heard was the shouting of pain, of cries, followed by King Maxxwell's wolf growls. And everything went eerily still.

A whole ten minutes passed after I gathered the courage to look outside. My lips parted as I saw the pile of bodies of the rogues torn from limb to limb. Beside the dead bodies was King Maxxwell, standing naked together with the driver of the coach. Both were catching their breaths after fighting the enemies.

I felt my cheeks flush as I gaped at his naked view. He was particularly gifted in his bottom.

As if sensing I was looking at them, King Maxxwell looked at where I was hiding. My heart jumped at his gaze.

Feeling guilty, I hid and waited for him to come back.

Imprints of his naked body would be forever on my mind. The more I forced myself to make it disappear from my memory, the more it persisted to resurface.

Damn it. Of all the things I will see, it was him being buck naked. How much more if he happened to face my direction? Then, I would see his jewel in its full glory.

I gulped.

No. I am his servant. I should never think of any sinful thoughts against the alpha king.

Suddenly, I heard footsteps coming in my direction. To this coach."River. Why are you hiding? The enemies are no longer alive."

It was King Maxxwell. His voice felt like he was too tired. His breathing was labored.

I swallowed and counted from one to ten before I faced him, and smiled at him.

"Your Highness...you did a great job of wiping them—"

However, my grin disappeared the moment I saw the different cuts all over his body. He was bleeding

"Y-Your Highness!”

I scampered, nearly fell on the coach, grabbed something solid, and was suddenly at his side. Beside his ribcage, there was a deep slash of the wound. A sword? A dagger? I could not tell since I was not familiar with the cuts. And the blood continued to flow like a waterfall.

My head became light as I struggled to control my reaction. Never wanted to see the sight of blood. I wanted to puke. I wanted to turn my head away from the blood.

My vision was already temporarily dark but shook it. I must never succumb to the darkness. I am the alpha king's slave and I must serve him

Get hold of yourself, River! I chastised myself.

Thankfully, I regained control of my body, and my vision slowly got clearer.

Unaware of what I experienced earlier, he asked, "Is this the right time to smile, River? Are you happy seeing their dead bodies? Are you satisfied with the outcome?"

“Your Highness, you are greatly mistaken. I am never fond of seeing blood.”

I drew a shaky breath. Must stop the blood.

I yanked someone off the fabric of my clothes until it was cut in half, revealing my stomach. inhaling all the air as much as my lungs could carry, with trembling hands, I wrapped it around his wound to cut the blood loss. He was strangely quiet as if he was observing what I was doing.

The coach dipped. The driver was finally back.

Control, River.

"I-it's not what I meant, Your Highness. Forgive me for acting slow. It will not happen again." I did a final wrap of his wound. I knew it was not the best, but it was better compared to nothing.

"You do not have to do something about it. I have fast healing abilities.” Good for him. "And do something with your clothes. I don't like seeing you that way," he chided. "When we reach the palace, you will be my face and I do not like my slaves to look like that.”

My cheeks burned and covered my stomach using my hands. I stepped aside so that he could enter. "It will never happen again, Your Highness."

King Maxxwell stepped foot on the coach, limping. It must hurt like hell, but he was only enduring it. When he settled, I sat beside him.

"Continue," he barked towards the driver.

"Are you okay, Your Highness?" I asked when the coach continued.

"I cannot die, River. My wolf is repairing the damage. Stay silent so I could concentrate on healing,” he answered between gritted teeth.

I shut my mouth.

It took another couple of hours and we reached the kingdom without any enemies waiting to ambush us. The moment the guards spotted the alpha king, they barked an order to the servants and asked them to fetch the pack doctor.

I could feel the guards and servants’ eyes when they saw me but tried to shrug it off. I refused to be intimidated. This was another territory. This place was no longer my pack and should never allow anyone to step on me.

Will I be strong enough to do it?

"Fool! What are you standing there? Don't you see, His Highness is wounded?" I looked at the source of the voice and found it was none other than the driver of the coach

He was also wounded. His other limb was barely hanging. Oh, god. Another sight of blood.

I hit my limit and succumbed to the darkness...