Protect Me, Alpha King

With my brows gathering together, I quipped, “Your Majesty. Are you okay? Why did it feel like you were trying to say something? You can say it. Your humble servant is waiting for you.”

He cleared his throat when he recovered from his trance. "I have nothing to say. Nothing.”

"But..." I trailed off, not satisfied with his answer.

The alpha king was full of mystery and I had been itching to uncover all of them one by one. Starting from Zenith. I will use everything I know to my own advantage.

"Drop it, River. You're becoming a nuisance. You can be irritating sometimes.”

I grinned at him. "My pack members constantly said that just looking at my face annoyed them, Your Majesty. So it is no wonder you shared the same opinion. No feelings hurt, Your Majesty."

He looked at me sharply. "Don’t smile. There is nothing happy about that.”

I wiped away the smile from my face and looked at him with a sorrowful expression as if someone had rejected me again.

The alpha king raised his perfect brows at me, while I shrugged it off. "Why that expression again?" "I don't know. I suddenly got sad, Your Majesty as if my heart has been pierced with the hurtful words of Alpha Erik—"

"Do not mention that bastard's name in my presence, River," he said, cutting me off. He may have seen the look in my eyes and he added, "No more questions. Shut your mouth. I'm tired. Stay here and I will call the twins to fetch you when Elijah arrives.”

And with that, he slammed the door shut, leaving me alone.

I bit my lower lips and stared at the door.

I wondered when Elijah would arrive. I paced back and forth, thinking of ways I could tell Elijah first of my lies, and asked him if he would defend me without questioning why.

As if. Do you think he would side with a slave? His loyalty lies to the alpha king. You're not even a Luna for asking too much, the evil side of me said.

Right. But how will I know if I won't try, right?

If he will agree, I will give him a lifetime free massage whenever he pleases and we will do it alone. Somewhere where no one would see and spread rumors. This was getting out of hand and started to cause me headaches.

Think about what you will do next, River because the moment Elijah found out your lies, he would never teach you how to read and write.

A few knocks on the door stopped me in my train of thought. If only Elijah was the one standing on the other side of the door.

“Enter,” I said and the twins stepped inside. To my dismay. Which was foolish. The alpha king did mention he will call the twins.

"Why are you disappointed at seeing us, River? Are you expecting someone?" they asked in unison. Gawd.

I was becoming more comfortable with the way they speak.

"It's nothing like that,” I lied again.

"Really? Then—" They gasped together when they saw the hole glaring back at them. “River! Are you okay? The alpha king punched the wall right?” they asked with worried expressions on their faces. “Are you hurt?”

Emotionally, yes. But not physically.

Not wanting to get swayed by my emotions and trying to act everything was perfect, I beamed at them, nearly perfecting the smile I always showed them.

"Of course. Why shouldn't 17"

"He did not hit you? Please clarify it to us.”

My scowl deepened. "Why? Are there any histories of His Majesty hitting women?" I asked. "If he did, he is a bastard,” I added, curling my lips in disgust.

The twins waved their hands frantically. "No! The alpha king never hit any women or children. Only men who defied him. But never the women or children.”

Not believing in their words, I pressed more. "Are you only saying that because you are defending him from me? Or are you scared of the alpha king himself?"

"We aren't. He is indeed scary when he gets mad."

Images of him nearly shifting into his beast flashed in my mind. A shiver ran down my spine, as memory after memory insisted on appearing. He looked like a beast when he stared at me using his golden eyes.

"But he never hit women and children. It is true and not sugar-coated with lies. We never lie, River. Liars deserve to be punished," they spat.

With my fear temporarily forgotten, I chuckled nervously at them.

They were referring to me. A great liar.

"O-okay. But there are situations when we need to lie," I justified, trying to reason out with them.” "Nonsense. If you care and love that person, you will never hurt him or her by lying. We loathe the fabricator of lies, River. If we find one, we will never talk to him or her."

"Isn't it too savage? You don't always know why he or she needs to lie?"

They stared at me together, their nose flaring. "Nonsense. Why do you keep on defending them, River? Are you a deceiver?”

I gulped, blood drained from my body, but smiled it away while waving my hands in front of their faces.

"Of course not! That's horrible! Why would I deceive you? You did nothing but good to me so I should return it by being true to you, Clara and Flare."

Satisfied with my answer, they beamed at me.

Secretly, I released a breath. "So.... What will happen next?” I asked, changing the subject.

"We are already instructed to detain you here."

"That fast?"

"Through mind link." Damn it. Mind link was like a sort of phone call between werewolves. But since I did not have any, I did not have the ability for that. "How would I give Elijah a head start? "Are the two of you mates, River?"

"We are!" I insisted. "But I have to see him. Or rumors would reach him before the truth. I don't want the two of us to have a misunderstanding.”

"What truth?" they asked. "You can tell us. Treat us like your sisters, River,” they said softly.

I paced back and forth while biting my fingernails. How would I get away from the twins? They will surely follow the alpha king's order.

"Nothing. Nothing. Could I ask for food?"

"Are you hungry now? A servant will serve you something. Don't worry about it."

Dammit.

"Do you have any plans on going somewhere else? Like watering your plants?"

"We already did. And we will not go anywhere. The alpha king strictly told us never to leave you. Are you okay? It seems like something is bothering you. We can help, River. Clara and I will do it to the best of our abilities. You can treat us as your friends even if we barely know each other. You can depend on us."

As if. The twins will feel like I betrayed them and will brand me as a liar after knowing I lied about Elijah and me being mates. And if word got out that I lied, the servants would ridicule me and I would be back again to my previous position of being bullied. They would gave me names much harsher than the name Dog Slave.

"If what you are saying is true, can you allow me to escape?”

They gasped in unison and looked at me with disbelief.

"Escape? Why? Where? Do you want to run away from the palace? River. You don't know how dangerous it is to go outside the palace alone. The rogues are waiting for us to commit a mistake and kill us in a blink of an eye. They are not merciful, River. They killed our parents! We loathe them! Shame on them! So please, stop saying those things!" Flare chastised.

"I'm not going outside the palace. I want to meet Sir Elijah first.”

"Why?"

I bit my lower lip as my mind looked for another alibi.

"I-1 miss him."

They looked at me as if I was suddenly uttering a strange language.

"You miss him?" they asked in unison. "That much? Or are you only infatuated by him?"

Shifting my weight from foot to foot, I looked at the floor and back to them again. Then, I maneuvered my expression into the saddest expression of all, while pouting.

"Yes, I missed him so much that it pained my heart. I knew we were mates the moment I joined their meeting. So please, allow me to escape. I'll be back. I'll just have to look for Sir Elijah.”

"He is in the West Wing of the palace—"

Clara suddenly winced when Flare pinched her side. "You are not supposed to say that!"

"But she is our friend, Flare. We have to help her!"

"But the alpha king instructed us not to make her stay away from our sight!"

The twins continued their bickering as I silently strolled towards the balcony. West Wing. That was usually where the guest rooms were located. And Elijah was in there? I had to go there and talk to him or else, if the alpha king found I was lying, he would throw me back into the dungeon. Or another dungeon to be precise. I don't want to experience that again!

I glanced back at the twins and they were still in the middle of their heated debate.

Tiptoeing, I entered the balcony and glanced below. No one.

It was a couple of meters high from my position down to the ground, but I think I could still survive after this. After one last glance at the twins, I put my hands on the railing, gathered all the courage I could muster, and jumped into the ground.

Alpha King Maxxwell

The beta of the palace— Valentine was saying something but no words would enter my mind as it always drifted back to River and the words she kept on insisting.

Mates. Elijah and her?

How ridiculous. Who was she trying to fool? That would never happen.

A smile crept on my face while Beta Valentine looked at me with furrowed eyebrows.

"Are you listening, Your Majesty? You are smiling. I'm shocked you still managed to smile after what I updated.”

Beta Valentine was the best combat fighter of the palace and had been serving me since I took the throne. Duty before anything. That's what he believed. Perhaps that was also the reason why he was unmated, not bothering to join any Mating Ceremony.

"Yes, I am," I replied nonchalantly.

"With all due respect, you are not listening, Your Majesty.”

"I am. You talked about the current situation of the dungeon. Repairs are underway. The other prisoners were out in another dungeon. Thirty percent died while fighting against the guards for trying to get away while Tristan, the leader of the rogue, managed to escape.” He stared at me longer, as if he wanted to see something which I shrugged off. "Satisfied?

He sighed, his shoulders slumped while he was busy gathering all the documents I was done affixing my signature with. Some documents were about the businesses we put in the human world while the others were particularly for slaves who wanted to buy their freedom which I gave. The palace had too many servants and decreasing their value was not bothering.

"I thought Tristan would die in his cell, Your Majesty. I"ve been taking extra monitoring on that bastard. The devil may have wanted him to live because surprisingly, he was healed.”

I scratched my neck and massaged my forehead. "Who dared to defy me when I said no pack doctor would be given to him? That bastard had caused great damage in my kingdom a couple of years had passed until now."

"We should just follow my suggestion of killing him at that spot. If we do it, we will no longer have to deal with him again, Your Majesty.” This man would kill anyone who dared to harm the kingdom. He was the best among the beast.

"Investigate who helped him heal his wound. I doubted it was because of his beast. Someone aided him."

Beta Valentine got up from his seat and tossed a picture on the table.

"I already did. Odd. But the one who was with him was your personal slave, Your Majesty. If I am not mistaken, her name is River."

My eyes glinted hearing the woman's name and hastily grabbed the picture. The first thing I noticed was her burning red hair which looked like a dying sun and her face facing sideways, and only half of her face was shown.

I remembered her clothes. It was right at the moment when she was brought to the dungeon after the Council's meeting.

"You're implying she healed Tristan?"

"A theory, Your Majesty. There were also situations where the prison guards heard the two exchanging words and looked as if they were long-time friends. I suggest you do not trust fully your personal servant, Your Majesty. She may be a spy from the rogues.”

"She isn't," I defended. "We met at Haverstone Pack when I attended the Mating Ceremony."

His eyes lit up. "Speaking of that Mating Ceremony, Your Majesty. Did you happen to find the Luna?"

"Zenith is my only Luna, Beta Valentine. No other else.”

"Zenith had died. She fell from the cliff. Others said she committed suicide. Forgive me for what I will say, but if you happen to meet your second chance mate, it would be better if you accept her right away regardless of her status. Your people need someone to be by your side, Your Majesty. We need a Luna."