Protect Me, Alpha King

The alpha king raised his brow, disbelief in his eyes. "So I am right. You did plan something, River. I hate to break it to you, but you will not succeed.”

It would be a silent battle between us—an ongoing one.

"I did not say I have plans, Your Majesty."

I grabbed the bar of soap and asked, "May 1?"

He nodded. With that, I rubbed the soap all over his chest. He remained silent, not saying anything, as I continued rubbing the soap

Using the bubbles, I scrubbed the dirt and dried blood all over his body. He moaned, savoring the comfort I was giving him.

"At last, you finally did your job, River.”

The hemline of my clothes was already wet as some water splashed towards me. "This is my plan, Your Majesty. To serve you. I want to redeem myself. If you are thinking of other things, you are mistaken."

He opened one of his eyes. "You know what it is. Don't play dumb with me.”

I chuckled and returned the bar soap. "You never believe what I say, do you, Your Majesty?"

He leaned his head on the edge of the tub. "You're not honest. Sometimes."

"You hurt my ego, Your Majesty. I'm hurt." I put one of my hands on my chest, faking a pout. "You think lowly of me.”

"You will do anything to get your goal.”

Well, that hit the spot.

I bent forward, my chest an inch from his face. The alpha king looked at my bust for a split second before he looked at my eyes.

"I admit I am a goal-getter, Your Majesty. But never a goal digger.”

"That's why you are offering yourself to me."

"Am 12" I asked, chuckling. "If I did, would you accept my offer?”

I purposely licked my lips, and the alpha king watched what I was doing. He shifted on his seat and looked away, his breathing labored.

"Go."

My heart sank. That was not the answer I was waiting for. Not wanting his reply to dampen my mood, I shrugged my shoulders. I must succeed now. The right opportunity would be today. "Allow me to serve you even now, Your Majesty.” Without asking for his approval, I stepped inside the tub and faced him. Putting both hands on each side of the tub, I kneeled closer to him, our breaths mingling.

The only thing that we heard was our labored breathing.

"What are you doing, River? Are you tempting me again, and then you will run like a scared chicken?" he taunted. "I've bedded a lot of women in my life. What made you think you could surpass their performance? You're nothing but a child in my eyes with a little experience. You will only get scared at the end and run again with your tails behind your leg. Leave now before I can stop myself from devouring you."

I chuckled. "Devour me? That's a unique choice of words you got there, Your Majesty. I'm permitting you to consume me."

Not breaking any eye contact, he grabbed my hands and put them on his hard member, earning a gasp from me.

"See? That's how you affect me, River. If you are scared, run. If you want to push through your foolishness, I am washing my hands. I warned you a couple of times," he said dangerously.

The longer my hand stayed down there, the more it sprung to life and became thick under my fingers.

He rested his forehead on the hollow of my neck, inhaling deeply.

"I can smell your fear. You should be. Savor that feeling so you will never commit a mistake when it involves giving yourself to me. I have a lot of slaves that can pleasure me better than you. I am not a saint, River. Run while you still can.”

I gulped as I weighed my options. Will I push it through? Or not?

He put a distance between us and smirked at me.

"You remind me of a sheep lost on its way."

I clenched my fist. He was only testing me to see if I would succumb to my fear or not. However, my goal should come first.

Pretending he did not affect me, I said, "You hurt my pride, Your Majesty.” The corner of my mouth lifted. "Wanna see if I am scared or not?"

I tried to kiss him, but he looked away. My cheeks flushed, not because of the hot temperature. To say I was humiliated was an understatement.

Back then, he was eagerly responding to my kisses, but now...Did he already find me repulsive? Surprised, I asked, "Your Majesty? You don't...like me?"

"You're not a whore, River. You're not my whore. Do not force yourself on me."

"I am offering myself to you, Your Majesty.”

"I did not ask you either. I have Nora and my other sex slaves who will warm my bed."

"Why?"

"Why what?"

"Why are you refusing me?"

"Because you are a child in my eyes."

A child? My body may look like a child because of my petite frame, but I was no longer a child.

"I am perfectly an adult, Your Majesty. Thank you very much.”

"Stop. I don't want to hear anything else. My view of you remains the same. You will only be my personal attendant—nothing else. So abandon whatever motive you have right now. You won't succeed.”

I stopped.

"It's because of Zenith. Does kissing me make you feel as if you are betraying her, Your Majesty?" His eyes glinted, and he gritted his teeth while looking at me. "Where did you learn that? Who told you, River?"

The air around us started to get cold. Thankfully, the water was still warm.

"Who told me is no longer important, Your Majesty. When I want to know something, I will not stop until I get to the bottom of that. I was right. Zenith and I looked the same. Does looking at me hurt you, Your Majesty? Does it bring painful memories?" I whispered.

He motioned towards the door. "Out.

"I won't until you will tell me.”

He controlled his breathing, and his eyes flashed with gold. "How dare you force me. You are nothing but a slave. Do you want me to punish you again and put you in the darkest corner of the dungeon where no light would reach you, River? I may not always be here inside the palace, but I will give you some time to teach you a lesson.”

I was not afraid. I did not know why I felt that.

"My apologies, Your Majesty. But the more you hide about Zenith made me more curious than ever. I was surprised upon learning that you accepted her as your mate despite her status as a slave. An omega." I turned sideways while sighing.

I submerged myself in the water and stared straight ahead.

"Do you know how I felt when I found out she was your mate? I was jealous, Your Majesty. How could you accept her without condition while Alpha Erik did not acknowledge me? No matter how much I think about it, I did find any answer.”

"Zenith brought sunshine to my gloomy world. But my people saw another thing. They did not want me to accept a slave as my Luna. My queen. They fear I would only be a laughing stock among my people until they drive her to her death.”

Death which means...."You believed she died already?"

"I did. But some part of me also believed she was alive. That's why I stayed outside every night, looking for her. She is alive.” His eyes were full of longing for her. He did love her.

Game over.

That was the most genuine bond I had seen so far. Pure. Authentic.

The alpha king was willing to endanger himself as long as he could look for Zenith. I gave up. The alpha king would never mark me. As long as his memories of Zenith were still there, he would never accept anyone. Not even me.

It was time for me to move on. I will think of ways to deal with my pack when they do not see my mark. They would throw questions or even brand me as a liar.

Feeling defeated, I stood.

"Where are you going?”

"I accept my defeat, Your Majesty. I will no longer force you to mark me. You were right earlier. I had some plans. To force you to mark me. But I wanted to respect Zenith's memories. I will leave you here. Enjoy your bath.”

The cold hit my wet body, and I shivered.

I was on the verge of stepping out of the tub when he grabbed my hand, pulled me into the water, and sat in his lap.

My heart hammered against my chest.

"What is the meaning of this, Your Majesty?"

He touched my face, angled it towards him, and kissed me as if there was no tomorrow.

My eyes went round.