Protect Me, Alpha King

Master Henderson put his hand on his chin and scratched it. “You are not in the position to get furious here, milady,” he said. “Remember you need me.”

Leaning closer, I could smell his stinky breath. “But you need my money more than I do, Master Henderson,” I retorted. “Tell me how much she is and we are done. It's sickening how you treated Dawn as if she is nothing but a dog.”

He threw back his head and laughed. “She is a dog. My lap dog. I owned her. I bought her using my money. I wasted my money for her.”

My hands shook. Those words. Alpha Wade uttered them to me, reminding me I was nothing but his possession. “She is also part human. I want to buy her.”

Do you have the means to buy her, River? You're also dirt-poor. It's funny how confident you were uttering those words.

Something falls on the shelves. A record. Dawn bent and grabbed it. That must be Zenith's record. “Milady, being kind will not make you a saint. However, since you remind me of my past, I will give the bitch to you. Pay anything you have. She's useless anyway," he said casually.

My hands went back to my necklace. I had no choice but to give it to Henderson. I will just use an alibi if Elijah will look for it.

"Deal. There is no turning back. Where is her slave certificate?"

"Where is your payment?" he questioned.

I unclasped the necklace given by Elijah. "This was given by Elijah, one of the Council of the alpha king. May it suffice the payment for Dawn's freedom," I said with confidence. “I can ask for the receipt of this from the jewelry store. Lady Aurora will verify he bought it for me.”

“The Council interested in you? I wonder what he saw in you. Anyways, you can have the bitch. For someone as useless as her, I am surprised you're still buying her."

I opened my palm. "Her slave certificate?”

He opened his shelf and brought out a piece of paper. He scribbled his signature, signifying that he allowed the transaction of making Dawn mine. "Here. All good."

I scanned the document. I did not understand everything stated but I was able to read Dawn's name. And the word slave.

Narrowing my eyes, I said, "If you happen to deceive me, Master Henderson, the alpha king, and Elijah will come here and avenge me."

He chuckled while brushing his mustache using his fingertips. "Why would the alpha king do that? You are saying nonsense, woman."

Yeah. Why would Maxxwell care? All he cared about was Zenith. None other else. Not even me, his mate.

"Because...because he valued his people,” I answered in the end, lying again. I was not sure if he did value his people. What I was certain of was that he valued Zenith more than anyone. More than his life.

"Black Heart treasured his people? That's ridiculous, milady.”

“It's not.” It was absurd to even to my ears. “You do not know him personally.”

And why would you defend the alpha king now?

“That's enough of a joke.” His eyes darted at Dawn's location. “Bitch, give her the records—" "Master Henderson. You seemed to forget that Dawn is already mine. I am the only one who can order her," I said, cutting off his words.

His lips pressed into a thin line. "Suit yourself, milady." He inspected the necklace and smirked before he put it in his pocket. In return, he gave me the certificate. I will just ask Dawn if I was given the right certificate or if this man was fooling me.

"Dawn. Give me Zenith's record.”

She hesitated, looking at Master Henderson as if she was asking for his approval.

Softening my expression, I muttered, "It's okay. You can come here. I already bought you." Henderson leaned on his chair. "Do it quickly. I still had an auction to do.”

"Dawn, come,” I ordered, making my voice soft. She looked like a rabbit, checking if I was a predator or not.

I felt bad for her.

I really do. She was once a luna, but the previous alpha king had stripped her of that.

"Hurry, bitch!" Master Henderson growled. "I don't have all the time in the world to wait for you.” Dawn jumped at his voice. With hurried steps, she closed the distance between us and extended her bony hands to me.

Smiling sweetly, I grabbed the records, opened them, and cursed. I forgot I could not still read really well.

"Read it for me," I ordered. "That bitch knows everything that is written here. Read it when you're back in the carriage. I don't have all the time in the world.”

"But I still have questions,” I pointed out.

"You're done questioning. You already made use of the two questions.” He stood. "Let's step outside."

"But."

Dawn looked at me and shook her head.

Biting my lips, I said, "Fine. But she goes with me."

"l don't care.”

"Tell me what it said. That greedy bastard. He did not even give me enough time," I said when we were already in the middle of our trip. “I had already given you enough time to think.”

I let Dawn relax first, and get accustomed to my presence, allowing her to enjoy the scenery.

The woman was silent, but her eyes were telling me something. She looked at me, then asked, "Do you have a spare of food, milady? I...haven't eaten anything since yesterday. My stomach is hurting.” "What? That bastard was not giving you any food? I just wanted to punch him right now.”

Ow. That was the reason why she was silent. Stupid of me not to consider that.

Remembering the bundle of food the twins had given me for my journey, I gave it to her which she greedily ate as if she had not eaten for a year.

"D-do you have water?" she asked after emptying all of it, hiccuping.

I gave her the water and greedily drank the contents. My heart sank just by looking at her. Luna were powerful individuals who lead the pack together with the alpha—their mate. But looking at Dawn right now, she lost that power.

Dawn wiped the smudges of water from her lips. "Thank you so much, milady.”

“You are welcome.”

She blushed. “I looked disgraceful, right? Far from the luna, I was before.” She could not meet me in the eyes, embarrassed at how she acted earlier.

Encouraging her, I said, "That's okay. I also eat that sometimes.” When Alpha Wade had ordered the servants not to give me any food. “If it's okay with you, can we start now?"

Dawn straightened and sat properly. Her cheeks were already sunken. Her legs looked like a stick. And it would take a couple of weeks or months before her body would return from her former psyche.

She gave her curtesy bow. "Milady, I will always be at your service. I vowed to protect you at all times as a sign of my gratitude for freeing me from Henderson's clutches.”

I sighed.

She had vowed my protection which I was not expecting from a former luna.

I still did not know how to tell the alpha king about her. Will Maxxwell accept Dawn or not? I was hoping that the answer would be the former.

"Though it's not necessary to thank me, you are welcome.”

I put the record on her face. “Read this. Don't leave anything.”

“Milady, forgive me for asking this. But you cannot read?" she asked.

"I can't. Not really that master in reading. I am still learning.”

"But you are a noble lady."

"Do you think so?" I asked, impressed that I was able to fool her.

Her mouth fell open. "You're not a noble blood?"

I grinned at her. "Perfect. You were also fooled.”

"ow."

Ow? That was not the reaction I was expecting.

"I'm nothing but a slave. Just like you. No. You're no longer a slave.” I pulled out the certificate and gave it to her. "Read this first. I want to know if that bastard pulled a prank on me. If he tricked me, I will cut his genitals and feed them to the wild beast in the jungle.”

I clenched my fist as I thought of ways how I would reenact my revenge.

"You are really a slave?" Dawn asked, again. "Then, why do you carry the alpha king's mark?"

I froze and looked at her. She was sharper than she looked. She was the only one who noticed my mark, even if I did not even take off my shawl.

"You know the alpha king?"

“Yes. I know him.” She inspected the certificate. "All good. This is the genuine one. May I take it?" "Of course.” I happily gave it to her. "You said you know the alpha king. Which means you also know Zenith?"

She looked back. “Is it okay to talk about her? The coachman would tell the alpha king.”

“His lips are sealed. You can trust me. Besides, if the alpha king will punish us, I will just say that I forced you to tell me. So...care to explain why you know him?”

She hesitated. "I was there when she arrived at the slave auction house until the moment the Alpha King Maxxwell bought him. Wanna know more about her? I can tell you anything you want to know about that woman. In return for helping me. I can also read the written records. No. I did not have to read them. I knew them like the back of my head. I was Henderson's record keeper. I wrote it."