Alpha Keanu’s POV
I ran my fingers through Petra’s hair as the advisors gave their report. She had settled in my legs like a docile kitten and I used her to ease my building frustration. If there was one thing I hated the most, it was incompetence. And my advisors were constantly proving that they were appointed for nothing.All tasks were too big for them to handle. They only enjoyed being called advisors and all the benefits it came with.I looked away from the reporting advisor, scanning the others in the room. They avoided eye contact which made me believe that they knew exactly how incompetent they were.The only one who managed to hold eye contact for two seconds longer than the others was Alfonsus, Petra’s father, but he lowered like them in the end. I commend his two seconds of bravery though.Out of all the advisors in my court, Alpfonsus was the only one who had not been born into a noble house. He was the son of an ordinary locksmith, but he had worked his way through the ranks to become an advisor. Which I commend him for, but he was still as incompetent as the rest.Men have been given to them at their disposal. They had only one simple task to hunt down the damn pack that kept attacking the other packs but it seemed that was too much for them. Until now, all I got was excuses and more excuses.“Shut up” I snapped and the whole room went silent.Even Petra stiffens underneath me. My irritation was growing and her presence no longer did anything for me. I lifted her off me as I stood and approached the cowering man in the center.“M-My lord” he stuttered.“How many weeks has it been?”“Four…. Six weeks, my lord”“You’ve shown your incompetence constantly for six week Daarion”“Forgive me my lord, we were doing our best”“Your best isn't good enough. The longer it takes for you to find those damned criminals involved, the more other packs are attacked. How many packs so far?” I asked again.“My lord….” Alfonsus stood up and I growled at him.“Shut the fuck up and sit”He returned to his seat and I faced Daarion again.“My lord” Petra’s voice filled the room and I felt her slender fingers in my arm.I tensed under her touch, my wolf not accepting her as he raged. I brushed her hands off me. As a subtle warning which she should have taken and returned to her former solution, staying silent like a perfect pet.“Answer me Daarion” I snapped at him.“My lord don’t you think you’re being harsh?”I stilled at her words. Harsh? I slowly turned around and faced her. She was still rooted to the same spot with a defiant look in her eyes.“Harsh you say?”Doubt flickered in her eyes. Perhaps she was realizing that she shouldn’t have said what she just did.“I mean, they are trying their best and…”“You think I’m overreacting?”“N..no…”“That eight men with over a thousand guards each have been given over six weeks to find a group of wolves and not even a single positive news?” I drew closer to her.“My lord” I heard my Beta call but I held my hand up to silence him.“Maybe they can be given…”“More time? More men? Do you realize how daft that sounds? Because I let you sit in couple of meeting you think you know it all?”“Forgive me my lord. I shouldn’t have said anything”“Yeah.. you shouldn’t have, you shouldn’t even be here. That was my mistake too. I seem to have given you a lot of free hand and you are starting to overestimate your importance around me?”“I’m sorry” her lips shivered as she spoke. I nodded as I ran my fingers through my hair.“Of course you are” I looked around the room one last time. No one dared to say even a single thing.“Get out”“M..my lord?” She stuttered again.“All of you, get the fuck out now”There was an annoying grating sound as they hurriedly pushed their chairs and scampered out in fear. I only relaxed when I heard the door shut but I knew Noir was still there.“When I said Everyone, that included you too” I said without looking at him and approaching the back door leading to my wing.Noir was silent as we climbed the staircase and I just ignored his presence.“I did find something concerning the strange group of wolves that attacked the packs”“You did? Why didn’t you say a damned thing then?”“You were in a bad mood”“I’m still in a bad mood Noir, my wolf is on edge”“It’s not close to the full moon yet”“The fuck if I know why he’s acting up” I entered my office and went straight to the window overlooking the entire castle grounds.“I take it you won’t be taking Petra as your mate”I scoffed. “I had no intention of ever doing that”“Really? She has stayed with you the longest out of all the other women you keep”“The number of years doesn’t matter. I’m not taking Petra as anything”“So you’ll let her go?”“I’m not holding on to her”.She was only there for my physical urges. She could be replaced at any time. She has not given me any reason to replace her yet. But between the two of us, she wanted to remain at my side at all costs.We heard a soft knock and the door opened. Petra entered cautiously, her eyes darting between Noir and myself.“My lord”“What do you want Petra?”“Are you upset with me? I didn’t mean to talk out of turn during the meeting. Forgive my insolence”“There is nothing to forgive Petra. As long as you know not to do it ever again”“I won’t, believe me. I’ll never speak out of turn”I nodded. “Good, return to your home with your father”“My lord, you said you aren’t upset with me”“I’m not, but you must return with your father. I’ll be very busy in the next few weeks so you have no reason to be here”“It doesn’t matter my lord. I can wait but please don’t send me back”I drew closer to her, cupping her face gently.“You aren’t listening love” I said in a low voice.“I’m not asking you what you want. Return to your father until I send for you again” I pulled away from her and returned to the window.“Noir will see you to the exit” I turned my back to them and I heard footsteps retreating and the door closing.My shoulders dropped, I was exhausted. My wolf was on edge. For so many reasons and one of them was the fact that I was yet to find my mate. It was the norm to already have found my true mate or marked a female as my mate by now. No king had ruled for ten years without a queen, A Luna by his side.I was already holding the record and whispers were already going around, not that I cared in the slightest but my wolf needed a mate. I could feel my control over him slipping and I feared that one day, he would give into the madness and never come back.Noir returned a few minutes later.“I’ve seen them to the exit” I nodded.“About what I was trying to say earlier. It’s not a pack doing this… it’s a group of rogues. I discovered an attack that happened recently and from the findings, they may be associated with the black market”I frowned.“They are selling humans”.My frown deepened. “Humans? They attacked a human village? We’ve not received any reports about them”“Yes. I was surprised about that too”“Contact the human king. I should have a word with him”The king's castle was the nearest human village to my land. We often communicated and offered our protection since most of the human villages fought against each other.“I will my lord. There was a rogue on our land”“Deal with the rogue. I don’t have the time for trespassers”“Yes my lord”.The next few days were filled with activities. I had an audience with the human king. He was also surprised about the attack on the human village since it was a distraction.Noir sent out his men to keep investigating and after six weeks, it was starting to look like we were making progress in finding the attackers.I was having a walk in the grounds. There were servants scattered around engaged in one activity or the other. I walked past a group working closely together pulling out overgrown weeds. A scream caught my attention and my feet moved in that direction with Noir close behind.“My lord”A slave was on the floor, with hands shackles behind their back.“That’s the trespasser from the other day”I stopped walking. Since it was a trespasser… they were probably being punished. But just as I was about to turn around, the girl was forced to her knees and I caught sight of her face. Our eyes clashing despite the distance and I could feel her blue orbs draw me in.I moved closer, blocking out all the sounds until I was standing a breath away from her. I didn’t have to touch her to know that I found my mate.Now I don’t know much about packs or wolves but the red sun is a popular name. The kings pack.It was distant from our village and yet we always heard terrifying stories of what happened in the pack. How they treat slaves and trespassers. How cruel the king was and how he could easily tear out the heart of a person just for looking at him the wrong way. If I had known that something like this would happen, I would have let that man catch me. It doesn’t matter what his intentions were. Anything was better than ending up in the red sun pack.“Are you daft?” The meaner looking guard asked, getting closer, almost in my face. I could do nothing but stare and shake in fright. The other guard held him back.“You’re trespassing on our land and we will be taking you. The king will decide what to do with you”That finally snapped some sense into me. I tried to take off but I didn’t get very far unfortunately. One of the men fisted the collar of my clothes and I was slammed into the wall.“We
He stared at me for a few seconds and slowly, he made his way towards me. He looked so frightening with his very intimidating look. I was trying my best not to do something stupid like trying to run again. That would be a very dumb idea. I held my breath as he continued his way towards me, closing the space between us in a slow but steady stride. He was a really beautiful man, he looked like something the gods took their time to design and send to earth. What is wrong with me? this can’t be the thought running through my mind at this moment.Out of my peripheral vision, I noticed the two men standing beside me do a little bow. What the fuck? Did they just bow, who is he? Surely he looks very scary and intimidating. No way, I gasped, my eyes widening with the sudden realization. He is the…“My lord,” the guards holding me down said at the same time as he got closer.My eyes widened in shock and fear. Could this day get any worse? He closed the distance between us standing very tall in
I walked further into the room slowly, the beta still standing behind me. I could already feel my body trembling in fear. The Alpha king has such a dominating and frightening aura and I tried my best to stay calm but I knew it was of no use, his aura was very much intimidating. I take in a heavy breath to calm my frantically beating heart.“Close the door Noir,” he said in a cold but calm voice.The door was pushed shut and I jumped in fright. I turned back to see that Beta was still in the room with us. ‘Thank god’ I sighed in relief. I know Noir being in this room too doesn’t make it any safer, he would only stare and watch if this man in front of me decides to break my petite body in half right here and now. But it doesn’t matter, I just didn’t want to be left alone with him. I looked back to the Alpha king, his piercing eyes locked onto mine in disdain. I tried not to cower in fear and looked around the room instead as a form of distraction. The chair I used before was just a di
We followed Noir out of the dungeon as he led us into the castle. I can’t help but marvel at the beauty of this castle. It’s so alive with maids and guards everywhere. I saw more of the cream and brown colored uniforms inside the castle. The uniform given to us was two pairs of blue ones. A middle-aged woman met us halfway into the palace. She looked to be in her mid-thirties. She gave us a nod of acknowledgment before falling in step with us. Noir introduced her as the lady in charge of the female slaves in the castle. We walked past a couple of large pillars holding the castle before arriving at a huge door by the right side of the castle. The guards at the front pushed it open and we entered.I looked around the spacious room, my breath catching in my throat at the interior decoration of the castle. There was a long flight of beautiful stairs that led upstairs at the center of the room but we continued towards a door at the far end of the room and stepped into a very nice corridor
The next morning I woke up feeling well rested and my body felt more replenished with energy. Sheila was also awake when I turned to look at her. She smiled at me, mouthing a greeting to me. Everyone of us was up and most of the girls in the room were now dressed while a few waited to use the bathroom. I waited behind with Sheila for them to be done before heading in. I quickly showered and exited for Sheila to do the same. The bathroom was actually big enough to fit three girls at once but I’m avoiding getting my mark exposed and I guess Sheila is still scared of the girls and wouldn’t want to be left alone with them. We got ready and followed Mira out into the kitchen.A tall girl stood with Nabir, handing out breakfasts to the slaves. We got ours and followed Mira back to slaves dining hall.“How are you adjusting to this sudden change?” Sheila asked by my side.“Not bad, I think we’ll have to get through today before I can judge” I shrugged and she nodded. “How are you adjusting
I lie there curled up in pain. I tried getting up but my ribs were hurting like hell. It hurts to move my body. I heard the door open and I panicked. Did they return to continue their assault? I closed my eyes trying to steady my breathing.“Jade?” I heard Sheila’s voice and I sighed in relief.I tried to answer her but my ribs were burning with pain. “Jade?” She called again and I managed to kick a stool, alerting her of my position and she rushed towards me immediately.“Goddess, what happened to you?” She gasped crouching down to get a good look at me.“Linda happened” I managed to squeak out and regretted it immediately.“Oh my god, Jade we need to get you to the healer’s quarter”I took in a long breath which also hurt before replying to her.“It’s late Sheila, I don’t think I can walk that far now”“But you need..” she started and I cut her off immediately.“Just help me back to our room. I just need some rest and I’ll be fine”“How can you say that, you can’t even stand on you
I woke up the following day from a nightmare. This was not the first time I had dreamt about the attack on my village and my parent's death. I wasn’t about to start this day sad so I got ready and went for breakfast with Sheila. Grey joined us again today. And I was starting to enjoy the extra company. We finished up and left for our duties. I was feeling very tired and I seemed to be the only one feeling this way. I guess that’s the Perks of being a wolf, they don’t get worn out so easily.I sucked it in and continued my day. I managed to finish up in time and I couldn’t be happier. I grabbed my lunch after that and headed back to the slaves quarters when I was done eating. I met Grey in the hallway while I was heading inside and he waved me over. “Jade, are you done for the day?” he asked, immediately catching up to me.“Yup, I’m just tired and I need some rest” I replied as we fell into step.“I’m actually headed to the stream a little down from here. You wanna come?” I didn’t k
Alpha Keanu’s POVA sigh left my lips and I turned to look outside my window. I didn’t get much sleep last night and it has been like that for days now. My wolf has been ecstatic about meeting his mate and has been pushing to meet her again. I waited all my life for a mate only to meet a human as one. It’s not a rare occasion but it doesn’t happen often either, especially not with an Alpha. I remembered meeting an alpha and his mate once with my father. She was rejected by her mate which caused her a serious illness and a sudden death after, from the breaking of the bond. Humans are far weaker than wolves and won’t survive being rejected. When a wolf is rejected, while most of us may survive it, it can only drive the others mad, Turning them into a raging rogue and in some cases, they choose death willingly. I don’t plan on accepting her as my mate but I can’t reject her. At least not yet. My wolf has been fussy but meeting her has calmed him a lot. I need him calm to get through thi