The Alpha King's Beloved

The ice-cold water splashed against my knuckles as I scraped the fabric against the washbasin. I watched in satisfaction as the soil of the day washes clean in the river, making me wish I could do the same and wash the filth of my life away. Since the day I was born, of unknown origin, I was taken into a house of horror and abuse with the Emery family.Magnus Emery, Alpha of the Rafina Pack, is the worst of them all. I was found outside the Alpha house as a newborn, with no note or explanation as to where I had come from. I was given the name Sevika, which I learned later in life was a name that meant ‘slave’. Pretty fitting.I cooked and cleaned like a slave, even some of the servants were treated better than me. They had their own quarters available, while I was awarded the shed out back. There were rare times I slept in a comfy bed, but I never got any sleep.Those were the nights that Magnus took me to bed and used me in any way he saw fit. He defiled and traumatized me beyond any

I am escorted to the bedroom by two maids. When we got to the door they tried to follow me inside.“We will help you get prepared for tonight,” one of them said.“Prepared? What for?”They both shared a look. “For your first night with the King, my Lady.”‘Ah, I didn’t think of that.’ “Please just have the clothes I am to wear tonight prepared; I will handle the rest.”They shook their heads. “We cannot do that, my Lady. We were instructed to see to you from start to finish, the King won’t be happy with us otherwise.”I sighed in defeat. I didn’t want them to get in trouble for not doing their job, but I also didn’t want them to discover the scars on my body and the mark on my neck. I didn’t see myself any higher above their status but that didn’t make me feel any less ashamed.I walked into the bathroom and stopped short of the large tub in the middle of the room.“Must you help me bathe? He won’t know if you do or not,” I asked.The maids looked at each other again. “As long as you

Over the next few days, Caspian was present for every meal I had and tasted a piece of everything on my plate and in my glass before I touched it. He did this without being asked or it seemed without even thinking, and it both touched and tore at my heart.There was no need for him to go to this extent, so why was he? Everyone has always had ulterior motives for the overly nice things they do for someone, those motives in my experience had never been the greatest.So, was he planning anything? Or was he merely treating me nicely?Despite this positive change, things still hadn’t changed drastically between Caspian and I. It was still difficult for us to hold a conversation and it often made our meals together somewhat awkward.“There is something I’ve wanted to ask you,” he said suddenly.I nodded for him to go ahead.“You mentioned to the doctor that you have never shifted, but without a doubt, you are a werewolf. Why is that?”I sighed and got up out of my seat to circle the table t

Collinsworth met us at the alley again when the sun dipped below the horizon and the market streets became bare. He led us around the back of the empty building and to a small cellar door. He knocked three times and a slit in the door slid open, a single eye appeared.“Password?” he gruffly asked.“Ambrosia,” Collins whispered.The door rattled a couple of times before it was flung open, and a Cyclops orc took up the doorway. He eyed all of us for a few minutes before he nodded for us to get inside. The whole place stretched underground and looked like it had been thrown together recently, the wood beams still shedding from a fresh saw.There were several round tables scattered throughout the room with cards and plastic chips flying from hand to hand, as others slammed the tables and hooted loudly, the entire room filled with chaotic noise.“Where is the auction house?” I asked Collins over the mess.He pointed to the other side of the room next to the bar, where a red curtain divided

I covered my mouth in utter shock, unable to believe what I just heard.“How could they do that?” I asked.“There are many reasons, the biggest being they believed the rumours and would’ve rather die at their own hands than be tortured at mine.”“What were the other reasons?” I asked hesitantly.This seemed to be something he didn’t want to answer, but there was no going back, he had already revealed this much, and I had so many more questions.“If possible, I’d like for you to make me a promise first,” he said.I nodded.“Promise me that no matter what I say, you will listen until the end.”“Of course, I promise,” I said and sat up straight on the bed to show I was all ears.Caspian got comfortable as well at the edge of the bed and surprised me when he grabbed my hand to hold as he prepared himself.“I was born with two older siblings, a sister and a brother. I was born the weakest of the two, but since I was the youngest, there was no chance I would be next in line for the throne.