Maxxwell.
The name rang a bell. It seemed like I had heard that one but forgot about it.
I looked up at him, forcing myself to remember, and scowled. “Maxxwell? What pack do you belong to?”
“I live in the kingdom,” he said, nonchalantly.
That made me even more confused. The only one who lived in the palace was the king and his subordinates.
“Why do you live in the kingdom? Are you the king?” I asked, chuckling. I put another distance between us and fixed myself, always glancing if someone was nearby. I did not want to be the talk of the town again.
“I am.”
I stared at him. Longer than I intended.
I threw back my head and laughed. “If you are the king, then I am the Lycan queen,” I said. I waited for him to laugh also. But he did not.
The man did not share my happiness. He folded his arms in front of his chest and watched me with curiosity.
I gulped. Oh, Moon Goddess. “Wait. Are you for real? You really are the king? The alpha king?”
“I am the alpha king.” My heart skipped a bit. “I am King Maxxwell from the Lycan kingdom. I came here to witness the Mating Ceremony and join the event in hope of finding my mate.”
My eyes widened at his announcement.
“Y-your lying.” There was no way the alpha king would allow me to dance with him, and be in the presence of someone like me.
Images of what I had done resurfaced. I felt my cheeks burn.
"What if I am not? What will you do?"
I shook my head, refusing to believe his words. There was no way, right?
"Look for yourself, woman."
Then he held his hand and showed me his wrist. It had a tattoo of a wolf with a crown. And the only one who owned that design was the alpha king himself. If anyone was seen copying the tattoo, he would be instantly killed.
I stepped back while I covered my mouth. I was freaking out in the presence of the alpha king! And I just kissed him!
“Oh, Moon Goddess,” I whispered.
Then, I instantly kneeled and bowed my head. “Forgive me for my improper behavior, Your Majesty. I did not know it was you. You're ungrateful servant deserved to be punished for her misconduct.”
“No one recognized me earlier. I masked my scent and put on another face. But now, you are seeing the real face of the alpha king. Rise, woman. You did nothing wrong except to stop me from kissing you. I must admit I had a good time in this pack. All thanks to you.”
Without letting him say it again, I rose. I did not want to anger him any more. It had a hell of eighteen years of learning that superiors did not like it when they waited.
“Look me in the eyes. I like the color of your eyes, woman.”
I held my breath as I gazed at him.
“My name is River, Your Majesty. I was found on the river, hence my name. And I am a slave in this pack.” I did not want to pretend to be him with someone I am not.
King Maxxwell cocked his eyebrows. “I remembered you want something from me. What is that?”
I gulped and shook my head profusely. There was no way he would respond to my request.
“Please forget about it, Your Majesty. It is not important.”
“It seemed significant to you. Let’s hear from you first and I will judge whether I will help you or not.”
I shuffled my feet and thought about whether I would say it or not. However, it seemed like King Maxxwell had no plans of letting me go unless I told him about it.
“Well? Is that how Haverstone Pack treated the Lycan King? Do you make me wait?”
“Forgive me, Your Majesty. This sounds crazy."
"Let's see how crazy it sounds."
"Please mark me.”
I held my breath as King Maxxwell only stared at me. It was so long that I regretted telling him.
“I-I know it sounds crazy, Your Majesty. That is why I hesitated in telling you about it.”
“How old are you?”
“I am of legal age, Your Majesty. Eighteen years old. Just now.”
“And you did not find your mate?”
I was silent for a moment. “I-I have…but he rejected me because I am a slave.”
My heart constricted as I remembered how Alpha Erik easily rejected me.
“Who?” he barked.
“My alpha. Alpha Erik of Haverstone Pack. He did not want a slave as his mate. I understand his point, but I was just hurt.”
King Maxxwell raised his brows. “Why? Why do you want me to mark you, River?”
The way the words rolled from his mouth sounded sexy.
“I want to show him that someone still wants me despite my status as a slave, Your Majesty. I thought you were the best candidate but that was before I knew who you were.”
“Given I will make your request, what will I have in return?”
My heart hammered against my chest as I listened to him. “You are seriously considering my plea, Your Majesty? You will mark me?”
I slapped my mouth when I realized what I had asked. An alpha king marking a slave? Impossible. There was no history recorded about that. "What can you give in return?" King Maxxwell asked me again. "Give and take, River. That's how the world works. Marking someone is not an easy thing to do."“And it is usually done between mates. But we are not, Your Majesty.” I looked at the ground realizing I have nothing in return. No money. No identity. "I-I can offer my body, Your Majesty. If you want. I can be your slave. You can ask me to clean your kingdom and work with the other servants you have."He looked at me sharply. "Your body?""I-I can give you a moment of pleasure?" Even if I did not know how? Perhaps I will learn if King Maxxwell would teach me. His cold stairs burned at my soul. "I have lots of women waiting for my disposal," he said. "You're nothing compared to them, River. They are more experienced than you. Besides, you look like a child. I do not want anyone thinking I co
I felt the world stop as I waited for the alpha king’s reaction. Alpha Erik was definitely right for saying I was filthy, to begin with. I smiled bitterly as I listened to Alpha Erik’s voice. The word slave was forever imprinted in me regardless if I rose to rank by having a mate who had some positions in the pack. “Filthy, you say?”Alpha Erik lifted his chin and stood proudly. My other pack members agreed with him and gave me a mocking gaze. “Yes, Your Highness. She is filthy. A slave. An omega. She does not even have a wolf. She was almost a human. If I were you, it is better to stay away from her.”I wanted the ground to swallow me up. I felt so little as my breathing became faster than normal. The will to flee away from them was getting stronger. The alpha king glanced at me. “Are you referring to this woman beside me, Alpha Erik?”“No other than, Your Highness. She is the only servant who had the guts to attend the Mating Ceremony while the others were in their room, refusin
I gasped as I watched King Maxxwell. Yes. I said that I will do anything for him, for him to mark me, but not this fast. I was not yet prepared for this. Alpha Erik looked at me with disgust. "Your Highness, are you sure taking Dog Slave with you?" Alpha Erik asked. As much as I hated him, he had a point there. The alpha king’s brows furrowed. "Dog Slave? Is that how you will address my mate behind her back?" King Maxxwell scolded. Alpha Erik was embarrassed. "A slip of the tongue—""Why? Is there something wrong with our sleeping arrangements?" His Highness asked, cutting off Alpha Erik’s words. Alpha Erik shook his head a couple of times. "N-none, Your Highness. If you insist upon it. Who am I to question you?"King Maxxwell grabbed me and we stepped into the room before saying, "River needed her clothes. Be sure to give it to her."And the door shut behind Alpha Erik's face.And just like that, we were alone. I stared at King Maxxwell nervously as he took off his clothes. On
I backed to the corner as King Max advanced towards me. My heart hammered against my chest as I gazed at him.What will he do now? What did I get into again? I asked myself. It felt like I was suddenly in a lion's den. I felt like I was the prey and he was the hunter.I hesitated. "You're scaring me, Your Highness," I could not help but say. I stopped when my back hit the wall. Dead end. Breathing was getting difficult. "That's what I am doing, River," he whispered against my ears. "You're a lamb who did not know what she was doing when she entered the wolf's den. It was your desire to have revenge on Alpha Erik. Without even knowing what kind of person I am. Your thirst for your revenge drives you to me."It was true. I had a little knowledge about the alpha king and all of them were rumors from the servants themselves. Baseless rumors without proof of their authenticity. I had zero interaction with him."I know the rumors are true, Your Highness."I squinted when he suddenly imp
I was stuck. With no way to get away from King Maxxwell's hold. It seemed like he was aware of what I was doing and his grip tightened. Damn it. I cannot break away? How can I break away?It was then that I realized I could not. Was he afraid that I would run away and stop going with him to the palace? Or was he only making sure that I will do the end of my deal since he did the same?I sighed. Regardless of the reason, I was not comfortable being with him. He was scary. "Your Highness," I whispered under my breath."Zenith... "I froze. A woman's name? Who could that be? Or was he only dreaming and calling a random name? No. He called the name with so much passion as if he knew her deeply. Curiosity got ahead of me and waited for him to say something more. Something that would give me more information about the woman. "F-forgive me...It was my fault."King Maxxwell trashed and released me from his hold. Sweat soaked his forehead and clutched his chest as if he was in pain. H
I could feel the stares of my packmates as they bade goodbye to King Maxxwell. They did not understand why the alpha king accepted me as his mate when in fact there were others out there who were more gorgeous and sexier than me as Alpha Erik said. Unknown to them, I already sold myself to this person in exchange for showing Alpha Erik that someone still wanted and desired me. "I wish for your safe journey, Your Highness. The coach was already prepared. But if you want a horse, I could offer you to find horses that you can use on your journey.""Coach is fine since I have River with me. I don't want him to be uncomfortable on our journey."He drew me closer to his body and the women sighed in envy. "Are you really sure about this, Your Highness? Perhaps there was something wrong with the Mating Ceremony last night. There was no way that woman could be your mate."I stilled. "Your words carry some weight, Alpha Erik. Explain. Are you River's mate?"Everyone held their breath. Inclu
The rogues continued firing at us while I rooted on the ground, shivering in fear. My blood went cold as one of the bullets passed through and hit the seat of the coach. I shrieked. Breathing was labored. "River! Do not panic or it will kill you!"King Maxxwell continued protecting me even if it should never be the case. I should be the one protecting him! Not the other way around!I glanced at him. His eyebrows met. His fist clenched.My lips quivered, tears brimming in my eyes. "Your Highness, will we die now?" I whispered under my breath.He looked at me and scoffed. I shrieked again when another bullet grazed my skin and fell to the ground. "No one is dying, River. You have to serve me, first in return for helping you. Stay here," he commanded.Before he could go away, I grabbed his hand. I gasped when sparks flew between our connected hands. He gritted his teeth as he stared at it for a long time. What. Just. Happened?Confused, I pulled my hands and touched them. The alpha
Where am I?That was the first thing that ran through my mind the moment I unfolded my eyes. My head felt like it was spinning. It hurts so much that all I wanted right now was lying on the bed until it would disappear. However, I remembered that I was now a servant of the palace and I had to do my best before anyone would decide to bully me again. What happened?Images of what happened flashed like lightning in my mind. The rogues. The dead bodies. The limbs. The blood. The driver. The alpha king. Everything. My stomach somersaulted and wanted to release everything I had eaten this morning. Or did I even eat or not? I did not remember anymore."Oh, Moon Goddess. How long will I be able to overcome my indifference to the sight of blood?" I whispered in my mind.It was always my usual reaction at the sight of blood. Aside from not having a wolf, I had the peculiar ability to faint at the mere sight of blood. "Do you believe the woman to be High Highness harem?" one woman said. I