Alpha, King, Mate

His Eyes

I did not get much sleep. At first it was because I was angry. The Alpha has 'graciously' granted me a room in his five story mansion. Ha! How f*****g kind of him! I was so angry at Nick that I was completely ready to just leave again. Has he forgotten everything that has happened to him in his entire life? 

I was right though, Russ and I were the bitter, old lady brigade. We both hated the idea of working with the monsters who had destroyed our lives and we both felt that they did not offer up enough information about our actual role here. Besides that, whatever role it would be, the reward was not good enough. Safe passage meant nothing and was a promise they could easily break. All werewolves are liars after all.

After the anger had started to die down and I was composed again, I tried to sleep. But it all felt... Weird. I've never had a bed. Even when I lived with my old pack I slept on the floor with the other humans. The bed in the room felt way too soft, like it would swallow me whole if I laid on it for too long. 

I also managed to understand the weird reactions I was getting from both werewolves and humans. The entire right side of my face was covered in blood that had dripped down from the wound on my head. I understood why they all stared at me. Still, I had no regrets meeting them without cleaning it up. It made me look like a badass. 

After Russ brought me dinner, a sandwich that had a weird sticky topping on it, he guided me back to the conference room we had previously used. Inside were many werewolves, a few vampires and some humans, but who mostly stood out was a large man at the other end of the room. The butterflies I had been feeling for days came to an abruption throughout my body when I saw him.

For some reason my apparently racist mind had expected the king to be white. But no, his dark skin contrasted his beautiful golden eyes beautifully. He also wasn't wearing a crown or anything like that. He wore a tailored suit, but with his jacket thrown carelessly over the chair behind him. He was much taller than the Alphas beside him, and looked about big enough to be able to crush Nick with his thumb. He had high cheekbones and a squared jaw. I noted how he looked tired, before his golden eyes shifted to me and met mine. 

I immediately glanced down. Dodging dumb werewolves was one thing, Alphas were something else entirely but the king... The king was a whole new universe of trouble, one I wasn’t going to try my luck with. 

I sat down on Nick’s left, with Russ sitting at his other side and Arthur sitting beside me. Initially I had wanted to reject the clothes they gave me. But upon looking myself in the mirror, seeing my blood-covered face and my mud-covered clothes I gave in. Still, I did not wear the pretty dress they gave me. Who the f**k did they think I am? Some pretty werewolf girl that sits at home all day waiting patiently for her husband to come home? f**k no, I am one of the leaders of the last human resistance, I need clothes that I can function in. 

Only two more people came in before the heavy doors closed and the meeting started. The king was seated at the head of the table, with his werewolf buddies close to him. On his right hand were the humans. On the left were the vampires. Russ told me that this meeting would determine whether or not the vampires and humans will fight for his cause. Nick was already convinced that we should join. However, his advisers were all against it. The group would never comply on this important of a decision if even one of us openly did not agree. 

The king had an amazing energy to him. It did truly feel like he owned this room, this house and all the land I had ever stepped on. I tried my best to ignore the pull I felt towards him, thinking it was something everyone felt. I wanted to hit myself in the face. I am here to represent humans, I repeated in my head. Not to be entranced by the werewolves. Our so-called leader was already fulfilling that role.

"I want to thank you all for coming here today." The king's voice was heavy, easily reaching every corner of the room. "I know for some it was a harder journey than for others." He looked directly at me when he said it. His eyes entranced me, but I managed to give him a small nod. "As you are all aware King Byron has made a claim towards my land. I personally believe he himself is a dumb ass." A few wolves chuckled. "That his claim is false and biased by our shared history, and that he will not rule the people fairly."

I looked at Nick with anger. I had seen from the corner of my eye that he had been looking at me, but as soon as our eyes met he looked away. This did not change my point in the argument, it only strengthened it. Why the hell should we lose people over two kings wanting more land? This was their business, not ours.

"King Byron has also killed the wife of Alpha Gabriel, the daughter of Jared, countless humans and even more wolves." The king finished. I heard a chuckle coming from beside me. Every head in the room turned toward Russ. 

"Something funny?" An older looking Alpha said. Russ stared him straight in the eyes without fear.

"How many did you kill?" He asked, crossing his arms across his chest. "You use Byron's killings as a way to make him the ultimate evil. Though I believe we and probably also the bloodsuckers can say that you kill just as much." From across the table the vampires nodded along. 

I had only encountered vampires once in my ten years with the resistance, but according to the other members that peaceful encounter had been a rarity. We came across a group of them, one that was civil enough to ask for blood and show us that they could do it without harming us. They protected us while the humans they had drank from recovered, and then we went our separate ways again. Most vampires travelled alone and could kill dozens of humans before anyone stopped them.

"Byron kills without mercy. I allow my Alphas to have humans on their lands if they want to." The king answered. Now it was my turn to hold back a laugh.

"Allowing your Alphas to have humans on their lands just enables them to use us as pets. Often death is much more preferable." I told him. His golden eyes seem to pierce through mine, looking straight into my brain. "We don’t care why the monsters fight the monsters. Tell us what will be in it for our people."

The king was quiet, looking at nobody else but me. Though I hated to admit it, I rather liked it. His gaze was soothing and calming, though my mind was spinning out of control. He finally sighed and continued with his story.

"I believe that king Byron is a danger to his pack and the lives he has sworn to protect. I believe he is a danger to the lives I have sworn to protect. A vow I do not hold lightly." His eyes shifted to me and then back to glancing around the room. "I ask you to fight knowing I cannot change the world to accept you. The humans will be granted safe passage in the lands of the Alpha Herald, Pierce and Frederick. The vampires will be allowed to hunt the same territories as the free wolves, under the condition that either side must not be harmed during the hunt."

The vampires discussed among themselves and nodded back to the king. However on our side things did come quite as easily. Nick looked at Russ and Arthur with almost pleading eyes. Yet I noted how he avoided my gaze. Arthur finally nodded in agreement, and Russ mumbled something about his late wife never forgiving him for this. Finally with the smile of a winner, he turned to me.

"You forget your past." I said to him. 

"Unlike you, I choose not to stay stuck in the past. I look forward to the future. The future is an alliance, and this is our first step."  He whispered back at me, thinking the werewolves and vampires in the room will definitely not be able to hear him with their heightened hearing if he just lowers his voice a bit. His words hurt me however. 

"How you do your son proud." It was the meanest thing I could think of. The lowest blow possible. His eyes widened in shock for a moment, before his face went entirely blank. He straightened his back and turned to the king.

"The humans will support you."