The Royal Alpha King's Mystical Surrogate

Chapter Five

KEAGAN

**

We proceeded to the breakfast hall. Even while walking to the packhouse, I took time to look around and understand their surroundings. The place did appear normal and there were a lot of people actively participating in various activities even this morning.

They could all sense my presence, even from far, afar, as it was silent everywhere I walked. They all bowed and greeted me. Some greeted me with blank faces, some with awkward smiles and some were indeed shivering. I responded the same to everyone with a curt nod on my rigid face.

We were passing a ground. A few people were jogging and some were exercising but they all bowed to me at least once.

Two little pups were playing without caring that their Alpha King was in the vicinity. They seemed to have been there with someone else who was busy doing a routine while they were playing with a ball.

I felt happy to see them not care about me or my title and ignore me like I didn’t matter or my power didn’t make them cower.

I felt happy to be invisible, at least in front of some people.

The weight of responsibility can only be known to the people who have it. My cousin brothers and I who were kings of different regions had the idea. Surely, we all had different approaches towards our titles, me being the eldest of all had a silver lining to my title.

I was crowned the first, so I had to set an example for them. Therefore, I had to be strong, not just for my pack and my Kingdom, but also for my brothers who looked up to me.

But in the end, everyone around me always said what I wanted to hear. My power suppressed them and it all felt like a lie to me.

Natalie and Santo were sometimes free, but then there was a boundary they never crossed. And my mate Maia, for some reason, even she can’t melt my heart or pierce through.

Maybe this was how I had turned and this was something that was never going to change.

“Alpha,” I heard with a hand on my shoulder. Natalie had nudged me out of my daydream. “You halted abruptly.” She informed me and I nodded.

Before I could comment, something came right at me. With my fast reflex, I caught it in my hand and was about to burst it when I realised that it was just a ball. I paused my hands and let go of the strength in them and pulled the ball down.

“I apologize, Alpha King,” Alpha Leo quickly muttered as he noticed the scene. I looked at him blankly and then whirled to a little girl who was running to me and then a small boy was waddling behind her.

“They are pups.” That was my only response to him.

“Did the ball hurt you, Alpha?” The little girl asked me and I wanted to chuckle at the naïve little girl who thought that ball could hurt me. I was glad to know at least someone thought I could have been hurt by something.

“Not really. But be careful.” I told her in a softer voice, handing her the ball. She took it with a big smile. The ball that was almost fitting into the cover of my hands was covering the little girl’s entire stomach. It made me realise how small she indeed was.

“Yes, I will. You, too.” She said and then ran away. The little boy who was dawdling behind her just followed her.

Pups were such a blessing that the Moon Goddess did not allow me to pertain. That was one of the biggest things that I was deprived of, because I always dreamt of having my pups and raising them into a strong Alpha, regardless of whether they were a girl or a boy.

Maia and I had been trying but it wasn’t working out for us. Maia had once gotten pregnant, or so we had thought, but it was a false alarm.

I had been losing hope over the fact that I could have pups of my own. Though I was determined to adopt, if it wasn’t possible for Maia to conceive, she wasn’t ready to adopt and the contradiction in our thoughts brought us to a halt.

“Let’s go,” I said, and Alpha Leo guided us ahead.

I was getting lost quite often and that was not a good thing. Pups and topics related to pups were surely a sensitive topic for me which often had me wandering in all the ‘what ifs’.

“Yes, Alpha Royal. The breakfast is ready.” He informed me and I nodded.

We finally made it to the packhouse. With all the wandering around and making notes of things, more than an hour had passed. I didn’t realise it was that long but it was.

“Your pack is quite peaceful,” I complimented Alpha Leo. He had maintained the pack well. The trees around were quite beautiful because they were full, unlike in my pack where we mostly had pine trees. I liked the full forest.

“I’m glad you liked it, Alpha Royal.” Alpha Leo said with a smile, a very genuine one from the moment I laid my eyes on him. He surely adored his pack and his surroundings.

“Your smile should be genuine like this,” I told him, and his face turned pale in one second. I envied him being able to shift his expressions like that.

“It’s just the adoration that is showing in here,” He replied, and I nodded.

He took the silence as me marking the end of our conversation and then guided us inside. We walked into the dining hall and it was quite spacious, still smaller than our packhouse but good.

I sat on the head chair and Alpha Leo sat on the other head chair. Natalie sat on my right and followed by Jeremy, while Liam and Johnathon sat on my left.

Alpha Leo’s Beta and Gamma joined in for the breakfast along with his Luna and Beta Female.

We had a full table somehow.

Two women kept bringing various items and setting them on the table. We waited to let them finish setting the table for us to start. The other two were serving the food on our plates.

“I hope you’d like the taste, Alpha Royal.” Alpha Leo mentioned and I nodded once in response.

“Start,” I muttered as I picked up a muffin from the plate. I usually liked to start my breakfast with something sweet, it was in a way, hoping to have a good day. As I put the muffin in my mouth it just melted and I felt bliss cover me. I had never tasted something so good and I wanted to relish this feeling without showing anything that I was relishing it.

It was a very easy task for me.

“Bring me one more,” I said to a tall woman standing by the table to serve food. She placed one more muffin and I decided to savour it at the end of my meal.

There were heavy footsteps and I whirled my face a little so I could catch the person walking that loudly through my peripheral vision. It was a well-known face, the woman from earlier.

As I was looking right at her, I noticed some strange action next to me. It was one moment she was walking towards the table and the next a loud clatter was heard. All eyes scampered to witness the cause of that clank.

I remember her name to be ‘Rayleigh’, was on the ground, flat on her knees and elbows. She had cowered in a ‘protective shield’ position while sausages plopped around her and the tray finally fell silent after the echo. Her body trembled and I caught that shiver pass.

“Can’t you look where you are walking?!” The woman who was serving yelled at Rayleigh. Rayleigh didn’t move for a second but then she moved and looked around as if understanding her surroundings after waking up from a deep sleep.

Her face was so expressive that I could read her like a book.

Her grey eyes clouded with pain and fear. She was so stunned by the situation that she only looked up to the other woman.

“I…I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to.” She muttered, weakly.

“Rayleigh! You should’ve been careful.” Alpha Leo scolded her and she glanced at the woman in front of her before ushering herself to her feet and bowing to Alpha Leo.

“Leo, don’t yell at her now. It’s already done. Clear it up, Rayleigh.” Alpha Leo’s Luna, Emily said in a calm voice. She was more controlled than Alpha Leo.

“Yes, Luna,” Rayleigh answered and was about to touch the sausage when I stood up from my seat, abruptly. My action made everyone pause.

“You pick it up,” I ordered the woman who stood next to Rayleigh with a smug face. Her face twisted as soon as my words fell on her ears.

“Me? I wasn’t the one to drop it. Why do I have to pick it up, Alpha Royal?” She asked me, making an innocent face, but I could see through her fake face.

“But you were the reason, weren’t you?” I asked her and her face turned wide in surprise and horror. She did think her action was stealthy, but I had caught it. I had the eyes of an eagle.

“No, I wasn’t.” She lied through her teeth.

I was waiting for Rayleigh to speak up at least now but she didn’t. I wondered why she kept quiet even after she knew the other woman was the reason for her fall. She wasn’t blaming her, much less even telling the reason for her fall. It was because the other woman had tripped her purposefully.

“Liar. I saw it.” I said, and she gasped. I glanced at Alpha Leo because I wasn’t going to take action over this, more than I had.

“Giselle! How dare you lie to Alpha Royal? Do you require a series of punishments for you to get disciplined?” Alpha Leo yelled at her and she bowed down.

“I’m so sorry, Alpha Royal. I’m so sorry, Alpha. I just wanted to prank her but it went too far.” She stated, trying to sound apologetic.

“You should’ve admitted it earlier instead of scolding her.” I rebuked her and she nodded.

“I was scared to admit it.” She responded.

“It’s okay. I’ll just clean this up and get you fresh sausages.” Rayleigh said, falling onto her knees to get the tray. “Give me a few minutes, please.” She continued and I gave her one glance.

“I said she would clean this, Rayleigh,” I repeated my statement from earlier and her grey eyes looked at me. She blinked in confusion before nodding in affirmation. She stood up to her height, obeying my command.

“Giselle, I believe you have a task on hand.” Luna Emily urged her and she quickly plopped on her knees, gathering the sausages in the tray. She went away and returned with a broom to clean the broken plate.

“Rayleigh, get back and tidy up.” Luna Emily said to her and she nodded, scurrying away.

“Alpha Royal, apologies for that ruckus. Please let’s continue with breakfast.” Alpha Leo urged. I wasn’t in the mood to have breakfast after I witnessed the scene in front of me.

“You can all continue,” I told them, picking the muffin from my plate. I left the table.

“You all continue since he said it,” I heard Natalie’s voice. I knew she followed me because I could feel her big smile on my back.

“What?” I asked when I knew she could hear me.

We both stepped out of the packhouse. I was glad to be out of that place where so many unknown people had gathered together.

“You love the muffin,” Natalie commented, and I gave her a flat face.

“This was the only thing I could pick,” I told her in response, but she gave me a smug smile which read that she didn’t believe a word I said.

“I respect the Alpha’s lie.” She teased and I just narrowed my eyes at her before biting on my muffin. “But I think that she would’ve been blamed if not for you clearing it out.” She remarked and I knew she was right.

“I know,” I answered.

“I wonder why she didn’t say it out loud about the wrong treatment.” She asked in a tone where I knew she was pondering over her question. “Was she used to this?” She suddenly popped the question that made me whirl my face to her.

“Was she?” I asked again and Natalie shrugged in response. She was not the right person to answer this question.

“You should ask the question to the person who can answer you right,” Natalie suggested.

“Rayleigh?” I asked and she shook her head.

“The one who stays with her and knows her.” She answered and, after a moment of consideration about Rayleigh’s nature, I knew the first confirmation should come from someone who stays with her before I got my answers from Rayleigh.