A bite from an Alpha King

Chapter 9: Dinner

-Valerio-

I greeted Alpha Michael happily at the door, yet my heart was filled with worry. This dinner was not going to be a comfortable one. Selene followed him closely behind. She blushed as she bowed her head slightly at me. She looked at me from under her long lashes, and I had to admit she really was more than beautiful. All would have been perfect as long as Octavia hadn’t come into my life. Yet now she was chained in my room and my body was itching to get back to her. Our connection was already getting stronger and it troubled me. I hoped I could soon have Selene as my queen, so our connection would be weakened and I could focus again.

***

“Your mate?!”

Alpha Michael’s voice was loud in the big dining hall, making the chandeliers shake a little. I sat at the end of the table as I watched him stand up and slam his hands down on the dining table. His daughters and beta jumped a little in their seats and looked down as his alpha voice almost commanded them. I just sat there rubbing my chin slightly as I looked him in the eyes. I could see the fury in his eyes and it didn’t surprise me at all. I would have reacted the same way if I was in his position.

“She won’t be a problem,” I said as I folded my hands in front of me.

“She is your mate! And she wears your mark, not to mention she is the daughter of a traitor!” he yelled, not willing to talk about this calmly.

“I’m aware of that, but she has lived as a rogue, the most of her life. She is wild and uncontrollable, so marking her was the only solution to calm her unless I wanted to kill her,” I explained in a calm voice.

“Why didn’t you just kill her?” he asked angrily.

I narrowed my eyes at him, making him look a bit uneasy as he felt my power as the king. “You know as well as I if I had done it, I wouldn’t be the sane person who sits in front of you now.”

Alpha Michael shook his head. He knew I was speaking the truth but all of this was very overwhelming and he couldn’t really accommodate it. He sat down as he sighed loudly. He tiredly rubbed his forehead, not really knowing what to say.

“I will still honor the promise,” I said, making him meet my eyes again.

“You already have a mate now,” he said, not understanding what I was saying.

“We aren’t fully mated,” I said, taking a sip of the wine in front of me. My eyes shortly diverted to Selene, who was watching me discreetly, but as soon as my eyes landed on her she looked away, blushing slightly.

I sighed. Goddess, it would have been so much easier if I hadn’t met Octavia, I thought. I placed the glass back on the table and looked at Alpha Michael again. I could see he was thinking everything over.

“It will hurt you if you mark someone else,” he said, looking at me to see my response to his comment.

“I’m aware and I’m willing to risk that pain to honor the promise,” I explained.

“Your bond won’t ever be as strong as the one you could have had with the traitor’s daughter Octavia.”

I nodded. I knew this too. A real mating bond was stronger than anything if you let it have time to grow and honored it. Me suddenly marking someone else, and mating with her wouldn’t just hurt Octavia, but also me and the bond would never be as strong as the one I could have had with Octavia. But Octavia was wild and she was a Silver Howler for goddess's sake. She was more animal than human, despite the training to control her wolf that I’m sure Alpha Xavier taught her. She was always going to be wild and I couldn’t have an animal as a queen no matter how much she actually spiked my curiosity. She was an interesting female, and maybe if she hadn’t tried to kill me things might have been different and we could have been strong allies, but I still had a promise to keep, so allies was all we could have been.

“I would rather have a weaker bond to someone trustworthy and good-hearted than a strong bond to a wild person and a traitor,” I reassured Alpha Michael.

He nodded slightly. This he could accept. The fact that I was still willing to keep my promise only showed him how much I respected him and how thankful I was for all his help through the years. So convincing him didn’t take much. He still wanted his daughter as queen, since it would insure him power as well and other alphas would think twice before trying to go against him. Yet we were still targets for the last alphas of the council. I had to locate them as well. The longer it took to find them, the more dangerous it got. It had been a real bloodbath the day I walked into one of the council meetings. At first they didn’t know who I was, since they had only heard rumors of me hunting down council members, but they soon figured it out as they saw my yellow eyes. I had taken care of most of the council already, so the fight was over soon. Only three alphas got away that day. I had already hunted down one of them, but two still remained and it troubled me every day.

“Then the mating ceremony will be held in three days,” alpha Michael said, pulling me from my dark memories of blood and horror.

I nodded and smiled shortly. It was fine. The quicker we did this the better. Hopefully, the pain of feeling our bond weaken would tame Octavia and she would finally be done trying to kill me.

“Then we better start preparing,” I said, raising my glass to him.

He smiled as he raised his glass too. “To a great union.”

“To a great union.”

-Octavia-

I pulled in my chains again and again. I didn’t really know why. I knew I was never getting out of them. Maybe I just tried to kill time or maybe the pain helped me focus and forget the hunger in my stomach. It was killing me slightly and made me so tired and dizzy. I needed food soon or I wouldn’t be able to stand my ground for long.

Maybe if you asked nicely he might feed us

I rolled my eyes. Feed us? Could this be less degrading? I was not a pet who needed to be fed. I could get my own food just like I had done all those years. I usually hunted in wolf form in that way I could also digest raw food, but now when I was locked in these chains and was so exhausted, transforming wasn’t an option. Besides, I was a bit worried to even try it now that my wolf was on the loose. She might take control and I couldn’t let that happen.

Suddenly, the doors opened, drawing my attention to them. I had expected the king but I was wrong. Two men entered. One I knew. It was his beta. He had strong eyes and had a close relationship with the king. The other one I think I had seen the night I had tried to kill the king, but I didn’t know what his status was. He seemed quite strong as he walked closer and the energy in him indicated power. He had to be someone high up.

“Octavia,” the beta said and smiled a very charming smile.

I just rolled my eyes before looking at the male beside him. He had dark hair and green eyes and did not seem like someone you would want to mess with. I wondered why he wasn’t the beta. He seemed scarier than the one in front of me.

“And you are?” I asked in an arrogant tone.

He just narrowed his eyes at me, making the beta laugh a little.

“Damian is too serious. You shouldn’t waste your time trying to make small talk with him. Why not talk a little with me?” he said in a charming tone.

I turned my attention to the beta who I still didn’t know the name of. “Why are you here?” I sneered.

The beta walked close. He was almost as tall as the king and practically covered me in his tall and broad shadow. “You should speak in a bit nicer tone to us. You will live here after you surrender, so you better start making some friends,” he teased.

“Ha! You think I will surrender. I won’t stop trying to kill your king. I will avenge my father,” I growled.

The beta sighed and moved back. “But the man isn’t really your father, is he now?” the beta said.

My eyes widened. What did he just say? Did everybody know this? Was the king or my brother announcing it to everyone? I felt my jaw clench and my hands turn into fists as anger washed over me. I am my father’s daughter. I am my father’s daughter. I am my father's daughter. I kept repeating.

You just keep telling yourself that, but the truth is right in front of you. If you would just submit, we wouldn’t have to suffer anymore. We could truly be free

Free? This was wishful thinking. Did my own wolf really believe the king wouldn’t just end my life after submitting? I was still unsure of why he kept me alive, but I figured it was so that he could show the last people that were opposing him that he could bend anyone to his will. It was sick.

“If you have just come here to torment me, then I suggest you try something better. I have been through worse,” I said, smiling a little at the beta before turning my eyes to the male called Damian.

He still had a scary aura around him and he made me a little uneasy. It was as if he was hiding something behind his green eyes, like an even worse darkness.

“Actually, we came to feed you,” the beta said, drawing my attention to him.

He smiled as he saw my interested look. He knew I was craving so badly for food and I must have looked like a dog with a wagging tale begging for it as I looked at him.

“No thank you,” I said, looking away.

I wouldn’t accept anything from them because it was like submitting in some way.

“No thank you?” the beta asked questionably.

“I. Am. Not. Hungry,” I sneered.

But just as I said the words my stomach ratted me out. Growling loudly and demanding. It made the beta laugh and Damian shook his head at my stubbornness. I felt pissed at my own stomach for growling so loudly, but I hadn’t eaten in so many days. I was just so hungry.

Just take the food for goddess's shake!

My wolf was yelling loudly at me. She was just as weakened as I, and since she had already submitted she had no problem accepting the food.

“Why would you even feed me aren’t you meant to break me?” I asked, narrowing my eyes at the beta.

“You are already broken, Octavia,” he said and smiled a cruel smile.

I looked at him confused. How was I broken? I still stood tall and proud and I hadn’t given in yet.

“Now do you want some food or not?” he asked, lifting a bag up in front of me, I hadn’t even noticed he had been carrying it.

My stomach growled again as I bit my lower lip hard, almost tasting blood. I wanted it so badly yet I was in an inner conflict with myself. If I wanted to defeat the king, I needed food to be strong, but if I accepted the food, then I would be giving in. I couldn’t give in. I just couldn’t. So I just turned my head away and closed my eyes, telling them silently to leave me alone.

“Your choice,” the beta said.

I could hear him putting the bag down in front of me. I knew then I had been underestimating him. He was evil in the way he was tempting me. If I had the food in front of me I would break soon enough. I wouldn’t be able to control myself. Why couldn’t he just have taken the food with him?

“I will just let this be here if you change your mind,” he whispered in my ear, sending shivers through me.

Then I heard their footsteps retreat and then the door closed. My stomach once again rumbled loudly and my eyes went to the bag in front of me. Even with the food wrapped, I could still smell its delicious smell. I knew it wasn’t some rotten scrapes, but actually food that stood in front of me and it made my mouth water.

Just eat!

I shook my head. I couldn’t. I wouldn’t! I bit my lip hard, drawing blood. It was better than nothing I thought, as I tasted the metallic taste on my tongue. I just had to endure it no matter how much pain it brought me.

-Valerio-

After the less pleasant dinner, I bid Alpha Michael goodbye. He left with his daughters and beta but would be back in three days when he would give Selene to me, but he would have his whole pack with him as they all had to be witnesses to the union between us. I sighed as the doors closed behind them. My wolf was less happy about this. There was only one person he craved, but he understood why I had to do what I did. He had gotten quieter, but since he knew, there was no way to convince me otherwise because the bond could lead to our downfall, he just sought deeper inside of me. I walked up the stairs and down the long halls until I reached my room. I stopped for a minute trying to gather some strength before having to face Octavia. She had been breathtaking as I came in the last time, and I knew she would be again. The power of the mating bond, I thought, before pulling the doors open and walking inside. When I walked in, I expected her to be standing with the chains dangling and her glaring at me in a deadly way, but that wasn’t what I saw. Instead she was sitting on her knees eating the food I had demanded being brought to her. She had no time to even try to eat it probably, or maybe she didn’t even know how to, since she had been living in the nature for so long. She was practically stuffing her mouth, not even noticing me as I came closer.