A bite from an Alpha King

Chapter 8: Stubbornness

-Octavia-

I was half-asleep when I heard footsteps followed by a big bang as the doors were opened. I immediately got to my feet. The chains making an awful sound as I did. As the king got closer, he seemed surprised for a second to see me, almost as if he had forgotten I was here but then he smiled devilishly as he got even closer. I looked around me. How long had I been asleep? I could see the sun slowly rising in the horizon. Had I been sleeping all night? I had to be more exhausted than I thought. Normally, I suffered from insomnia and wouldn’t sleep more than two or three hours. I never had a chance to really sleep for long because, as rogue you were always under threat. I always had to move around so no one could catch up with me. I looked away from the slowly rising sun as I felt the king close. My eyes widened as I saw him so close to me. I could feel his warm breath on my skin and his eyes were shining their golden glow. His hand slowly rose up and touched the sore skin on my throat. It was right there where the collar had been biting my skin, since I couldn’t keep my head up.

“It will heal,” he whispered, but he knew as well as me that I wouldn’t heal for some time, since I hadn’t eaten for a few days now. My healing abilities were getting slower and slower the longer I was without food.

The king walked further into the room until he came to a big golden door. He walked inside a huge walk in closet, where he looked around for some clothes. I could follow him by looking in the mirror, in there, reflecting his every move. His eyes landed on a tight black t-shirt which he pulled down and then put down behind him on a small chair. He then started to unbutton his shirt, revealing more of his golden hard skin. I quickly looked away despite the satisfied whistling that rung inside my head. Apparently, my wolf had no trouble with staring at our mate as he undressed, but I sure had. In my eyes, he was just another disgusting male, who I felt no attraction to and never would, but the tingling in my stomach as the image of him revealing his rock hard stomach was hard to ignore. I didn’t know what this feeling was, but it was unpleasant since it seemed I couldn’t control it. I bit my lip trying to remove the tingling feeling with pain. It worked as soon as I tasted the blood. The metallic taste felt almost euphoric. It had always been that way for me. I never knew why but it did help me gain some self-control.

The small whistle that came flying through the room brought my attention back to the door to the walk-in closet. The king had just closed the door and was now changed into a tight t-shirt that showed off his hard upper body yet he wore loose pants. It surprised me a bit to see him in this relaxed state. The king wore either very fancy clothes or a lot of leather. His devilish smile was still on his lips as he relaxed over to me.

“Comfortable?” he asked as he grabbed my chin and forced me to meet his yellow eyes.

I growled a low growl before trying to bite his hand. The echo of my teeth clanging together hard loudly in the room and I felt the temperature decrease. I looked back at the king, who looked for a few seconds at his hand, still trying to check if everything was in place, and then he looked back at me. I couldn’t see the same happy and bright eyes. Something darker was looking at me now and it made the room seem cooler. I could feel my wolf whimper inside of me as she repeated the words it’s all your fault. She knew I had made the king angry and I was going to pay for it. In a quick movement, he grabbed me by the neck and pulled me close. I could feel his breath on my ear and his lips almost touched it.

“You’re gonna pay for that,” he whispered, making me shudder in fear.

He then pushed me up against the wall as he let go of me. My face twisted in pain as I felt the hard wall against my back, but it only took me a few seconds to gather myself again.

“Do your worst! It will never be as bad as when you took my father from me,” I said, feeling the pain in my heart sting. The loss of my father still felt so fresh even after 6 years.

“He isn’t your father!” he yelled at me, as he got closer again. “When are you going to realize he used you because he knew you were powerful?”

I shook my head trying to ignore his words. My father would never use me like that. He trained me to be strong because he knew as the king’s daughter I needed my strength more than ever.

“Yes, he used you and if you want me to read you another page from his journals where he will talk about how he only needed you because he was so sure that someone was coming for him then by all means just say the word!” the king shouted at me.

I tried so hard to close his words out but it was hard to forget what he had read to me in the cell and my brother’s words. If I really wasn’t my father’s daughter, then who was I then? I just couldn’t handle having my whole world being destroyed like this. Holding on to the fact that Xavier was my father was the only thing I had left.

“He loved me,” I said in a low voice.

“Maybe somewhere in him he did, but it was overclouded by his paranoia. He took you in and trained you in hopes that one day if someone did actually get to him you would make sure that he had the last laugh.”

The king’s eyes were piercing as they looked into mine. I could see he wasn’t lying to me, but I couldn’t handle the truth. I just couldn’t believe it.

“No!” I yelled, seeing the king close his eyes, tired of trying to convince me. “You just want to break me so I will bow to you!”

“Yes! I want you to submit but you see Octavia,” he said as he leaned close to me, so we stood face to face. “You will submit to me. I don’t even have to try and stand here and convince you because you already know in your heart that what I am saying is true. You have seen your father’s paranoia and you know it was his doom in the end.”

“He was an alpha and the rightful king!” I yelled, ignoring his comment on my father’s paranoia.

“No!” the king’s voice echoed in the room. I had never heard him yell so loudly. “He was born an alpha but he took the throne. The crown was never his-“ I knew the king’s breath was hot on my skin but for some reason it felt cold as his now dark eyes held mine. “It was mine!” he sneered. “It was always mine!”

The king moved away and started to pace in front of me as his hand ran over his hair forcefully, making his hair messy. After pacing for a while, he turned to me again. “He was a part of the council that killed my family, the rightful heirs to the throne and they placed Xavier on the throne because of his distant connection to my family. They thought he would be the best choice. He was more powerful than most but the power drove him insane and now he is dead along with the rest of the council,” the king told me, looking angrier by the second as he relived his memories.

“My father had claim to that throne!” I yelled.

“Only because he took it from my father!” the king shouted, practically making the walls shake.

“He would never do that! He would never be a part of murdering his own relatives,” I sneered, not wanting to believe my father really had been a part of the murders on the royal family.

“Why not?” he asked. “His own uncle betrayed him and exiled him and when he was finally strong enough he went back and killed him.”

I felt my heart stop for a second. This couldn’t be true. How could he even know about this? For a second I could do nothing but stare at the king as I thought of how he knew this and then it hit me. The journals. Could it really be true?

“Murdering relatives is in his blood.”

I shook my head. It wasn’t true. My father valued family and loyalty higher than anything. He wouldn’t do this.

“You can try and deny it, but the truth is right in front of you, Octavia. Denying it will only drive you insane,” the king said in a low voice, making me shake as my heart twisted in pain. My mind was working at full speed, not wanting to believe any of it.

“H-He is a good man despite his paranoia,” I said as the tears stung in my eyes.

I didn’t want to cry, but it felt like my world was shaking beneath me and it would only take me one step before it disappeared completely under me.

“I admire your undying loyalty,” the king said as he stepped closer to me. I turned my head, not wanting to look at him. Whether he was telling the truth or not, he was still the murder of the only father I knew. The king placed his hand on my neck and when I still refused to look at him, he moved his hand to my hair and pulled it. I hissed as I felt the pain and my eyes were forced to look into his yellow ones. “But it is placed in the wrong one.” His eyes showed only truth. He truly did believe that I was placing it in the wrong one, but what did I think?

He is our mate. We can trust him.

I closed my eyes, feeling a tear slip from my eye as it travelled down my cheek. My wolf was more than ready to submit and put our loyalty in him, but I wasn’t. I opened my eyes, seeing the king waiting for my answer as he scanned my eyes, but I showed him no kindness or hint of submission.

“If I gave up my undying loyalty to my father, it wouldn’t be undying, would it now?” I whispered in a low, threatening voice.

The king sighed tiredly and let go of me as he stepped a single step back.

“I would be my brother then,” I said and laughed a small laugh, “and I have a hard time seeing you actually liking my brother for what he did. Betraying his own flesh and blood. You said it yourself. My father has murdering relative in his blood and so does my brother. I don’t think you like him very much because you never know where you have him. He might be loyal to you today, but what about tomorrow or the day after that? Aren’t you worried about keeping him so close? After all, it was his father that murdered yours, and you murdered his.” I could feel myself smile, as I looked at the king shaking his head slightly and looking more tired, but my smile faded as he started to laugh.

“You are quite smart,” he laughed, as he looked at me. I looked at him confused and not really sure what he found so amusing about the situation. I had tried to manipulate him by trying to turn him against my brother. Had he seen through me? After all, I wasn’t really a smooth talker, all I knew about was how to use my fists. “Your brother is a weasel. There is no doubt but he has,” the king paused as he thought of what to say next, “some good qualities that I can still use. And you know that old saying, keep your friends close and your enemies closer. Having your brother at my side is the best place I could have him.”

The king wore his confident smile as he saw my surprised look. He had seen right through me. He knew exactly what my brother was made of and it had been a waste of time to try and steer some trouble there. Maybe the king was smarter than I had first thought.

“So what now?” I asked, tired of feeling defeated by him over and over.

“Now I am going to sleep for a few hours and then I will see you when I wake up,” he said before he walked over to the bed that was placed against the wall in front of me.

He pulled the blanket away and crawled under it before making himself comfortable against the many pillows. He smiled at me knowing I could do nothing but stand there and watch him go to sleep and he would sleep unaffected by my present because I could do nothing but stay chained to the wall. I hated feeling trapped this way and he knew it. He turned to his side and closed his eyes, still with that smug smile. I hated it.

-Valerio-

I barely got the chance to close my eyes and sleep before I was woken by the annoying sound of chains being pulled in. It had the same pace. I could hear the loud clang noises, then the bang as the wall kept them in place, then a small break before the same noises followed. She was doing this on purpose. I knew that and to her benefit, it worked because it pulled me from my sleep and woke me in a sour mood. I groaned, irritated as I sat up against the pillows and looked over at her. She had a confident smile on her lips as she saw me sit up and look at her irritated. My left leg was raised slightly so I could rest my left arm on it as I rubbed my thumb and index finger against each other. She stopped pulling her chains as she watched me. I looked at her with a what-now look and then she smiled even bigger and pulled the chains one more time to show she wasn’t going to stop. This irritated me and I couldn’t take her smug look. I jumped out of bed and went over to her.

“I’m warning you,” I said as I pointed at her, but she just kept smiling and pulled on the chains again. “Are you sure you want to test me, Octavia? Because I have no problem with ripping your clothes off right now and letting you stand naked there all night. In fact, I think I will enjoy waking up to that vision.” I licked my lower lip as I imagined this and I could see the color in her face disappear. That she hadn’t expected. She probably thought I was going to strike her, but I knew she wasn’t going to respond to pain like that. The scars on her body already indicated she had been through pain worse than being struck.

“Are you going to be quiet now?” I sneered.

She just turned her face away, not wanting to answer me. She knew I wasn’t joking in my punishment and she felt the attraction because of our bond just like me. She knew I would love to have her standing naked in the room. I almost felt myself compelled to do it just for fun, but before I could act on it, I heard someone knock on my door. I sighed before walking past Octavia and over to the doors. I opened them to find Garrett waiting for me. He looked questionably at me as I stood there, but I wasn’t sure why he looked at me this way.

“Shouldn’t you have been ready by now?” he asked as he looked at my clothes.

I looked confused at him before looking behind me, seeing the clear blue sky through my windows and then turning my eyes to the clock. It was already 1 pm! So I had actually gotten more sleep than I had first thought. I turned back to Garrett and nodded before going into my room again, leaving the doors open. I didn’t have to invite him in, leaving the doors that way was allowing him in a silent way. He followed behind me before stopping at Octavia, as I continued to my closet.

I quickly found a dark grey shirt and black pants and a golden watch to wear. As I got out of the closet, again I could see Octavia looking at Garrett and he looked at her. They were eyeing each other to see if they were any match for each other. I was a bit surprised at how easily she met Garrett's eyes, but since she had no trouble meeting mine, it should have been no surprise that she could do the same with Garrett. She was naturally strong. It was in her blood and she didn’t bow to anyone. Not even an alpha like me.

“So, this is Xavier’s long lost daughter,” he said and gave her his boyish smile that usually easily won females’ hearts.

Octavia just shook her head and looked away, not at all affected by Garrett’s charm. I couldn’t help but feel good about this. Octavia was after all mine, and I didn’t like that Garrett was even trying to charm her.

“Don’t use your smile on her. She is not for you,” I said as I walked over to him.

Garrett just shrugged. “I had to give it a try, maybe it would be easier to break her then,” he said, and I couldn’t help but smile at this.

I stopped when I reached them and looked at Octavia shortly. She was glaring at me, and her hands were clenched into tight fists.

“She will break soon,” I said as I waved Garrett with me, leaving Octavia behind.

As we got out, Garrett called out to me. I stopped and turned around in the hallway. “Are you really sure she will?” he asked, a bit concerned that I had Octavia chained in my room, since all she had done ever since we met was trying to kill me.

“Octavia is holding on to the last thing she finds stable in her life, but now that I have told her the truth and showed her that her revenge is completely pointless, it will only be a matter of time. Her stubbornness is the only thing that keeps her going, but soon that will wear off and she will have nothing left to do but submit so she once again can find purpose in her miserable life,” I said and smiled, but before I could turn around and walk away, Garrett’s voice rang through the hallway again.

“And your mark?” he asked. “It will be on her forever yet you are set on being mated to someone else.”

“Of course! You can’t possibly see any future where Octavia is by my side?” I asked, laughing a little at this unimaginable fantasy.

“She is your rightful mate. Once you mark someone else, it will weaken the bond between you two and you will both feel the pain.”

I sighed and rubbed my eyes. “Yes, but the pain will stop and we can both continue our lives.”

“And when Octavia finds someone else?”

A loud growl came from me as I charged towards my oldest friend and pushed him up against the wall with my hand clenched tightly around his throat. “Octavia will never find someone else! She will stay mine!” I growled, so it rung down every hallway in the castle.

My canines had grown long and I knew my eyes were nothing but darkness. Garrett struggled against my grip and made small noises as he struggled to get air down into his lungs, but I was blinded by my wolf’s possessiveness over Octavia to even notice it. When I finally gained some control, I quickly let go of Garrett, who started to cough violently and leaned forward as he gently touched his throat. I was breathing heavily, still trying to get my control back. Garrett needed a few minutes too before he stood up and looked a bit scared at me. I had never done anything like it and it surprised both of us.

“You already feel like she is yours,” he whispered, a bit shocked by had happened.

I closed my eyes and rubbed my temples. It felt like I had a huge headache as my wolf howled loudly inside of me. He wanted to practically scream yes at Garrett’s comments, but I couldn’t admit it myself.

“She is not interested in anyone. She only has her revenge,” I said, and walked past Garrett.

“And when she doesn’t have that anymore?”

I felt my hands turn into fists and my nails dug deep into my skin. He was really pushing it.

“You really think a female like her, who has spent her entire life training to be a deadly killer and avenging her father has any interest in finding someone?” I asked a bit mockingly at this ridiculous idea.

“You said it yourself. She only has her revenge. You don’t think that when you break her, she will look for something else to feel that void? Maybe she won’t even be interested in fighting anymore. I’m not saying it happens overnight, but after a few years where she might have found her place among people and learned not to be so rogue like, she might want to try and let someone in.”

I couldn’t really dismiss this idea. If Octavia submitted to me and really did find her place here among all these people. She might want to try and be more “normal” and explore what that meant, but I didn’t like that idea at all. She wore my mark and just the thought of someone else claiming her body was almost blinding me with rage.

“She is never going to like anyone else. Warrior blood runs deeply in her veins. She is more animal than human,” I said before turning around and starting to walk down to the dining hall.

Alpha Michael was going to arrive here soon with Selene, her younger sister Lara and his beta, Jasper and I had to make sure everything was prepared before they arrived. I had a lot to explain to them.