A bite from an Alpha King

Chapter 3: Yellow eyes

-Valerio-

“What do you mean you are not going to execute her? She has to die!” Damian yelled loudly in the office.

I was sitting in my chair behind my desk looking at each one of my men. They all nodded silently at what Damian was saying. Even Garrett. They were all furious but Garrett’s eyes were dark. Darker than I had ever seen them before. It had been a few days since I was stabbed by my own mate with a silver knife. A knife that was now lying in front of me as evidence. I had been close to death. If it hadn’t been for the antidote I had ordered to be made a few years back, I wouldn't be alive today. Luckily, I was among skillful people and that meant skillful doctors too.

I moved uncomfortably in my chair. The female couldn’t be allowed to live. She had committed high treason and the law stated she had to die, but how could I be the one ripping her heart out? Inside of me something hurt just at the thought of it. I groaned, irritated as I rubbed the bridge between my eyes. So this was what it meant, having a mate. I really couldn’t get myself to hurt her, but then how could she stab me? She knew exactly what it meant to end of me. I shook my head, troubled by what I had to do.

“Someone gave her this knife,” I said, getting the attention of every male in the room. “Someone who most likely knew what it was going to be used for. That means someone stands behind her. Maybe many.” I could see this troubled my men as they heard it. “Her execution might just be an excuse to start a revolution. She could easily be a martyr.”

“But she has to die-“

I put my hand up, stopping Damian from saying anything else. “I know,” I said coldly. “But it isn’t so simple.”

“So what do you suggest, my king?” Damian asked.

“A fair fight. One on one. Till death.”

My men weren’t satisfied by my answer. They started talking to each other discussing their doubts about it. I sighed, tired of hearing their mumbling.

“My king, you do know that if she wins she will get your title and all that you own right?” Garrett asked me with worry in his eyes.

“Of course I do!” I said. “So I better not let her win then.”

My men still weren’t very happy about this. I was their king after all and the female was quite fast. I had to give her that. There was a small chance she might win, but when it came to strength I was far beyond hers. I sighed again, feeling suddenly tired. I would have to kill her. My own mate. It wasn’t really what I had one day hoped to do. I felt my heart ache at the thought of having her bloody heart in my hand. How could I kill her? It hurt just thinking about it. I felt my hand go down to the where she stabbed me. I wondered how she could, without hesitation, run the knife into me.

“Hmmm… what does she have against me?” I mumbled to myself.

“She wants revenge,” I suddenly heard someone say.

I looked up to see Zane standing in front of my desk with his arms crossed. I frowned as I looked up at him. “What do you mean?” I asked.

“Her name is Octavia,” he told me, making me frown even deeper. How did he know her name? “She is my sister."

“What?!” I roared, almost making the whole castle shake. I stood angrily up from my chair, slamming both my hands down on my desk. My men looked to the ground as they submitted to me. “You seem to have failed to mention this earlier!” I sneered at him.

“She isn’t related to me by blood,” Zane said, still with his eyes locked at the ground. “My father found her in the woods. She is nothing but a rogue’s child. He brought her home with him and trained her to be a killer ever since she could walk.”

I narrowed my eyes as I looked at Zane. I listened to his heartbeat to see if he was lying, but it was as steady as ever. “Why?” I asked.

“My father was a paranoid man. He always believed someone was coming for him. He probably hoped that Octavia could be the last ace in his sleeve. So, if someone one day got to him she would avenge him and he would have the last laugh.”

I sat down in my chair again, rubbing my chin. Zane’s father hadn’t been an easy person for me to fight. He was skilled and smart and trusted no one. It was no surprise he had one last trick hidden for me and if it wasn’t for the antidote, I would surely have been dead by now. I couldn’t help but admire this trick of his, but he probably hadn’t imagined that she was actually going to be my mate. Seems like it was the goddess that had the last laugh after all.

“The fight will happen but this little information might bring some good,” I said and smiled.

-Octavia-

I had chains around my ankles, wrists and neck. The chains were locked to the floor and were stretched out so I was constantly kept in a cramped position, which made every limp in my body ache. Sweat was dripping down my face as, after days in this position, the pain was becoming too much. It was like my whole body wanted to just fall flat down on the floor but was constantly kept from doing so. I was practically being choked if I let my body fall down. So I kept half standing, half sitting while being bent forward so the neck chain didn’t dig itself into my skin. I was panting slightly and my eyes were heavy. I was very exhausted but the thought of how the king was buried deep under the ground was what brought me strength. I couldn’t wait to see my father’s proud face as I met him on the other side. He was going to be so happy with me. I smiled just by the thought of it. The metal door in front of me was suddenly opened, bringing my smile to an end as I waited for one of the guards to tell me that it was time for the execution, but what came through my door was not something I had expected.

“Hello sister.”

His voice had changed a bit. It was deeper now and it had a nasty ring to it or maybe that was just because I thought he was nothing but a weasel and a coward. He had been helping the king take down our father and now he was working for him, still helping him destroy all his enemies or whoever posed a threat to him. He probably thought highly of himself since he was working by the king’s side, but to me he was nothing but a lap dog. He wasn’t even really an alpha anymore, since he had bend the knee for the king.

“Traitor,” I spat.

“Yes, you probably think I am,” he whispered.

I laughed. Was he serious? He had betrayed both me and dad. His own blood. How could he do this to us?

“You killed our father,” I sneered at him, looking him in the eyes, not even afraid of what he might do to me.

“Not our father. My father,” he growled.

My eyes widened in surprise. What was he saying? He could clearly see the confused expression on my face and it only made him smile. He moved closer to me and squatted down in front of me so we were at eye level.

“You might not know this, but our father was never your father,” my brother said while locking eyes with me. “He found you in the woods. You were nothing but a little rogue child left to die. A little unwanted child that my father chose to take with him to use you as his own little revenge if he was ever killed by anyone.”

I suddenly felt out of breath and my head was spinning like crazy. This couldn’t be true! This wasn’t true! I was my father’s daughter. I knew that. He was lying. He had to be.

“You’re lying!” I sneered at him, trying to show his trick didn’t work.

“No. I’m not. Why do you think your eyes aren’t yellow,” my brother said as he pointed to his yellow eye. “If you really were my sister you would have had eyes like me.” His voice was low and threatening as he talked about his eyes. They were quite different. Not completely yellow like my father’s, but it was because they were so distant relatives to the royals and my brother was an even further relative, so only one of his eyes was yellow.

“I-“ I stammered as I realized I didn’t have anything to say. I had never really considered my eyes as a sign I was not my father’s daughter. He had always taken such good care of me and had taught me how to take care of myself. I was devoted to him and he was brutally murdered by the king. “The king has no claim!” I shouted, as I had nothing more to say about my connection to my father. I was sure I was his daughter with or without the yellow eyes.

“That is where you are wrong. The king has more claim to the throne than anyone else,” my brother told me again, shocking me. “Have you not seen his eyes? They are yellow. He is a direct descendant of the royal family.” For a minute I felt like throwing up. I had seen those eyes when I had attacked him but hadn’t paid much attention to them. If this was true, then was I related to him? Were my mate and I related? Now I really wanted to throw up. “Our father is the traitor here. Him and the other alphas who took down the royal family and placed our father on the throne just because his blood was a little stronger than the rest.”

I felt dizzy and I wanted more than just to throw up. I wanted to knock myself out just to escape from all this new information. For most of my life, I had had one goal, and that was to kill the king. The man who took everything from me and now he wasn’t just my mate but also my relative and he had a true claim to the throne. I tried calming myself, thinking that it didn’t matter now. The king was dead and it was all going to be buried with him.

“Oh, and the king wants a fair fight this time. One without any of you poisoning the other with silver” my brother said as he stood again and started to walk away.

“Wait!” I shouted, stopping my brother right before he had walked out the door. “Are you saying the king is still alive?” I asked with a shaking voice.

My question just earned me an evil smile before my brother went out of the door, locking it and leaving me to my thoughts in the small and dark cell.