A bite from an Alpha King

Book 3 Chapter 7: Meeting

-Isabella-

“Is this all mine?” I asked, gazing around the vast room.

It was larger than anything I had ever lived in before—even during my time with my mom and later my brother. None of them had lived in a castle, and this room felt as big as a football field, complete with an attached bathroom and a walk-in closet.

At the far end was a huge king-sized bed draped in cream-white sheets and piled with giant pillows. All I could think about was throwing myself onto that bed and burying my head in those pillows. But then I reminded myself of my purpose here: kill Damian Black.

“It is. At least for tonight,” Chris said, leaning against the doorway.

I turned to him. “For tonight?”

“Well, since you didn’t have anywhere else to go, we had to bring you here. But there’s no guarantee the king will let you stay. Though, I wouldn’t mind keeping you around a little longer than just one night,” he added, flashing me his charming smile and a wink.

I rolled my eyes. I wasn’t interested in his flirting—especially not now that I knew who he was. But knowing I wouldn’t be here longer than a night was a problem. I had to find a way to kill Damian and fast.

But I had no weapons except a small hobby knife in my backpack, and there was no way I could take down a full-blooded male, clearly built to fight, with just that. I needed a f*cking bazooka to ensure the guy was actually dead. I sighed deeply. How on earth was I going to kill Damian tonight?

“I’ll let you get some sleep, but if you get lonely, my room is further down the hall,” Chris said, leaning a little further into the room with a wicked grin as he placed his hands on the doorframe.

Again, I rolled my eyes and shook my head.

Yeah, no thank you, I thought. There was only one person I wanted to see tonight, and it wasn’t for a s****l encounter.

“I’ll remember that,” I replied as he left and closed the door behind him.

My first instinct in such a huge and luxurious room probably shouldn’t have been to search for a weapon, but I had a mission. I wasn’t here on a f*cking holiday. So, I began rummaging through every drawer and nook I thought might hide a weapon, but came up empty.

“F*cking nothing,” I muttered, irritated, as I crossed my arms.

One big f*cking room and no weapons! The closest I could find to a weapon was a small vase beside the couch or the fire iron. Again, neither would be enough. If I were lucky, I might knock him out, but he couldn’t see me coming. I sighed deeply and walked into the bathroom, standing in front of the huge mirror above the sink.

“What do I do?” I whispered as I turned on the water.

I had a massive bruise under my eye, and my cheek was red and swollen. I cupped my hands to form a small bowl and filled it with water before splashing it on my face. The dirt and grime washed away, and the coolness helped reboot my brain.

“Just think. How do you kill a big full-blooded male with no weapons?” I asked my reflection, but she remained silent as we stared at each other. “You don’t… unless you’re a male.”

Was that really my conclusion? Should I just give up without trying? Jason would have been embarrassed, but the truth was, I wasn’t very strong. Even if I were full-blooded… I needed a weapon—a dagger, a knife, a gun! But where could I find those?

I knew the men here probably carried weapons, but could I really take one without them noticing? It wouldn’t be my first time stealing, but taking food was a bit different from stealing weapons. So, what the hell was I going to do?

-Damian-

“F*ck me,” I groaned as I slowly sat up from the floor, my head pounding.

I never drank much. While it numbed the pain, it always left me feeling worse afterwards. But last night, the alcohol had been necessary to keep me from walking to Isabella’s room and doing something I would surely regret.

I pushed myself up, cradling my head in my hands, which felt like it might fall off. I leaned against the couch where I had apparently fallen asleep. I had taken off all my clothes, but then I remembered that I’d had a cold shower before downing a bottle of bourbon in less than two minutes.

Just perfect… I thought.

“Damian! Meeting!” I heard Chris shout from the other side of the door, knocking.

“On my way!” I yelled, wincing at the ringing in my ears from my own voice.

I groaned as I walked over to the walk-in closet and quickly got dressed in a pair of leather pants, a dark t-shirt, and a black leather jacket. I armed myself with two knives strapped across my chest and a gun at my hip. I knew the meeting was about Isabella.

Sweet yet feisty Isabella, my wolf remarked.

I groaned loudly as I stepped out of my room. The meeting might be about her staying, but there was no telling whether we’d be sent on a mission afterwards. So, I was already prepared. The king’s office wasn’t far away, and as I entered, everyone was already there.

I positioned myself by the fireplace and surveyed the people in the room. As much as I wanted to tell them to find a good place for Isabella, I also wanted to scream for them to go to hell.

“I have already informed Garrett of the little half-blood’s arrival,” the king began, starting off the meeting.

“Isabella,” I quickly corrected.

People turned to me, giving me strange looks for interrupting the king. Could I have been more obvious?

“Isabella,” the king repeated, quickly continuing, “Garrett has already come up with a few ideas about where to send her, one of them being Selene’s pack. They could use the extra members, and I know Selene and the rest would be very happy to have her.”

No! She stays!

I groaned and pressed my hand against the side of my head. My wolf was howling so loudly that my ears felt like they were ringing.

“Damian, are you okay?” I heard Valerio ask.

I tried to speak, but the yelling continued.

Tell them now! Tell them they don’t get to decide where our mate goes! She stays! She is ours, and no one else gets her!

“Damian?”

“If you disagree with sending her to Selene’s pack, I have another idea,” Garrett said with a small smile, clearly interpreting my groan as a sign of disagreement, but it was so much more.

“No! The little female stays!” The words burst out of me, almost animalistic, with a hint of an echo, as if it wasn’t me speaking.

Everyone froze, staring at me in shock. How was I going to explain this?