Protect Me, Alpha King
36. The Search for Sir Elijah

Alpha King Maxxwell

If he wasn't Beta Valentine who protected me while a rogue tried to kill me using his poisoned arrows, I would be killing him right now and then for talking about Zenith.

A luna? There would only be one reigning beside me— Zenith. We both promised that we would love and protect each other.

"Your Majesty. You have to think of your people.”

"I am constantly thinking of their welfare.” My palms balled into a fist as I stared back at him. "Besides, no one will replace Zenith, Beta Valentine."

He scoffed. "If what you said is true, Your Majesty, why did you take this woman," he asked pointing at the picture in my hand, "as your personal servant taking the place of Zenith? The resemblance between the two is remarkable. They can pass as twins except for their hair. Zenith's hair is straight as a sword and jet-black while River's is curly and red, reminding me of the fire I had witnessed when I was once a young man. When she died, you promised not to take any personal slave, Your Majesty."

My hands trembled as I tried to control my emotions. This was partly the reason why I did not want to talk to Valentine. He never failed to say whatever came to his mind. Which was annoying sometimes.

We may be sworn brothers but prying on my life when I did not ask him to was wearing my patience down.

"Shut it."

He leaned on my still giving me that burning stare.

"I won't until you awaken from your fantasy. Do you know how the people looked at River? They are horrified that one single mistake of uttering Zenith's name will lead them to imprisonment. Do you think sealing their lips will not make them talk? They will. Behind your back, Your Majesty. And the more they will expose Zenith's life when she was still staying in the palace. Beside you. As your personal servant."

I closed my eyes as memories of her beautiful smile took my breath away. If only I could bring her back...

I blinked when River's face replaced Zenith's before it returned.

"Your Majesty...are you confused between the two? Or are you secretly wishing River is Zenith?"

I was. And sometimes I was confused between them.

I drew a couple of breaths.

Steady, Maxxwell. You made your promise first with Zenith.

The wolf inside me howled in agony and continued shouldering the pain of the separation.

I opened my eyes and warily looked at the beta. "Why are you doing this, Valentine? You are making me relive my past.”

"I don't have any ill intentions, Your Majesty.”

"You have."

"All 1 am saying is you stop prying on River's private life and focus on finding your second-chance mate. Why are you affected when you find out that Sir Elijah and River are mates?”

Gritting my teeth, I muttered, "The laws state that the alpha king must know first if his servant found her mate or not. I have the right to tell her if she will accept her mate or not.”

"Barbaric,” he said. "That's not the law but the custom, Your Majesty. I searched about that and studied it, looking for loopholes, and found none. It's the tradition among the alpha king. But not what was written in the law.”

The burning feeling in my chest persisted. "That's enough, Valentine!" I snapped. "Let's stop talking about Zenith and River. Zenith will only be Zenith. Don't associate her with River.”

He folded his arms in front of his chest. Irritating. If he was not Valentine, I wanted to wipe that expression on his face.

"I will never stop talking about the two women, Your Majesty. If people are scared talking about them, I won't be. Someone needs to knock some sense into you."

"What will make you shut your fucking mouth?"

"A luna. To divert your thoughts from thinking too much about Zenith. Accept the fact that she died already. If she is alive, she has already come back.”

Narrowing my eyes, I said, "You're not the Angel of Death to tell me about that. You did not see with your own eyes that she died."

He sighed, finally realizing I won't stop insisting Zenith is alive and I will search for her regardless of where she was hiding. She was alive, the bond between us told me so. She was waiting for me to rescue her.

"Your delusional, Your Majesty.”

"Go away, Valentine. Before I forget you are my beta and I still need you."

"This is not done, Your Majesty," he promised and snatched the photo away from me. I had to urge him to call and told him to return it to me, but I stopped myself from doing so.

He gave his curtsey bow and stepped out of my office.

A knock followed after and the twins came inside, sweat coating their foreheads.

I clogged the contents of the water bottle.

"Your Majesty. We have a small problem."

"What?" I asked, and put down the water from my table.

They looked at each other and said, "River escaped.”

River

Where was the West Wing again?

Thankfully, my bones were still intact when I fell down from the balcony.

I already went to the West portion of the palace, but I had already forgotten about the way. I was never good at directions. I was always lost along the way.

Damn. Where was that place? All I saw were guards and I was astonished they never captured me. The servants looked at me as if it was their first time seeing me. But no one dared to ask me where I was going.

My sense of smell right now would be beneficial if I had my wolf with me now. If I did, I could easily sniff his scent more accurately than I had with me now. All I smelt were the cheap cologne in the air. A servant passed beside me and stopped her using my hands. "Do you happen to see Sir Elijah?" She looked at me and shook her head. "You are new here. But Sir Elijah usually rests on the farthest part of this wing. Wait. There's something on your hair." I stood still and she grabbed something. A twig. "Are you perhaps the alpha king's personal slave? If you are, you should always be on your best behavior.”

The only thing that registered on my mind was her first statement. Not the last part.

"You mean to say this is the West Wing of the palace?" I asked with excitement. I thought I would still be searching for some places.

"It is. Walked straight and you will see a door decorated with a sword intersecting each other. That's where he usually rests. But you have to be—"

I bowed to her, uttering my thanks, cutting off her words, and left.

The prince may be heard. I had to tell him about my lies. With hurried steps, I ran and after a couple of minutes passed, I reached the room the servant was about. Two enormous real swords guarded the doorway. And the other side was a horn of a certain animal I could not pinpoint.

I was on the verge of knocking when I suddenly heard a moan from the other side followed by a pounding of flesh against flesh.

"Oh, Sir Elijah. You are so good with this,” I heard a woman say with a breathy sigh.

"Don't worry, love. I will satisfy you this time."

The woman giggled as if she was being tickled by Elijah.

I stepped back as I realized what was happening inside. Oh, great. Perfect timing. How would I tell him if he was busy fucking someone else?

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