Protect Me, Alpha King
66. I Carry Your Mark, But Not Your Heart

When my eyes fluttered open, I first noticed the familiarity of the ceiling, which I had been staring at whenever I woke up in the morning and before going to sleep. My body felt like an elephant had run over me. Everything hurts.

I tried to recall what had happened, and images of our capture resurfaced in my memory. I bolted upright as the memories kept on flowing. Dawn. The bandits. My wolf. Blood all over the floor.

My stomach became upset.

I had a wolf? Was I not wolf-less? That was...unexpected. All my life, I had thought that maybe I was a human. But why did she come out on that day?

It was reassuring, by the way. No one would bully me that I was wolf-less.

My grin vanished when I suddenly remembered Dawn and the coachman.

Dawn! Where was she?

I turned around only to jump when the alpha king's gaze met my eyes

I was on the verge of giving my courtesy bow when he said, “Don’t worry yourself, River.”

His voice was tired. Dark circles decorated his eyes as if he was not sleeping peacefully.

He turned his head from side to side.

“Your Majesty.”

“Call me Maxxwell.”

Lifting my brow, I looked at him. Hard. “Why would I call you that?" Did he step down from his position?

Wait. Wait. I was baffled right now.

Did something happen while I was asleep? And why did it seem as if something had changed in him? And what was that change I was trying to pinpoint?

“We are mates. It's natural to call me by my given name. I am allowing you that.”

Mates?

It was funny now acknowledged that we were mates, yet he could not get over Zenith. No, thank you. I refused to be a rebound for him to get over his first love. That would be utterly unfair on my part!

Refusing to show him how insulted I was, I said, “It's not official, Your Majesty.”

“It is. It became official when I marked you. My people will know, later on, River. You cannot hide it forever.”

I hid it when I went to the auction house and the time when the bandits captured us. But there was no freaking way I would hide it from his people. Especially Lady Juliana. I will flaunt this mark to all of them. Watch me.

"I'm not hiding this, Your Majesty," I said and rubbed the part where he marked me. "There is no way I will be concealing this one.”

However...

His people did not know that he marked me. Would it be better if I delay showing it to them? “Your people will be disappointed in you, Your Majesty,” I declared, trying to act cool about it. "l am a slave. Instead of accepting me, you should reject me." I made my face sadder and pouted my lips. "But, Your Majesty, could you do it after we visit Haverstone Pack? I want to show it in Alpha Erik's face that someone still had the balls ...." I trailed off my words, looked at him under my lashes, then cleared my throat. “I am sorry for the words, Your Majesty. But, yeah. I did say balls. I wanted to show it to him first before the mark would naturally vanish.”

Wait. Did I see him smile for a split second?

The alpha king stood and looked at the balcony.

I shuffled on my feet.

I observed myself. Had my wolf gone into hiding? Just like that? I thought she would allow me to get to know her more. Was she sleeping? Why did she only come out now?

“I will not reject you, River.”

My brows furrowed.

Won't he? Why? He still loved Zenith.

It was funny how those words did not give me any consolation. Why did he have to lie that he won't? It would be okay if he told the truth. Rejection was nothing new to me.

Wanting to be honest with my feelings, I said, “You still love Zenith, Your Majesty. The decree that your people are still following is evidence for that one. We are still forbidden to talk about her.”

"I already lifted that decree while you were sound asleep.”

My mouth gaped open.

Seriously? Was he sick?

I wanted to check his temperature right now.

I hopped out of bed.

The pain in my body was gradually healing. My wolf had suddenly done a great job of helping me. "Give me some time, River. I will forget about her. I can try.”

My eyes went wide.

Oh. Completely unexpected. I was not hoping for that to happen.

Is the alpha king seriously attempting to forget Zenith? The love of his life? Impossible. Did I hear it right, or did my ears play tricks on me?

No. It wasn't.

My hearing was at its sharpest point. I could even hear the fluttering wings of the mosquitoes outside.

"Are you sick, Your Majesty? You're talking nonsense. You don’t have to force something which you do not like doing. You can reject me after we return from my pack. Don't worry. I can handle it. A second rejection would be easy as pie.”

Liar!

How could you say those words casually? Rejection was the worst! It would feel like you're dying for the second time, idiot! What are you trying to prove? That you are strong?

That nobody would love me and accept me. That's what I am trying to show, I answered my mind. "Let's not talk about that, River. Stop saying I will reject you."

I opened my mouth for a rebuttal but stopped myself from doing so.

Disappointed, I kept my mouth shut.

"You were sleeping for three days, River,” he said, changing the topic.

"Did you save me, Your Majesty? How did you manage to track us?" I scratched my neck. “Forgive me for being useless those days, Your Majesty. It won't happen again. Let me make it up to you. Order me what I should do so I could pay for the days I was not doing anything.”

He looked at me with boredom. “Did I tell you to clean? I want you to rest.”

I exhaled. “Your Majesty. Slaves do not need a rest. But thank you for considering my situation.” If my alpha were still Alpha Wade right now, he would punish me for being useless.

Why did I feel as if he had gone softer on me? It felt weird. He usually growls at me as if he were some wild animal or glares at me, or gives me a disappointed look whenever I make a mistake or am unable to live up to his expectations.

Perhaps he was sick. A person sometimes changes when he is feeling unwell.

"May I know what happened to the coachman, Your Majesty? May I know where my companion is? Her name is Dawn, Your Majesty. I am worried for her since she had a gunshot back then.”

Damn. I forgot to heal her. She was bleeding profusely at that time. Was she okay?

His lips curled. “Now, you remembered to ask that?”

I hung my head low and remained silent. It was my fault. I knew.

"We found the coachman beside the road, fighting for his life. But he is okay now about the skinny woman. She is busy training with Isagani. She is slowly healing. The pack doctor already checked on her."

I sighed in relief. Did she settle here that fast? I envy her. It seemed she had a knack for befriending people without any difficulty.

"That's good. She's a luna by way of an unknown pack, Your Majesty. I bought her from Henderson. Worth the price of her freedom—"

"Why did you do that, River?" the alpha king asked, cutting off my words

I scratched my neck. "I don't understand you, Your Majesty."

His lips curled into a bitter smile, just like his mood.

"You don't? That's what you are good at, River. Pretending you did not know what I just said. Why did you do that? Why did you leave without my permission? Do you know what my enemies would do to you, huh?"

I folded my arms in front of my chest. "They won't do anything to me, Your Majesty,” I answered proudly.

"You bear my mark,” he said with a pointed look. "They would think you are my weakness."

I gave him a small smile. If not for Alpha Erik and the people around me, I would never ask for his mark.

"I carry your mark but not your heart, Your Majesty. I will tell them you don't care for me. At all."

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