Forbidden Mating With The Alpha

Chapter 3: The Danger

She slowly opened the door and entered the passageway that served as the living area that connected the bedrooms, but as soon as she did so, she was startled when a woman painfully collided with the door, forcing it to close. Luckily for Lucy, she had already entered the room but she was shocked to see the woman hit the door with a loud crash and fall down to the floor.

She rushed over to the woman's side, seeing that she was a red-haired girl who could not have been any older than her and bleeding from the mouth. one side of her face had taken on a purple tint, a bruise she received. She was still conscious but was no doubt in pain.

"What's going on here?" Lucy asked, alarmed. She turned her head to examine the room and saw that there were four other women in the room. The other three were seated on the various chairs in the room, watching as the scene unfolded, but the other of them was standing in the middle of the room only a few feet away.

"Did you do this to her?" Lucy asked, resting her hands on the red-haired woman's shoulders to support her into a sitting position.

"Indeed, I did. The little wench has no shred of respect in her being. She deserves a harsh punishment," the woman said as she glared at Lucy and the other with contempt. Lucy noticed that right her hand was clenched into a fist and the back of it had a light red hue. There was no doubt that the had hit the red-haired woman with a backhanded slap. Lucy stood up, uncertain on how to feel about what had happened.

"You have no right to hit her!" Lucy yelled out at the woman, standing a few feet away from her. She was infuriated and could not allow what had happened to stand.

The room had suddenly gone suffocatingly silent. No one said a word as Lucy stared at the woman who had resorted to using violence at a time when an argument broke out.

"Who exactly might you be?" The woman asked with a scoff, bringing her right hand up to brush away the onyx black strand of hair that had come lose from her bun and had fallen to her face. Lucy watched the woman do so with a regal flick of her hand. She also noticed that the woman was spectacularly alluring. She wore a gown of deep, royal blue fabric that exposed the top of her cleavage, but upon closer inspection, it was clear that the top had come undone during the scuffle. From her poise and the way she handled herself, it was safe to say that she was in her late twenties and was an important person as well.

"It doesn't matter why I'm here. What matters is that you hit her," Lucy replied sternly. The red-haired woman remained on the floor, speechless. Lucy heard the sound of an argument before she entered the room but she did not think that it would escalate so far.

"I'm afraid it does matter. You're probably another skank who thinks the prince is interested in marrying you aren't you?" The woman asked, scanning Lucy's appearance from her brown boots, the top of her breasts to the small strand of golden hair that stuck out at the top; and she hated what she saw because even though she did not want to admit it, Lucy's beauty was more than enough to rival hers.

"Is that why we're all here? Then why are you fighting?" Lucy asked. She finally fully understood what was meant by 'other maidens'. She was not the only one that Creed was considering as a bride. And frankly speaking, Lucy was sickened by it. She had not realized before that she was just one of his options.

"Get out of my way, girl! Do not dictate to me what is and isn't deserving of some punishment!" The woman stood up straight at her tallest and walked towards Lucy, her aim being the red-haired woman behind her.

"Stop, Layla. Don't take it to far," one of the woman in the room called to her but she ignored them. Lucy refused to move out of the way. She stood up straight as well, though she was not as tall as Layla, and stretched out her arms to the sides. However, Layla saw that as an opening and swiftly raised her right hand before bringing it down hard on Lucy's face. The sound of her palm connecting with Lucy's cheek was drowned by her scream as she lost her balance and fell down to the floor beside the red-haired woman. Seeing what had happened, she crawled to Lucy's side and tried to help as Lucy had tried to do before.

"Insolent girl! This is no room here for foolish women such as yourself!" Layla spoke proudly as she triumphantly stepped closer to the two, but before she was close enough to be able to reach down and pull Lucy off the floor by her long hair, her own dark hair was grabbed from behind and she was sent face first in to the floor. Her face collided with the floor as she was forced down by a masculine hand that pressed up against the back of her head, The crunching sound that filled the room, that was by no doubt the sound of her nose breaking, invoked many gasps from everyone else in the room. The other women immediately stood up in surprise, with Lucy raising her head after the violent and painful hit to see what had happened.

She saw a man kneeling on top of Layla's body and straddling her as she lay on her front on the floor. It was not the man's emotionless eyes that frightened her and everyone else in the room but the fact that he was holding down her right hand which was outstretched from her body. One hand held on to her right hand and the other pinned her head down on to the floor. He had restrained her from being anymore violent to Lucy and the red-haired woman, but in doing so, he exerted too much force and injured her instead.

"You'll have to excuse me for using brute force on you, but I had to stop you from harming the other women," the man spoke calmy but his face had a frightening scowl on it. He raised his head and looked at the other woman, and seeing his gaze fall on to them, they quickly fell silent and neither of them dared to move a muscle. Lucy was too stunned from the hit to do anything else and watched until the man turned his gaze on to her.

"Who are you? You're hurting her," Lucy asked expectantly. She was as frightened as the other women but her voice did not escape her because she could not bear the thought of someone else being in pain.

"I am Dante Hart, the Commander of the 11th division army serving under the King and your bodyguard for tonight," he said, easing his posture over Layla, but he did not release her just yet.

"I apologize for hurting her but she has to learn that violence will not be tolerated amongst the prince's wives," he said, his emphasis on the plural term 'wives' greatly bothering Lucy. The commander, whose expressionless but striking face was still frightening beyond words, who had red locks of hair the same shade as the setting sun flowing down his shoulders, was currently reaching in for what seemed to have been a jewel encrusted dagger from the inside of his coat.

He held the dagger before him and above Layla's head, the sharp blade gleaming brightly underneath the lights overhead.

'He's going to kill her,' Lucy thought, frantically turning her head to the other women who kept their heads lowered and did not want to move to help. Layla was stuck in a daze from the impact with the floor and could not fully comprehend that her life was at stake. She may have hurt her earlier but Lucy did not want her to die. She was the only one who could save her and she had to do something to stop Dante quickly.