The Cursed Alpha in Town

Chapter Four

Her father averted his sight, his guilt giving him too much power. But Adonis reclined on the throne with an air of indifference, his features devoid of any tension and full of humor. He said something into the ear of his assistant, who approached her once again after a break.

“Princess,” he said, beginning with that pleasant tone in his voice, “think of this as something for the benefit of your people. They have made a proposition to their father’s pack because a powerful man, Alpha Adonis, respects their status. It is such a rare chance to unite our factions under his leadership.”

“Under your leadership,” she fired back, hazel eyes sparking with rebel energy, “not my leadership.”

Adonis continued to observe her and took note of her reaction as he did so. He kept silent for a while and then stood up, his tall form throwing a shadow across the room. When he walked closer, her heart began to race, but she didn’t look away, meeting his eyes squarely.

“This is quite the … shock. "I wouldn't have anticipated this level of … intractability,” he observed, the last part of the sentence holding a sharp gaze. “If you are adamant about it though, you are a person I do not take rejection from.”

Lia gritted her teeth, the tone of her voice trembling with effort. “You don’t scare me, Adonis. You can’t make me do this.”

Adonis shifted his head a fraction, his face difficult to interpret. “You are courageous, Princess. "Perhaps that was your father’s concern.” Taking a step back, he glanced over at her father. “We will leave, yes,” he pronounced with exaggerated slowness and a tone of impending threat. “But next time, we won’t be so courteous.”

After throwing a final disdainful look, he faced the door and started walking at a fast pace. His guards blankly trailed behind him. The doors shut behind him, leaving Lia alone in the stillness and starkness of the room. Her father remained in a kneeling position, looking down, which stirred up more resentment within her.

“Father,” she began tremulously. “Why did you give in to this? How could you even let this pass?”

He raised his head at last, but with visible remorse in his eyes. “Lia, this is not an easy decision to make. Adonis is a dangerous man, a tyrant. To decline him would put the entire pack at risk.”

"I don't really have an alternative but to believe what you explain, yet I cannot stop and suppress the pain I feel because you picked him instead of me,” she said softly, the betrayal cutting deeply. “You put my joy, my very life, at stake.”

Lia's father squeezed his eyes shut and the look on his face was one of unmitigated fatigue. “This was never my intention, Lia. But…there is the issue of lives on the line… I thought… I thought he would not go this far.”

She shook her head, too filled with disillusionment to see any glimmer of hope. “You thought,” she said with a disdainful sneer. “And now in four full moons, I am to be her property." "Her property!”

Her father made a move closer to her, but she distanced herself from him, not ready to face the warmth of the same hand which had consoled her. “Lia, I beg you. I know this is difficult but please bear with me-”

“There is no need to bear with you i.e. I can–” she backfired in a low tone, harboring distress without a visible impact. “I will only be sealed with the knowledge that you have bound me with that beast.”

She gave one last hopeless glance and walked out of the people’s court. It was the sound of her footsteps filling the corridor as if she was trying to run away from both the betrayal and the future her father wanted for her.

Lia stayed indoors, without having any food and drawing the curtains carefully. She could feel her whole world space or comfort envelop her and this made her brood over her father’s statement. The fact that she had to marry Adonis, who everyone knew was a mean man, made her want to squirm. She herself could not know the extent of the insanity that her father was willing to give her hand to such a monster. But instead of relief, she felt an overwhelming surge of despair, which aggravated sadness into rage within her as each hour ticked by.

In the meantime, in the throne room, Alpha Donald was not comfortably seated in his royal seat, and was not even able to wait patiently for his wife, Queen Sia, his fingers now tapping the armrest. She came in, her magnificence dominating the chamber and the sound of her gown gliding on the immaculate floor. She carried herself in a composed manner, despite the worry in her eyes.

“Still no food in?” Donald asked, his heart heavy with remorse.

Queen Sia’s face was sober and grim. Yes, and she would not let anyone inside. I told you, Donald. "I warned you that this was a bad idea.” Her tone was intimidating, her complexion pleasing yet hardened. “Adonis has browbeaten you, and this is the result of it now.”

Donald’s jaw clenched, and he looked to the side, unable to face her. “I am used to taking full responsibility, Sia, so place all the guilt on me if you want, but I took action that needed to be taken.”

“Needed, what is needed?” she mocked him, her voice growing tense as she fixed him with a stare. “You are offering our child to a complete stranger, to a man that we can hardly call trustworthy. "I want my Lia back, Donald." "I want her to be jolly and not forced into a nasty arrangement.” And with that, she pivoted, the stir of her departure ringing loud as she exited the throne room.

As always, Donald was not well, and he tried to mask it by running a hand on his face while exhaling deeply, and right in that cue, Bethel, his aide, walked in looking gloomy as well.

“Pray tell you have some good news,” Donald spoke, as though huge disappointment was on his shoulders.

As Bethel stretched a small, rolled scroll, a frown graced his face. ‘Not quite, Your Majesty. It appears Adonis is getting ready to mobilize his forces. 'He sent this by hawk,’ Bethel explained in a subdued tone.

Donald received the scroll and proceeded to open it, a frown already on his face deepening as he read it further. Bethel was quiet at first as he was waiting for the others to speak. However, he was tense and standing in a military manner.

“What does the letter say, Your majesty?” was the question asked by Bethel after a long time.

Donald breathed out, his expression exuding fatigue. “He wants us to present him with Lia in two days, or otherwise, he will take it as treachery.”