Alpha King Of The Heavens (Heavenly Alphas Book One)

Let's Try To Be Normal

“Well, you did it.” King Simeon smiled being the first to walk over. He pats my back as I stood from the throne.

“Thank the goddess it is over.” I laughed.

He smiled. “See, it wasn’t so bad. It didn’t take long either.”

I smiled a little. “No, it didn’t. I feel guilty that you traveled all this way for a ten-minute ceremony. I insist that you all stay and rest before returning to your homes.”

He smiled widely. “We accept your generous offer. Thank you for your kindness, King Leo.” I couldn’t help but smile at the use of my title.

“We accept as well. I think it would be wonderful for you kids to get to know each other better.” Queen Jadis smiled.

King Acheron laughed. “That is a wonderful idea. The kids can stay here at the palace and have an old-fashioned sleepover while us old farts stay at Deryn’s new packhouse and make a mess.”

Dad laughed as it echoed through the throne room. “That sounds like a wonderful idea. It has been so long since we all got some quiet time together.”

Adrien laughed at his dad’s comment. “Dad, we are too old for sleepovers.”

Ballari smiled kindly. “One is never too old for the company of friends.”

Dad smiled. “Come on, I will take you to the pack house.” He said motioning to his friends.

They laughed and talked as they left the room quickly. Mom stopping to give me a quick hug and kiss on the cheek before she left as well.

I looked down awkwardly. Why did he always have to force me into these situations? Dammit Dad.

Leave it to Liekos to break the awkward silence. “Alright, allow me to show you to your rooms. Once you are settled in we can get some dinner.” He smiled kindly motioning for them to follow him.

I walked to my bedroom as well so I could change out of this suit. Dad would be upset knowing I don’t plan on wearing suits constantly. That just didn’t feel right to me. I wanted to be the king that would let his people know I am no different than them.

I pulled on a pair of ripped jeans and a sweatshirt quickly and walked down to the kitchen. I was pleasantly surprised to see the others had already come down as well. I smiled in greeting as I sat down. Luckily I wasn’t the one who had to break the silence.

“Hey man.” Adrien smiled. “A crown and a sweatshirt. Never thought I would see such a thing. Especially from the son of Deryn.” He laughed. Leave it to him to be so casual it breaks all awkwardness.

“Oh, yea. Dad will have a fit, rest assured.” I laughed.

They all laughed with me. Everett smiled kindly. “So, what do you do for fun around here?”

“Fun?” I laugh. “What is that? No, but seriously. There is a lot to do, as long as you know where. There is this beautiful clearing in the woods behind my old pack house. The lake is perfect for swimming. But it is much too cold for that, so what do you all say to a game night? I know it is cheesy, but board games are pretty fun.” I laugh awkwardly.

“Your family has always liked olden traditions,” Aradia said nonchalantly.

I looked down a little. “Yea, I suppose we have.”

She noted my action and smiled kindly. “I love the olden traditions normal families do together. But you can agree I am sure, that royal families are not normal.” She hesitated and grinned. “Let’s go be normal for a night then hm?”

I laughed. “Oh, the joy of a normal life for the night? Sounds fantastic.” Everyone nodded eagerly. “Come on, we can go to the parlor.” I motioned for them to follow me.

As we walked in, they all went in seperate directions. The thought of being normal kids at a normal sleepover sparked something inside them. They were grabbing scary movies to watch, games to play.

Everett smiled watching me. “Dude, can we make ice cream sundaes today?”

I couldn’t help but laugh. “Of course. That sounds fun.”

Who would have thought it? A newly crowned king having a sleep over. Just the thought alone was amusing. I watched everyone as they started joking around, and for a single moment everyone seemed so normal it made me forget the hassles of being royalty. The hassles of days to come as king.

Aradia pulled out the first scary movie. “We need to watch this.” It sounded more of demand then a request.

I laughed looking at the movie. It was called “The Craft.” I couldn’t help but laugh. Of course. A movie about witches. “Of course. Go ahead and put it in and we can go to the kitchen to make some sundaes.”

Everett got really excited. “Yes!”

I laughed a little. “We can order some pizza for dinner tonight as well,” I said, already texting Liekos the orders of what everyone wanted as I spoke.

As Liekos was on his way to get the pizzas, I walked into the kitchen quickly. “What can I get you and your guests for dinner, my King.” The cook, Kya, smirked at me.

I smiled. “Actually the exact opposite, Kya. Why don’t you take the rest of the day off?”

She looked at me a little shocked. “Why would I want to do a crazy thing like that?”

I laughed. “Because today has been stressful on everyone. Take the day off Kya. It would do you some good.”

She looked at me concerned. “I love you boy, but you can not cook worth s**t. What will you do for dinner?”

I smiled at her honesty. “Ouch…I think that actually wounded me. I am having Liekos pick up some pizza.”

She c****d an eyebrow. “Pizza. For the King on his coronation day. I think not.”

I sighed. “Kya, I want one night where I feel normal. And we want to do the traditional things for a sleepover. Please?”

She sighed and leaned on the counter. “Fine. But what will you have for dessert?”

I looked away avoiding the glare she would soon give me. “Well, we thought it would be fun to make sundaes. And before you glare at me, just know that I can’t see it.”

She scoffed. “Sundaes. You better clean up your mess.” She said smacking me upside the head. “Fine. Call me if you need anything. I will make myself scarce and go to my room. Who knows, maybe take a bubble bath and read a book.” She laughed as she packed up her personal belongings.

I nodded as she walked away. As I walked into the parlor I watched Liekos bring in the pizzas and sit them down. He looked like something was troubling him, but I just couldn’t put my finger on it.

I quirked a brow at him and began to speak to him through the pack link. “You seem off. Is everything okay?” I pretended to busy myself getting a piece of pizza so no one would notice.

“I don’t want to say anything now, my Alpha. So please allow this matter to rest until tomorrow.” He said as he nodded to everyone and walked away with the rest of the pizzas for the pack.

I tried to do as he said. To let it rest trusting in his decision to wait. If it was something as bad as I feared, surely he wouldn’t wait to tell me. But still, something was tugging at my nerves. I just couldn’t seem to shake this feeling.

“You good man?” Adrien said nudging me as I picked at my slice of pizza.

“Oh, yea. Sorry. It has been a stressful day.” I laughed trying to shrug it off.

Everett laughed. “Well come on. Get with the program.”

I couldn’t help but laugh. His happiness was so contagious. “Alright. Alright. Aradia, put the movie in and lets get this night started.”

Aradia laughed and jumped up still holding onto the movie tight. “You do not have to tell me twice.”

Everyone laughed as she put the movie in. My mind still trying to travel elsewhere. Everyone settled in to watch the movie as they ate their pizza. I pretended to be lost in the movie when in reality my mind was becoming a labyrinth that I wasn’t sure I could escape. And before I knew it, the movie was already over.

Everett looked around excitedly. I couldn’t help but laugh. “Alright, let’s go make sundaes.” I said becoming determined to get all of this off of my mind. Surely it couldn’t be that bad. I just needed to keep telling myself that.

Everyone got up excitedly and as I looked around, this did feel normal. I could only hope that my friendship with them would grow the way Dad’s did with their parents. As we walked into the kitchen I pulled everything you could possibly put in sundaes out and set up a whole sundae bar on the counter. Even Aradia’s eyes lit up as she stared at everything trying to figure out where to begin.

Everyone grabbed their bowls and started piling them with every single topping. I decided to be basic. I added vanilla ice cream, lots of hot fudge, peanuts, and a few strawberries. Everyone walked back into the parlor just to sit and talk for a while.

Everyone started eating their ice cream and talking about the differences they noticed in their own kingdoms vs everywhere else. The ways they traveled, the food they ate etc. I mainly listened and just enjoyed the company for once. Dad was right. This wasn’t as bad as I thought it would be. I actually enjoyed just listening to the stories they had to tell while I ate ice cream. It was strangely…relaxing.

“You are being so quiet. So, tell us. What is like to be an Alpha?” Adrien said curiously watching my every movement.

I laughed at the randomness of the question. “Well, my pack is a bunch of pains in my ass. It isn’t too bad. It is no different than ruling over someone. Just…in this case it is only a few people. No matter what you say they stand with you. Like a family.”

Adrien nodded a bit. “I see. That doesn’t sound too bad actually.”

I laughed. “It’s not. It is a lot to try and balance royalty and a pack. But never impossible. My beta helps with that quite a bit.”

“Your Beta? So, is he the next in line to run your pack if anything were to happen to you?” Everett asked curiously.

“Yup. He is my second in command. Which helps, because the pack greatly respects Liekos. So when royal things need my attention, he keeps the pack grounded.” I explained as I ate my ice cream.

Aradia smiled kindly. “I see, so it’s the same concept as a coven.”

I nodded. She would be the only one to understand the hassle of both. After all, she controlled the most powerful coven in her kingdom. “It is exactly like a coven.”

She laid down on the floor and stared at the ceiling. “I hate to see tonight coming to an end. This turned out to be really fun, and much needed.”

Everyone seemed to get a little sad by that fact.”It was much needed. We need to do this more often.” I said breaking the silence pretending to sound indifferent about it.

Aradia sat up quickly at the thought, but before she could speak Everett spoke. “We could rotate which kingdom it is in.” He said excitedly.

Aradia laughed. “Stole the words right from my mouth.”

Adrien looked at me for a moment. “You know, we never got the chance to play bored games.”

I laughed out loud. “You are right. I completely forgot.”

He chuckled. “Okay, next time we do this we will all bring one game to play that is native to our kingdoms. We could have a whole game night.”

I nodded. “That sounds like the perfect plan.”

He returned my smile as he stood up. “Well, I think it is time for me to go to bed. Early departure tomorrow.” He said stretching. “Leo, I had fun tonight. Thank you.”

I tried to hide my excitement for the plans we were already making as I spoke. “No problem. It was really fun.”

He smiled as he walked away. Everett was the next to follow. “This was really fun. Everyone needs to be normal for a day.” He laughed as he waved us goodnight and walked upstairs as well.

“And then there were two.” Aradia laughed.

I smiled. “Yea, I need to clean that kitchen before I go to bed. Kya will have my head in the morning if I don’t”

Aradia smiled and stood. She watched me. “Well, what are you waiting for? Let’s go clean this kitchen.”

I laughed and got up grabbing everyone’s dishes. “Alright, let’s go.”

We walked into the kitchen and I started to put everything away while she wiped the counter. She looked down. “So…do you get to marry who you choose?”

The question took me off guard. “Um…yes actually. We get to hunt for our mate and marry whomever it is. Why do you ask?”

“What does it feel like when you find your mate?” She asked completely avoiding my question.

I stopped cleaning for the moment and leaned against the counter crossing my arms across my chest. “Well, I haven’t found mine, but from what dad said it’s love at first sight. The second your eyes meet it is like there is no one else in the room. Like everything slows down, all noise disappears. You instantly imagine your future with them and you already can’t imagine your life without them. Just the thought of them leaving sends your heart plummeting out of your chest. When you hear their voice it’s like angels are singing.”

She smiled and looked up at me. “That sounds so romantic.” There was a sadness in her eyes that I couldn’t seem to place.

“Now, answer my question. What is going on?” I said looking at her.

She sighed and busied herself cleaning. “Mom has arranged for me to be married. To a young man I have never met before. She says while I do not need a king to rule, this marriage will strengthen our family thus making our kingdom stronger.”

I looked at her understanding the sudden sadness that clouded her features. “I see. But who knows. Maybe the marriage will work out and maybe you will fall in love.”

She laughed a little. “This isn’t a cheesy Hallmark movie.”

I smiled kindly. “True, but sometimes to find your true love you just need a little push in the right direction.”

“If only it were that easy.” She said sadly as we finished cleaning. “Well, goodnight Leo. Thank you for the talk.” She said as she began to walk away.

I instinctively grabbed her hand before she got out of reach. “The friendship we created here tonight will last thousands of lifetimes Aradia. Just know, I am always here if you need to talk. But I am sure it will all work out.” I smiled kindly.

She glanced over her shoulder and smiled. “You are truly wise beyond your years. You will make a great king.” She said as she walked away. Her hand slipping from mine. “I can not wait to spend those lifetimes as your friend.” She said waving as she walked away.

I laughed a little. “Likewise Aradia.”

I walked upstairs not long after to go to bed myself. As I lay in bed, I couldn’t help from replaying the conversation over and over. She was worried her husband wouldn’t be her true love. She was worried that love would now be out of reach. What she didn’t realize is I shared that fear. The fear of never finding my mate. Of never finding a Queen to rule by my side. Of having to settle for someone just so I wouldn’t have to be so lonely. So that I would have an heir. That thought alone has given me many sleepless nights. Tonight would be no different.