THE ALPHA'S HUMAN MATE

THE KING'S DECISION

‎It was the next day, reminding me once again that I needed to tidy up the king's room. Climbing up the stairs to the seventh floor, my legs were almost giving out. I ran to the storage room, taking out my necessities.

‎I walked into the room, closing the bedroom door, when a powerful voice that wrecked fear in me spoke behind me, stopping me in my tracks.

‎“I see you are back.”

‎As soon as the sound hit my ear, I dropped my cleaning supplies, aware of the very familiar voice of the king. Worry filled me up, and I kept my head down so I wouldn't have to make contact with him.

‎Here I was again, in the room when the king was in. My eyes started to turn blurry as I realised my situation.

‎He had been generous enough to let me go yesterday, and here I was repeating the same mistake.

‎It would surely take the grace of a miracle if I got pardoned this time.

‎“I'm so sorry, your majesty. I thought you would have been at breakfast.” I hastily replied as I stared directly into the most alluring grey eyes I had ever seen.

‎When I realised I had spoken and raised my head without his permission, I felt my heart start to beat rapidly, so fast that I was surprised I didn't get a heart attack.

‎I mentally prayed he didn't take note of it, and if he did, he would let it go.

‎The silence wasn't helping matters, only igniting the fear I felt.

‎“I wasn't in the mood for breakfast.” He finally said, moving out of the way to sit on the couch.

‎I became conflicted—was I to go or continue with my duties and clean the king's room?

‎Standing rooted in my spot, my head still cast down, I fiddled with my fingers, not sure what to do.

‎A few seconds passed with me not uttering anything and the king not saying a word either. Until—

‎“Don't just stand there; get to work.” He yelled, annoyed.

‎Snapping back to reality, I picked up my cleaning supplies from the floor and began tidying up the room. My brows were furrowed, and my heart was beating at a faster pace.

‎I felt eyes on me, making me uncomfortable, deciding to start with the bathroom first, not being able to handle being stared at and monitored by the king.

‎“Start here.”

‎A voice boomed again, stopping me in my tracks.

‎I spun back to look at him, my eyes wide. I wasn't saying anything in case he snapped at me for talking.

‎His cold gaze met mine, and I immediately dropped mine to the ground.

‎“You can start from here.” He said it again, this time with a hint of irritation in his voice.

‎Just like yesterday, I could tell he hated to repeat his words.

‎Swiftly nodding my head, I picked up the vacuum cleaner and swept the other side of the room, putting as much distance between us as possible even though his eyes kept following me.

‎With trembling hands, I continued to sweep, making small glances at the king to see if he was displeased or irritated at what I was doing.

‎But when I looked, I noticed his eyes were not on me again but staring down at the electric device they called a phone.

‎When I realised I was getting closer to where he sat, my palms began to sweat and my breath became rigid.

‎I was so focused on how close I was getting to the king that I didn't realise the rest of my cleaning supplies were right in front of me, causing me to stumble and fall to the floor.

‎My back hit the floor hard.

‎My eyes became blurry as I struggled not to cry, refusing to look up at the king. My face was red with embarrassment.

‎“f**k…”

‎The king got up from the couch, and I heard his footsteps approach until they stopped a foot away from me.

‎“Can you do anything right?” He says it in a not-so-polite tone.

‎Grabbing onto my waist with one arm, he successfully pulled me up into a standing position, and I couldn't help but admire the way his muscles flexed.

‎This isn't the time to be thinking about this, Elara.

‎I scolded myself, cracking my brain to look for a way to apologise for my recklessness. I raised my head, and I was rendered speechless.

‎Our faces were an inch apart; we were so close that his breath fanned my face and his musky scent engulfed me.

‎He smelt like lavender, spices, and sweet, rich woods combined, and I had to fight back a moan.

‎Not a damn thing was wrong with me.

‎Why was I feeling this way toward someone like him? He was the reason why the human race was going through this ordeal, why I was in this situation and not able to live my best life.

‎I clenched my jaw, taking a step back.

‎“I'm so sorry, your majesty.” I bowed, closing my eyes as I kept my head facing down.

‎There was no response from the king, but I heard a loud bang of the door, so I slowly peeled my eyes open, raising my head up, only to find the room empty without any sight of the king.

‎With the king gone, I let out a shaky breath, carrying on with my work. I finished sweeping the floors of the room, and picking up the mop, I began cleaning the floor.

‎I let out a sigh of relief when I finished my chores on time before the clock hit twelve. I picked up my cleaning equipment and was about to make my way out of the room when the door swung open.

‎Hesitantly, I watched as the king walked back in with a frown on his face, wondering what could have got him so pissed.

‎Not wanting to be at the receiving end of his anger, I did the rest of my thing. Bowing my head, I made a dash for the door.

‎“Did I give you permission to leave?” He stated in a dull tone.

‎My mind froze midway at the doorknob, my head aching from not being able to take the tension any longer.

‎I knew I had to suck it up and meet his demands.

‎“Did I give you permission to leave?” He asked again, louder this time.

‎Slowly, I turned around to look at him.

‎“No, your majesty, you didn't.” My head bowed like always as I mumbled out those words.

‎“Then where the hell do you think you are going?”

‎I fiddled with my fingers, not saying anything, scared out of my wits.

‎“Look at me.” He commands. His voice was filled with power, demanding nothing more than respect and obedience.

‎Raising my head, I stared into his eyes, and he into mine. He sat there on the bed, staring at my face, no doubt calculating my every move.

‎“What time are you tasked to work here?” He asked, still looking at me like he was looking into my soul and learning about my deepest secret.

‎I gulped, wetting my lips with my tongue in a nervous act.

‎“Only in the morning.”

‎He nodded, his gaze leaving mine to look out the window for a brief moment before looking back at me.

‎“Who is in charge of taking care of this place for the rest of the day?”

‎I blushed when I remembered what Jasmine had told me about him sharing a bed with Seraphina.

‎“The assistant maidservant.” His brows furrowed, having no clue who I was talking about.

‎“And who is that?” He asked, irritated.

‎“It's Seraphina, sire.” I replied again, holding on to my wit as I once again stared at the confusion dancing around his face.

‎It was obvious he had no clue who she was, and I began to feel bad for Seraphina. She must have given all of herself to him lots of times, and yet he didn't have the decency to remember her name.

‎“From now on, you are in charge of everything, which means I expect to see you here tomorrow.” He says it curtly.

‎My heart rate picked up again in fear at the thought of coming back in the evening. Why was he changing my schedule?

‎I took a deep breath and held it for a second before letting it out.

‎“Yes, sire.” I replied, sealing my fate.

‎“Good. You may leave.”

‎I gave a small bow, gathered my cleaning supplies, and strode right to the door. I closed the door behind me, making a dash downstairs.

‎............

‎After my lunch, I rushed to the kitchen, tying an apron behind my back. I wasn't planning on coming late this evening, though my schedule was changed and I wouldn't need to work here.

‎Still, I wanted to avoid getting punished, not after yesterday's incident.

‎One of the maids in charge of serving the food had gone to rest during the lunch hour but ended up coming late for her duties.

‎Madam Despina had called the guards, asking them to take her to the dungeon, and he dealt with them.

‎They had caned her, leaving marks across her body before subjecting her to repeated abuse.

‎This wasn't something I wanted for myself.

‎I opened the door to the kitchen to see if I had made it on time, taking my position in front of the sink as I let out a breath of relief.

‎I toned out the yells of the chefs, focusing on the plates I was washing when I felt my head being pulled hard, and I was dragged out of the kitchen with the maids giving me a sympathetic look.

‎I placed my hands on my hair, trying to relieve the pain in my scalp from when my body hit the floor.

‎My eyes were already blurry with tears gushing out as I lifted my head up to see my assailant.

‎A gasp left my mouth when I saw Seraphina standing in front of me with a furious look on her face.

‎“You crazy w***e!” She screamed, slapping me hard on the face.

‎A loud sound escaped my lips. My hand touched my cheek.

‎“Lady Seraphina…”

‎I didn't get to finish my sentence when she pushed me to the ground again, causing me to hit my head hard on the floor.

‎I raised my hand to touch the side of my head when I felt a wet substance.

‎I looked up at her frantically, trying to process what was happening and why she was behaving this way towards me.

‎“You crazy slut.” She screamed out again. “What did you do? Tell me. What did you do to make the king request that you take over my duties?”

‎“I didn't tell the king anything, Lady Seraphina. Please believe me.” I begged, kneeling in front of her.

‎“Oh, quit acting all innocent. You pretend to be innocent with that face and those eyes of yours. Was that how you fooled the king?” She asked, hitting me hard on the same cheek again.

‎“No, Lady Seraphina…”

‎Seraphina scoffed, looking at me with pure hatred. She sloshed down till we were at the same level.

‎“I don't care what tactics you use or how innocent you plan to portray yourself. The king will never be yours; to him, you are just a flirty human. Nothing more, nothing less.”

‎She stood to her feet, kicking me in the chest before leaving.

‎I remained there on the floor, bawling my eyes out as I struggled to get up when I felt a hand on either side of my shoulders helping me up.

‎I looked to either side of me to see Amara and Jasmine standing beside me with a sad look on their faces.

‎“Come, let's help you to your room.” Jasmine says, putting my hand on her shoulder.

‎I shake my head, removing my hand.

‎“I can't. I need to get back to work.” I tell them with a weak smile, grimacing when my cheeks start to hurt.

‎“How can you possibly get back to work, not with your head bleeding and your cheek bruised?” Amara was looking at me with an eye that showed genuine concern.

‎“It's not like I have a choice.” I winced, taking a step forward to the kitchen.

‎Jasmine and Amara hold my hands, helping me.

‎“We are so sorry, Elara.” Jasmine's head dropped in shame. “We should have stopped Seraphina from doing this to you.”

‎“It's not your fault; Seraphina would have punished you both if you had made an attempt to help me or stepped in.”

‎“But still, she had no right to hit you like this. I get that she was angry because the king asked that you take over her duties, but to go this ballistic and hurt you this way isn't right.”

‎“It's fine, Jasmine, truly.” I groaned; the pain in my chest and head was almost unbearable. “I hope you don't say anything bad about her. I don't want her hearing it and hurting you guys because of me.” I spoke slowly, as there was a stinging sensation on my cheek.

‎I paused at the door of the kitchen, struggling to keep my eyes open. I took a deep breath, letting go of Amara and Jasmine's hands, ushering them back to their task.

‎They were adamant that I leave first, but I had to convince them that I was okay before stepping back into the kitchen.

‎As much as I was dreading it, I knew I had to return to the kitchen to finish up the task given to me.

‎My nerves were a wreck; I could feel the eyes on me, and I tried not to let it bother me as I walked to the sink.

‎I heard whispers flowing around the kitchen, no doubt talking about the incident that happened a minute ago.

‎Some whispered amongst themselves about how I must have seduced the king into favouring me and pushing Seraphina aside, while others whispered about how Seraphina walked in on me trying to seduce the king by taking my clothes off in front of him.

‎I blinked the tears from my eyes, trying not to be affected by their words.

‎I became the centre of attention for a few minutes before everyone decided to go back to their respective duties while I carried on with my work.

‎Using the wall as support, I lift my body up as the pain becomes unbearable, letting out small whimpers and gritting my teeth not to attract attention back to me.

‎After standing for seven hours, we finally retired to our room.

‎Walking over to the bed, I lay on it, groaning louder, my arms wrapped around my stomach in a way to ease the pain.

‎Slowly, my eyes shut, and I was finally able to fall asleep.