chapter 6
884 Words
Chapter 6
I didn't sleep.
Not that I didn't try.
The Alpha King had moved me into a guest chamber connected to his own by a single door.
According to him, it was for my safety.
According to me, it was impossible to feel safe while sleeping beside the most feared man in the kingdom.
The bed was large enough to house an entire family.
The blankets were softer than anything I had ever touched.
The room smelled faintly of cedarwood and smoke.
None of it mattered.
Every time I closed my eyes, I saw the creature.
There she is.
We searched for her.
She carries it.
The words looped endlessly through my mind.
Sometime before dawn, I gave up.
With a sigh, I climbed out of bed and padded toward the window.
The palace grounds stretched beneath the fading darkness.
Guards patrolled the walls.
Torches flickered in the distance.
Everything looked peaceful.
Normal.
As though monsters hadn't been breaking through palace walls a few hours earlier.
A strange sound drifted through the quiet.
A low growl.
I froze.
Another growl followed.
Not angry.
Painful.
The sound came from the adjoining chamber.
The Alpha King's room.
My heart skipped.
For several moments I stood completely still.
Then another sound reached me.
A muffled crash.
Followed by a sharp intake of breath.
Something was wrong.
I hesitated.
Entering the Alpha King's room without permission sounded like an excellent way to die.
Another crash echoed through the wall.
That settled it.
I pushed open the connecting door.
The sight that greeted me stole the breath from my lungs.
The room looked as though a storm had torn through it.
A chair lay splintered against the wall.
A table had been overturned.
Cracks stretched across the stone floor.
And in the center of it all stood the Alpha King.
Barefoot.
Shirtless.
Breathing hard.
Golden light pulsed beneath his skin.
Not around it.
Beneath it.
Like something trapped inside him was trying to claw its way out.
His hands were clenched so tightly that blood dripped from his palms.
For a moment, neither of us moved.
Then his head snapped toward me.
The gold in his eyes blazed.
Predatory.
Ancient.
Terrifying.
Instinct screamed at me to run.
Every survival instinct I possessed demanded it.
Yet my feet refused to move.
The king stared at me.
His chest rose and fell.
Once.
Twice.
Three times.
Then something strange happened.
The glow began fading.
Slowly.
Steadily.
The tension in his body eased.
His shoulders lowered.
The golden light dimmed.
I blinked.
The change was immediate.
Almost impossible.
"What just happened?" I whispered.
The king looked away.
"Nothing."
I glanced around the destroyed room.
A broken laugh escaped me.
"Your definition of nothing is concerning."
His jaw tightened.
"Go back to bed."
"No."
His eyes narrowed.
"No?"
"No."
I pointed at the shattered furniture.
"Something is obviously wrong."
Silence.
The king walked toward the window.
The early morning light spilled across his face.
For a long moment, he said nothing.
Then finally:
"I don't sleep much."
I stared.
"That's your explanation?"
"It is."
"Terrible explanation."
A sigh escaped him.
The sound carried years of exhaustion.
"I have a condition."
A condition.
The words sounded absurd.
Conditions didn't make people's eyes glow.
Conditions didn't crack stone floors.
Conditions didn't radiate enough pressure to make the air feel heavier.
Still, it was more honesty than I expected.
"What kind of condition?"
The king's smile was humorless.
"The inconvenient kind."
I groaned.
"You are impossible."
"So I've been told."
For the briefest moment, amusement flickered between us.
Then it vanished.
The king's gaze drifted toward the horizon.
The sun was beginning to rise.
Golden light spread across the kingdom below.
Beautiful.
Peaceful.
A lie.
Because I could feel it now.
Something was wrong with this place.
Something hidden beneath the surface.
The creature.
FRA.
The king's strange condition.
The sacrifices.
All of it connected somehow.
I just couldn't see the pattern yet.
A sudden knock interrupted my thoughts.
Three sharp taps.
The Alpha King's expression immediately darkened.
"Enter."
The door opened.
An elderly woman stepped inside.
Silver hair.
Sharp eyes.
A face lined by age and experience.
The moment she saw me standing there, surprise flashed across her features.
Then understanding.
Then concern.
Not for the king.
For me.
That worried me more than it should have.
"Your Majesty," she said.
The king nodded.
"What is it, Miriam?"
The woman hesitated.
Her gaze flicked toward me again.
"They found another mark."
The room went still.
Every trace of warmth vanished from the king's face.
"Where?"
"The eastern district."
My stomach tightened.
The king closed his eyes.
Just for a second.
Just long enough for me to see how tired he truly was.
Then he opened them again.
The ruler returned.
Cold.
Focused.
Dangerous.
"Seal the area," he ordered.
"Already done."
"Evacuate everyone within two streets."
Miriam nodded.
"It has already started."
The king swore.
A real curse.
Not royal.
Not refined.
Human.
And somehow that frightened me more than anything else.
Because for the first time since arriving at the palace, I realized something terrifying.
The Alpha King wasn't the source of the kingdom's problems.
He was the one trying to stop them.
And judging by the look in his eyes...
He was losing.
- Writer
