The Alpha Kind and His Mysterious Mate (Part 2)

Loyalty to the throne versus loyalty to the friendship

[ Blake’s pov ]

“- Why are you yelling at the poor guard? Is everything OK?” I asked my childhood friend as I entered his office, clearly seeing his distraught. Jacob has been through too much. All of us have, but only he has a whole kingdom on his shoulders.

“- Everything is fine. I have work to do, so if you don’t mind..” he pointed at the door, evidently trying to get rid of me, but I would not have it. Today I have decided to get my way no matter what.

“- Listen Jacob, I was thinking maybe we should arrange a funeral for Lizzy. It has been a week. She needs to be properly buried… I am going to get some guards and take her body to the funeral home so they can prepare it” I announced, exiting his office and heading to his room where my best friend lied.

“- NO!!!” he yelled immediately, startling me. I thought he seemed better and more resolved after yesterday’s funeral. Was I mistaken?

“- Why not Jacob? I have had enough of this! Liz was my best friend before she was your mate, and she deserves a god damn funeral. I tried to be patient with you. I tried to respect your grief and give you some space, but I also have a duty to my friend, and she needs to be put to rest. Her body has probably already started decomposing”, I retorted, keeping on going towards his bedroom with determination. As a biologist, I knew too well what happens to the body as soon as a day or two after death. I did not want Lizzy to be remembered in this state. I wanted her to be remembered for the pure and beautiful creature she was, so I could not wait any longer.

Before Jacob could physically block my path, I quickly managed to open the door of his bedroom, only to realize that my best friend’s body was not there.

“- Where is she, Jacob?” I inquired.

“- Who?” he replied, trying to hide the guilt in his voice and play the ignorance card. Seeing this reaction, it was clear that something suspicious was going on here.

“- Don’t play dumb! You know who I am talking about.”

“- She is not here”, Jacob ultimately replied vaguely yet with an angry tone.

“- I can see that! I am not blind. Where is she?” I said, keeping on pushing him for a straight answer, as my patience began to elude me.

“- I got rid of her! She betrayed us all Blake! She is a monster!” Jacob finally blurted out.

“- What are you talking about? Have you lost your mind?” I asked, confused and shocked by his words. Was her loss too much for him? Has he gone mad?

“- Elisabeth is alive, Blake. She faked her death and has been deceiving us all since the day we met her”, Jacob stated with determination, throwing me a file with my best friend’s name. “Take a look for yourself. She is a damn bloodsucker and what is worse, that girl is no other than Queen Victoria’s child! A bloodsucking royalty!” he spat.

Jacob’s accusations took me by surprise, but after carefully examining the file in my hands, I could see that the proof was irrefutable. Needless to mention that if Liz was a simple werewolf, she would have died by the silver knife as Derek did.

At the realization of her identity, I should have felt appalled, disgusted and betrayed, to say the least. It is in the werewolf’s nature to hate vampires, yet all I felt was deep concern for my friend. Lizzy may be a vampire, but there is no way she deluded me for information. This I know for sure. To answer the rest of my question, I first need to find her.

“- What do you mean you got rid of her?” I finally asked after a long silence, carefully observing his facial expressions so he wouldn’t dare to lie. Seeing that I was meaning business, he finally replied:

“- After discovering the truth, I threw her in the dungeons to rot, right where she belongs!”

“- YOU DID WHAT?!?!?! SHE IS YOUR MATE JACOB!” I cried out. The goddess is my witness. If I could, I would have killed him right there and now. The fact that I had officially accepted the role of the gamma a couple of days ago, would not stop me. Despite the fact that every gamma swears his allegiance to the Alpha, he also has a responsibility to his Luna. Dead or not, apart from being my best friend in the whole world, Lizzy was also my Luna and I would die before I let anyone, including Jacob, harm her.

“- That monster is not my mate and why are you angry with me? I thought you would be out for blood, more than I. That bloodsucker princess fooled you for years trying to get close to you and gain your trust, only to acquire access to this kingdom and our secrets.”

“- You are going to release her right this instance or I will make your life a living hell”, I just would not have it. My loyalties are clear, and they are lying with my best friend. No one could have pretended so impeccably and for some many years. Not even Prometheus, the god of fire and a supreme trickster, could have played this role so well. It is impossible! Our connection and the moments we shared were true. I was absolutely and irrevocably certain.

As we were about to get into a heated argument about the fate of my best friend, one of the royal guards came rushing in:

“- GET OUT!” Jacob and I yelled in unison at the uninvited guest.

“- Alpha… Gamma” the guard named David, if I am not mistaken, muttered with a shaky voice. “You must come with me right away.. There are va.. vaamm.. vampires everywhere!!!” he clarified the reason behind his intrusion, evidently scared.

“- What do you mean everywhere?! Be clear! Are we under attack?” Jacob snapped at the poor guard.

“- No Alphaa.. sir. The vampires have circled our whole territory and remain at the borders, with the witch and the Queen herself accompanying them. They demand an audience with you and Ms. Elisabeth, but our beta and delta Marcus, who was on patrol at the time, told them that this was not possible since Ms. Elisabeth had died recently. You have to hurry, they seemed very distraught after that announcement and threatened to burn the whole land to the ground if you did not appear immediately. The witch has immobilized all the patrolling guards with her spells after claiming that both beta and delta were lying about Ms. Elizabeth”

“- Why didn’t you mindlink me at once?” Jacob shouted in shock.

“- I tried to, but the witch prevented me from doing so, like the first time we met her.”

“- Those arrogant f*uckers. Playing it superior just because they teamed up and caught us off guard. Pathetic weaklings! I could have called all the packs and annihilated them once and for all, but I am not a coward to let others fight my battle!” Jacob exclaimed. “Since we can’t mindlink, you will get your wish, Blake. David go with your gamma to the top security wing of the dungeons and instruct the guards there to release the prisoner to you. Then bring her at once to the borders. I will meet you there after notifying as many of our soldiers as possible.”

“- Yes Alpha”, David replied as we were about to leave to see my best friend. The terrible things she must be feeling about me, thinking that I abandoned her in the dungeons. I did not care about the thousands of vampires out there. I did not care about the full-scale attack. All I cared about was Lizzy’s wellbeing.

“- Blake, wait a second”, Jacob shouted after me. So close… I was almost out of the door…

“- What?” I retorted abruptly, still infuriated with him.

“- How many vials of the serum do you have available for injection?”

“- Jacob, as I have told you before, the serum is not ready yet. There are many more tests that need to be run and side effects that have not been examined. It works half the time under the ideal conditions. It is too risky!”

“- Oh, for Selene’s sake, wake up Blake! We are under siege! Everyone will die today if we don’t do something, including your mate. We stand no chance without the serum, but by combining it with the moonstone, we may fight to see another day! So I will ask you again. How many?!”

“- A hundred vials or so..” I finally gave up the information he required. A threatened man is a dangerous man, that I know for sure. Maybe if Jacob feels like he has not been put in the corner, he will react more logically, and today’s battle will be avoided.

“- Thank you. Now go bring the blood princess to the borders!”