The Alpha King's Condemned Mate

Chapter Seven_Dreaded Words

"Mate"

The word kept echoing in Sonia's little mind as she quickened her steps on the large magnificent marble floor.

The last conversation with Deryk had left her thinking deep and having sleepless nights for days unending.

She is not fit to be called a mate for the alpha king, not to talk of a Luna. There's no place beside him for her, a damaged, condemned wolf. If only Deryk knew this.

No one spoke to her in the palace. Not even the other palace servants and maids. As for the other court ladies of the king, they avoided her like a plague.

Dominica had sounded a strict warning that whosoever wishes to live, stay clear of Sonia. She is an outcast.

Worst is, Sonia was obviously the king's special, so her enmity with the royal household was inevitable.

"Watch where you going, lazy eel" A servant bumped shoulders hard into Sonia's, sending her crashing on her butts. The tray, cups and its content spilling all over her.

"Oh no!" Sonia groaned inwardly, rummaging the mess on the floor with her eyes. She looked up in anger, but the servant was gone.

Sighing deeply, Sonia quickly gathered herself from the floor and rushed back to the Kitchen to make fresh black rose nectar for the king again.

He chose to be served the nectar by Sonia ever since she stepped into the palace. A task, which was formerly carried out by Liliana, king Deryk's first concubine.

Deryk had instructed that his nectar be brought to him twice every weak, exactly 9pm.

She glanced up at the large xenon clock. It read a quarter past nine. Sonia gasped.

Swiftly, she squeezed the petals and started preparing a fresh nectar for Deryk. After what seems like an hour, everything was set. In a jet speed-like, she headed for the king's chambers again, one foot bumping against the other as the hem of her long flared skirt occasionally tangled around her legs.

"That rascal, Rex, is on the loose. How am I supposed to handle the case when he is sending words to packs out there, fueling them to go against my reign?" Sonia recognized king Deryk's keen voice at once.

Since she needs to go in anyway, sticking around by the door, wouldn't be that wrong. She had never exactly been against eavesdropping before so what's the difference now?

She thought to herself as she creeped in closer to the door, pressing her ears against the wall. It's in times like this She wished she had a heightened sense like the others.

Aside preventing others from knowing this fact about herself, she had always struggled to forget this secret of hers.

"He is less likely to move those alphas against your superiority if there are two powerful figures. Two invincible leaders. You have found a mate, correct? And that is one most impossible thing they would never imagined" The composed tone sounded more like Neo's, king Deryk's Delta.

"I want Sonia" Deryk responded almost immediately, causing her to physically restrain the gag threatening to escape from her throat. At the mention of her name, she paled at once. "She is my forbidden fated mate and I'm tired of waiting for her to realized that and come to me herself"

"Then wait no longer, your majesty. Damn the oracle and that shallow prophy. Send the word out officially and fix a date for the grand mating procession, the earlier you begin your mate bond the stronger it gets and the better you become an unbreakable force. No one would want to get in your way"

"You little swine!"

A shrieking voice startled Sonia from behind. She hadn't noticed her approaching, until she was up close, her nose almost colliding with Sonia's. It was the shrewd Queen, Dominica, again.

Sonia almost rolled her eyes in exhaustion.

She was tired and sick of her, ranting and raving, every single day. It felt like Dominica always followed her around. She wondered if she had no job handling some of the pack's affair, as the queen.

"Good evening, Queen" Sonia courtsied quickly.

"Good for you, little wench. The evening is not good for me, seeing your face. Have you no work to do other than lazying around with a tray in your hands while eavesdropping on the King?" She asked with searching eyes, her voice louder than necessary, in an attempt to alert Deryk of their presence.

Before Sonia had a chance to speak for herself, Dominica dragged her by the ears "You will be punished so much that you finally get to know your place in this palace, you measly nobody!"

Once again, the nectar and jar came crashing from Sonia's hand.

"What's going on here?" It was Neo, slightly opening the door of the chambers.

Dominica stepped forward "I wish to speak with Deryk about this lowlife, dirty little..." she paused thoughtfully then added "..thing here".

Neo stiffened. He knew that Deryk wouldn't stand hearing anyone curse Sonia in that manner. Dominica had just messed with a fiery flame.

All the while, Deryk had been aware of Sonia's presence by the door. He caught her whiff even right before she came. And he was the one who signaled Neo to go check what was going on outside his chamber, when the noise reached his ears.

Without warning, Deryk appeared behind his Delta, Neo. He quickly darted aside to pave way for Alpha King Deryk. His eyes depicting the depth of a fiery pit.

"Why do you wish to see me, Mother?" Deryk rumbled in a baritone that sent icy chill over the trio's skin. His emphasis on "Mother" made the word a noticeable facade.

Dominica gulped, then spoke, struggling to hide the tremble in her voice.

Alpha King Deryk, the one true king who built the path to his ascension with the blood of hundreds of his enemies, including his stepbrothers.

If anything, Dominica feared the fact that the maniac King would not even hesitate to send her only son's head flying, if she openly try to get in his way, just like he did to the three sons of her rivals who were all concubines of the late King, Simon Evanders.

Deryk's mother, Lissa, was the only true queen and Luna before her untimely demise.

"This little wench here has been eavesdropping on you, she deserved to be punished, Deryk"

"If I may, your majesty, I was only on my way to serve your nectar" Sonia subtly defended herself.

"Liar!" She snapped, describing how she had been waiting when she first saw Sonia coming near Deryk's door.

"Enough!" Deryk boomed. Clearly enraged by the scene as well as the sight of his long awaited nectar, covering the floor.

The silence that followed was deafening. It stretched uncomfortably, sending ripples of fear through all of them.

"One thing is certain, I have been expecting my nectar for eternity, but you made a mess of it. I strictly advise that you mind your business now before I loose it" Deryk snarled.

It was obvious he wanted Dominica to go her way and let Sonia be.

A huge relief enveloped Sonia, hearing those words.

Upsetting Deryk was the last thing she wanted to to do. Even though what she heard him discuss with Neo a while ago was deeply confusing, she still wanted to please the king no matter what.

As if flooring Martha before Sonia and Neo was not humiliating enough, Deryk went to Sonia and held by the hands.

Even Deryk could hear the loud thumping of her heart against her chest now.

"From now going forward, she stays in the chamber of the future Luna, right across mine. I hereby declare her immuned to every punishment from your likes, within and outside the palace"

The speechless Dominica's jaw dropped at Deryk's statement, her eyes opened widely in shock like they would pop out of their sockets any moment.

Deryk had never defended any of his concubines the way he did Sonia. The reality of the situation began to dawn on Dominica who was still frozen at the spot, with her mouth agaped.

Confused and overwhelmed, Sonia feared this would lead to a huge family feud because of her, and she felt a strong sense of duty to stop it before it even started.

"I shall remain loyal to your majesty so long as I breathe, but your majesty should not mistake that for something else" Sonia paused, her heart threatening to explode in her rib cage. She was unsure of how to drive home her point.

Without further thinking, and before she had the chance to stop herself, she blurted out the words that even the most powerful wolf in all of FurLand dreaded to hear.