The Twin Alphas Are My Ex-Mates

CHAPTER 4

All through the journey to Onyx city, I kept my mind braced up. I learnt the guards are usually intimidating, but none of that matters when you talk to them with confidence.

There are only two ways to enter into Onyx city — the city gate or the artillery bridge where there's constant battle between the lycan king's soldiers and the original occupants of the land who refused to submit to him.

With the endless battle going on at the artillery bridge, Onyx city employs cleaners to get rid of the corpses left after each battle. Usually, it's done on Wednesdays and Fridays.

We stop our car at a riverside and push it into the river with every other belonging we had, then we went ahead with our orange suits on.

We joined several other cleaners and began the task of heaping corpses to the incinerator and setting them on fire.

I still wonder why even kids are included in this nasty job.

By 4pm, we have thoroughly discarded all the corpses and washed our equipment at the riverside.

It's time to head into the city as cleaners running from their day job.

At the checkpoint, each cleaning squad is confirmed and thoroughly searched before they are allowed inside the city.

Becca's husband knows how everything here goes. He has already told me all the lies I have to tell the soldiers at the checkpoint.

After answering the fake names and codes, which belong to people in the city who have moved from the cleaning job to better ones, the gate is raised for us to head.

As we walk in, I sight a blonde-haired man, tall, handsome and glorious as his hair waves about in the wind. He's surrounded by six men, all dressed in black, except who wears a grey trouser and a white shirt.

But the admiration I have for him suddenly disappears and a feeling of dread rumbles in my stomach in place of it.

His eyes are cold, sending waves of dread through anyone he looks at.

I'm so engulfed by my fear that I don't hear what Bella's husband is whispering to me from behind.

“Stop right there!” The blonde handsome creature's voice pins my feet right after we've crossed paths.

I don't need someone else to tell me that he's talking about me.

“Have you forgotten to greet this morning?” He sneers at me.

I know better than to respond to do anything that will bring unnecessary attention to me, so I choose my acts carefully.

“I'm sorry.” I bow quickly.

He closes the distance between us with long strides, eyes sharp as a hawk's.

He leans in, his tall figure cascading over my petite frame.

“You're sorry who?” His breath grazes over my face.

My heart thuds with fear. I don't know who he is and how he is addressed. Saying the wrong word would definitely not end up nice.

My eyes dart to the side where Becca and the rest are. Anxiety is all over their body.

Becca's words come flashing back in my head. We're all going to die here if I screw up.

“Five seconds and you haven't said a word. That speaks volumes. Bring the citizen data log, I'd like to check her identity.”

His fierce eyes turn to Becca and the rest. “Same goes for all of you.”

My heart throbs faster. We're going to die. What should I do? What can I do to save them? Even if I can just save the innocent kids.

A soldier suddenly walks up to him and whispers into his ears.

His eyes return to me in a flash. “Bless the moon goddess! You've been here all this time and I never figured it out. I thought you ran away from Onyx.”

My nerves itch with confusion. What is he talking about?

He cups my cheeks, his eyes wide with happiness. “Last three months have been hell for me, thinking about how the woman I got pregnant chose to run away in fear of me killing her.”

“I– I…”

An alarm suddenly goes off and all the soldiers begin to rush to their weapons.

“The bandits have gathered to strike again, my lord!” A soldier yells. “What is your order?”

His blonde eyebrows pull together.

“I'll make every last one of them regret stepping their foot here today,” he says. “But before that…”

“Someone should take my mistress to somewhere safe.”

The soldier who whispered to the blonde handsome man grabs my arm and drags me away. That's the last time I set my eyes on Becca and the rest.

I can't help but feel relieved that they're safe now. But on my own end, I have no idea of what fate lies ahead of me.

I have to find a way to survive with this mistaken identity.

The soldier drags me to a car and zooms off into the city as the engine starts.

“I'm Pac,” the soldier suddenly says, stretching out a hand for a shake.

I merely stare at him, my tongue tied with disbelief.

He gives me a casual polite not. “It's okay. I saved your life purposely.”

“Why?” I mutter.

“It’s because I noticed that you're pregnant. If you've fought this much to give this child a good life, then it really deserves a chance at life,” he says.

I touch my stomach, my gaze falling low. Even though my baby bump hasn't shown up, this man was able to tell that I'm pregnant.

“Thank you so much,” I mutter.

“Don't thank me yet. Before King Tristan returns, there's something you must do,” says the soldiers.

My mouth is left open with questions I want to ask. But I want to hear him out before asking anything.

“I'll give you some information I have about the servant you're going to take her place. Her name is Iris Iverson. From today, you're Iris.”

“You slept with King Tristan on the night of his 45th birthday, and when you found out that you're pregnant for him, you ran away from the king's mansion.”

Chapter 5

Four years later…

“Join me on a morning stroll, my favorite mistress,” Tristan whispers in my ear as he lays next to me on the bed.

I turn around and my eyes meet his ever-young face.

Blonde hair, smooth and drooping to his shoulders, hs masculine beauty stole some aesthetic from the feminine side.

Anyone who saw him would think he was still in his late twenties. Perks of being born a Lycan.

“I'm still exhausted, my lord,” I mutter.

“Tristan,” he corrects me, his rich blonde brows twisting with a frown.

“My apologies,” I whisper with a smile.

His arm slithers behind my waist and he pulls me close to his body.

“I like it when you call me by my name,” be points out. “You're the only one who earned that privilege.”

“Really?” I say softly, gazing at him with interest in my eyes.

He nods.

“For several years, I waited and none of these other women was able to bear me an heir. Twenty-five daughters are now in my custody from continuously trying to have a son with them. I almost believed that my curse was irrevocable,” he narrates.

I smile and pull him into a kiss. “Here we are today, darling.”

He glances at his wristwatch and the corners of his lips curve down.

“I think I have a board meeting by 10am,” he mutters.

He places a kiss on my cheek before climbing down the bed.

“Look after my son and take good care of yourself. Keep him away from his sisters.”

Of course, I know I should do that. From the day he made me his mistress, the older mistresses have all envied me right until I gave birth. Then it became worse.

I'm pretty sure that envy has spread its roots into the daughters as well, since none of them gets to spend much time with their father like my son.

Moreover, he doesn't recognise all of them.

I leave the room some minutes later to meet Frederick, my son, and his nanny.

“Good morning, mummy!” He quickly senses my presence even though he's still many years away from awakening his wolf.

That's a big reason King Tristan is convinced that Frederick is his blood. The child is extremely smart and is naturally blessed with keen senses.

He's already doing great in soccer classes, but King Tristan wants him to become a powerful business man like himself.

Frederick drops what he's doing and rushes up to me.

“How are you, baby?” I ask him as I wrap my arms around him.

“I'm fine, mummy,” he says cheerfully, his voice ever light and energetic.

“Where's daddy?” He asks.

“Daddy is getting ready for a board meeting this morning,” I tell him.

His brows wriggle with confusion. “What's a board meeting?”

I smile and lean closer. “It's a meeting he has with his closest business partners.”

“Are they rich like daddy?” Frederick asks.

“Oh baby. No one knows,” I chuckle. Bringing my mouth close to his ears, I whisper, “No one even knows how rich daddy is.”

His eyes widen with surprise and I smile.

“Keep that a secret,” I say to him.

King Tristan returns from his office in the evening and I hurry to his room to meet him.

“How did it go?” I ask.

“Excellent,” he says as he stretches his hands wide for me to remove his coat.

Putting the coat aside, I start to undo the buttons on his shirt.

“You said you had something to discuss with me before I left for work,” he reminds me.

“Yes, darling,” I respond.

“Speak then.”

“It's about staying in the house all day and doing nothing,” I say. I can't help a sad expression that takes over my face.

“Freddie is all grown now and can start going to school,” I say. “Meanwhile, I'd love to have something doing. Any business at all to keep myself accountable.”

He draws in a long breath and lets it out sharply.

“I know of all of that,” he says to me. “But I have bigger plans for you than just opening a business.”

“And as for Freddie's school. For the first year, I've decided he'll be homeschooling,” King Tristan says.

I don't dare question his decision. As long as I don't find it harmful to my child's growth, it's fine by me.

“Okay,” I say.

“Good. I'm hosting the annual Onyx city conference this weekend. It has to be splendid because I haven't hosted any in the last fifteen years,” he reveals.

I'm aware of that. The servants say he stopped hosting it the moment his first mistress gave birth to a female child.

By weekend, the Onyx city conference kicks off. Alphas gather from their different regions to witness the revival of the long abandoned culture.

King Tristan plans to introduce his son tonight, but not the woman who gave birth to him.

I'm in no position to ask him why, so I do what he advises me to do tonight. I sit back in my room.

Hopefully, the other mistresses are doing the same.

The conference drags on till dusk and then a party follows.

With the music blowing from the event hall, an urge to attend it hooks me.

I decide to take the bold step of leaving my room and going to the event hall to watch from the windows.

As I stroll along the corridor, I can't help but wonder why he wants to keep his mistresses hidden from his guests. Does it have anything to do with his curses?

From the stories I heard about him when I went into the city, three curses were laid on him by the moon goddess.

The first is that he won't be able to find a mate.

The second is that he won't be able to have a male child.

And the third is that he will die before fifty.

But he did a ritual fifteen years ago to revoke the curses.

I get to the hall and I'm surprised to see some of the other mistresses doing the exact same thing I came here to do.

From the window, I decide to look for my son. A dance session is about to start and I need to be sure that his nanny is close to him and he's somewhere within sight.

His green eyes are so easy to spot, so I trail my eyes along the table where King Tristan is seated.

Boom. My eyes clash with that pair of green eyes right beside King Tristan. But they suddenly look darker than Freddie's.

I peer closer and my breath suddenly gets stuck in my lungs.

My eyes can't believe what they're seeing.

The green eyes beside Tristan are not Freddie's. Rather they belong to the father who abandoned him.

What is he doing here? What is Andrew Harden doing here tonight?