BONDS OF HEARTS

CHAPTER 3

“Oh! Thank goodness you're awake,” I heard Sarah's voice say. Immediately, I woke up from the ground I was on.

“What happened?” I asked, looking all around. I was still on the stairs where I had fainted earlier. I wonder who that person is, and now I can't seem to forget the voice quickly, which has triggered my curiosity to want to know who the person actually is.

“First it was in front of our house? And, now here again?” I muttered.

“What are you saying, girl? I should ask you what happened! Are you fine? I met you lying here when I started looking for you because I couldn't find you out there anymore,” she said, rushing her words while she held my shoulders.

“I'm fine, Sarah. I think I got frightened by a big spider that I saw here and fainted in fear,” I said, hoping she believed me.

“By the way, did you see anyone here while you walked in?” I asked. “What do you mean? Was there someone in here?” She said, looking around .“Oh! Nothing to worry about. I just thought people must have noticed our absence and started looking for us,” I replied.

“How long have we been away?” I asked, hoping the Alpha hadn't arrived yet. “Not long, dust your clothes and let's hurry back to meet the people,” Sarah said.

*BACK IN GATHERING.

Immediately we got to the gathering, we met some people murmuring some words to each other, and we wondered what happened. “I heard he's a devil himself,” a man said to his brother almost in a whisper. “What do you mean he's the devil? He's just cold-hearted and has a very dangerous aura,” another man said in a low voice.

Bet they are all scared of being heard. But why'd anyone speak ill of the Alpha in his palace? They sure have enough heads to spare. “Silence!” I heard a guard growl and I saw everyone bowing on their knees.

I immediately went on my knees too, and it took me a while to realize what was happening. The Alpha, the king of the Arthdal pack, is at the gathering. While bowing down, my curiosity to see and know what exactly he looked like made me stretch my neck so much to get a glimpse of him only to find out that he had a mask on.

“Is he scared of showing his face to others?” I whispered silently to Sarah. “I heard he's always had the mask on since little. Heard no one has seen his face except his family and his guard, the Beta,” Sarah replied, whispering back while holding my hand.

“Aria! You shouldn't be peeping at him. You don't want to get caught,” Sarah added while still bowing her head firmly.

“You know I sometimes think that you hear so many things from outside considering that we spend most of our time together, Sarah,” I said, still trying to get a full glimpse of the Alpha. But this time, I was welcomed by a sharp piercing gaze snapping towards me, his eyes blazing with a dangerous intensity that made my feet feel like sinking into the ground, his chiseled features radiating an aura of coldness. It was as though he had found out that I had been peeping at him all along. His eyes, a deep, piercing blue, boring holes into my very soul. And as much as I tried and wanted to look away, I couldn't. It was like a trap and I could swear I saw him smirk before signaling to his guard.

“What do you think you're doing, Aria?” Sarah asked me, almost like she was scolding me and that brought me back to reality.

“Uhm, nothing, I was just…”

“Lie low, girl. It's dangerous for you to get caught staring at the Alpha,” she said, and my heart skipped beats when I heard that.

“This is to announce to every member of the pack to stay safe in the Arthdal pack. This is coming as a warning because any member of the pack found lurking around alone in the pack without proper safety will have to face the consequences. The warriors are trying to ensure the rogues are cleared out to maximize safety and that is the best for us all for the meantime.” The Alpha’s voice spoke out loud enough for anyone in the gathering to hear.

“You should also be informed about the full moon gathering coming up in a week's time. We strongly believe that by then, the pack would have become much safer for every member of the Arthdal pack,” he added, rising to his feet.

“And, with that, everyone can disperse!” The guard said out loud, also following the King immediately.

“Phew! That was close,” I said, standing up from my knees with everyone rising up also. “Your audacity amazes me, girl! Why were you looking up to the Alpha?!” Sarah said, holding my hands as we moved away from where we were.

“Can we not talk about that? I badly cannot wait for the full moon gathering. Are you not excited? Who knows, you might get to meet your mate also,” I replied, squealing excitedly.

“Yes! I'm excited. Mom said there's a high chance for someone to meet their mate at the full moon gathering,” she replied as we walked closer to the entrance of the palace. Suddenly, I felt all eyes on us as we walked. I bet Sarah had also noticed that too, since she had stopped in her tracks already. I wondered what was going on. And, as we raised our heads up to figure out what was happening, we saw about three guards walking towards us.

My heartbeat became abnormal as I watched each of their steps advance towards us, and they made a stop in our front.

“The king sent for you, ma'am,” one of them said, and I could have sworn I heard wrongly. Firstly, the king sent for me? Oh! God, I'm in big trouble. And, secondly, they used ma’am to address me. As much as it was normal to address a lady, my fear was heightened by hearing it.

Sweat from nowhere started gathering on my face and I couldn't believe this was happening right now. “Why? Why will the king send for me?” I asked, hoping there would be an answer.

“We do not know. You can only find out yourself, ma'am,” another guard replied, and my eyes went straight to look at Sarah, but I guess she was more confused than I am. “I'll quickly go and be back,” I said, hoping she was reassured that I'd be fine.

“Let's go,” I said, leading the way like I knew what I was doing.

Soon, we arrived at the inner part of the palace and if it wasn't that I was thinking of why the king sent for me, I'd have been left to admire the beauty and the glorious radiance of the palace. With most of the things covered in gold, I concluded it to be the most beautiful thing I've seen.

“You can go in, ma'am. The king is in there,” the guard that led me in said, and left his way.

My hands shivered at the opening of the door and I wished that the ground would just open and swallow me as I opened the door and took a step into the room.

My eyes widened at the sight of the room. My mouth went open in admiration of the beauty of the room. Not a lie, but this is a hundred times bigger than mine, I thought.

“For an Omega, I think you have quite a lot of audacity,” a voice said, jolting me out of my thoughts. “I'm sorry my king,” I said, bowing my head.

“Sorry? Tch! You should be punished for what you did earlier, young lady!” He said, and hearing the word ‘young Lady’ made me shiver.

“Or, would you prefer to be called little wolf?” he said with a broad smirk on his face which I pictured he had on from the corner of his lips since he still had a mask on.

“How would you like your punishment, little wolf?” He asked and sweat trickled down my face as I wished I could disappear at that moment.

TBC…