The Alpha King's Mate

Francis Trees whizzed by the window as we zoomed down the road, I barely got a glimpse at them before they were gone. I was a few hours away from the Dead Moon pack. I'd been given this duty from my father, the current reigning king. The Dead Moon pack had reached out to my father for help. My eyes strayed to the file folder my father gave me. I'd gone over them a number of times in the last few hours, taking mental notes of things that stood out to me. I'd even gone over the pages of each pack member. "Sir," Herald, my driver, calls. His voice breaks me from my thoughts and I look up at him. "We're here, sir." He says as he points to the house behind his head. "Thanks Herald." I say as I step out of the car. Alpha Trevor is waiting for me. Next to him is his mate and standing in front of them are his eight children. Straightening out my suit jacket, I began to head in their direction. The girls look like they've dressed up for the occasion. I raise an eyebrow at their short, exposing dresses and stilettos. The boys were dressed in shorts and t-shirts. The Alpha and Luna wore something similar to that of their children. They failed at formal greeting before any words were even uttered. The girls, at first, were shocked to see me but then went on to twist their hair and attempt to flirt with me. But I only had eyes for my mate. Wherever she may be. I come to a stop in front of them and the Alpha steps forward, pushing his children aside to get to me. "It's an honour to have such an extinguished guest, like yourself, on our territory, sir." He said as he bowed before me. He failed to mention his name, not that I needed it. "Likewise. You must be Alpha Trevor." I say, the man before me nods and turns to his mate and children. "This is my mate Bianca, our daughters: Britney, Barbara, Stephanie and Tracey, and our sons: Marco, Pablo, Cecil, Morgan and Fredrick." He says as he points to each of his children. The girls are still trying to catch my attention and ultimately failing at the same time. "A pleasure to meet you." I say then turn back to the Alpha. "This is my driver, Herald." I say as I introduce my loyal friend. "Nice to meet you." Herald says, not bothering to shake their hands. "The same to you, Herald." Trevor says. His eyes focus on me again. "Holly will show you to your rooms, then after we can get down to business." He says. We head inside the pack house and almost immediately burst into laughter. The walls look like a unicorn had thrown up on them and the chandeliers were half hanging off the ceiling. They looked like an accident waiting to happen. "Holly!" Trevor yells, his voice echoes through the house and a few moments later I hear footsteps. The sweet scent of cherry blossoms and peaches fills my nose. My wolf stands up on his hind legs, puffs out his chest and howls in delight. He preens and yips in excitement. Mate. He shouts at me. My eyes widen a fraction as I take in the single word he shouts at me. We finally found our mate! A girl with obsidian black hair hurries into the room. She doesn't look up but I take her appearance in anyway. Her hair is unbrushed, her clothes are stained and have seen better days and she doesn't have any shoes on. Her hands and feet have cuts and bruises on them. Her arms and legs are super skinny, like she's being starved. She looked like a skeleton with skin stretched over it. My wolf rages at the sight of them. They hurt our mate! "Yes Alpha." She says, her voice is light and airy, like a song that sings to my heart. "Show our guests to their room." Trevor says, he points to the stairs and our mate nods. "Please follow me sir." She says as she hurries to the stairs. Herald and I follow after her. She takes us up to the top floor, which I'm assuming is the Alpha's floor. She shows Herald to his room before she takes me to the opposite end of the floor. "Um, the bathroom is there," she begins, pointing to a door to our left. "And the closet is there." She says, pointing the door beside it. "Is there anything else I can do for you sir?" She asks as backs away to the door. It's then that I notice that she talks, she whispers. "No, thank you." I say. I really wanna take her in my arms and breathe in her scent but the way she cowers away and fliches tells me that she's waiting for me to do something. "Dinner's at seven in the dining hall." She says as she shuts the door. Alone in my room, I sit on and the bed. Our mate was scared of us. My wolf tells me. His sad keening breaks my heart. I know. I say through our mental link. She acted as if she's been beaten all her life. Thinking back to a few minutes ago, I made a mental check list. The first thing is to gain her trust. Then I'm going to get her out of here and look after her. I'll give her anything she wants, food, clothes, a place to call home, protection and all the love in the world. In the back of my mind, my wolf agrees with me. ********** After I'd made my list, I'd taken a shower and headed to the dining hall for dinner. Herald met me on the way there and I'd explained to him that Holly is my mate. He was surprised at first but then patted me on the back and told me that he was happy for me. Now, as I sit here waiting for dinner, I take in the room. Only the Alpha, Luna, their kids, Herald and myself were seated at the table. Holly hurried around the table as carefully as she could, placing plates of steaming food in front of us before she went about filling out glasses with drinks. My anger grew when I realised that she had chains around her ankles. They're treating our mate like a slave! My wolf roars in pure rage. I fight for control over him, my eyes flash a vibrant blue before they're come back to being ocean blue. I'll be sorting this out as soon as possible. And if I have to, I'll bring my parents into this. "Dad, my steak is cold!" Tracy whines, her father's eyes narrow. "Holly!" He snaps, my mate hurries to his side. "What have I told you about serving us cold food?!" He shouts at her. Herald and I glance at each other. I can tell that he's fighting for control over his wolf just like I am. "S-sorry a-alpha." She stutters. Her apology isn't enough for the raging Alpha who stands to his feet. He grabs our mate by the throat, his grip cutting off her air supply, making it hard for her to breathe and then he throws her across the room. My wolf surges forward, I shove him back and stand up. I slam my hands onto the table, making everyone but Herald jump. "Enough!" I roar in anger, my voice mixes with my wolf, making me sound vicious. But I don't care. He hurt my mate! "Touch her and I'll slit your throat with this butter knife." I say, picking up the blunt knife from the set of cutlery on the table. The Alpha's eyes widen at my threat. If he wanted to stay on my good side then he shouldn't have hurt my mate. I rush over to my mate to find that she's unconcious. I narrow my eyes at the fresh bruises and cuts, the burns and scars I couldn't see before are now visible to me. Have they been torturing her?