FATED TO ALPHA HUNTER BY VENNEH LISAH

𝐀𝐍𝐈𝐀'𝐒 𝐏𝐎𝐕:

As I rolled onto my back, my body ached, and my memory was hazy. I was a little confused because I thought I was in heat, but I felt perfectly fine now, and there were no signs of a fever. However, as I looked around the room, I realized that the bed was empty, which made me get up.

I walked to the closet, picked out some clothes - a pair of jeans and a blue shirt, as the options were limited due to me shredding clothes all the time. Most of the clothes belonged to Arman, but I knew he kept clothes in his office, and he was diligent in buying both our clothes. The thought made me chuckle, knowing he was keeping clothes there for safekeeping, away from my claws. His clothes weren't safe here, especially with me nesting on and off. It was such a bizarre thing to do.

As I meandered around the room, trying to wake up before hunting down Arman, I noticed my tablet. Picking it up, I glanced at the time before seeing Arman's phone on the bedside table. My brows furrowed in confusion. Wasn't Rina supposed to call back last night, or was it still the same day? My sense of time had been blurring. My days and nights had merged into one never-ending cycle, and losing track of time had become a regular occurrence.

I picked up his phone, unlocked it, but found no notifications or messages on it, and I couldn't read Spanish anyway without typing them into my tablet. I tossed the phone on the bed and headed for the bathroom with a shake of my head. I showered quickly, eager to see Arman and convince him to take me to visit Rina.

After showering, I towel dried my hair, not wanting to use the hairdryer because my hearing was super sensitive right now; I could even hear the flickering buzz of the lights and the rustling of the crickets as the breeze moved through them. Everything was heightened, more so than usual.

I slipped on some flats, opened the door, and stepped into the corridor to see Desmond yawning and leaning against the wall.

"You look tired," I chuckled. His eyes flew open, and he straightened up. "Morning, my Que...," he started. I raised an eyebrow at him.

"Ania," he corrected himself. It was silly. He tried to be so formal when he literally followed me around like a shadow, so him calling me that irked me. I liked to think of him as a friend, not just there out of duty.

"Do you know where the King is?" I asked him, and he yawned again.

"I will take her," Travis said, and Desmond looked at him. I hadn't even noticed him standing there.

"Why are you up here?" Desmond questioned. "You're not on guard today," he said.

"Dwight said I should relieve you. I'm fine working. You've covered my shift three times now," Travis said with a shrug, and I looked at Desmond. Had Desmond worked three shifts straight? That was like thirty-six hours.

Desmond shook his head and waved Travis off. "I'm fine. You can go," he told him, waving his hand.

"No, you should rest," I suggested, feeling sorry for him as I took in his tired appearance.

"I'm fine, Ania. The King is in his office. However, I wouldn't advise going down there; he's in a bad mood," Desmond warned me. But then again, when wasn't he in a bad mood? I thought to myself. Maybe it was just his personality.

"Did you say Dwight is back?" I asked Travis, who nodded. "We arrived together, my queen. We are rested and ready for any task."

"Go rest. Travis, you can lead me to see the King," I told Desmond, squeezing his arm as I walked past him. But as I moved towards Travis, Desmond gripped my arm, and I gave him a perplexed look. He sighed and said, "It's fine. I'll take you. Travis, you're dismissed. You're not needed here."

"But..." Travis protested.

"I am her personal guard, and I've dismissed you. Now, go!" Desmond snapped, cutting him off. Travis grumbled and shook his head. "I was just trying to help, geez," he muttered before storming off.

As I turned my attention back to Desmond, I saw him glaring after Travis. "Hey, what's gotten into you?" I asked him. He shook his head and draped his arm over my shoulders, pulling me closer.

"Something seems off about him. I haven't liked him since he arrived here four years ago; I'm not sure why, but he rubs me the wrong way. However, he took a bullet for the King before he was employed, earning a spot on the royal guard. Then, Dwight put him on personal guard duties alongside me. He is trusted, but I don't trust him. A few things don't add up for me," Desmond said, and my brows furrowed in concern.

Travis seemed harmless, although he had been rude to me when the King cast me away. But that was just him reacting to orders. Other than that, he hadn't given me any reason to worry. However, since I trusted Desmond, it made my spine tingle when he said he didn't trust Travis.

"What do you mean?" I asked him.

"I don't know. Something about how he ended up here doesn't seem right to me," he replied.

"So, where was he before?" I inquired.

"From the Devonshire Kingdom, your kingdom, my queen, about 20% of the pack members here were originally your family's guards or those from your kingdom who survived the massacre. After your parents were killed, King Arman's pack was the only remaining vae-wolf pack. For safety, vae-wolves stick together. We are a dying species, so the King took them in. My Queen, those people are your people," Desmond said, nudging me with his elbow before yawning again.

I asked if any people had survived, as I had assumed that everyone had been killed by Richie and the town was a ghost town. Desmond's explanation that there were survivors made sense to me.

"How about we stay in the room for a bit? You can sleep, since you don't want anyone else as my guard," I told him.

"I am fine; I can take you," Desmond assured me, but I gripped his arm and pulled him back toward the room.

"Sleep on the bed if you want. I promise I will remain here," I told him. Desmond shook his head and followed me toward the couch. I took out my tablet and opened a book before deciding to do something educational. Desmond stood there watching me, and I raised an eyebrow at him, wondering what he was thinking.

"You're supposed to be sleeping," I told him, patting the couch. He pursed his lips.

"Don't make me try to order you. It will probably just embarrass me when I can't," I chuckled. His lips tugged in the corners, but he reluctantly sat and I threw the blanket over him.

"Now, sleep," I told him.

"Yes, boss," he laughed, closing his eyes. It didn't take long before he fell asleep. After an hour, he fell sideways into me, his head resting in my lap while I tried to work out how to type the strange letter in the book. It had a dash above it, but I couldn't figure it out on the tablet. Giving up, I moved on to the next sentence when Gary came in. I held a finger to my lips and pointed to Desmond asleep.

"He should be on guard," Gary growled, and I growled back at him.

"He's been rostered for thirty-six hours," I snapped at him, and he seemed taken aback.

"No, Travis is his shift reliever," Gary said, looking at Desmond.

"Travis was here earlier. Desmond didn't trust him and sent him off," I explained. Gary seemed confused but sighed.

"Fine, I will speak with Desmond when he wakes up. I brought your lunch up," Gary said, passing me a plate. I placed my plate on the arm of the armchair.

"How is The King?" I asked.

"In a foul mood," Gary said. He straightened his black shirt, which had bread crumbs on it from the sandwich he had made me.

"Can you take me to see..." I started. Gary held up a hand, cutting me off.

"I know what you're going to ask. The answer is no. I have to go with the King to check out something. We will be gone for a few hours," he said.

I huffed, annoyed. "But The King promised to take me over the weekend," I said.

"You're right, Ania. The King promised to take you over the weekend. Just be patient," Gary reassured me.

"I can't be patient when I know she is in trouble," I said.

"The King said she was fine," he said.

"Rina was acting up!" I growled, becoming angry. Why won't they believe me?

"My Queen, I don't know what else to say. The King..." his voice trailed off.

"Yeah, what did the King say?" I growled, glaring at the plate.

"He has his reasons," Gary defended him, and I growled. If he had reasons, why didn't he just tell me? All I wanted was to see her, and if she was fine, I would apologize for wasting his time. But until then, I would keep pestering him because I knew I was right!

I placed my plate on the coffee table and carefully slipped out from under Desmond's head.

"Ania?" Gary called out.

"No, he won't take me. Fine! But there are plenty of others here who can," I told him before stomping off out of the room. Excuses were always an excuse.

Gary chased after me as I stalked down to the office, telling me I should leave him be, that he was in a foul mood. I rolled my eyes and pulled my arm from his grip when he tried to stop me from going into the office.

I pushed the door open and stepped inside to find Arman standing by the window with whiskey in his hand. He looked at me and smiled, his eyes wandering over my shoulder as Gary followed behind me, appearing somewhat flustered.

"Is everything okay?" Arman asked.

"Yes, I was trying to take Ania back to her room," Gary said, grabbing my arm. Arman snarled ferociously, causing Gary to release his grip. The king shook his head and his eyes flickered. I wondered what was wrong with him.

"Can I speak to you, please?" I asked Arman, who was still glaring at Gary. Arman turned his attention to me and waved me over, dismissing Gary. He glared at the door as it closed and I approached him.

Arman sat heavily in the armchair, his whiskey sloshing over the sides of his glass. I took the glass from him and placed it on the lamp table beside him just as Arman grabbed me, pulling me onto his lap. He buried his face in my neck and started purring, tugging at my shirt.

"Stop. I need to talk to you," I told him, pushing off his chest. He growled, ignoring me, fondling my breast and nipping at my shoulder through my shirt. His skin felt scorching.

"Are you alright?" I asked him, but he growled again, tugging at my clothes, attempting to undress me. With a sigh, I spoke anyway.

"Gary said that you were leaving for a few hours. Could you please arrange for one of your other guards to take me to see Rina, or perhaps Desmond could take me?" I asked, gently pushing his face away as he buried it in my neck.

"I'll take you on the weekend," he mumbled, licking my neck and pawing at me with rough hands.

"Arman, please stop. We'll go straight there and back, and it won't take long," I pleaded.

"No, it's too far to go alone.... on the weekend. End of discussion," he snapped at me, his grip tightening as he tugged me around.

"Then could Travis come along?" I suggested.

"I said no!" he snarled, his eyes flashing dangerously.

"I wanted to let you know that Rina didn't call last night," I informed him.

"She was probably busy," he answered shortly, and I rolled my eyes. I stormed off toward the door. "Fine, I'll go myself," I challenged him.

"My queen?" he questioned, daring me to repeat what I just said.

"If you won't take me, I'll go myself," I reiterated, walking toward the door. I had barely gripped the door handle when I heard the sound of snapping bones, and his hand fell on the door beside my head. The growl that ripped out of him made me spin around to face him.