The Alpha King's Claim novel Chapter 67

The Alpha King’s Claim chapter 67 by desirenovel

Aero

I had no reason to see General Halcynos as someone I would get jealous of, so of course, I allowed Serena to dance with him. Honestly, out of all the men in this hall, he would be the only person I’d prefer Serena to dance with, but as far as trust goes, Elijah would be in the top rank, Halcynos would be second, and third would be my Beta and Alphas.

I watched when they danced in the center of the dance floor, but soon, my attention was diverted to my brother who decided to approach me. He stood on my left, holding a wine flute that was already half empty.

“You’re too stiff. Loosen up, brother. You’re the one who decided to throw a ball, so you should enjoy it,” he said before drinking the remaining contents of his flute.

I remained silent but took his advice into consideration. I admit I was feeling uneasy. Just seeing Serena surrounded by so many faces, so many males…it just didn’t sit well with me. And there was this issue of the murderer-arsonist. That entity could strike again and at this very party. The probability was high if it wanted to create chaos in my realm.

But then again, this was partly the reason why I allowed this ball in the first place. It was selfish of me, I know, putting my entire guests and the leaders in peril. However, I was confident with my people. Werewolves weren’t weaklings. They could protect themselves if needed. The leaders, they’d love some action too, so I wouldn’t worry about them.

Except for that vampire bastard.

Knowing Hale, he wouldn’t let this opportunity pass, invited or not. I was well aware he was attracted to Serena the very moment he first crashed in the castle a few days ago and that knowledge somehow got me all riled up now that I had allowed Serena in my life.

I already instructed my Security Team and my Alphas to be on high alert. Still, as the Alpha King, I couldn’t be lax.

“Tell me, is this all for Serena? Did you finally soften up to her?” Elijah asked.

Under the dim lighting and the spotlights swaying, I cracked a ghost of a grin. He was too preoccupied watching the dance floor to even notice.

“Hm, no comment huh,” he eventually complained. Snorting, he crossed his arms over his chest and gazed at me.

“Anyway, I’m happy for this ball. It had been such a long time since we had one.”

“It had been such a long time since this kingdom had a queen too,” I added, all the while looking at my wife and how her hips swayed. “It is only right to make some changes once in a while.”

“Hmf, you took the words right out of my mouth, brother,” he exclaimed, shifting his attention back to the celebration in front of us.

“How’s the investigation going? Had you talked to Farryl yet?” I asked, not able to control myself. I was too preoccupied with Serena and him with Rhea that we failed to bring this issue up again.

“Yes, I did,” he nodded. “She claims she noticed the entry of four individuals in our realm at that time when you left for Ehnrelil. Three of these individuals were witches just like what we already know. The fourth one however she couldn’t figure out who or what being. She said these witches were already dead when they all entered.”

I grimaced.

“The murderer planned to leave the bodies in our realm and make it so that it would look like they were killed by werewolves.”

“Yes, that seems to be the case,” he agreed.

“What else?”

“She says the murderer was a slippery one,” he continued. “The fire in Cirelles, Farryl regretted it happened.”

“She should be,” I grounded.

“Brother, don’t be too harsh on her,” Elijah looked at me again. “I too regretted it. If only we were vigilant enough, it wouldn’t have happened.”

“Too late to ponder on that now,” I remarked and stood up from my seat.

“Where are you going?” he quickly asked.

‘Seeking an audience with our witch guest,’ I told him through our mind-link.

Feeling pumped up now for an investigation of my own, I climbed down the stage and neared the first table on my right. This was occupied by the lord mage, his apprentice, Lady Yllana, and her companion.

“Your Majesty, glad that you could join us!” Lord Jacobi exclaimed, tossing his wine glass up in the air.

Even without nearing him, I knew already he was tipsy. The stench of alcohol was strong in his mouth.

“Are the food and drinks to your liking?” I asked, looking at him, then to Lady Yllana and the rest.

“Of course!” Lord Jacobi was the one who voiced out, smiling widely from ear to ear. “You’re a good host, King Aero. You throw one heck of a party.”

My mouth quirked up into a grin.

“Save the praises to my queen, Lord Jacobi. She’s the one who planned it all.”

“Then I salute her,” he made a gesture of respect towards Serena’s way who was still dancing with General Halcynos.

Seeing this, I knew she was in safe hands so I decided it was time to move on with my plan.

“Lady Yllana,” I muttered, tossing the elder witch a solemn stare. She wore a dark blue gown, sequined from the neckline to the hem that it hurt my eyes just watching; however, this wasn’t my concern. I had a pressing matter to attend to that I was willing to overlook such flashy gown.

Unfortunately, as Lady Yllana reported, I also couldn’t detail out the face or the gender of the murderer. It was blurry and my sure guess was, it was done intentionally. The murderer-arsonist wasn’t alone in this mission. It had help.

One thing they didn’t anticipate though was Serena witnessing its presence in the Baltic Forest and me, finding her and as a result, derailing their plans. They definitely didn’t count on me getting a good sniff of its smell.

It was just faint, but I was sure I could easily recognize it once I would come across that smell again. True enough, it was my first time smelling such stench, but the nearest smell I could liken to it was incense and soil.

“Transfer of memory complete,” I roused when Lady Yllana spoke above my head. Looking up, I saw her grin down at me and muttered, “Got what you need?”

I sat up whilst massaging my temple. Heck, this kind of spell-casting indeed packed an after-effect. My body and senses felt numb, and I couldn’t mind-link with Elijah who was staring at me with knotted brows.

“I understand now why you didn’t want to undergo this option, Elijah,” I muttered under my breath. “Hell, knowledge really demands a big price.”

“I told you so,” he stated, nearing me. “I prefer the old-fashioned way of getting answers, brother. Anyway, you’re the Alpha King. You’re built to withstand this spell’s complication, so I wouldn’t need to worry.”

“The recovery will depend on the person,” Lady Yllana informed. “With you, I bet it will only take minutes.”

“A minute and a half,” I corrected when I felt my strength and senses return to me in full force, and once it did, the first thing I sensed was Serena’s fear and anger combined. They were the two emotions I could easily define. The rest were dismissed.

“Fuck,” I cursed, tossed Elijah a look, and then disappeared in front of them.

‘Fucking hell…’ I thought out loud after seeing Hale’s unmistakable profile…

Fast forward to the present, my rage increased but it was also overlapped with jealousy. Serena was unharmed, but not untouched. Hale’s stench clinging to her shoulder, elbow, and neck where probably the contact was made raised my ire.

I wanted them completely erased so I did the next best thing I thought to do: kiss her and kiss her senseless, and touch every inch of her body, wiping out the vampire’s invisible crumbs on her.

Hell, I didn’t care if he and Elijah were watching. The latter would soon realize I had caved in to this woman while the former would see just how much of a fucking loser he was.

At one point, I drew out a moan from Serena when I cupped her breast. This was an enough show to really stamp a message in Hale’s head that was clear as crystal.

Abruptly, I stopped our kiss and looped a possessive arm around her, then faced the two who sported dumb faces…well at least on Elijah’s side. His jaw dropped, his eyes rounded like the full moon while sweat clung to his temple. As to Hale, his face surprisingly looked red for a vampire and his expression was that of utter disappointment.

‘Yes, that’s right. I had already claimed her and there’s nothing you can do about it.’ — That was the message in my eyes.

“She belongs to me,” for good measure, I said out loud, sending Hale a warning, then left their midst, disappearing with Serena in a snap and reappearing in the stage.