| CHAPTER 29 : POSITION, STANCE, FIGHT |

Something whacked my face making my eyes snap open.

I frowned in confusion, blinking a few times to clear my vision to see a pair of icy blue eyes glaring at me

King Alpha whacked my face with a pillow again.

"Stop," whack "Trying to," whack "Cuddle with me!" whack.

I rubbed my eyes then frowned at him, "What?"

He glared.

That's when I noticed the angry burned marks on his half-naked skin. They were many from his face to the bottom of his slim torso.

Did I do this?

"Yes," he replied making me realize I had spoken out loud, "you've been electrocuting my ass for the past two hours."

My cheeks turned red, "why would I do that?"

"I keep pushing you away, but you scoot closer every time!"

"It's not my fault that you're a heater in the cold of the night!"

He scoffed, "Heater? What the fuck? Just call me hot. Why the hell would you call me a fucking heater?"

I sat up, rubbing my eyes once again, "You should have gone to another room or slept on your desk you're so obsessed with if you have problems sleeping with me."

"Excuse you. This is my room."

"I don't think this is my time for arguments." I looked at the time to see it was 7, "It's too early for me to care. Good night." I said and let my body fall back onto the bed, closing my eyes.

"Oh no, you don't, princess."

He said before a pillow whacked my side. The force was so hard, that it sent me rolling off the bed. I landed with a thud on the ground.

"OW!"

"Get lost." He said, before pulling the duvet to his chin and lying back down.

I sprang up from the floor, scowling.

Without even thinking, I jumped on the bed, yanked the duvet down, and threw my body on him.

"What the fu-AHH! Get off!"

He tried pushing my body away as my hands latched around his neck with my legs wrapped around his torso. His skin felt smooth and hard under my skin, but I tried not to think of that right now.

He thrashed around on the bed with me clutching him even tighter as my hands threatened to let go.

Together, we rolled off the bed and toppled to the ground with King Alpha underneath me. The momentum was too much. My hands loosened. He found the opportunity, gripped my waist, and tossed me aside.

I slid a few tiles across the floor.

"Ow!"  

Before I could get up, the duvet was over my body and before I knew it King Alpha had me bagged with the ends of the duvet held together from the top and my body sprawled in a weird angle at the bottom.

"Hey!" I yelled.

"You're a rodent. A literal rodent."

"Get me out of this duvet trash bag-wait why is it moving? Why are we moving? Where are you taking me?" I yelled but we continued to move, with the duvet above the ground as King Alpha continued carrying me somewhere.

I punched and kicked around and even tried to thrust my hand through the top where all the ends of the duvet were held together, but his grip was damn strong.

A door opened and I couldn't see which.

"I hope you're not throwing me out like a trash bag," I said.

"I need a break from you." I heard him say before my body flung in the air for two seconds and collided with the hard ground. This time I was sandwiched between the softness of the duvet so I didn't get hurt.

I rolled and kicked around until the duvet was off me and sprang off the floor, hair sticking out everywhere like a madwoman.

King Alpha gave me a little smirk before the door went shut and locked.

My legs took off towards the door, hands banging on it, "Hey! Let me out of here!"

Where even is here?

I turned around, looking at a different bedroom with a cream interior. Cream bedsheets, cream wardrobe, cream dresser. Sunlight pooled through the huge window.

I turned back towards the door, "King Alpha!"

No response.

A growl left my lips, "he freaking locked me in here."

Before I could let myself burst like a volcano, I took in deep breaths, calming myself down.

"Okay, okay. Don't be too mad. You need to stay sane. Might as well sleep here only on this bed...which is cold...with no blanket and it's really quiet here. Maybe I'll start crying too."

Fuck, periods. 

I stopped myself from getting emotional and instead walked towards the dresser, looking at myself in the mirror. My black hair was a mess especially after being rubbed in the duvet, making my hair static and stand up. A strap of the silk camisole I wore hung off my shoulder and I pulled it back on.

Let's make myself presentable so that when I come to kill King Alpha, might as well look a bit hot.

I found a comb in the dresser and combed through my long strands of black hair and tied it in a ponytail with a rubber band I found in there too.

The entire room was silent with only the comb making soft noises as it went through my hair.

My head throbbed suddenly, and I doubled over, holding my head, comb falling from my hands. A ringing sound echoed in my ears, and I already knew what was going to happen next.

When I raised my head, the creamy room was replaced with an office. Ace's office. He sat behind his desk, with his hand over his chin, deep in thought. His deep green eyes were clouded, like he's dazing or something. He looked like a handsome thirty-year-old man but something about him didn't settle well since the first day I met him.

A phone rang and Ace's eyes snapped towards it on the table.

He cleared his throat and picked it up, putting it to his ear.

"Yes?"

Someone spoke from the other line, but I couldn't hear a thing.

"Yeah, I've met the girl...she seems naïve," Ace continued speaking, "I've told her to bring Queen Lucretia's crown in exchange for Collin," a smile came on Ace's face, "Collin will forgive me, no doubt about that...King Alpha?" Ace almost scoffed, "don't worry, he won't be much of a problem. I know how to handle him. Trust me, I've had a literal war with him. I know how to push his buttons...Ezlynn? Yeah, I've made sure to put the barrier on her...Katia's splendid too. Don't worry, I won't let anything harm your daughter."

The scene changed. The same ringing sound blasted in my ear making me wince and put my hands on my ears.

I came back to the creamy room, panting and drained. My chest heaved heavily.

Something dark flickered from the corner of my eye.

"Huh?"

I looked at the white wardrobe, my eyes scanning it. The silence in this room was sharp like a knife, I could hear my own heartbeat.

The same darkness flickered from the other corner of my eye, and I whirled around, looking around in the room.

"Is anyone here?" I called out, frowning, wiping a sheen of sweat from my forehead.    

Silence was my response.

I sighed and shook my head, "I'm gonna go crazy over here." I muttered.

Then walked towards the door, hoping to pull it open this time with my imagery super hulk strength. I grabbed onto the door handle, ready to pull it open but shrieked when cool wind blew at the back of my neck.

I whirled around but saw no one.

"Okay...what the hell," panic started gripping me, "can you werewolves turn invisible too?" I called out to I-don't-even-know-who, "because if you can then better stay away from me because I think I can electrocute your face even if it's invisible."

"Oh yeah?"

My blood ran ice cold with my body frozen. The room lay empty like it always was.

"Wh-who said that?"

The hair on my skin prickled up as I slowly backed away.

"Me, obviously." 

A masculine voice came from literally-nowhere-everywhere. My eyes followed the plain bedroom from one corner to another, but I couldn't see anyone. Not even a small talking mouse.

"Oh wow...genius," I said.

"Nice pyjamas by the way. I prefer shorts."

That was enough to have me twirling around and banging on the door, "King Alpha open this door right now! Alpha! Alpha?... I SWEAR, OPEN THIS DOOR OR I'LL FIND A WAY TO KILL YOU, IMMORTAL OR NOT, YOU KING-KING...KING JERK! OPEN THIS DOOR! I'LL HAVE YOUR HEAD ON A STAKE AND DANCE TO IT ON A BONFIRE!"

The lock clicked open. I gasped in relief and threw open the door, hurling myself out of the room and crashing into a body.

"Woa - AHH!" 

Levi abruptly pushed me off him and there went my body helplessly falling to the ground.

My eyes closed and I lay there, groaning in pain with my tailbone feeling like a rock or something. 

"Damn that silver barrier." Levi cursed.

I opened my eyes to see him standing over me. His long black hair fell over his narrow face as he stared down at me. He wore all black. Black leather jacket, black ripped jeans and a black tee. A belt hung around his slim figure carrying a whip, daggers and a long knife.

"I would give my hand, but you would fry it." He said.

"It's fine," I said, climbing back to my feet and rolling my shoulders, "I'm used to hugging the ground. It's kind of my thing."

"Oh, I thought it was being locked in a room and screaming death threats."

I glared, narrowing my eyes and crossing my arms across my chest.

"Just kidding?" He smiled. "Why were you locked in there, if I may ask?"

"Your King of Assholes locked me in there."

"Do I...even want to know why? Screw that, I don't."

"Thanks for letting me out, by the way."

"Sure thing but why were you screaming."

"There was this-" I stopped myself from saying 'strange talking'. I don't think I wanna explain any of that creepy thing in there or make him feel like I'm crazy, "-rat."

"A rat?" He raised an eyebrow.

"Yeah, small pesky brown - sometimes grey - little creatures."

He stared at me for a while.

Then shrugged, "Okay."

I let my arms uncross.

He gave me a last smile before turning around to walk away.

"Wait," I called out, not even sure why.

He turned towards me, "Hmm?"

"Can I come with you? Wherever you're going?"

He furrowed his eyebrows, "I'm going to the West wing."

"I'll come," I stated.

"You sure?" he raised an eyebrow, "I'm going to the training grounds. It's rough there."

"I don't care. I just don't wanna be near King Alpha or else I'll grab his face and grill it with my barrier. Since you have your super hearing thingies, you can tell me when he's coming."

"You know you can turn off that barrier, right?"

"What?"

"You can turn it off when you like," he said with a one-shoulder shrug, putting a hand in his jean pocket.

"How?"

"I don't know. Like a switch I guess. I think you have to wish for the barrier to turn off."

"Well, I'm keeping it on for now."

He shrugged, "Your wish. Come." He said and started walking.

I followed him, falling in step with his long strides. Levi was a tall and lean person. He moved silently like a shadow with so much stealth it made me feel like a stomping elephant beside him.

We walked through hallways after hallways until we reached a huge gate-type door. Soft noises of chatter, people laughing, grunting, and talking could be heard from the other side of the door.

Levi raised his hand to open the door but glanced at me from the corner of his black eyes and stopped.

"Oh wait. Here," he said then shrugged off his leather jacket, revealing toned tattooed arms, "you might need to wear this. We creatures are usually easily attracted to...stuff."

I frowned but didn't question him and took his jacket, shrugging it over my silk camisole.

The jacket smelled like soap and smoke. A small sigh of relief came out of my lips when it covered my bare arms, giving warmth to my body.

Levi opened the door, and the faint noise rose, hitting my ears. There was a small hallway that led to a big opening. My mouth almost fell open looking in front of me.

Where King Alpha's hallways are dead, silent and empty, here people-or werewolves-loitered around in huge groups. The big opening was a grand hall type place but instead of it looking like a ballroom on King Alpha's side, it looked like a children's playground.

Small children, seven or eight, played around, running to catch each other. The parents must be the ones resting on couches on the corner.

"Are all the world's werewolves here?" I asked Levi.

He shook his head, "No, these are wolves who couldn't find a place out to live. So they stay here. Or maybe they're here for vacations."

"You live here?"

"Mostly," he answered, "come." He said and led me through another hallway which led to even more sound.

But this time the sound was of loud colliding, thumping and breaking.

Levi pushed open another set of doors and this time, it led to an arena type of room. The ceilings were high with an open roof, letting sunlight pour onto a flat uneven ground. On the ground, two men, huge and bulky, were in hand-to-hand combat. The ground was marked with a ring and out of the ring were other numerous rough, fighter-looking men, cheering and whistling in on the fight.

"Come on," Levi nudged my side, leading me up to a set of bleachers.

"Who are they?" I asked as we climbed up the bleachers with a few men seated here and there.

"Royal warriors of Saludom," Levi replied, "they train here."

We both sat on an empty row, a few feet off the ground and away from the ongoing fight.

"Apparently, they should be more serious," Levi stated, looking at them with a distasteful look, "Be right back." He stood to his tall height, moving his head slightly so his long black hair moved to the side of his head, then descended down the steps and in between the men.

The wolves automatically moved out of Levi's way to let him pass through. They patted on his shoulder, exchanged a few words and laughed before Levi moved to stand in the center of the arena. 

"Warriors," Levi stretched out his toned arms, greeting them. He got responses from the men around him, "how much do we train every day?"

The men around him responded with 'five hours.'

"That's right. Now," Levi pulled out a pair of black bandages from his weapon belt pocket, proceeding to wrap them around his hands, "who's ready for a duel with me?"

My interest perked and I leaned in forward, peering at them.

Between all those heavy-muscled, bulky men, Levi looked small. But even then, there was some kind of sharpness about him, the way he held himself up with confidence, the way his hands looked swift and ready.

The men glanced at each other, amusement on their faces.

A few seconds passed before a man wearing a tank top and shorts stepped into the ring. My eyes partially widened as he stood a few feet away from Levi. He was...big. Like actually really big from height and size.

How the hell is Levi gonna fight him?

Levi smiled at the big guy, "Brad. Good to hear your parrot's still alive."

The men around snickered at the joke I didn't understand.

Brad grinned, "taking good care of him."

Levi gave a nod, his expressions turned serious all of a sudden, "Now, we fight fair, no weapons, no cheating," saying that he unstrapped his weapon belt, throwing it a few feet away.

Brad cracked his knuckles, "Yep."

"Position," Levi commanded, and they both got into positions, facing each other, "Stance," they took a foot back, raising their hands into fists. I watched in slight anticipation with the rest of the men looking amused.

Levi must have sensed my intense gaze because before he said the next word, his head turned slightly and his eyes followed up the bleacher, locking with mine. He smiled smugly and gave a wink in my direction.

"Fight," he yelled.

They both charged.

The ring was a mix of black and white with Brad throwing punches after kicks and Levi swiftly dodging them. I expected Levi to look troubled, out of breath or something but he looked calm, easy like he was just chilling on a blanket under the sun. 

This continued for a few more minutes with Brad attacking and Levi blocking and dodging. I understood in between what Levi was trying to do. He was tiring Brad out.

And when Brad did get the least bit tired, Levi struck like a viper. His hand and body movements were smooth and graceful. His blows and kicks looked equally painful.

In the end, Brad was defeated with Levi locking Brad's arm behind his back and pushing him to the ground.

The fight ended rather too quickly, and the men cheered loudly.

Levi raised his head, blowing his thick hair out of his face and smiled, "I think I should make that seven hours of training."

Brad grunted, still beneath Levi's foot.

Levi removed his foot, his eyes suddenly on me. I gave a smile and waved. Then he picked up his weapon's belt, strapping it on and moved towards me. Before he could ascend the steps, he got stopped by a couple of guys, wanting to talk.

In the meantime, I mindlessly let my eyes roam around, watching people and the stone-built surroundings. This place was really huge. While looking around, my mind wandered back to the cream room.

What the hell was that sound? And who the hell spoke to me?

Unless there was a speaker in that room that I didn't see, that makes it less creepy.

What about the vision I had of Ace? And who was he talking to? My mind recalled the words 'your daughter'. Did he mean me? Or did he mean Katia? Why would Ace talk like that and what is he up to?

How am I supposed to get Lucretia's crown when I have literally no clue about it? Would I even give the crown to him once I find it? I mean it belongs to the werewolves. What does he even want with it?

"I've never seen you before."

My head snapped right to the voice. A man with cropped black hair, huge muscles, wearing a V-neck and shorts stood beside me.

"Same here," I replied looking back ahead.

"What are you doing here?" he asked and this time I note the slight flirtatious tone.

"You know? The usual. Breathing, blinking...living."

He sat his huge body directly beside me. Our shoulders touched and I slightly moved away. He smelled of sweat and aftershave. I could feel his breath on the side of my face.

"Are you new?"

"Yup, a sparkling newly laid egg," I responded.

He chuckled, "You live here or here for a holiday or something?"

"Drop it, Drake." Levi appeared beside me, hands in pockets.

A small sense of relief washed over me. 

"What?" Drake grinned, "She's your doll? Although that might be hard to believe." 

"Worse," Levi replied stretching out beside me on the bleachers, "she's King Alpha's."

Drake's face dropped.

"What?" he blinked in surprise.

Levi gave him a look.

"I'm-I'm sorry. I didn't realize-I didn't know," Drake started apologizing to me.

I waved it off, "I don't care."

He apologized once more before leaning away from me and silencing.

"So your kind of a leader here?" I asked, turning towards Levi.

He had his arms crossed behind his head with one ankle over the other knee, "Yup, Royal Beta, that's me."

"King Alpha just had pity on you." A guy appeared from the side looking equally huge as Drake and lounged in front of us on the bleacher.

"I didn't know you were jealous, Hans," Levi replied, smiling coyly.

"Jealous?" Hans scoffed, "sure, my butthole."

"You wouldn't want to talk like that in front of the Lady," Levi said, coolly.

I shrugged, "I say bad words all the time."

He furrowed his eyebrows, lips tugging up, "I'm pretty sure I heard you say 'bish' once."  

Drake and Hans snickered.

"That's how my best friend talks so I caught that habit from her," I replied, glaring slightly.

"So why are you here? Aren't you supposed to be doing some kind of Royal shit?" Hans asked.

"I was having a Royal sleep this morning until your Royal King ruined it."

Hans rolled his eyes, "he gets pissy."

"Don't even start," I replied.

"I heard rumours about you being a witch," Drake spoke.

"Drake," Levi warned giving a sideways warning look.

He shrugged, "Just thought I might ask."

"it's fine," I said, "No, Drake. I'm not a witch."

"You're not a werewolf either," Hans crinkled his nose, "you reek of humans."

"So I've heard," I huffed.

"Hey, both of you piss out of here. Leave the Lady alone." Levi spoke, shooing them off.

"All right, all right," Drake got up, grabbing Hans's shoulder and pulling him along with him while Hans threw curses after curses.

"Don't mind them. It's their normal nature." Levi said.

"Nature?"

"Flirting, anger, prying," he shrugged, "we feel emotions much deeper and stronger than humans. Makes it hard to keep our feeling under control. I could tell Hans wanted to rip your throat out. Don't take it personally. He wants to rip everyone's throat out."    

"Okay..."

"So how old are you?" I asked.

"Around one hundred."

I blinked in surprise, "One hundred? I know this might sound really weird but you're...younger. Like King Alpha is seven hundred."

"Yup. He found me when I was a small child. Alone on the streets running away from a few creatures who loved torturing kids. He saved me and brought me here. Taught me how to fight and made me his Beta a few years ago."

"You were an orphan?"

He nodded.

"I'm sorry to hear that."

He shrugged, "I never knew my parents. It's cool."

"I never knew my parents too," I said, looking down and playing with my fingers, "I thought I had a brother. But now I don't even know who he is."

"Collin? Yeah."

"You know him?" I furrowed my eyebrows.

"Only know that he's your brother-or supposed to be a brother."

"How?"

He shrugged, "I'm the one who did your background check when King Alpha asked me to."

My eyebrows rose as I crossed my arms, "My background check?"

He raised his hands in mock surrender, "His commands." 

"Right."

"Anyhow, wanna go back to your place? The sight of this," he waved towards the fighting men, "might be making you uncomfortable especially when you're on your..."

"Periods?" I finished for him.

"Yeah."

I inhaled then sighed. Then I looked at Levi watching him for a while.

"Actually...can you help me with something?"

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Date: 4 August 2021