Ruthless Alpha

Chapter 21

"What the..."

Alpha Charles's eyes slowly opened, as he had been roused from his sleep by the sudden shrill scream. He could hear people muttering in the distance, and wondered what could have been happening?

Annoyance sprung up within him along with curiosity as he sat up in bed. He already had enough problems to deal with, and didn't get why he couldn't have a quiet and serene environment to deal with them. He was already contemplating the decision to punish whoever had been behind the noise, as he got up from bed.

In a moment, all that had happened last night came to his mind. His body was still reeling from the frightful feelings he had fought all night long before he could get himself to sleep for a few early hours of the morning, only to be woken by a reckless feminine scream.

He looked outside the window of the room where he had slept to see a few people gathered at the entrance of the maids' quarters. The reappearance of the strange creature had discouraged him from sleeping in his room at night.

Suddenly, a desperate series of knocks came on the door. He was almost on the verge of getting angry about the audacity of someone knocking on his door in that manner, but he immediately realized that it was Maya.

"Come on in," he said, hoping that she had a good reason to knock that way.

She had a disposition brimming with fright, which had him concerned immediately. Had she also met a creature similar to the one he had encountered at night? He wondered.

"What is it?" He inquired walking towards her. "Are you alright?"

"My maid... she was poisoned..." Maya blurted out frightfully. "And now she's dead..."

Alpha Charles was relieved that it hadn't been something worse. But then, he soon had his feeling of relief replaced by anger. "Was that the reason for the sudden scream that's on the verge of causing an uproar?"

"Yes..." Maya stuttered in astonishment at Charles's indifference towards the news of her maid's death. But then, she knew him too well and how cold he could be to anyone that wasn't her.

"That's not even a thing to fuss about. I could assign you a new maid in the twinkle of an eye, so I don't get why someone should be interrupting my sleep because of that," Alpha Charles said angrily. "I will have to punish the maid that disturbed the peace of the fortress."

"But... why?" Maya said, frightfully. "All she did was scream because she woke up to find her only sister dead. She couldn't help but to scream. I thought you would at least try to find out who was behind the poisoning. If it stays unaddressed, it could become a nuisance—"

"That's none of my business. I have bigger fish to fry right now. I'll have that maid whipped, and that's final," Alpha Charles said as he walked towards the door.

Queen Maya was devastated by his wicked display. What had suddenly come over the man she had been with yesterday?

***

"Do you think those queens noticed anything?" Stella asked, feeling a bit tensed as she paced up and down her room. "They could probably be suspecting that we could have had something to do with it."

"That's not a problem," Ruth said, feeling a bit calm, as she was seated at a chair close to the window, watching all the clamor going on outside. "Nothing will be done until Alpha Charles gives the order, so it doesn't make any difference if they find out or not."

"True, but..." Stella couldn't lay hold on what it was that made her tensed. "But..."

"But what?" Ruth interrupted. "We did the right thing by getting her out of the picture. She could have gotten us into trouble if she happened to run her mouth to anyone."

With that, Stella managed to still herself a bit. "Right. She would have let out word of it to Maya, and things could have gotten really messy, and even messier than they are right now."

"Yeah," Ruth replied as she stood from her chair."All we need to do now is to lay low to see what happens next."

"But I'm afraid those words queens we met on the way back could possibly suspect that we had something to do with it," Stella just couldn't let go of that worrisome thought.

"I doubt that they would be able to do anything if the alpha doesn't do a thing," Ruth cut in. "We should be more focused on Queen Maya. I feel she's up to something, judging from her increased solitude these days."

"Right..."

***

"Bring her here!"

The urgency of Alpha Charles's orders forced his men into action, even though it was against their will to do so. No one dared to defy there ruthless alpha, whenever he issued an order.

Sheila— Freda's sister was dragged to the stake in the open space like she had committed treason when all she had done was to let out a loud cry for her dead sister.

Everyone saw it as her way of mourning her only relative, but Alpha Charles deemed it as an act that had been done intentionally to disturb the peace of the fortress.

Maya couldn't plead anymore, as it was clear that her pleas made him angrier than he was already. She still couldn't get why he took the whole thing so personally.

"Tie her up!" he ordered, as the men forced her to embrace the long stake and tied her hands as she hugged it tightly.

Then the long, unforgiving whip was brought to him.All eyes were on the poor girl as the skin on her back was about to be ripped and shredded At that point, Maya wasn't sure she could still watch.

"This should serve as a warning that no one should ever disrupt the serenity of the fortress, under no circumstances whatsoever..." Alpha Charles suddenly stopped in the middle of his speech, and suddenly grew pale like he had seen a ghost.

"It can't be..." he suddenly fell on one knee as he seemed to be in pain. That left everyone curious, as they wondered; what was happening?