Saving Her Broken Alpha

Chapter 6

April

The day after my mate marked another female, I set out with some warrior escorts for the royal palace. My mind went back to the conversation I had with my parents. It had almost turned into an argument when mother changed her mind about my accepting the offer. She could sense that something was wrong, and wanted me to stay back, but I refused. I feel bad for deceiving them, but then they left me with no choice. After talking in circles, the only thing that made them let me go was the prospect of meeting my mate in the cause of carrying out my duty to the monarchs.

The journey to the palace was long but smooth, and I took that time to reflect on my life. I have cried and lamented about my fate for weeks, and all the while held on to a tiny little hope that maybe I and alpha Duncan will work things out. The snippets of information I gathered about him from my brother and the prince had me feeling sad for him. Life has been hard on him for the past few months, until just a few weeks ago. Not only did he survive the m******e of his family alongside thirty percent of his pack members, but a fellow alpha also made into his puppet.

According to a conversation between the watchers, Lily had been with him during the months he lived in the forest. Knowing how much they have been through together had made me decide to let him go, and let them be. I will only seek him out just to complete the rejection process. It pained me to have missed the opportunity to get it done when he visited. How humiliating that I now have to travel to the other end of the kingdom just to get rejected over again.

My only consolation at the moment is the anticipation of becoming the king’s emissary. I know at some point; I would have to let my family know what happened between my fated mate and I. But for now I will keep off from doing so until I establish a solid part for my life and perhaps find a chosen mate. I do not intend to live the rest of my life feeling lonely.

               *********

The journey to the palace was long but smooth, and it afforded April the time to reflect on her life. She was more at peace with herself when she arrived and was even looking forward to her first assignment for the kingdom. A fierce looking lycan guard took her to the king and queen and they were happy that she finally accepted their offer. They informed her that there were other eleven candidates that the monarchs have handpicked for the same reason.

“I will instruct a maid to show you to your room, and will suggest you take the rest of today to unpack and rest from your journey. Your training will begin tomorrow morning.” Said the queen.

“Training?”

Although April was not afraid to train, she wondered why this was not mentioned during their discussion back at her pack.

“We decided it will be best to have all the candidates trained so that they will know how best to represent our interest. The purpose of all this will be defeated if my emissaries only acted according to their own will.” The king responded, as though reading her mind.

April agreed with the king and asked what time she should present herself for the training.

“Be ready by 7AM. A maid will show you to the venue, at least until you can find your way round.”  

           *********

 Her room was in the same quarters as her brothers’ and his mate, but she was told they were not around presently. As she walked with a palace maid, she noticed that no luxury was spared in the decoration of the whole place. She took a quick shower and soon after, pangs of hunger drove her to look for a late snack.

“Fancy meeting you here.” A familiar voice said from behind her.

“Darius!” she said whipping around.

April threw herself into his embrace. He caught her and gave a chuckle at her enthusiasm.

“Don’t tell me that you actually did miss me. The last time we saw you were not interested in me, or at least that was how it seemed to me.”

She should have known that abandoning him at a party will sting his ego.

“Would you mind showing me to where I can grab some snacks? After I am fed then we can talk about the last time we saw. Or better yet about our next meeting.”

Darius did not mistake the meaning of her last statement. He smiled to himself as he showed her to the common area. When they arrived, he asked a maid to bring her a refreshment tray.

“Just how big is this place?” April asked

“It is enormous, with more than a dozen wings”

While they were talking, three ladies walked into the common area and Isabel could not believe her eyes. Isabel, who is the leader of the gang, already held a deep resentment for April. She has been trying to land the hot lycan from when they met at the party thrown by the full moon pack. But he only had eyes for April. She had thought she had a shot at him when April did not return his interest. Imagine her anger when the miserable b***h had dragged herself into his arms just when she was about to stake her claim. She had stormed out of the party when she could no longer stand the love-struck look that Darius was giving to April.

She has always hoped to land a high-ranking lycan as a mate, and Darius, the next royal beta, ticked all her boxes. Her heart was badly bruised when he ignored all her advances, but then the king had sent for her family after the party and offered her this position. Darius was one reason she accepted the invitation from the king, alongside the prestige that will come with it.

“Hello April, what brings you to the palace?”

April looked at the other female and felt guilty for not knowing her name.

“I am sorry, but have we met?”

“I do not expect you to remember commoners like myself.” She said, trying to make April look bad before Darius.

“Don’t be silly Isabel, you are not lesser to April in ranking. As an alpha’s daughter, you are as much an alpha as she is.” Darius said, a bit irritated to have their conversation interrupted.

“That may be true, but my brother is not a watcher after all.”

“Look, I’m sorry, but I had a lot on my mind during the said party, but I am sure we can get to know each other during our training here,” April suggested.

Isabel could barely hide her horror at the other female’s response. She was hoping her reason for being there was to visit her brother. There was no doubt Darius will only have eyes for April now that she was here. It had been tough enough to get him to notice her before now. However, she knew whatever little progress she had made have just evaporated into thin air.

She made up her mind there and then to go after April.