Alpha Epiales

XXV

Epiales stayed silent. He had no idea what to say or do. He had only recently ended the search for this mystery woman and here she was, right in front of him.

"Surprised to see me?" She asked with a small smile, staring him up and down.

"Who are you?" He finally asked.

"Me? Well, I'm no one special," she lied.

"Richard seemed shocked to see you that day, so stop with the game you are trying to play and tell me the truth."

She rolled her eyes at him, "you're no fun, is that anyway to talk to your queen?"

He growled, grabbing her arm tightly, "you are not my queen, my mate is my only queen."

She pushed him off, looking unfazed and gently pushed her hair back seductively, "this mark of yours says otherwise..."

"That mark is only there because I had to save my own life."

"And what a perfect person you chose to mark... the king's wife."

Everything seemed to go in slow motion. Epiales' head ached as a million thoughts shot through it. Richard's wife? It was impossible, he never once mentioned having a wife. The kingdom never had a queen, it had always just been Richard ruling for all those years.

"It is just so fitting, you know..." She trailed a hand slowly across his chest, leaning in closer, "I already am a queen, I think I'll settle in just nicely here and take back my rightful place on the throne."

"You are not the queen, Richard never had a wife!"

"You really think that poor excuse of a ruler managed to uphold the entire kingdom alone? Please Epiales, you're much smarter than that."

"That doesn't prove anything," he snarled, grabbing her wrist and pushing her away.

"Fine, follow me then," she said, walking forward and looking back to smirk at him and beckon him to follow.

Debating whether or not to shout on his guards and have her dragged to the dungeons, he eventually decided to follow after her, curious as to what she had that would prove she was Richard's wife.

They approached a small room at the back of the castle that Epiales had never seen before. She pulled off a necklace with a key attached and unlocked the door, stepping inside.

"What is your name?" He asked.

"Alessa."

She turned around to face him, "this is my room. This is where Richard hid me away because he wanted the throne all to himself."

Epiales took a look around. The room itself, although small, was very luxurious, he couldn't look anywhere without being blinded by expensive jewellery and fancy dresses.

"So, you stayed here the entire time Richard was king?"

"God no, do you know how many woman he married before me? They all conveniently died when they decided they wanted to make themselves known to the kingdom, so I decided to stay smart and keep my mouth shut. I helped secretly, of course."

Epiales still wasn't convinced so he walked around the room, looking for anything that stood out to him.

Alessa crossed her arms, "still don't believe me?"

Epiales ignored her, peering at the desk.

She stepped forward, pulling out a small painting, "Richard had this painted on our wedding day, he even signed it."

Epiales took the painting from her, and there it was. A small portrait of Alessa and Richard standing side by side, her wearing a beautiful gown while he wore a black suit. In the bottom corner was Richard's signature which Epiales immediately recognised as the same one that signed his death warrant that Richard taunted him with.

Alessa walked up behind him, placing her hands on his shoulders and he tensed up, turning around to push her off.

He reached for her arm when she grabbed his wrist, "now tell me...where is my crown?"

"You do not have a crown, my mate has a crown," he growled, pushing her off.

"I am your mate now for two reasons. First, you marked me, therefore we are bonded and second, I don't see your "mate" anywhere, say...didn't she flee the country to get away from you? Because she didn't want to be queen? Does that ring a bell by any chance?"

"We are not bonded! I will rid that mark off your skin and you will not live to see the sun rise!"

She gently breathed against his neck, hovering over the place where his mark should be, gently biting on the skin, "you send me to those dungeons and the entire kingdom knows who I am and that I am the rightful ruler. Oh and I forgot to mention that if I disappear at all...a friend of mine will immediately hunt down Amora and kill her. You don't want that, do you?"

Epiales cursed, throwing her to the floor, "you will not harm a hair on her head!"

"Then do as I say and we won't have any problems."

"My mate is the only rightful ruler."

Alessa grinned at him, an evil tint in her eyes, "I think it's time we introduce the kingdom to your new mate, we wouldn't want to put poor, defenceless Amora in any danger..."

________________________________________

Amora woke up, her neck in agony from the uncomfortable position she was lying in. As soon as she woke up she could hear distant chattering, making her sit up in a panic. People were nearby.

She quickly pulled her cloak on and started walking, trying to appear as normal as possible. She just had to move far away enough to make sure she wasn't being followed.

As she walked through the woods she was startled to see a group of werewolves running around, some in wolf form, some in human form. They were chatting excitedly and dancing.

A young woman spotted Amora and glanced at her in confusion, making her way over.

"Excuse me. Do I know you?" She asked.

Amora froze, "oh- no, no, I'm just passing by, this isn't pack ground is it?"

"Oh no, you're fine, it's just we never see a lone werewolf pass through here alone."

Amora looked over at the people behind her, "is there a celebration going on?"

"My! Have you not heard? Our king has found a queen!"

The air was knocked out of Amora, her chest ached and her head spun, "a new queen? Does-doesn't he already have a queen?"

"Yes, he claims his mate went missing, but this woman already bears his mark, it is just the perfect match!"

Tears stung Amora's eyes as she forced a smile, "well, that is fantastic. I hope they live a happy life together." She turned away, wanting nothing more but to run off somewhere where no one would ever find her.

Making her way through the small trees, Amora finally stopped when all she could hear was silence. She collapsed to her knees beside a tree as the heartache became unbearable. She clutched onto her dress as she sobbed, her body shaking violently.

Part of her knew this day would come, Epiales would eventually have had to find another leader to stay powerful, she just never expected him to replace her so soon.

"Oh goddess," she cried, burying her hands in her face, "Why do I still love him?"