"How can I trust you? After what you've done!"
Beta Prince Waylon Kailea's counting down the days of his final semester at the Antum School for the supernatural. Serving in his alpha sister's shadow, Waylon finds himself utterly alone and patiently...
Oops! This image does not follow our content guidelines. To continue publishing, please remove it or upload a different image.
~Alexei~
"Baby? Wake up, there's someone at the door,"
Waylon rouses me from my deep slumber and I blink a few times before I hear the loud banging coming from downstairs. Quickly slipping out of bed, I put on a t-shirt and shorts just as Cyrpus appears at the door.
"Guys, I'm scared," Cy whimpers while holding his teddy bear close and I pull him into the bedroom. The loud knocking starts up again and I rustle his hair a bit.
"There's nothing to be scared of Cy, I'll always protect you," I promise him and Waylon opens his arms.
"Come here," Cy crawls into his brother's arms while I head downstairs and quickly open the door to find two of my soldiers standing in the dark, cold and out of breath.
"What's going on?" I ask and they both quickly bow to one knee.
"Alpha Alexei, Beta Artemis is calling for your company immediately. Five human stowaways on a shipment from Japan were caught and imprisoned by our dock guards. She's already called upon the other Alphas and Betas across Kailea to discuss what our next steps should be," One of them informed me and I tapped them both on the shoulder so they could stand once more.
"So we have five intruders from Japan? Interesting, I'll get dressed and join my sister. Both of you are relieved for the night," I tell them and they have a confused look of relief on their faces but don't question it as they respectfully leave.
Going back to my bedroom, I find Waylon still in bed with Cyrpus passed out in his arms. A curious gaze as he peers up at me to figure out what's going on while I go to change into my Crimson Alpha uniform.
What's happening baby?"
Five humans were found on a shipment from Japan
Really? Did they actually want to come here?
I don't know, but I'm about to find out
It's odd for them to come here before the festival tomorrow, don't you think?
What do you mean?
Well, maybe they're here for a reason
I dust off my crimson jacket before leaning over and kissing my sweet Waylon's forehead.
"Don't be too harsh on them is all I'm suggesting," Wei tells me, but with a simple rub of my shoulder, I know he will support me no matter what I choose to do.
***
"Late to the game again brother?"
Artemis chastises me as I head into the main conference room of the Crimson prison where she had everything displayed like we were trying to solve a murder. Photographic evidence displayed at the table as if we were about to prosecute these five stowaways.
"Don't you think this is a little...excessive?" I question as I look at the photo of them being detained where they were hiding in the ship and wonder why the moon goddess brought them here.
"Excessive? Alex, they are humans. The most dangerous beings on earth," She has a point as I put the photo down. I want to question why she's here considering she just had her baby three days ago but I know better than to question what a woman is capable of. She exhausted and I can't help but notice a small curl of hair on her forehead.
"How's Nathan? I can't wait to meet him," I tell her as I tuck the hair back into her hijab and she smiles. It's our tradition for the baby to remain at home with just it's parents for the first week of life for the infant to bond with its parents.
"He's amazing Alex. Not letting us sleep for longer than three hours but amazing none the less." She sighs and the door suddenly opens.
"Any new details?" Alpha Sora of Lotus asked with his Beta Oro behind him as the pair entered the conference room.
"No, I was just about to enter the prison," I tell him as I head out with Ari close behind me. Turning the corner out of the conference room, we're walked in by the guard down the concrete hallways tunneling underground to the room where the five humans were being kept.
When we reach the cell the captive five gaze upon us, dirty from their arrest and tired from a long night spent in prison. House of Forester's Alpha Chase and Azariah finally join us, making small talk with Lotus as my eye catches the last man in the cell.
His wavy blonde hair was pushed back as he sat on the cot with his back against the wall, his demeanor calm and unaffected while his friends looked frazzled and terrified. He looked directly at me with his ocean blue eyes and lightly bit his lip, leaving me frozen in place.
He looks nearly identical to Waylon.
With a hint of Cyrpus.
A chain dangled from his neck containing two rings pressed to his chest. Rare gold rings with bright blue sapphires and I know for a fact they're only one of a kind. I know because Waylon has the same Kailea family ring.
"So we're here today to have a conversation about what we should do with these five who tried to violate our sacred island while attempting to sneak in undetected." Ari breaks the small conversation and silence falls among us.
Together we represent the island without the house of Kailea as they mourn in peace.
"I give you our criminals, Juntin, Jennifer, Yanto, Hellena, and Markus from Japan. Stealing away on our shipment boat to come find us," Ari says and I stare at this Waylon look-a-like known as Markus with so many questions.
"But we can't let them go back to their society. They're human and we'll turn into a freak show to them," Alpha Sora argues and he has a point. To the outside civilian world, the island went down with the tsunami. Only world leaders know of our existence for trading purposes. If these five go back to their mainland and news of us spreads like wildfire, everyone will come here in search of werewolves and mischief.
"Then what do we do with them?" Beta Azariah asks and my sister has an idea.
"We kill them all," She suggests execution and I instantly reject the idea, thinking about what Waylon said to me before I left.
"No!" Before I can reject the idea, Alpha Chase of Forester protests without looking at us. I trace his gaze straight to Markus and know before he even realizes it, that the unmated alpha now has a human for a mate.
"The house of Forester will adopt them," he offers and I nod.
"So be it," I say as I walk up to the glass between us and stare at this Markus our of curiosity.
"Markus, what's his full name?" I ask the guard and he clears his throat.
"Markus Matthias Grayson sir, but he claims to be with the house of Kailea. Should we inform them?" He asks but the last name is unfamiliar. Waylon's old family name was Jackson, not Grayson.
"No need to bother them. He must be confused," I wave it off and go back to my sister, giving her a light smack on the shoulder.
"Execution? Really?" I ask her and she shrugs.
"What? It's effective," She says and I roll my eyes, calling over the four guards watching over them.
"Prepare them for transfer to the House of Forester and get them something to eat for god's sake,"
*****************************
👀👀👀👀👀👀
🙈 Come ask me all of your questions about Markus the main character in our next book; Forester Soul on my twitch stream in about an hour! I'll be on until 5 PST
