The Tyrant Alpha

The bell rang just after midday.

I stopped with a heavy silver tray balanced on my hands. "What does that mean?"

Neris, who was polishing a row of crystal glasses beside me, set her rag down instantly. "The summoning bell."

"What does that mean, Neris?"

Before she could explain, the chief servant’s sharp voice echoed from the end of the corridor. "All servants to the western courtyard! Immediately!"

Nobody asked why. The room erupted into a frenzy of panicked movement. I guess the dead servant’s murderer must have been found.

I set the silver tray on a side table and stood close to Neris as the crowd squeezed through the narrow passage.

By the time we burst into the cold air of the courtyard, hundreds of servants had already assembled, lycans in tailored uniforms, humans in gray wool, kitchen staff, and stable hands, all shuffling into tense rigid rows.

At the head of the courtyard stood a dozen heavily armored royal guards, their hands resting on the hilts of their swords.

I leaned closer to Neris. "What happened?"

"Keep your head down" she whispered, her eyes fixed on the floor. "I don't know."

The massive doors at the far end of the courtyard creaked open. Every murmur in the crowd died instantly.

A man strolled into the light. I didn't need anyone to tell me he was from the royal lycan bloodline, the obvious horror radiating through the crowd said it all. The woman beside me began to visibly tremble, her knees knocking together.

He wore dark, unarmored leather. Black hair was pulled tightly away from his face, emphasizing sharp, predatory features and pale, slitted golden eyes. He carried no blade on his hip.

He stopped at the top of the stone steps. The chief servant dropped into a bow so low her forehead nearly touched her shoes.

"Alpha Vaelor," she murmured.

Vaelor’s gaze swept lazily over the lines of trembling servants. 

"A royal signet ring is missing."

Silence passed through the courtyard.

"The King discovered it missing from his private chambers this morning," Vaelor continued, pacing slowly along the edge of the dais. "It was last seen yesterday afternoon."

Nobody moved and nobody dared to take a full breath.

"I will ask once." His eyes hardened, golden light flashing in their depths. "Who took it?"

A male servant near the back panicked, dropping to his knees. "No one here would dare, alpha!"

Vaelor stopped. His head tilted slowly toward the man. "Interesting." He took a slow step down the stairs. "Then the king's signet ring must have grown legs and walked out the window."

A few terrified breaths hitched in the crowd. Vaelor didn't smile.

"Search them," he commanded flatly.

The guards instantly moved. They ripped through the rows, tearing open aprons, dumping bags, and kicking open servant lockers along the perimeter walls.

One by one, the guards cleared line after line. Relief was just beginning to warm my chest when a guard at the front yelled out.

"Alpha!"

The guard held up a small, worn leather pouch.

Vaelor narrowed his eyes. "Bring him forward."

A young male servant, hardly older than nineteen, was dragged out of the rank and thrown onto the stone floors before the Prince. He was shaking so violently he couldn't stand.

Vaelor stood over him. "Where is the ring?"

"I…I don't know, my prince!" the boy choked out, pressing his hands against the stone.

Vaelor’s expression remained utterly blank.

"I swear on my life, I don't know!" the boy wept.

"You cleaned the King's chambers yesterday," Vaelor said, his tone gentle like he was having a conversation with him.

The boy's face drained of all color. "I did, but…"

"And you were alone inside." Vaelor cut in.

"Yes, but I…."

"Where is the ring?"

The silence stretched, and then the boy crumbled, bowing his head until his forehead struck the rock. "I stole it!" he sobbed out, his voice cracking. "I stole it!"

A collective gasp rippled through the human line. My heart sank to my boots.

Vaelor didn't flinch. "Where is it?"

"I pawned it in the lower town," the boy confessed, tears streaming down his cheeks. "My mother... she's dying. She's been sick for months and I had no money left for her medicine. I thought... I thought if I just pawned it for a week, I could buy the herbs and earn enough to buy it back before anyone noticed..." 

He squeezed his eyes shut, hands clasped in desperation. "Please, alpha! I beg you! I'll work for free for ten years! I'll take a hundred lashes! Just don't kill me... please!"

I stared at Vaelor, waiting for the barest hint of mercy. Anyone with a heart could understand trying to save a dying parent.

Vaelor was silent for a long moment. Then, he clicked his tongue against his teeth.

"Where is your mother?" he asked softly.

The boy looked up, blinking back tears of hope. "In the lower district, my prince."

Vaelor gave a brief, understanding nod. "I forgive you."

The boy’s face glowed with pure relief. "Thank you... thank you, Your Highness"

"Rise," Vaelor said gently.

The servant slowly pushed himself upright, wiping his face with his sleeve.

I let out a long breath, relief washing over me. For the first time since entering the citadel, I thought maybe there was humanity here after all.

Then Vaelor smiled. With a sickening click, sharp black  claws extended from his fingertips and before the boy could even fully stand, Vaelor drove his bare hand straight through the center of the servant's chest.

A wet, gagging gasp burst from the boy's lips.

The entire courtyard went dead silent. Vaelor’s bloody claws punched clear out the back of the boy's uniform, dripping blood onto the floors.

The boy's eyes rolled back. Vaelor yanked his hand back with a sickening tear. The servant collapsed like a ragdoll, blood pooling instantly around his chest.

Someone in the back row screamed.

Vaelor held up his hand, inspecting the blood coating his skin. He clicked his tongue again. "Pathetic excuse."

He wiped his stained palm on the dead boy's shoulder, turned around, and began walking back toward the grand passageway, casually whistling a light melody under his breath.

My knees nearly buckled. I couldn't tear my eyes away from the fresh corpse cooling on the stone.

"Elara," Neris hissed beside me, her voice trembling violently.

I looked at her, "What... what was that?"

Neris’s face was already pale. "That was alpha Vaelor."

"He just executed him!" I whispered, horror rising in my chest. "He told him he forgave him!"

"Yes."

"Then why say it?!"

Neris kept her eyes locked on the spot where Vaelor had disappeared. "So the boy would stand up and give him an easy angle to claw out his heart"

A freezing chill raced down my spine.

"He's called the tyrant alpha for a reason," Neris murmured under her breath.

"Does he do this regularly?"

Neris hesitated for a few seconds before continuing in a lowered voice. "That servant isn't the first. Last month, he cut off a girl's hand because her fingers shook while she was pouring his wine."

I stared at her. "He mutilated a servant for spilling wine?"

"She was terrified of him. Her hand trembled." Neris swallowed hard. "He severed it right at the dining table."

I looked back at the pool of dark blood spreading across the courtyard stone. "What kind of monster does that?"

Neris didn't answer.

"Everyone dismissed!" the chief servant yelled, stepping over the edge of the blood pool. "Back to your duties!"

The crowd began to spread out rapidly, everyone eager to get out of the open air. I followed Neris, keeping my chin tucked low.

But as we crossed under the shade of the archways, an instinct made me tilt my head up toward the high royal terrace overlooking the court. Two figures were standing there.

Kaelith. And beside him, a woman dressed in flowing, midnight-blue robe. Her silver hair fell over one shoulder, and delicate golden markings shimmered along her temples in the sunlight.

Kaelith wasn't looking at his brother, or at the dead boy.

He was looking directly down at me. My heart slammed against my ribs. I immediately lowered my gaze.

Neris grabbed my elbow, dragging me faster. "Don't look at him!"

"Why?" I whispered.

"Because you're a human, Elara! Eye contact is a challenge!" She pulled me around the corner into the safety of the interior hallway. "Keep your eyes on the floor!"

I glanced over my shoulder one last time, but the terrace was already empty.

I chewed the inside of my cheek. "Who was the woman beside him?"

Neris checked the empty hallway before whispering, 

"Lady Aliyah."

"The King's companion?" I asked

"Yes. And stop asking questions about the royal family if you want to keep your head," Neris warned, her grip tightening on my arm.

I nodded, but my mind was spinning.

Kaelith had stood up on that balcony and watched his brother slaughter a defenseless human boy who had stole a ring to save his dying mother. He hadn't stopped it. He hadn't spoken a word. He hadn't even looked bothered.

I didn't know which was worse. An alpha who killed without mercy...Or a king powerful enough to stop him but chose not to.

Either way, I had learned something important about Moonclaw. Not all monsters announced themselves with claws, some simply watched from the terrace.