The Other Alphas Daughter's

Serenity POV

The cab vehicle stopped in front of the Frost Pack palace, and I stared through the window for a few seconds before reaching for the door.

I swallowed hard.

This place was enormous, bigger than anything I had ever seen in Blackwood. Expensive cars were parked in a neat line outside, and several young women were already stepping out of them with their maids following behind, carrying their bags.

I looked down at myself. My simple old grey shirt and jeans were trousers Tristan had bought me on my nineteenth birthday with the hope that I would shift that day.

It suddenly felt too cheap. I had no maid, no expensive luggage, no family members walking behind me. Just me. I paid the cab driver with the little money I had been given and stepped out.

The moment I closed the door, I felt all eyes on me. I adjusted my shirt and started walking toward the palace entrance.

“Is she Sienna from Blackwood?”

I heard a woman's voice behind me. I stopped for a moment.

“I think so! But why would an Alpha's daughter look like a penguin?” Another woman answered.

A burst of laughter followed. I slowly turned around and saw three young women standing together, staring at me. One of them looked me up and down before laughing again.

“That's Sienna?”

I felt my face burn. I didn't say anything. I turned back around and continued walking.

“Maybe they sent their maid instead.”

More laughter followed. My steps slowed, and I tightened my fingers around the small handbag in my hand. They didn't know. None of them knew that I actually was the replacement. None of them knew that the real Sienna had refused to come, and I wasn't about to explain it to them.

I kept walking until a tall woman with long brown hair stepped in front of me.

“Excuse me.”

I stopped. She looked behind me, then back at me with a small smile. “Where is the rest of your family?”

“My family?”

“Yes. You're an Alpha's daughter, aren't you?”

I forced a smile. “Y…Yes.”

Her eyes travelled over my clothes, and she let out a soft laugh. “Really?”

The women behind her laughed with her. My stomach twisted. I wanted to tell them I wasn't used to wearing expensive clothes, that I had spent most of my life wearing old dresses and an apron, and that I had come here straight from being treated like a servant. But I kept my mouth shut. I had one job. Pretend to be Sienna and somehow survive this place.

I walked past them and entered the palace. The inside was even more beautiful than the outside. The marble floors shone beneath the huge chandeliers, and servants moved around quietly, carrying trays and arranging flowers.

I suddenly became very aware of the fact that I knew how to be one of those servants, not one of the women standing in this hall.

A servant approached us. “All candidates are to remain in the main hall until His Majesty arrives.”

His Majesty. My heart started beating faster at the mention of his name. Valerius. I had heard enough stories about him to know that I didn't want to be anywhere near him.

Yet here I was, waiting to become one of the brides he might choose, and I prayed he wouldn't choose me.

I moved toward the corner of the room and stood quietly. I didn't know anyone here. I didn't belong here. And judging from the looks I was receiving, everyone else seemed to agree.

Then someone whispered behind me, “She's really going to compete? Looking like a cowgirl?”

Another voice answered, “Maybe she thinks the King will choose her because he's… mad.”

The laughter that followed made my throat tighten. I looked down at my hands. I had spent my entire life being mocked. I could survive this too. At least, that's what I told myself.

Then the entire hall suddenly went silent. I looked up as the doors at the end of the hall opened. Several guards walked in first, and then he appeared.

King Valerius.

The moment his eyes swept across the room, I knew one thing. This man was nothing like Tristan. Not even close. His gaze moved from one woman to another until it stopped on me.

I froze, and for some reason, he didn't look away. His expression remained cold, but something flickered in his eyes. Confusion.

His gaze travelled over me slowly before he looked toward the servant standing beside the candidates.

“Is that Sienna from Blackwood?”

My heart dropped.

The servant nodded. “Yes, Your Majesty.”

Valerius looked back at me, and for the first time since I arrived, nobody was laughing. The King himself was staring at me like something about my presence didn't make sense.