THE CEO ALPHA KING
Chapter 22: Caught
Writer’s POV
It’s been two days since Serena left the king’s castle. She spent her days adjusting to her new environment, waiting until the third day to call Isaac.
With no idea what was happening at the castle, she could only worry and fear that the worst might have happened.
Has anyone discovered how I escaped from the castle? And that Isaac hasn’t aided me in my running away? She thought about it all day.
“Hey, you should stop pacing around. Come sit and eat.” Martins called from behind, dropping a plate of food on her bedside table.
She turned to him worriedly, and he patted the space beside him on her bed. She gulped, walking away from the window to sit beside him.
“I am worried. I left my brother there; I’m so worried.” Serena spoke up, brushing a strand of hair away from her face.
“Don’t worry; once the king finds out that your brother didn’t have a hand in your escape, he’ll be spared, but he will be watched closely, just in case you contact him, which I strongly advise you not to do.” We spare him the risk of getting into trouble.” Martins advised.
“No, I have to. I have to tell him not to worry; I have to tell him that I’m fine and hear his voice.” Serena spoke, her heart clenched with worry and pain.
“Call him only if you want to be caught. If you want your brother to suffer, you can call him.” Martin shrugged nonchalantly.
“I do not want my brother to suffer because of me.” She said softly.
“Then don’t call him.” Martins stood up abruptly, glancing at the food he had brought.
“Eat your food before it gets cold. I’ll be leaving. I have some errands to run for my father.” As he started to leave the room, Serena’s voice interrupted him, her hand tightly gripping his jacket.
“I do not want to be left alone.” She murmured.
“Oh, sweetie, I am not leaving you alone. I’ll just run the errand and return quickly; don’t be afraid.” Martins turned back to her and pulled her hair away from her face.
“Okay.” She snatched her hand away from him before he sighed and left her alone in the large, lonely room.
***
When Martins got to his father’s house and entered the sitting room, his father came towards him, standing up too quickly from the chair he sat on. He wore a dark suit that clung gently to his tall, brooding frame.
“Is the girl still there?” The older man asked.
“Yes, she is. I gave her food before leaving her.” Martins answered, walking to sit down on the sofa.
“Good, I hear the king is furious right now.” What I’ve been thinking is indeed happening, but we won’t allow this girl to ruin any of our plans. We are going to give her back to the king. Do not worry; she won’t know you are involved. I’ll have some of my trusted men deliver her to him. I’ll also make sure that the king doesn’t know I’m the one behind it all.”
“The king will kill her; we can’t give her back, Dad.” Martins groaned, rising to his feet to meet his father’s stony gaze.
“No! He is not going to kill her; my gut tells me so. This will add another point to us; she won’t know you have a hand in giving her back. She’ll continue trusting you. Now, I want you to go back to her. I’ll send my trusted men to attack you two at night; rest assured, neither of you will suffer any harm. Put up a little fight, too. That way, it’ll be interesting and realistic.” His father laughed, grabbing a cigarette from the table.
Martin groaned again.
“I do not want to give her back, but if you say so.” He said this while snatching the cigarette from his father, who was drowning in irritation.
“Son, that girl. I’m going to investigate her origins. There is something about her that I think we should know-keep being her sweet little prince. She is our only weapon for now.” The older man snatched his cigarette back from his son, who smirked in response.
“I’ll just get going,” Martins said after a few minutes, he took a bow before leaving.
***
Back at the king’s castle.
It’s been two days, and the king has felt no emotions other than anger and irritation. Serena was still missing, and none of his guards, his beta, or even Isaac knew of her whereabouts.
His taste for blood intensified, and he could feel the anger boiling in his veins. His demons clawed and scratched at the surface, urging him to let loose. Killing means shedding blood.
And as he continued pushing them backward, he felt every last strand of patience let loose. Every thought of reasoning vanishes.
It wouldn’t take long before his demons came clawing out, destroying everything in their path.
Isaac sat quietly in Grandma Felicia’s room, so lost in his own thoughts that he hadn’t realized the old woman had walked in, swaying her hands in front of him and yelling his name.
“Isaac!” She yelled once more, hitting him on the shoulders, causing him to jerk and fix his gaze on her.
“Yes?” he answered.
“Are you sure you do not know Serena’s location?” Grandma Felicia asked.
“I don’t. But even if I knew, you know I wouldn’t easily give it up; I wouldn’t put her life in danger.” Isaac replied, chewing down his fingernails, a habit he picked up only recently after seeing Serena do it often.
“If you know her location, you have to say something.” It’s very necessary that she comes back to the castle; the king might really lose it if another day passes.”
“I really don’t know where she ran to.” She didn’t tell me anything; I’m telling the truth. I just hope she is safe wherever she is. I hope she hasn’t run into trouble.” Isaac exhaled worriedly.
“You should be more worried about yourself, Isaac. We might all really die soon.”
“You’ve got to find her.” The king won’t harm her; I’m sure he won’t. Once he sees her, his anger will disperse.” When Isaac didn’t respond, Grandma Felicia continued.
“No, the king will kill her at first sight.” He shook his head in denial.
“Please, Isaac, try calling her or something. I promise I’ll do everything to protect her; no harm will come to her.” Grandma Felicia pleaded.
“I tried calling her last night. She has switched off her line, and I don’t have any other way to reach her. I can’t even mind link her.” Isaac rubbed his palm down his face.
The older woman didn’t say anything for a while before she stood up abruptly, making Isaac turn to her in surprise.
“We must go see the king. He has also heard about your relationship with her; he asked to see you.” She announced.
“What? The king?” Isaac shrieked, standing up suddenly.
“Yes, I told you the king might soon lose it. Let’s go; we don’t want to keep him waiting.” She grabbed Isaac, who stood frozen and led them out of the room to the king’s office.
The aura at his door was so deadly that they almost cowered in fear, but Grandma Felicia pushed open the door.
King Zed sat behind his table, his cold gaze fixed intently on the hard disk, before looking up at the intruders, who bowed in greeting while avoiding his gaze.
“So, I heard that the halfbreed is your sister, and she escaped using you.” King Zed groaned and his words caused chills to fill Isaac’s skin.
“Yes, you are right, your Highness.” He responded.
“Hm.”
Isaac heard the Alpha rise to his feet, and he immediately shifted backward a little. The temperature dropped, and his knees trembled slightly.
“And you said you knew nothing of her whereabouts till now?” King Zed questioned.
“Yeah… Yes, I know nothing of her disappearance,” Isaac answered again. His voice portrayed his fear.
“Kneel, let me confirm it.” Upon the king’s words, Isaac glanced at Grandma Felicia, who stood quietly beside him. She nodded at him.
He sighed before slowly getting on one knee. He gazed submissively at the floor.
He felt the king step closer to him, and it took him a lot of courage not to stand up and run away from his penetrating gaze.
How is he going to find out I was telling the truth? The thought lingered at the back of Isaac’s mind, and in that second, his head was snapped up, and he met the king’s cold, great gaze; a memory replayed itself in his head.
It was Serena, sneaking quietly into the back of his truck. Isaac saw himself getting into his driver’s seat and heading to the mall, oblivious to his sister at the back of his vehicle.
The image shattered in his mind, and he blinked rapidly, a headache setting itself in his head.
He watched as the king gazed into the thin air as if he was seeing something others couldn’t see.
It worried him more that the king could look into his head and force his mind to replay memories from his past. He hadn’t realized Serena had gotten into his truck and followed him unknowingly to the mall.
Isaac turned to Grandma Felicia in shock, but she wasn’t as surprised as he was.
How does the king possess such powers that I have never heard of? He wanted to ask, but he could only pray that the truck incident was all he saw, or else he was dead.
But little did Isaac know that this was only a glimpse of the power the king bore. He could also hear people’s thoughts.
“What is it that you are hiding, then?” King Zed suddenly raised the question, lowering his eyes to meet Isaac’s.
“N… nothing.” He mouthed just as the door opened to reveal Kendrick, who appeared completely worn out from the search.
“Your Highness, we have a lead on where your slave might be.” He announced while bowing in submission.
Isaac gasped, then he tried to get Kendrick’s attention, but Kendrick didn’t notice the movement. However, the movement caught the king’s eye.
“Come here.” The king ordered, and Kendrick came forward, he kneeled beside Isaac with a confused look, but it was already too late. Isaac closed his eyes in resignation. The king had already caught on.
“I guess I’ll have to learn everything about you two today.” The King grunted then he placed his hands on both of their heads.
Isaac and Kendrick both screamed out in pain as the memories of everything they had done since they came into the castle started replaying in their minds.
The king saw everything, but he only picked out the conversations they had about him and Serena-the ones that really interested him.
When he took his hands off their heads, they gasped in relief and fell to the floor, exhausted.
“Who is Charles? Bring him to me immediately.” King Zed ordered the guards stationed outside.
Grandma Felicia opened her mouth to speak, but fear didn’t let the words come out. Does the King intend to murder Charles? She wanted to ask.
“Your…” she started to say, finally summoning courage.
“Shut up, Felicia. I do not want to hear a word from you.” The king snarled, cutting her off.
The guards swiftly brought Charles to the office and made him kneel on both knees.
When Charles saw Isaac and Kendrick lying tiredly on the floor, fear shot up his spine.
“So you are planning to avenge your dead sister? You harbored such hatred for me.” King Zed turned to glare at him, his voice hard.
Shock danced across Charles’ features, and his lips shook.
“Now, you will die for plotting against me. Plotting against your king shows that you are a traitor, and you know what happens to traitors. However, I’ll give you ten seconds to run out of this office now. After those ten seconds, consider yourself dead. The time starts now.” The king growled turning his back to them.
Isaac and Kendrick forcefully brought themselves to a sitting position, they sat on the cold floor and watched the scene in disbelief. Even Grandma Felicia had a look of shock on her face.
As Charles, whose eyes were filled with unshed tears, started to move, he found out that his feet were planted to the floor as if glued to it and they wouldn’t budge no matter how hard he pulled.
And when his ten seconds expired, he started to claw at his own neck desperately, as if an invisible hand were choking life out of him. As he fell to his knees, he gasped for air, his hands reaching out as he reached out for help.
Blood oozed out of his nose and mouth, and his heart started to reduce its beat; soon he fell limp to the floor.
Dead!
Isaac and Kendrick’s mouths widened in shock and pure horror. The scene filled their bodies with dread. Charles’ unmoving body lay lifeless in front of them. The king had killed him without even moving from the spot where he stood, and he had his back to them the whole time.
“So, what do you suggest I do to you two for trying to fool me?” The king asked, finally turning to face them both with a deep frown on his face.
“Your Highness, we are sorry. Kendrick is my friend; he didn’t plan anything with me. I did it on my own and just told him about it; you can punish me in any way that pleases you.” Isaac said, falling back on his knees.
“No, we planned it together. Please punish the both of us.” Kendrick spoke immediately, kneeling beside Isaac.
“Hm, I think I’ll do that after your beloved half-sister has been found.” The king walked to their front and fixed his cold eyes on Isaac.
“I see how much you care for her. She’ll decide your fate once she gets back.” He finished before walking out of the room.
Isaac and Kendrick both turned to the older woman, who had been quiet the whole time, hoping she would say something, but she only followed the king out of the office.