Chapter 5: Not What I Expected

Chapter 5: Not What I Expected

Alpha Roland's POV:

This is not exactly what I expected on the day the Alpha King was supposed to show up. Here I am, trying to get ready for the business meeting that is going to take place later on. Now, I am having to investigate some random quarrel in the dungeon. Only when I got there, that is not what appeared to be going on at all. Someone's going to pay for this mistake, but who?

'I am not exactly sure. They are noisy at times, but this is a bit extreme for random rough-housing.' (I mentioned.)

So I decided to go to the door and open it to listen. I stayed still a moment and listened intently to see if I could tell if anything was out of place. I didn’t hear anything at first, so I continued to stand there listening intently for a few more moments. That’s when I heard something that I did not expect. I walked out into the hall and closed the door behind me and I headed toward the staircase that led down to the lower corridor. When I got to the base of the stairs, I could not believe what I was looking at. I noticed that the matron I spoke with earlier in the dining hall was being led away by two other men who I had never seen before.

'Who are they and where are they taking one of our pack members?!' (Rex demanded abruptly.)

"What is going on here?!" I demanded as I took a few steps after them.

I then stopped walking when no one turned around or paid me any heed to what I had just asked. Why could that be? When I spoke, everyone listened. When I made a statement, everyone acknowledged it. So who exactly are these men and why are they taking away one of my pack's matrons? That was when I was passed by two other men who had yet another member of my pack and they were leading him away as well. What could have happened in such a short amount of time while I was up in my office waiting for breakfast, and who exactly were these men? Why were they taking away members of my own pack? I was the Alpha of this house, not them. So why did they think they could just come in here and intervene when it was not warranted by my hand first?!

'Duke, where are you? There is something going on and you are needed back here NOW!' (I said via Mind Link to my Beta.)

'We were hunting and are returning now.' (After a moment, my Beta finally responded almost out of breath to his own thoughts.)

'Do they not know who you are? Go after them!' (Rex questioned and then demanded after seeing them ignore my previous questions.)

'I need to see where they came from first, Rex. There has to be an explanation for all of this. Maybe I will find an answer in the dungeon. That is where I need to go first.' (I responded in aggravation as I put up the barrier in my mind to block out everyone, including Rex, all except my own thoughts.)

I have to admit that I was getting very aggravated at this situation as it was playing out without me knowing what was going on. That was when I turned around. I was trying to see where my Beta was so that I could get some answers. However, I could not believe my eyes. When I turned around, I was almost knocked over by His Highness Himself as I scurried over to the wall to get out of the way. I could not believe that He was already here. Why was He already here!? Why was He here so early when He was always late in His former appearances?

None of that made any sense at that moment. If His Highness was already here then why did no one bother to come and tell me that was the case? Whoever knew about this and did not tell me was certainly going to have me involved in their treatment now for sure. When His Highness rushed past me, He did not say anything to me when He passed, but there was more to it than that. He was not paying attention to anyone else in the hall as He was carrying someone in His arms. Who was it that He was carrying and why? What could they have done to have Him carry them exactly?!

Wait, could it be? No, it couldn't be, could it? I was extremely confused at that moment. Was He actually carrying that one servant who was on the floor earlier, the one who knocked over the chair and broke it in the dining hall? Could this be what all of that was about earlier? Was He so upset at her that He was going to take her and deal with her Himself, I guessed? Well, if that was the case, then I was shocked, to say the least. I knew Him to be a man who would not have any issue taking matters into His own hands, as He could be ruthless when the time called for it. I knew that no one dared ever disrespect Him, but if that was the case, something did not make sense on account of what the other men were doing a moment before His Highness appeared. Why were they taking two of my pack members as they were not walking with the other men, but the other men were leading them out?

None of this made any sense. Why would His Highness intervene and yet take other pack members away? I turned around and tried to follow His Highness to the door. When I managed to reach the door, He was already climbing into the back of a vehicle. I tried to rush down the stairs to get to Him before He pulled away. It was too late at this point, as they were starting to pull away swiftly. I wanted answers but I did not have any. What did all of this mean? Did that mean that we were not going to have our meeting after all, or was it just postponed for now? I have to admit, I did not like what was about to come.

That was when I looked over the field and I saw a pack of my Warriors returning from a venture where they went hunting. I knew they had a large stag that we were going to cook and serve for lunch after our business meeting this morning. Just then, I felt a knocking on the barrier as if someone was trying to communicate with me. I let it down enough to see who it was and it was Duke, my Beta.

'Who is in the vehicles leaving?' (Duke asked me as he approached but was still too far off to hear my actual words spoken.)

'Are you really going to tell him?' (Rex warned.)

'I will tell you when you come inside.' (I responded via Mind Link.)

'Well, is it that bad?' (Duke responded.)

At that, I didn't bother making any other remark but I instead turned around to walk back up the stairs and wait for the others inside the foyer. I was going over various thoughts about how I was going to fix this debacle. I needed to know why all of this happened and how I was going to cover for it if that was even an option. It was not all that much longer before Duke arrived at my location and stood in front of me. I looked up at him and then turned to walk away and he followed me swiftly. I headed back to the staff corridor all the way to the end where the stairs lead down to the dungeon. I figured if I was going to get answers, this would be the best place to start.

'Well, are you going to tell him?' (Rex asked me, interrupting my thoughts.)

I guess I did not realize I left the barrier down earlier when Duke wanted through so that he could ask me his previous question. I did not realize that I had forgotten to put it back up so that my thoughts would remain undisturbed. I guess now was a good time as any to answer his previous question and tell him who had arrived, without my knowledge, mind you, and then left without a single word said to me. We finally managed to reach the stairs at the end of the corridor that led down to the dungeon.

I was not exactly sure what I was going to find, but I also didn't know if I was going to like what I saw or not. As we reached the bottom of the stairs, you could hear several voices talking amongst themselves as we quietly walked down the hall toward their location. Servant staff were not allowed down here, so I questioned who it could be.

"What's going on in here?" I demanded quite loudly as I entered the room and looked around at everything and everyone in there.