Alpha’s Surrogate by POOJA

45. the Vampire King As the car approached the vampire’s boundary line, a peculiar, gloomy, and terrifying silence filled the lush greenery of the forest. It was a land of death and blood. Despite the consuming darkness surrounding it the Vampire Fort seemed to reach up and brush the clouds in the sky. Allowing it to be seen from a great distance.

Kiara’s chocolatey eyes widened when she noticed the large metal door and the two sets of crimson eyes protecting it as they stared down at them. She was taken aback by their penetrating stares but remained composed. Her Alpha blood did not allow her to look away Four vampires who had been waiting near the enormous iron gate had previously been alerted of Alpha Xavier's impending arrival, swiftly opened the door. They had been able to smell their blood and hear their heartbeat from a distance.The vampire’s security was on par with the pack’s. All of them had their eyes focused on the stunning she-wolf that was sitting alongside the big Alpha. Kiara’s heartbeat had gone out of control as her husband drove the car inside the fort. Kiara had never seen a vampire before. They were even scarier in the dark! “There's no reason to be scared of them. They aren't going to cause you any harm. I'll drive you safely out of here,” Xavier assuredly while he slowed the car. She thought his confidence was very high when she glanced at him. Weren't vampires and werewolves enemies? Wouldn't they take advantage of the fact that both of them were already trapped at their enclave to murder them? Xavier's reassurance, however, had made her believe.

“Promise?” She asked, immediately realizing that a promise sounded childish. A faint grin formed on Xavier's lips. The young she-wolf instantly looked out the window to cover her blush, but the Alpha grabbed her hand dragging her closer to him.

“Yes, | promise,” he looked deep into her eyes before planting a delicate kiss on her forehead. The Luna smiled shyly and nodded a bit.

“Let's go,” he said.

A vampire who had been waiting for the Alpha and Luna to exit their vehicle before opening the door for them. It surprised her when they bowed to them. Why would a vampire bow to a werewolf? Kiara’s hand felt a bit cold, but as soon as it was in her husband’s grasp it warmed up. Then they went into the Fort. Two towering vampires escorted them, one ahead and one behind him, appearing to guide them. Who offers their adversaries an embassaries’ treatment? Things didn’t make sense in this place.

Kiara looked at the beautiful expansive walls that surrounded them with great surprise and excitement. The stones they had used were huge and odd. The place seemed almost ancient. The Vampire's Fort was the exact opposite of what she had been expecting. There was a lot of light filling the spaces, instead of the smell of blood there was a fragrance that was quite charming. Expensive and luxurious paintings, antiquities, books, and many other unique items decorated the Fort that Kiara had never seen before in her life.

Her head was pivoting this way and that in amazement as she took it all in. On the other hand, Xavier just kept moving in a particular direction while holding her hand without bothering to look anywhere other than straight ahead as if he knew where to go.

“Have you been here before?” She asked her mate curiously. It seemed as if he knew his way around this place.

“Yeah, I've been here way too often. | used to play in this place when | was a kid,” he explained, turning right as they entered a large corridor.

“What? You played here? How is this possible?” Her countenance was a mix of amazement and consternation.

“Yes, because...” “That is because | am kind of Xavier's uncle,” The Alpha had been interrupted by a voice. When a tall man entered the hall, their feet cto a stop. Kiara noticed a deadly attractive man who exuded a dangerous aura.

He was white-skinned with blood-red eyes. He was the King of the Vampires! “The Vampire King was your uncle?” Kiara wondered aloud, drawing Alfred's attention.

“Kind off, but not really,” Xavier answered blandly as if he hadn't just stated something out of the ordinary. As the King fastened his gaze on the young Luna, there was a sudden quiet settled over the hall. Xavier stared between the two of them before Kiara noticed his crimson eyes and turned away from him. Why was he staring at her? Was he trying to frighten her? The Alpha let out a low growl, drawing his mate closer to him, which caused Alfred to move his gaze away from her.

The thousands of year old Vampire grinned at Xavier's possessiveness and returned to his seat. Stephen and Xavier's father had a strong relationship with the Vampire King. Alfred had watched the twins grow up in front of his eyes and regarded them as his nephews, despite the fact that both of the twins had wanted to have a relationship that was that of neither friend nor foe following the death of their father. He crossed his legs as he sat in front of them like the king he was.

“Yes, | was like your husband's uncle until he chose to breach the treaty and kill my people,” he said, scooping up a glass of blood that smelled awful to the werewolves’ sensitive noses. Kiara arched her brows as she heard his surprising comments. The vampires had been assaulted by werewolves? That was when she heard her husband's laugh.

“It seems the Vampire King is in the mood to joke,” Xavire chuckled bitterly as he placed Kiara in a seat near his.

“But I'm dead serious here. You are the one who is violating the treaty and murdering my people!” When Xavier returned his gaze to that of the crimson eyed King, his demeanor had altered and his eyes darkened. With a solemn expression, the King uncrossed his legs and leaned forward slightly.

“You see Xavier. I've been tolerating your pack’s attacks because | thought you were just having fun, but now you've been murdering my people, something | could never tolerate! If | recall correctly, the treaty states that werewolves will not interfere with my affairs, land, or anything else. It will persist for at least the next 10 years. Everything was going swimmingly until you launched an outrageous attack and began sending your wolves to murder my vampires. The first tmight have been a mistake, but not the second twhen you killed more than 10 of my people!” Alfred was snapped enraged his vicious teeth had grown larger as he spoke.

“I killed 10 of your vampires? What a joke! You can’t manage your own guilt, so you accuse my wolves? You murdered three of my wolves and placed one of your people as a spy in my pack. | am the one tolerating your stunts for the sake of our previous relationship,” the Alpha growled. The young she-wolf, who had been quiet for a long thad been listening to both parties, looked at both of them. Neither of them averted their gazes as they glared angrily at one another. As this continued, it seemed as if they would grab each other's collar in a matter of seconds.

“Kane!!!” Alfred yelled with his gaze fixed on the Alpha’s green eyes. A tall, gorgeous male dressed completely in black entered the hall and stood like a statue behind his King.

“Show Alpha Xavier how his wolves have slaughtered our people,” he demanded. Kane took a step forward to place a couple photos in front of the Alpha and Luna. Xavier began to carefully examine each photograph, only to discover that the King’s people had been murdered by werewolves. Their bodies had been ripped to shreds and disfigured. The claws and teeth marks from the assaults were more similar to those of the Sirius Bright Pack’s people.

“It’s not possible!” Xavier stated as he examined each photograph in disbelief.

“It’s tto admit it. You slaughtered my people,” Alfred snapped as he drank a sip of blood. Xavier flung the photo away before returning his gaze to the King.

“Admit what? You should own up to your mistake. This is evidence of your spy committing murder! My wolves’ blood contained vampire venom!” Xavier pushed the photos into Kane's hand, who gave them to his King.

Alfred’s crimson eyes becwicked as soon as he saw the proof.

“This was not done by my people!” he growled, throwing the photos away. “Then my pack has also not murdered your people!” Xavier sneered.

They were both staring at each other like ravenous beasts, neither of them had chosen to back down until they saw Kiara stand up from her chair. Ignoring the two of them, she knelt down to examine the photos more closely.

“It appears that no one murdered each other,” Kiara murmured, but both men heard her. “What do you mean exactly?” The she-wolf’s ear was filled with the heavy voice of the two men.

“It means that there is a third party killing both Vampires and Werewolves,” she explained as she rose to her feet and turned to face both of the men, who were still perplexed.

“A third party? How were you able to see that?” Alfred inquired. Kiara approached a table and placed all of the photos on it in front of the Alpha and Vampire King.

“If you look closely, the killings appear to be extremely blatant. The Vampires and werewolves did not try to conceal anything; instead they blatantly killed leaving clues everywhere. It suggests that they wanted us to know who killed them, or rather that they wanted us to believe that vampires and werewolves killed each other. When in reality, someone else is killing both of us. Someone who is trying to exploit your quarrel and start a war between the two of you to weaken you,” Kiara concluded her theory as she stood there staring at the two men who had becquiet. The Vampire King took another closer look at Xavier's proof and tossed the photos aside.

“f**k! | think that she is right. Although there is a third person involved, the bite and poison are Vampire's. | know that my people would not dare to commit this crbehind my back because | would figure it out and punish them right away. | swear | have not slain any of your people, Xavier,” the King said casually trying to persuade the Alpha.

“I can also guarantee you that none of my wolves have slain your vampires. They can’t lie to me, and | am constantly aware of every pack member's movements,” Xavier stated with the scasualness. They were speaking more informally now, but the mystery remained. Who could be responsible for these deaths? The Alpha and the King looked at Kiara who once again appeared to be deep in thought.

“What do you say, pretty girl?” Alfred inquired, capturing the young Luna’s attention. Pretty girl? Okay. This attractive vampire was a thousand years her older, so apparantly she was a girl in his eyes.

“Chere, Kiara,” Xavier glared at Alfred as he drew her closer to him. The Alpha was irritated by the King’s red eyes being locked on his mate. Dean had grown to despise the King. Why was he staring at her so intently? He had never been interested in any she-wolves before, so what had changed? “What do you think?” Xavier questioned Kiara, placing his arms around her waist preventing her from seeing the man with red eyes.

“I believe there is a traitor on both sides who is assisting our adversaries. If I'm not mistaken, that person is closer to us and has been with us for years. Therefore they are well aware of our strengths and weaknesses.

They are well-versed in our combat techniques, threats, and everything else that they would need to know to pull this off. Using all of this, they slaughtered vampires and planted evidence implicating us to the vampires. We experienced the sissue. Both sides have a spy or traitor, but they are well hidden,” Kiara stated.

Xavier let out a long sigh and nodded, as did the King, who agreed with her.

“What do you intend to do now?” Alfred inquired of Xavier as two women with refreshments entered the hall.

Kiara was taken by surprise to discover that food was available at the Vampire's Fort.

“I need to update Zander about the situation. We were under the impression that this had been committed by you, but circumstances have changed. We have a spy or a traitor among us!” Xavier had his palm clenched at his side. All he wanted to do was get back in tso that he could s***h the traitor’s throat.

“Then letknow if you learn anything more about that third party. I'd gladly kill whoever touched my people and set this wicked gin motion. Ill inform my people as well,” Alfred remarked, observing that Kiara’s gaze was fixed on the water.

“It’s not poisonous,” he assured her, her eyes widened with amazement.

“We don’t poison pretty girls like you, but | can’t say the sfor the rude Alphas,” jeered the King. Xavier rolled his eyes in annoyance. This was the reason he avoided this vampire. Kiara burst out laughing.

From the outside, the King had appeared cold and frightening, yet he was actually rather cool.

“Stop flirting with my mate right in front of me. | am warning you,” Xavier growled, throwing him a hateful glare.

“I'm not flirting; I'm just trying to figure out why she’s pretending to not know me,” the King remarked, his gaze drawn to Kiara’s chocolaty eyes.

“What exactly do you mean? Do you know each other?” Xavier inquired, his gaze flickering between Kiara and Alfred.

“I'm sorry, but | don’t know you,” Kiara said politely with a smile.

“Hmmm, but | think | have seen you somewhere before,” the king spoke quietly from his eyes Kiara could tell that he was deep in thought.

“Your Highness, the room is ready for the Luna,” explained a woman who entered the hall.

“Why don’t the two of you get srest and freshen up a little? I'm sure you don’t want to travel back to the pack in the middle of the night,” he advised. Kiara looked at Xavier, unsure of what his next step would be. Were they going to return? If he said yes, she needed to use the restroom first.

“Go and fresh up. | will follow you shortly,” Xavier let go of her hand motioning her to go. He watched as she followed the vampire woman out of the hall, but before she left she turned to smile at him.

“Don’t take too long,” she told him. Xavier smiled back feeling warmth spreading inside his heart.

“Hmm, someone is in love...” Alfred commented.

“Stop assuming things,” Xavier responded by rising from his chair as he tried to contact Zander. When his brother did not answer the phone, he dialed Kaiden’s number.

“Hello Kaiden, why is Zander not answering my calls?” Xavier asked.

“Xavier,there is a big problem!” The Beta yelled as he breathed hard.

“What's wrong?” the Alpha frowned. “Zander and Adira are...” “My lord,” a lady dashed into the hall and knelt in front of Alfred. A sudden s**** m and other noises from outside the hall drowned out Kiaden’s words. When Xavier spotted the lady who had brought Kiara to their room, he almost dropped his phone. The woman had returned alone and terrified.

“What is happening?” Alfred roared.

“Your Highness, we're being attacked again!” She informed, but the Alpha grabbed her arm, yanking her up to her feet as he stared deep into her dark red eyes.

“Where is Kiara?” He demanded with a lethal snarl. She shuddered in terror before responding.

“... I'm not sure. She simply disappeared,” she stuttered. Xavier let go of her, but Dean was going insane. Their mate had disappeared?