The Alpha King's Princess
The Alpha King’s Princess – Chapter 24

“Aren’t you going to introduce me, Franci’?” The man asked gruffly. Francium grit his teeth and winced. I glared at the man’s hand on Francium’s shoulder. I could almost hear the bones in Francium’s shoulder creak under the force.

“Claire,” he bit out. “Hedy, this is my older brother, Felix.”

The name was familiar, but when Claire stiffened beside me, I knew it wasn’t for any good reason. To be fair, he didn’t look like it could ever be a good reason to be alone with him. He oozed a sense of superiority and arrogance that was outright dangerous in the right circumstances.

“Good,” Felix said, “Now get out of the way. You’re in my seat.”

Francium took a deep breath when Claire looked up and glared at Felix. Her voice was low and threatening. I had never seen her like this. She looked ready to jump up and claw Felix’s face off as she spoke.

“Let him go.”

Felix quirked an eyebrow before he smirked. “Feisty. I always thought you were. Do you really—”

“Let him go, or I’ll make you,” Claire said, rising to her feet, baring her teeth at him. “I know exactly who you are, Felix, and I have no interest in you. No one invited you. Leave.”

Felix laughed and pulled Francium back from the table. His chair dragged against the floor.

“You really know how to get me going. Why don’t you ditch the pig and this runt, and you and I replace someplace to get to know each other?”

Claire narrowed her eyes. “The only thing you’ll be getting to know is the feeling of my claws in your throat if you don’t back off.”

I looked between her and Francium. His eyes were wide with surprise as if he hadn’t expected something like that out of Claire. I knew that Claire had learned some basic combat from her father because she was planning to join the administration of the pack when she graduated, but I had never seen any of it in action.

It was kind of exciting. I glanced over at the Team Gamma-2 member, who was watching the situation from the corner of his eye. I shook my head subtly. If he didn’t have to get involved, I didn’t want him to. The thought of him made me wince. He was definitely going to report this to Candido and Allen.

The thought pricked my heart as I thought about him. I still wasn’t sure where Candido had spent his night and what he was doing today.

“You don’t want him,” someone else said, coming over and shoving Felix aside. He looked like he was also related to them, so I assumed he was another brother. “He’s nothing compared to me.”

Claire scoffed and sneered at her. “We’ve been over this a million times, and I’m still not interested.”

My eyes widened at the revelation. I had no idea Claire was so popular with New Moon Pack boys. It would probably crush all of Francium’s brothers to replace out that Claire only had eyes for Francium.

The poor sods.

He huffed. “That was before. This is a new day.”

“She said she wasn’t interested,” Francium said, glaring at Felix and the newcomer. “Leave her alone.”

I looked at Francium, surprised. His eyes flickered with light that reminded me of Candido’s eyes when I had been on top of him. As I thought about it, I couldn’t help but wonder. Rumor had it that Francium was still too weak to shift. Based on what Candido told me about shifting and our wolf instincts, there was no way that I was seeing what I thought I was.

But I was. Was Francium’s sickness real or was it the result of something else?

Poison came to mind.

“What was that, Franci’?” The newcomer asked and grabbed Francium by the front of his shirt. “I didn’t hear you over the bruises I’m going to give you.”

“If you touch him—”

Francium’s arm twitched and he clenched his fist. “I said leave her alone.”

My eyes widened. I looked at Claire who was watching the three of them closely. There was something in his tone that sent up a warning flag in my mind. Francium wasn’t a physical match against either of them. I could see what he meant when he described them. They were both broad and didn’t seem to have much going for them intellectually.

“You think you have a chance with her? Last I checked you were chasing fat girls, so back to it and stay out of it.”

Francium twisted in his grip, swinging at him as his shirt ripped from the man’s grip. The man’s head flew back as Francium’s fist connected with his face. He whirled around and collapsed, bent over, and choking on a cough. He covered his mouth.

“Did you just hit me?” The newcomer hissed. His eyes flashed with fury.

Felix laughed. “I think he did. You got a black eye from Franci’! How f*****g embarrassing!”

He threw his head back. “Wait until I tell Alex and Ben about this!”

I stood but Claire was already between the newcomer and Francium. “You’re not going to touch him.”

“You’re real cute, but you’re starting to piss me off.”

“There’s nothing attractive about bullies,” I said idly as I stood and stood beside Claire. “Leave him alone. Leave us alone, or you’ll have to deal with someone way outside of your weight class.”

They sneered. “You’re definitely overweight.”

I rolled my eyes. “Claire’s my best friend. She’s also the daughter of the Secretary of State of the Full Moon Pack.”

I tilted my head. “Now, she’s friends with Francium… Who do you think she’ll call if a hair on his head is out of place?”

The newcomer bared his teeth then Felix put his hand on his brother’s shoulders. “Let is go, Jordan. It’s obvious that she’s into whelps. Pretty but no sense of a real man.”

I rolled my eyes again. “Says that man who thinks insulting a woman’s friends and generally being overbearing and ignorant will get him a date.”

I shooed them. “Go away. You’re ruining lunch.”

They shot one last glare at Francium.

“We’ll see you at home, Franci’.”

Claire growled. “Don’t push your luck, jackass.”

They sneered and walked away, shoving each other. I turned back to Francium whose hand was covered in b***d. Claire dropped to her knees, pulling napkins from the table to help him clean up. B***d came out of his mouth and nose. He looked a little pale as his breath wheezed through him.

“Are you okay? Should we take you to the infirmary?”

He shook his head. “I’ll be fine.”

He pulled out a pill bottle and shook one out before popping it into his mouth. I didn’t get a good look at the pill, but soon, his breathing returned to normal, and he regained his color. He wiped his nose with a wry look.

“Not exactly the most attractive thing to see,” Francium said with a bitter chuckle. “Sorry about that and all the drama.”

“You should ask the Alpha King for sanctuary,” I said. He lifted his head with wide eyes. “Candido might have a terrible reputation, but he wouldn’t turn a blind eye to your distress.”

“I’d vouch for you,” Claire said, casting her gaze in the direction his brothers had gone. “They… They clearly don’t care how much they hurt you.”

He chuckled. “The New Moon Pack might thrive on the arts, but inside the main house… it’s always like this.”

He shook his head. “If I leave… it will only make things worse, and I couldn’t leave my mom without someone to talk the finer points of poetry with.”

He lifted his head and met my gaze. “I’ll be fine. They haven’t killed me yet.”

“Yet?” Claire almost shrieked. “They should get a chance to change that!”

He waved her off. “They might punch me a little, but I’ll heal.”

“But—”

“My family… my brothers, my father’s side of the family have always been like this. I’ll be fine.” He struggled to his feet, swaying a bit. “Thanks for your help… I should get to my next class, but maybe next lunch time doesn’t have to be so dramatic?”

Claire’s jaw trembled, but she nodded. “I… I’ll still be interested in your take on Selena’s death.”

His lips twitched. “Next time, for sure.”

Claire and I watched him go, but there was something about his gait that set me on edge. He swayed and stumbled, not like shock, but as if his strength was wavering.

“I… have a bad feeling,” Claire said. I looked at her and turned back to watch Francium disappear down the hall.

“I agree.”

But I was sure that we had bad feelings about two different things. Was Francium an awakened wolf too? Was he being poisoned or was it something worse than that?

I didn’t know, but I had a feeling I had to replace out