Protect Me, Alpha King - Chapter 174: Chapter 174

You Still Love Him
The princess's delusion was to the highest degree. I no longer understand her obsession with the alpha king. Perhaps she was mad. Madly in love. It was giving me goosebumps. How could someone give that
kind of affection to someone? Not even Zenith, his mate, could provide it.
I guess Princess Fiona was just madly in love.
"There will be no wedding without my approval and the queen's approval, Princess Leonora. I hope we are clear on that, and you don't go that far."
The Princess showed off again her irritating pout as if everyone who saw it would fall on their knees and do whatever she wanted. "Can't you see I love you, Your Highness?"
"There is a fine line between real love and obsession, princess." I shifted my gaze to the prince. "I hope your brother taught you that." Or was he also obsessing about pleasing his beloved sister?
"We are already beading our goodbyes, Your Grace. Not the right time to lecture us about your principles and belief in life."
The princess nodded. "You hurt my feelings these past few days, Your Highness. You were never like this when we first met. You were kind. Always consider my feelings. My wants. And everything else."
"D-did I do something wrong, Your Highness? Why did you suddenly become cold?"
"Princess, you are imagining things. The alpha king is always cold," I exclaimed. "Oops. No offense, Your Highness. Only telling the truth."
"I hope you know what you are saying, Your Highness," Prince Calixtro said, smirking. "Your words can be the start of the war."
"The alpha king always knows what he says," I defended, which I did not understand why. Perhaps because of our child? The child dictated it? "He is wise. Don't treat him as if he is a child. The only child here is
your sister."
I stepped beside the alpha king when the sun's rays hit me. My stomach grumbled, begging for food. I had to wait for a bit until these two were finally gone, and then I could finally have some peace with no more
stress.
The princess stomped her foot. "I am not a child!"
While the princess was ranting, her brother left her and went to their awaiting carriage.
"You are acting like a child," I corrected. "Insisting yourself on marrying the alpha king even if he already has me is not mature. It is immature."
The princess sulked.
"I don't understand why you keep on attacking me. I am your visitor. You should be nice to me."
Ah. She was using the visitor card.
And you should stop being a bitch, I muttered to myself. If you are not the princess, I would say you are whoring yourself to the alpha king.
"I am nice, Princess Leonora. Just not now. It's because of my pregnancy. Hormones play a lot of roles. That is according to the pack doctor."
"His Majesty and I will soon have a child. Something already happened last night," she said, giggling.
My mouth fell open.
From the corner of my mouth, Maxxwell gritted his teeth but remained silent.
As I asked her what she had just said, but the princess had already turned her back and gone after brother into the carriage. Peering out of the carriage's window, she said, "I'll be writing later soon, Your
Highness."
Maxxwell groaned.
"Respond, will you? Or you won't be seeing your child," she threatened.
And their carriage started moving away. The princess's head was still stuck on the window, and she was waving her hands like crazy. When they were no longer in sight, the servants also dispersed and returned
to their workstations, leaving Maxxwell and me.
With raised eyebrows, I faced Maxxwell. "You had a great time last night?"
"I did," he answered without hesitation.
How bold. Not any ounce of regret.
I felt my blood boil.
"You are shameless, you know, Maxxwell? First, you wanted me to forgive you, but then I found out you just had sex with the princess. What kind of bastard are you? Are you even genuine in asking for my
forgiveness?"
He scowled at me. "I am not talking about the princess earlier. I was referring to our conversation last night. For the first time, you were not that mad at me, and that made me happy."
My heart jumped at the sincerity of his voice.
Damn.
There was no way that made me overjoyed. "Did you or did you not talk with Princess Leonora last night? I want an honest answer."
"We did talk."
"Did something happen between you?"
Maxxwell heaved a sigh. "River. I thought you were already familiar with that princess's attitude. Did you not see she was lying? As a liar yourself, you should be able to spot one."
I folded my arms in front of my chest. "Excuse me? Are you telling me that I am a liar?"
"Aren't you one?" he asked back. "I always smell your lies but was only silent about that, River."
My cheeks flushed with embarrassment. "If you are a true gentleman, you should not be vocal about that!"
His expression softened. "I never wanted to hide anything from you. I promised myself that when you come back to the palace. I wanted to start by being vocal about my emotions. I wasn't like that before."
My chest pounded loudly.
I was sweating profusely.
Such words are enough to make my world tremble.
"Don't ever sweet talk me, Maxxwell. Your words cannot be trusted."
I turned my back to him. "River. What will you do if you learn that the princess is pregnant? Which I know won't happen because nothing happened between us. We just talked. But our conversation was longer
last night. If you do not insist on going back to your chamber, you should be sleeping with me. Something might happen between us." He mumbled the last three words.
Images of the two laughing together while the heavily pregnant princess resurfaced in my mind. And it was not that appealing.
"Not in a chance."
It felt like I was tasting something better on my tongue.
"What will you do?" he pressed again.
"I said I will not give you a slight chance."
The alpha king's eyes watered. "A-are you not considering giving me a chance, River?" He closed the distance between us and held me both in my arms, giving me a little shake. "Tell me."
Pulling his hands away, I said, "I am not saying anything. I'll go to the kitchen."
"River, wait! We are not yet done!"
"Our conversation has already ended, Maxxwell."
Seven months later
Excitement bubbled in my system as I sauntered towards the carriage's location. Finally, the money I had saved for the last months from Riverside Pack would be used. I will buy my baby's clothes.
The pack doctor had already told me the gender of my baby and he also said that he was healthy.
The pack doctor was not mistaken about that. Every day, this little boy I was carrying would always awaken me with his strong kicks, sometimes making me stop in the middle of doing something, just like now.
Smiling, I caressed my bulging stomach while saying sweet words to him. "I'll be buying some of your clothes, my little pumpkin. Behave, will you? Momma will be quick, but I will make sure you will be the
most handsome baby they could ever lay their eyes upon."
Pumpkin gave me a little kick. "What a good boy."
Then, I started walking again in the hallway.
I looked at my surroundings, hoping the alpha king would never be here.
He became a nagger as months passed by. He always told me I should be careful no matter where I went. He kept on insisting I should have my own bodyguard or servant with me, but I continued telling him that
I did not need it.
The servants bowed at me upon spotting me, and I smiled at them. They treated me like the real queen after the alpha king announced I was his queen.
"Where are you going?"
I jumped at the source of the voice.
With quick steps, Delta Isagani closed the distance between us. "The alpha king keeps telling you that you should never be alone. What if you will be in labor?"
I rolled my eyes at him. "Labor? I'm still eight months pregnant, Delta Isagani. Probably next month."
"The very reason why the alpha king insisted that I will be with you always."
"Don't mind him. He is always overreacting." I looked at him from head to foot. His eyes were sadder than usual, as if he was forcing himself to continue living even if there was no left worth fighting for.
"You are still alive," I announced. "I thought you were dead. You look like hell, by the way."
He gave me a small smile. "I did? The alpha king had sent me to some field duty."
My scowl deepened.
"You know what? You will be the godfather of my child."
His eyes widened, and it was my first time seeing life in them. "Godfather? Only royalties could become godfathers to the alpha king's child. I am no one. Even Lady Juliana rejected me because of my poor status
in life."
"Nonsense. This is my child. I will be the one to decide who will be the godfathers. In a few weeks, I will be a mother. I hope you will help me raise my child."
"His Highness is also there, River," he said sadly. "He will be a great father."
My mood turned sour.
"Don't mention his name. I don't particularly appreciate hearing his name. He does not have any right to my child." 1
Delta Isagani matched my turtle pace. It felt like I was carrying a sack of potatoes.
"Come on, River. No matter how much you avoid him, you will also rely on him. How long will you harden your heart and never give him a chance? The alpha king is trying, but you always push him away. Do you
want your child to see the
two
of you treat each other like that?"
Irritated, I faced him. "Are you here to lecture me, huh? Don't ever come here again and approach me if you only keep defending the alpha king. Delta Isagani. The last thing I want is to be stressed. That is not
good for the
baby, okay?"
Isagani shook his head. "Both you and Dawn are stubborn," he muttered.
Dawn.
My ears perked.
I had never heard anything about her. "D-did you find her?"
"She doesn't want to be found, River."
I bit my lower lip while caressing my big tummy. It looked like I had swallowed three balls.
Walking started to become difficult as sleeping. Right now, all I wanted was to sleep, but after thinking if I continued this lifestyle, I would suffer when I am into labor.
"Tell me if there is some news about here. I have to go, Delta Isagani. The marketplace will be busy today."
"I'm joining you."
Putting one hand on my hip, I answered, "Oh, no. You are not. I want to go alone."
"At your situation? His Majesty won't allow it."
"I'm not asking for his opinion. This is my life."
"You are carrying his child. The heir to the throne. If he is not busy, he will be joining you."
"You tell him I don't want him to. It irks me whenever I see him."
"Perhaps you are saying the opposite, River. Maybe another part of your mind wanted him, but your ego won't let you. You still love him. You still love the alpha king."