Alpha's Nala

Legaxy

"Dyme!" our general manager, Ms. Susie Marina Dawn, called out from her office.

Hearing that familiar urgency in her tone, I automatically dropped every bit of work I had on hand and quickly walked towards her office's glass door—not caring about the loud click-clacking my silver-gray heels are making as they hit the marble-tiled floor.

When I got inside the well-lit, white room, I calmly replied with a genuine smile, “Yes Boss?”

Sadly, she didn't look up.

Instead, she shoved a few objects off her porcelain desk—I somehow caught some of it while moving closer to her side—and kept on rummaging through her already scattered files. I even heard her grunt in an unladylike fashion, and I knew from there she was in a terrible mood.

The tension, which she tried to relieve by rolling her shoulders, was even visible in her sky-blue eyes as she frantically scanned her desk.

Judging by the looks of it now, she was searching for something important, and if I guessed it right, Ms. Dawn was searching for the morning paperwork. Yup, the typical Monday morning routine.

I sighed in relief upon understanding what was happening. Then, I casually walked around her office, not forgetting to place the things, mostly stamps and pens, I had caught earlier at a safer distance and space and started searching for said files.

Having sensed my presence, finally, Ms. Dawn started rambling about missing royal contracts and reports while her hands kept on checking the messy pile, flipping over sheet after sheet of both long and short paper bonds.

"Dyme, did you happen to see where this pile of," she made weird signs indicating a stockpile, "you know, the one I asked you to..." she trailed off completely.

Getting what she meant, and already having my suspicions, I made my way to her side drawer which was on the far side of her office space. I pulled the files I was thinking of, and when I placed the paperwork on the table, she finally, and instantly, calmed down. Every tension in her body eased, and the frown plastered on her oval-shaped face left. However, realizing something bad, she eyed me.

Being her secretary for two years now, I found myself close to her on a completely different level, a level no employee ever had with her big boss, which is great because it made everything between us so easy to understand. So, when I said I knew what she meant by that stare, I knew very well what she meant by that stare.

She thought I made her look like a maniac a while ago, and eventually, I needed to explain that.'

“You ordered that to be tucked away, safely,” I explained, trying my best to stop the smile from forming on my face.

“Oh,” was all that she said. Her wrinkled eyebrows grew smooth as she remembered her request, and the blush of embarrassment that appeared on her cheeks, which she tried to hide by placing a hand on her face, didn’t go unnoticed by me.

I couldn’t help myself and giggle at the sight of it.

She rolled her eyes, knowing all too well that I caught her blushing.

“Still, did you...” she started, being serious now.

“Yes, boss. I compiled it based on what you asked me,” I said, cutting her off. “All the things you need to sign today are there. Especially the contracts for next week's event,” I added.

Hearing the job was done, she completely changed back to her usual composure and demeanor, the calm and collected one. Then, she quickly scanned the paperwork with professional eyes and said, “Yet, is it in—”

“Of course, boss,” I said, cutting her off again. “As per your instruction, I got it in alphabetical order.”

For some, this “cutting off” manner was somewhat rude and unprofessional. But between the two of us, cutting off each other's sentences was just as normal as gossiping. Yes, this goes to show how close we were.

Then, she put on her glasses and muttered, “Good, good.” while starting on the files. “So, anything on the agenda for today?” she added.

“Only one, boss,” I stated, quickly checking my notes for a confirmation. “It's a meeting with Mr. Heinz Black.”

When the name was mentioned, she immediately paused and looked at me; her cold stare was so scary that it almost made me shiver. “The same thing?”

I nodded slightly. “Yes, boss, the same issue with… with the werewolves.”

She sighed heavily. “This will be the sixth time this week.”

She became silent then. I gave her that moment as I got into thinking myself...

Our front office staff had been attacked by our werewolf guests for weeks now. Most of it was anger issues, which was kind of normal for their kind. Some were acting out of pure dissatisfaction and misunderstanding from our customer service, others because of jealousy—mating season—while a few were high tensions were caused by the bloody war that happened three years ago.

This war was mainly between three creatures, specifically the werewolves and the mixed vampire-witch race. I didn't know much about the details, but as far as I knew, that war was the most painful and disastrous and ended up without a winner. Vampires and Witches almost got extinct while the Alpha King he lost his mate.

Thankfully, with human intervention, the tension and grudge between the dark creatures slowly eased. And that right there was the whole point for the existence of our hotel.

As per Ms. Dawn, since the day the Mallow Hotel opened—with treaties, rules, and protocols to accommodate each kind—all creatures and humans learned to co-exist with each other. Harmony started to happen, and uniformity was a new law.

Still, it wasn’t that easy to heal.

Problems still occurred, and fear still existed within the community. But understanding how things were, it was safe to say that chaos and disturbances were normal nowadays.

Though, we do want to minimize that...

It could be hard to manage, and I admired my boss for that. She, a human, handled all of it, making everything in order and calm by just talking.

Be it her staff or wild guests, Ms. Dawn could tame everyone.

“You know what, before you jump on to things, I'll get your coffee first,” I stated, breaking the tense atmosphere with a smile.

Hearing coffee and seeing me go all bright and happy again, she finally flashed a smile of her own, her first for the day, and she looked younger when she smiled like that. Her wrinkles from her not that old age disappear.

“Thank you, darling,” she said in a sweet, relieved tone.

As I started to leave, I heard her say, “What would I do without you Legaxy Dyme?”

I rolled my eyes at what she had said and continued walking to get her coffee.

Legaxy Time flies so fast, and before I knew it, it was already dark.

Finally, time to go home.

I packed my stuff, got to say my usual goodbye to the boss, then changed into my casual outfit. Once I dropped my uniform into the uniform shoots going down the laundry room, I exited the hotel.

Since it was a long-distance between home and the hotel—I didn’t see a lot of taxis around, and thanks to my overprotective parents, I never learned to drive—I texted my Dad for a ride home.

I waited for a reply, but then realized, he worked a lot at the Hue Kingdom.

Considering the fact that the Vampire King stayed as a hidden character and never left his chamber unless necessary, my Dad filled in for most of “his” work. That meant my poor father had to handle full-time paperwork duty and had to accept, without thinking twice, endless overtime.

So, I didn't know if Papa could spare me that extra time.

I sighed at the thought.

Surprisingly, he texted back, and I see a “yes” on my screen. I got excited and waited for him, but once I got picked up by our Black SUV, I was shocked to see my brother, Seth, in the driver's seat.

Seth Deo Dyme, my big brother. He was a vampire, so you could imagine when he got out of the car and flashed his pearly white smile at me that a lot of human girls were already drooling over him.

GREAT!

My cue to do a facepalm.

I was in no mood for having another set of fake friends asking me how was I doing when in reality, they just wanted to ask about the whereabouts of Seth, so they could stalk him all day, every day.

And just the fact that my big brother only had to flash a smile to make every girl in town go nuts—I mean, what else am I going to do or say?

But for some odd reason, and unlike those bewitched ladies, I acted pretty much normal around that smile, and more importantly, around Seth.

Not that my brother was ugly or plain. He was drop-dead gorgeous with brown hair, smooth white skin, pointed nose, masculine body, pretty green eyes, and perfect smile.

Perhaps, I was just too familiar with my brother. We did live under the same roof once.

“Hey, cheeky boo,” Seth greeted and ruffled my hair playfully.

“Kuya! Don’t mess up my hair!” I exclaimed, hitting his arm.

He laughed, dodging my hand, “Still a neat freak, I see. You do know that you look far cuter in ruffled hair than your usual hairstyle,” he stated, flashing a full smile at me.

I frowned.

“What's wrong with my straight hair?” I asked, glaring at him.

“Boo, no offense, I don't like the straight hair on you. It makes you look old, dead serious... and boring,” he murmured the last part, but I still heard it loud and clear.

I rolled my eyes at him, quite offended.

At the same time, I momentarily caught a glimpse of human ladies still captivated by Seth's presence. I got distracted by this because I saw one lady, one of our front office staff members named Maylene, almost trip while walking our way.

Cruel as it could be, and as much as I wanted to help my kind to snap out of the trance, that was how vampire beauty worked for mortals. It captured you without any warning, then engulfed you to the point that you could escape until you finally got hurt, or killed, without fully realizing it.

Sure, it was an involuntary response of both the heart and mind, thanks to the strong magic in the charm, but I believed that you could only get hurt once you let the enchantment sink in more.

Though, who am I to judge these ladies, knowing all too well how immune I was?

“Let's get you home,” my big brother said, snapping me out of my thoughts.

I could only nod at him and from there, we talked about our day. We got to joke and laugh for a brief moment while we casually walked to the car's side.

“Kuya, why'd you picked me up instead of Papa?” I asked as we reached the side door of the car.

Seth shot me a confused look as he took my backpack from me. “You don't remember?” He asked.

“Remember what?” I inquired innocently, which earned me a glare from him.

“Seriously, Legaxy? The Red Moon Ball is scheduled to happen next week,” he stated, crossing his arms in front of his chest. “Don't tell me you forgot all about it already,” he added, sounding hurt and upset.

I made an “oh” face, and he saw that I did forget the once-in-a-lifetime party of the Vampire-Witch race, where every single Vampire and Witch finds their Red. This is equal to a werewolf’s mate.

Seth only grunted a response at me.

Every year, Seth never found his Red. I didn't know why or how the process worked for them, but sadly, he never got a match.

He was already 28, and I didn't know if he was still willing to look for his Red since he ended up choosing the security force, where he guards and protects, over waiting for someone who never came.

Ashamed, I bit my lip.

“Sorry, I didn't mean to forget about it. I've been a bit... unfocused lately. Hotel stuff. Don't ask,” I apologized, chewing the inside of my lip as I abruptly recalled the heated morning meeting session we had with Mr. Black.

All the arguments, the screams, the unfiltered and foul language bouncing around the room, and fists pounding on the porcelain table causing it to crack—yeah, that kind of stuff left me a bit stunned, worried, and irritated.

I guess I wasn’t as over it as I believed I was.

Seth sighed, and seeing how unfocused I really was at that second, he became quiet for a while.

All of a sudden, he pinched my left cheek to look at him.

“Hey, it's alright, cheeky boo. I'm the one who's sorry here. Stress got the best of me.” He sighed again. “It's just... hard, and knowing it's a big day, everyone doesn't just expect it to be perfect. Rather, they want it to be perfect,” he explained, flashing a sad smile.

I only blinked a few times before registering Seth's apologetic eyes.

“That's why Dad didn't pick you up. Overtime, again, but he said he was sorry,” he added softly while rubbing my cheek with his thumb.

I nodded at him in understanding and finally went inside the car. As he entered the driver's seat and laid my backpack beside him, I caught him sniffing the air.

I scowled.

“Do you ever stop that, Kuya?” I asked.

He looked confused as he glanced my way.

“What do you mean? I always do this,” he stated.

“But you're off duty. It's not like somebody's going to jump out of the bushes and hurt us,” I protested, scrunching my nose in the process.

He chuckled.

“It's better to be safe than sorry, Legaxy. Besides, it's just a security check, not the hunting stance,” he said, backing up the car. “You know pretty well that I will feel like hell if I didn't do this perimeter check since we are at a place where everyone is welcome,” he pointed out.

I clasped my mouth shut after hearing that and didn't argue further.

He was right.

Mallow Hotel was sacred ground for everybody, and no one was allowed to fight here unless granted by the head owner, but you never knew what each dark mind could do. Especially a dark beast's mind who was being unintentionally provoked by their enemies.

“Oh,” was all that I could chirp, the sudden fear lingering in the back of my mind.

“Not to mention.” He paused, and a dangerous grin appeared on his face as he glanced at me through the driver's mirror. “I do love smelling your scent.”

At first, I didn't think much about it, and believing that it was just his normal teasing, I rolled my eyes at him. “Shut up. You said no hunting stance.”

He laughed hard as we drove off.

However, he was not done joking, and from there, I saw a hint of hunger in his eyes, from green to red, while peeking again at me in the mirror.

Oh, hell no...

“Seriously, though, your scent could drive a vampire crazy... That savory, sweet, sweet scent...” He licked his lips and swallowed hard. “I know I would, boo...” His voice was playful at the end, but too low and husky, making me confirm he was hungry for blood.

I stiffened hearing that, and like a switch, the memories of him almost killing me flashed back in my head, replacing the fear I felt with tremendous panic.

“I wished you hadn't said that, Seth, especially when you're starving...” I muttered, nervously.

He heard me and the fright in my voice was his wake-up call. His once hungry features immediately dropped and turned into pure shock, then pain.

“Shit! I'm so sorry, cheeky boo. I didn't realize I was—”

“Seth, no... It's okay,” I managed to state as I flashed my smile at him through the rearview mirror, trying to hide the horror I was feeling. “Do you need to feed? We could stop, and I will let you go hunt—”

“No, no, I can wait,” he cut me off, breathing hard. “Mom, she… she will be disappointed if we don't eat her dinner,” he added, slowly calming down now. His eyes were still shifting from red to green, which meant he was fighting for control.

I just nodded, and we both became silent for a while, waiting for him to thoroughly calm down.

“So, could I safely conclude that the reason why you are planning on leaving home is... us? We scare you far too much, don't we?” he queried in a miserable tone, breaking the silence that long crept between us.

I shook my head, and surprisingly, a giggle left my lips.

“Of course not, silly.” I replied, smiling at him in the mirror since I noticed he was relaxed now with his eyes in their normal shade of green. “It's just the idea of independence, Seth. Besides, no one in this family likes the idea of me driving.” I pouted at the thought.

He laughed, fully breaking the tension that we were feeling at the moment. “True. You're too clumsy for driving.”

I raised an eyebrow at him. “Thanks for the vote of confidence?” I stated, sarcastically.

He laughed harder.

I rolled my eyes at him, and this time, out of entertainment. “How's Howard and Axel by the way?” I asked, changing the topic.

He stopped laughing, and instantly, a wide smile was plastered on his face.

“The boys are great, actually. Howard got promoted to Major of the Vampire Army. Axel, on the other hand, has been recently chosen as the Head of the Witch Coven Ministry,” he stated, proudly.

I smiled at the news myself.

Like Seth, my other two brothers worked for the Hue Kingdom and were currently living there, leaving me with Mom and Dad.

Well, all my family members work at the Hue Kingdom, except for me, because I was prey there. But it didn't matter where they were, or what work they had. As long as they were happy with their chosen career paths and the home they were currently living in, then I was happy as well.

Especially the guys...

They were troublemakers in the past, and now, hearing how they got what they wanted and blossomed from there kind of made me want to tear up.

I was just so proud of them.

That reminded me though, what about Seth's duties, especially with the ongoing ball? He used to be on royal guarding duties whenever this ball occurred.

“What about you? How's work for you?” I curiously asked.

Surprisingly, Seth stiffened at my question. He didn't turn or answer the simple question I'd asked. He just kept on driving, eyes very focused now on the road.

Huh, funny...

“You don’t want to talk about—” I started nonchalantly.

“No, it's fine.” He cut me off, voice low but too dark with emotion I didn't even know existed within him. He sounded feral.

I waited for a continuation.

He sighed once. I waited.

Nothing.

I waited again.

Still, no word.

I almost gave up and was about to change the topic when he shot me a look through the mirror as if telling me to hold on and wait a little longer, which I did.

It took maybe under a minute or so before he sighed again, and this time, it was a bit heavy like he was carrying a burden so big that he forgot to breathe.

Then, finally, he talked.

“To be honest, I'm not liking the new assignment given to me by the Kingdom,” he stated in a plain voice.

My forehead wrinkled in confusion.

“Why?” I questioned, intrigued.

He hesitated at first. His eyes checked on me in the mirror before shaking his head; he was having an internal battle.

I glared at him to continue, which he, thankfully, obliged.

“First, I was not supposed to tell you anything—not yet, because the whole family should be around. And second, I'm planning to talk about this weekend, for Howard and Axel will be present at dinner. That's all I can say, no more,” he explained, eyeing me once again through the mirror.

I gave him my best begging face for more information, and he rolled his eyes at me.

“Goddess, you're so pushy!” he muttered, almost growling. “Fine, since you pleaded, I'll tell you one thing and one thing only, and sure enough, you’re never going to like it,” he stated.

I became perplexed.

“What do you mean? You know, Kuya, you always share everything with me first,” I pointed out, pouting at him. “Do you hate your job now that you will only give me clues instead of details? And why would I never like it? I mean, I am always fascinated by everything you do. Especially when it comes to your work,” I whined. Disappointment was clear in my eyes.

He shot me a small smile.

“Oh, cheeky boo, thank you. And hey, I still love my job, always have. However, there were some changes that I needed to work on and to be followed soon. Rules, to be exact, with strict compliance,” he explained, I saw him chewing his inside cheek.

“Changes? What changes?” I asked.

I never knew the Hue Kingdom could do that. As far as I'd known, they hadn’t changed anything before, especially when it came to their legislation.

That was a first...

The real question was what made them change?

Before I could formulate an answer, Seth's heavy exhale caught my attention.

“I'm not guarding any royal people now. Well, not until the Red Moon Ball ends,” he stated. His voice was once darker and huskier.

I looked more baffled than before.

“Oh, congratulations... I guess,” I stated, wrinkling my forehead. “But, if you don't mind me asking, who are you guarding now, Kuya?”

At the exact time I popped that question out, the car came to a stop at our front lawn. When he turned and stared at me, the cheerful Seth faded, and in its place was a deadly poker face of a soldier.

His eyes were burning glossy red again, and since the moon was full and bright tonight, the color red glowed dangerously, making me freeze in my seat.

All of a sudden, and in a husky tone, he mumbled, “You.”