Xerxes Knight: The Alpha King | ON GOING.

| Twenty four |

He was here.

Relief washed all over me at the familiar face. I couldn't stop the tears that threaten to fall, and i let it fall freely down my cheeks.

"OREN."

The two guards gasped at my sudden outburst, probably because I addressed the Alpha without his title or because I know the Alpha.

Oren was with two other men, whom I didn't recognise nor did i give any heed to.

At his name been called, Oren turned around swiftly with an alert look probably because no one calls him by his name anymore.

When his eyes landed on me, they were unrecognizable, he assessed me with scrutinizing gaze as if I was an enemy. He didn't make a move just stood there staring at me.

My heart hammered wildly at his unflinching and strange gaze. Did he not recognize me?

But after what felt like eternity, Oren finally spoke up.

"Meryl? Meryl, is that you?" With every word he took a step towards me until he was standing before me. I nodded my head repeatedly unable to form a word as happiness coursed through me at being recognized.

"Alpha." The two men beside me acknowledged the Alpha with bowed heads and respect.

"Untie her." He ordered the guards beside me who obliged without a word. "We will talk about this later, Hayes." Oren's voice took a dark tone as he looked at the second guard.

I held my now free hands closed to my chest and massaged it one after the other. The pain at the back of my mind as relief was the only emotion I paid attention to.

"Yes Alpha." Hayes excused himself and walked away with the other man when he was dismissed by Oren.

"Is something wrong, Alpha Oren?" One of the two men who Oren was with before I called him out, asked made his way towards us.

"No, everything is fine, Bretton." Oren answered to his question and that's when I dared to look at Bretton's face closely. He was followed by the other man who had his eyes on me- hard and unwavering. His gaze made me uncomfortable.

Bretton probably noticing my source of discomfort, chuckled lightly. "You're making her uncomfortable, Yuta."

Bretton was a small built man probably in his mid fifties or more because werewolves hardly age, his hair almost gray and wrinkles at the corner of his eyes evident he had seen generations.

"Sorry Sir." Yuta muttered looking away from me.

Yuta was huge. He had a deep scar just below his left eye making him look all the more intimidating. He was way more build than Xerxes and Xerxes was the biggest man I had ever seen but to see Yuta up-close he even beat Xerxes'.

Xerxes.

It ached to think about him so I held myself from thinking about him, focusing on what was going on before me.

"I am sorry, Meryl but I had to go with them now." As soon as Oren said this, a young girl came running towards us. She stopped huffing and puffing to catch her breath before addressing the Alpha.

"She is Zeze. She'll accompany you wherever you want to go." Oren informed me but his voice lacked the softness and concern he used to have whenever he used to talk to me, that was three years ago when he wasn't an Alpha and just Oren, my friend.

"Okay." I nodded my head in understanding.

I forgot about the two men for the time being but it wasn't easy to ignore people who had a dominating presence and an aura that demands attention from people around them.