Page 31 of Sold to Three Alpha Kings

I pull back the empty chair, its leg scraping against the floor. Quietly, I take my seat at the table.

“You’ve recovered some color,” Sinth says, gentler than the other two, though his amber eyes stay watchful. “How are you feeling?”

I’m angry. I’m confused, and I genuinely don’t want to be here.

However, I glance at him and say, “Better.”

“That’s it?” Wayne asks, munching on an apple. “That’s all you have to say, ‘better’?”

What else was I supposed to say? I don’t say that out loud, though. I just stare down at my plate, the tantalizing aroma of roasted chicken breast drifting into my nostrils.

“Come on, tell us how you’re feeling,” he insists. “Don’t be such a bore.”

Heat rises in my face, something old and sharp flaring behind my ribs. “Perhaps I wouldn’t be such a ‘bore’ if I weren’t worried my head would end up on the floor for saying the wrong thing.”

Silence.

For a moment there I think I’ve angered them and my heart sinks into my stomach.

Wayne’s grin doesn’t fade, but something flickers behind his eyes—real surprise. “Fair point.” He clears his throat. “Consider this me promising you won’t lose your head over a casual conversation. So go on. Grow a personality. I’d like to meet the real you.”

“I’ll make no such promise,” the mean one says, flat, not bothering to look up. “Speak out of tone, and there will be consequences.”

Wayne rolls his eyes hard enough it looks like it hurts. “You know, you don’t have to be such a buzzkill all the time. God forbid you extend basic courtesy to anyone.”

“Courtesy isn’t owed. It’s earned.”

“Really?” Wayne shoots back. “By whose measure? Yours? Everything’s earned by your measure, Chris, that’s the whole problem with you—”

Chris.

So that’s his name.

Now, I know all their names.

Chris is the mean King.

Wayne’s the jovial—free-spirited one.

And then there’s Sinth. The kind and calm one. From what I know, he’s the youngest of the three Alpha Kings.

I’ve noticed right from the day I almost had my head chopped off that Chris and Wayne never get along. In fact, everyone in this wing of the Star island knows that the Kings don’t see eye to eye most of the time.

What they don’t know is that Chris and Wayne are the ones with the problem. Sinth is calm as still water. And I easily realize he’s the anchor—the one always trying to keep the peace.

When I glance at him, he’s rubbing his eyes already as though he’s embarrassed by their banter.

“The problem, if there is one, is you have no boundaries—” Chris’s cold voice cuts through my thoughts.

“At least I have a personality people can stand to be around,” Wayne says.

“Unlike you, I do not need the validation of others to feel good about myself.”

I watch this unfold like I’m seeing something private I wasn’t meant to witness. It’s almost funny, two grown Kings sniping over breakfast like children, except there’s real weight behind it, years of grievance packed into every jab.

Sinth rubs his temple. “You two do realize that we’re not alone, right?”

Voices fall silent.