Alpha Ernest Gets What He Deserves

*Maddox*

The Alpha’s mansion is completely on the other side of town from where the Moon family resides. It takes about six minutes to get there by car. I notice there’s really not a lot of traffic here, and many of the driveways have no cars in them either.

I am beginning to think that Willow pack is not as wealthy as some of the other packs in the kingdom, and if many of the citizens have been treated similarly to the Moons, then I suppose I know why.

Ernest’s house is palatial. It’s a Victorian-style home with a huge wrap-around porch, gingerbread cutouts along the overhang, and lots of grand windows. It’s painted a pristine white, as if Alpha Ernest is pure somehow. That notion almost makes me laugh.

I assume he is here and not off in an office somewhere. I believe I heard that he no longer went to the office anymore a few years back.

The house isn’t gated, but there are plenty of guards standing around. When the car pulls up out front, I tell Helena and Lionel, “I intend to handle this myself, but be on the ready.”

“Yes, sir,” they both say. “Shall we get out?”

I look at the number of guards in the yard. Theoretically, they answer to me before they answer to Alpha Ernest, but with all of the strife going on within many of the packs these days, I won’t bank on that.

“That’s probably a good idea,” I tell them. Godfried shuts the car off, and the three of them get out with me, though they hang back. Godfried is a driver firstly, but all of the people who work at the castle have some sort of training in fighting, just in case.

I walk up the pathway toward the front door, and immediately, two guards step in front of me. I notice that they have guns. That is absolutely against protocol. All honorable wolves fight without weapons.

“Where do you think you’re going?” one of them asks, folding his arms across his chest. He is muscular, but not as big as I am. Of course, the gun evens things out quite a bit.

“To see Alpha Ernest,” I tell them.

“Do you have an appointment?” the other one, slightly shorter than the first, asks. “’Cause the Alpha don’t see nobody without an appointment, son.” They snicker at one another, and I slowly shake my head.

“He’ll see me,” I tell them. “Now, get the fuck out of my way unless you want the imprint of my insignia ring on your ugly ass forehead.”

Their eyes widen as they exchange glances and then start laughing again. “You think you can take both of us? Or are you going to call upon your friends back there to help you?” the first one asks.

“Yeah, that chick looks really tough,” his idiotic friend chimes in.

“I don’t need them,” I say. “But I’m going to go ahead and warn you right now, if you two buffoons don’t get the fuck out of my way, you’re going to be sorry.”

As they begin to laugh again, another guard comes over in a hurry. “Guys!” he says. “Th-th-that’s the Alpha King!” He bows his head in respect, and the other two laugh louder.

“Sure it is, Stanley,” the first guard says. “Why the fuck would the Alpha King be here? In Ernestville?”

“Ernestville?” I repeat. “When the fuck did Ernest change the name of this village to Ernestville?”

“See!” the second guard chimes in. “The Alpha King would know that.”

“Look at his ring!” Stanley insists.

“You’re about to see it up close and personal, I say, raising my hand and drawing it back in a fist.

It’s then that they see the ring. “Holy hell,” the first guard stammers. “We… we’re so sorry, sir.” He drops his head and steps aside, but the other one is still confused.

“He’s not the fucking Alpha K—”

That’s as much as he gets out before my fist connects with his jaw. His eyes roll back in his head, and he drops to the ground.

“Now, gentlemen,” I say loud enough for all of the guards in the yard, and there are about ten of them, to hear me, “your Alpha and I are going to have words. If you wish to not be lying on your back in the yard like this poor bastard, I suggest you remember who your loyalty should lie with—and that would be me.”

“Yes, Alpha King Maddox!” every single one of them chimes as they make the sign of respect by hitting their left shoulder with their right hand and bowing their heads to me.

I step over the guard who is lying on the ground in front of me, not caring that I smashed his hand in doing so, and head up the walkway.

When I get to the house, I pound loudly on the door and wait.

A few moments later, a thin man who looks to be about my age opens the door. “Yes?” he asks.

“Hi, I need to see Alpha Ernest,” I say to him, shaking my hand out a little. The adrenaline is leaving me, and it’s beginning to sting a little.

“Oh, he… uh… he’s sleeping,” the man, who seems to be his butler, I guess… explains.

I look at my watch. It’s nearly 11:00 in the morning. “Still?” I ask.

“Yes, sir,” he replies. “He was up late last night… seeing to… pack matters.” He makes a face at me, and I am confused as to what that means, but then I doubt it’s true anyway.

“Well, go wake him,” I tell the butler, or whoever he is, as I step inside. “It’s important.”

I’m not sure if he recognizes me or not, but he is obedient, at least. “Yes, sir.” He hurries upstairs, leaving me standing in the foyer.

I look around the house. It’s grandly decorated with all kinds of important pieces of art and expensive furniture—but it’s a wreck. Empty bottles of liquor and beer cans, food wrappers, and stray clothing litter the floor and every surface of the furniture.

I can only assume that Alpha Ernest had a party the night before. Maybe every night. And by the number of bras I see on the ground, I’m guessing there were several women involved.

Was it… an orgy?

I am thankful that I don’t have time to ponder that for long as I hear Ernest’s voice from the top of the staircase.

“Whoever the hell it is, Billy, tell him to get the fuck out!” he yells.

I decide it is time to use the mind-link. “I don’t think that’s in your best interest, Ernest,” I tell him.

“Oh, shit,” he replies. “King Maddox? I had no idea you were coming today.”

“Surprise,” I mind-link back.

A moment later, Ernest is coming down the stairs, tying his robe. I get a flash of what’s beneath it—nothing—and my stomach turns. Ernest is a fat, floppy, small-dicked bastard.

“Well, isn’t this a surprise!” he says, coming into the foyer. “Billy! Why didn’t you offer our guest a seat and a drink?”

“Sorry, sir,” Billy says, looking sheepish. “Alpha King, sir, would you like—”

“I’m fine, Billy,” I assure him. “This won’t take long. Where’s your Beta, Ernest?” I ask.

“Miguel? Who the fuck knows?” Ernest says. “He’s worthless.”

I have known Miguel for a long time, and I know that’s not the case. “Billy, go find Miguel,” I tell him.

“Yes, sir,” he says and heads out the door.

I could’ve used the mind-link to contact Miguel, but I’d rather have my “discussion” with Ernest alone, not in front of Billy.

“What seems to be the problem, sir?” Ernest asks me, clearly able to tell by my attitude that I’m bothered. “Is it the girl? Did she lie to me? Was she not a virgin after all?”

“This isn’t about the girl,” I tell him, irritated as hell that he’d just assume I’d found fault with Isla. “Not directly, anyway.”

“Then what is it, sir?” Ernest asks, but I can tell by the dots of perspiration springing up along his forehead that he’s nervous. He probably already suspects I’m on to him.

“This is about her family,” I tell him. “Did you forgive their loan?”

“Why… yes! Of course, I did!” he says with a rich chuckle. “As soon as I got back to Ernestvi—uh, Willow Village, I told them that all was forgiven.”

“I know that you changed the name of the town, Ernest,” I tell him, though this is new information to me. “And I also know you’re lying about the Moons.”

“What? No! It’s true. Not a penny more owed or paid to me since you took the girl. I keep my promises! I am a trustworthy man!” He chuckles again, but it just makes me want to punch him harder.

“So, you’re saying if I went to the Moons’ residence right now, they’d tell me all is forgiven?” I fold my arms across my chest, wondering if I should stretch a little before I start punching.

“Yes, you could. Except… I believe they are out of town. I think they decided to take a well-deserved vacation now that they can save a little money.”

“They’re not home?” I repeat, clarifying. Is that what he’s really telling me?

“I’m afraid not.” He shrugs, shaking his head.

“Oh, I see,” I say, nodding along. “So… when I stopped at their house a bit ago, that wasn’t really Constance Moon I spoke to, but someone impersonating her?”

He can see that he’s caught in another lie, so he starts to stammer. “Oh, uh… well… maybe they are back.”

“Or maybe you’re a fucking liar!” I scream at him. “And maybe you didn’t forgive their fucking loan at all! And maybe you’ve continued to collect payments from them even though you know you shouldn’t be!” I am livid now, thoughts of Isla crying, everything she’s been through because of this man, making my anger boil over. If he hadn’t made the hospitals lie to their patients just to collect money I was already providing to him from the crown’s coffers to cover medical expenses, the Moons would’ve never been in this situation to begin with, and Isla wouldn’t have had to work herself half-to-death!

“No, sir, I—”

I don’t give him a chance to get the words out. My fist strikes him in the right eye first, knocking him backward. He shouts out in pain, raising his hands to cover his injured orb. But I’m not done yet. No, I plan to take my time beating the shit out of this asshole.

I hit him again. This time, it’s a left jab, right to the nose. Blood spurts out, missing me but spraying the floor. Ernest screams in agony. I raise a knee to his gullet, making him double over in pain as I slam my fist into his jaw.

Over and over, I hit him, thinking of Isla and her family the entire time. When I am finally done, he is on his knees, blood pouring from his nose and busted lips, both eyes swollen. “This is your last day as Alpha, Ernest. You’re done!”

“But, sir!” He spits a mouthful of blood on the floor. “Please! Give me another chance!”

“The fuck I will!” I tell him.

I turn to see Miguel standing behind me, his eyes wide.

“Beta Miguel, take this asshole to jail, and lock him up. I sentence him to twenty years of prison time for extortion, amongst other things. Such as lying to the king!”

“Y-yes, sir,” Miguel says. He signals for a few of the guards from the yard to come and get Ernest and take him away.

I follow them out, seeing Billy standing on the porch with tears in his eyes. I’m not sure if he’s scared or upset about Ernest.

I walk alongside Miguel as he goes down the walkway. “You’re the new Alpha,” I tell him.

He stops in his tracks. “Sir? Oh… uh, thank you, but I don’t think I’m qualified for that.”

I stop and stare at him. “You’ve been Beta for fifteen years.”

“Yes, I know,” he says as the guards take Ernest on ahead of us. “But… Ernest never trained me to do anything. I’ve sort of figured out how to be Beta from my father and just doing what needs to be done. But Alpha? Sir, I’m not cut out for that. I can do it in the interim while you figure out what to do, but….”

“No, no, I understand,” I say, dragging my hand through my hair. “I’ll figure something out. In the meantime, keep things running smoothly here. Change the goddamn name back, look into all of the money Ernest was taking from the people, make sure the people at the hospital understand the free healthcare policy extends to everyone, not just people born here, and just… fix this place, Miguel.”

He is nodding at me like he knows exactly what I’m talking about. “Yes, sir.” He makes the sign of respect, and I thank him before returning to the car.

I should probably stay here and look into making sure this mess is cleaned up, but I don’t have time. I want to go home now. I want to see Isla.

From the back seat, I tell Godfried, “Let’s go home."