Mating the Female Alpha
Chapter 66 – Landry is awake!

Bernice's POV

"How long do you suppose the Alpha king will be out of commission?" The reporter, Rachel, asked. She sat across the couch from me with a notebook in hand and a recorder on the coffee table.

She kept calling throughout the day, so I called her after the meeting to set up an interview. I wanted to set some of the rumors straight to put the kingdom at ease.

Rachel was one of the youngest reporters I had ever seen. She was pretty too; she had fiery red hair that hung around her narrow and bright features in wild waves. Her eyes were bright green like emeralds, and she had freckles all around her features and body. She wore a short skirt and a tight blouse that revealed a little too much of her cleavage.

"It's hard to say," I answered truthfully. "But he's making a fast recovery. We are hoping he will wake soon."

She sloppily wrote some notes in her notebook. She seemed a little nervous; I could tell she was new at this job. "And would you say the Alpha King loves you?" She asked, peering over at me through her thin-framed glasses. What a strange question.

I opened my mouth to answer, but the familiar buzzing of the mindlink opening invaded my head.

"Bernice?" The mindlink from the Beta came through my mind. "We found a vampire sanctuary in our territory. We have been setting up camps. I'm going to need more men to help clear them out."

"I'll send 20 warriors to your location," I told him. "Don't do anything until you have backup."

I closed the mindlink and turned back to the reporter, giving her my best smile.

"I'm sorry, but duty calls. I'm afraid there will be no more questions at this time."

She frowns, disappointed.

"Oh, but I only have a few questions left," she said with a pout.

"It'll have to wait for another time, I'm afraid," I tell her.

She stands to her feet, giving me a plastered smile.

"Until next time," she says, backing up her belongings.

I say nothing more as I leave the living room.

"Bernice!!" Another mindlink came through before I could reach the stairs. I paused, recognizing Jessie's voice. "He's awake!"

...

Landry's POV

"Wake up, you lazy Mut. You shouldn't still be asleep," his wolf growled deep in his mind.

Landry winced as he started to wake from his slumber; it felt like he's been asleep for years. His body was stiff as he tried to wiggle his fingers. He felt a small pain in his chest, remembering the arrow that was plunged into his flesh. It was made of silver; regardless of if he's the Alpha King or not, it's still bound to hurt, even after he's healed.

He opened his eyes, adjusting them to the new lighting. He wasn't in his infirmary; he was in the King's Hospital. He could smell the sanitary products and latex right away, making him want to gag. "Landry! Baby, you're awake!!"

He heard a familiar voice from beside him; Cora stood over him with large and worried eyes. tears were filling her eyes as she wrapped her arms around him, causing pain to shoot across his body. He winced again, causing her to jump away with a reddened face.

"I'm so sorry," she breathed, covering her mouth with her hands.

"What are you doing here?" He managed to ask with annoyance clear in his tone.

"As soon as I heard you were injured, I had to see you," she said with a timid frown. "I didn't leave your side for 2 days."

2 days?

"I can't say the same for the omega," Cora scoffed with an eye roll.

Bernice.

"Where is she?" Landry asked, his strength returning to him.

"Probably destroying the kingdom," she growled. "She isn't made for this type of work."

What was she talking about?

Before he could ask her to elaborate, Jessie came into the room, gasping when she saw that he was awake.

"You're awake..." she breathed. Then, her eyes found Cora's and they turned cold. "I told you to leave. That he isn't going to want to see you when he wakes up."

"At least he didn't wake up alone," Cora said in return, folding her arms across her chest.

"Where's Bernice?" Landry asked again, with more force in his tone. The longer he was awake, the stronger he was feeling. His wolf was working hard to heal him entirely.

"She's been working hard to maintain the kingdom," Jessie said with a faint smile. "I'll mindlink her right now."

"What?" Landry breathed. "She's been doing what?"

"She's been acting as Alpha King, basically," Jessie explained. "She won't take the title Luna Queen, so that's the best I can do. But she's been working hard to keep the kingdom under order in your absence." "Bernice has been taking over for me?"

"Yes," Jessie said, glancing over at Cora. "She didn't want a certain someone doing it. So, she took responsibility."

The memory of the battle surfaced in his mind and after he went down when the arrow shot him, he remembered looking up at Bernice's frightened and sad eyes. she's never looked like that before. He wanted to reach out to her and tell her that it was okay and that he would do it all over again if he had to. He wanted to touch her and kiss her.

"I just fell in love with you. Please don't leave me..." her words echoed in his mind, causing his heart to skip a beat. She loves him. She confessed to loving him. But was it real? Or just in the moment because she thought he was dying? "She doesn't know the first thing about running a kingdom," Cora huffed again. "She shouldn't have been left in charge."

"I can't think of a better person to take over in my place," Landry said, his voice drowning out the sound of Cora's rambling. "She's been doing a nice job too," Jessie confirmed. "She held an Alpha meeting this morning."

"An Alpha meeting?" Landry's voice boomed across the room.

If the Alphas are around her for long enough, they will know that she lied about being an Alpha. They will find out her secret; what was she thinking about when she decided to have an Alpha meeting?! He was about to ask, but he couldn't in front of Cora. She was the last person he wanted to know about any of this. But Jessie met his eyes, knowing exactly what he was thinking.

"She said it went well," she said, keeping her eyes on his. "Don't worry; she knew what she was going."

He relaxed a little, nodding.

"Leave," he said, snapping a look at Cora who stood frozen with a frown on her face.

"Pardon?"

"There's no reason for you to stay, Cora. You aren't welcome here," Landry continued. "Leave."

"I stood by your side for 2 days," she argued, sounding offended.

"You act like I wasn't here too," Jessie said with another eye roll. "Just go back to my palace. Landry needs to rest."

They stared at one another for a long while before she finally stood from his bedside. She flipped a long strand of hair behind her shoulder.

"Fine," she said, sounding annoyed. "But I'll be back to check on you later... goodbye Landry darling."

She left the room without another word.

"One of these days, Landry..." Jessie began. "You're going to need to tell me what she did to cause you to hate her so much."

...

Bernice's POV

I got to the hospital as fast as I could.

Landry was awake!

My wolf was finally put to ease; her excitement to see him was overwhelming. It was an unfamiliar feeling that I would question later. As of right now, I needed to see him.

As I ran through the halls, I noticed a familiar figure walking out of Landry's room. I paused, feeling my heart sinking into my stomach as Cora emerged. She paused when she saw me as well and her eyes turned icy cold. "Don't get too excited," Cora said, a glimmer of humor in her expression. "Your place here is limited. At the end of the day, it'll be me by his side."