Mated to the Alpha King (A Royal’s Tale Book 1)

The sun had begun to sink, and darkness was making an entrance when Alex and I finally managed to complete setting up my bedroom.

I slumped down in the comfortable alcove by the window as I heaved out a sigh of relief. I had a feeling this part of the room would be my favorite. Dad really did give me the room with the best view. I could see the castle through most of the windows here. But the best view was provided by the window by the bench and the glass wall where Blond and I had decided to place my two tiny sofas. The brilliant thing about this was that there were bookshelves around the bench. It was the perfect spot for reading.

I smiled and turned to Blond, who was currently slumped on the sofa. “Well, I’m glad it’s over. Thank you for helping me . . . with the lights, moving stuff, and everything.”

“It’s alright. Dad was an electrician once upon a time, so he taught me a few things. Besides, it was fun. Who knew you could rock to Mayday Parade like you do!”

Thinking of all the ridiculous dance moves I had shown off while decorating my bedroom, I giggled. “Thanks. You’re not so bad yourself. I’ll buy you smoothies for this, you know.”

Letting out a chuckle, Blond casually got up and began walking towards me lazily, immediately making me tense. With the same old smirk, which I had grown to so lovingly hate, now plastered on his face, Blond strode towards me, and I watched, wide-eyed, as he bent down to my level.

“I ask not much for the help I provided but a small token of gratefulness. A kiss, fair maiden, for the help I provided?” Alex murmured, still smirking slightly, as he stared straight into my wide eyes.

Er . . . Harry Potter . . . Er . . . Harry Styles . . . Wait, what?

“Or maybe a staring competition?” I croaked out, moving back slightly.

I felt like hitting myself. Idiot!

Alex confused me when he grinned. “I accept.”

Chuckling nervously, I shook my head and nodded. “Let us commence the battle!”

While we were looking straight into each other’s eyes, I popped out my tongue, trying to direct his attention elsewhere, but Blond was apparently learned and didn’t lose his concentration for even a second.

“You wanna play dirty, eh?” He chuckled, still staring straight into my eyes.

A small giggle left my lips but stopped instantly when Blond started to come closer, all the while not breaking eye contact.

I began to sweat. This was definitely getting heated. His beautiful face was just inches before me, his smirk slightly edgier, but I still managed to maintain eye contact. This was not something I had expected to be happening on my first day in Piedmont.

“You could look away, you know,” he whispered as he inched closer.

Our noses slightly brushed against each other, making me gulp nervously.

This was definitely something I hadn’t expected to happen on my first day here. Sure I had hoped that there would at least be a cute guy living next door. But, nearly kissing that cute boy from next door, in my own room, on my first day—that was something I had not expected, and considering Blond’s personality, I wasn’t sure if it was something I liked.

Heck, I had never been at nose’s length from a guy before, except my cousin Ronny, but that fella was three, and he had burped in my face just seconds later. Kids these days!

“Look away. You’ll just lose . . . nothing more.” Alex smirked as he continued to inch closer, and I narrowed my eyes at his egoistic self.

Despite my reservations on kissing Blond, I continued to stare back. I never backed down from a challenge, and I was definitely not going to let the arrogant blond huntsman win.

Blond moved closer, and despite the nervous sweats beginning to trickle down my neck, despite the blush that must have made me look like a darned tomato, and despite the fact that a guy who could be an Abercrombie model was brushing noses with me now, I stared back.

Alex suddenly grinned, and my eyes widened as a spark shot across his eyes, slightly glazing his beautiful blue orbs. He inched even closer, as if going in for a kiss, and I fisted my hands tightly at my sides before moving back to brushing noses again.

This was bad. I felt more nervous than when I’d had to sit through the surprise quiz in AP Calculus. I was sure I was going to die of intense heart palpitations. This was that bad.

Suddenly, Alex’s expression turned more serious, and the smirk disappeared. And it was then that I knew that this was never about the game; he just wanted to kiss me.

Get ready to initiate a punch.

He moved slightly closer, and I stilled, realizing that my back was now pressed against the bookshelves. I would either lose this game or get kissed.

Lose it is.

Just as I was about to push Blond away, a very loud yet distant growl rang out from the direction of the castle, and I shot my head towards the window to see a blur of white run past one of those windows.

Strange.

Blond stilled instantly.

I stilled too, still looking at the castle. Ghosts . . .

The whole world came to a standstill. Alex grimaced slightly and moved back until he sat on the other edge of the bench. His face showed true horror, as if he had just encountered a ghost, or realized the woman he wanted in his bed was in fact a man.

Oh, makeup, shine thy light upon my beard, for I want smooth cheeks too!

“You alright there, Blond? I wonder what that was, though,” I asked him, awkwardly placing my hand on his shoulder, and I silently hoped he would tell me what he knew about the growl because it was clear he knew something.

Disappointing me, Alex nodded before looking at me and smiling slightly. “You lost,” he stated, getting up and moving towards the door.

He opened it but turned back and smirked.

Damn that smirk!

“See you at school, Theia.”

And with that, he closed the door and left.

I slumped slightly onto the bench and sighed, my mind whirling with Alex’s reaction to the growl. It was clear he knew something; his face had been too scared for him not to know. What was Alex hiding?

Turning to look at the castle once more, I pushed the window wide open. Bright lights now illuminated half of the castle windows and grounds; the other half, however, still stood in darkness, maybe because of its little usage. It made sense. That castle seemed big enough for a thousand people, or more, actually. Still, though, its soft glows against the slightly bluish-gray color of the skies made it look magical. Then again, how could it not? Who would have thought that there would be such a splendid-looking big castle just on the outskirts of Seattle City, in an area like Piedmont?

Thinking of city, maybe shopping really wasn’t such a bad idea. I straightened on the bench, my face suddenly bright again with the excitement and dread I had felt in the car upon beginning this journey. Yes, maybe shopping really wasn’t a bad idea after all. I had school from Monday, but the weekend provided a great time to get up and ready for that.

With my mind made up and a whisper of a smile gracing my lips unconsciously, I closed the window and made my way towards another window, near the couch. After opening that up, I paced towards the bathroom. I had checked the bathroom out earlier and had decided that it was more than what I’d had in my previous home, which was alright for me. From the bathtub to the shower to the potty-exterminator, everything looked great and new.

Moving towards the shower, I realized I had left my essentials behind. I shook my head as a chuckle passed my lips. I slowly walked into my bedroom but stopped in my tracks when I noticed the curtains flow in one direction very strangely.

The image of the curtains flowing in one direction, as if something had just rushed past, them shot up in my mind again. My eyes widened, and I looked around my empty room. But then, suddenly feeling stupid, I shook my head.

“Theia, you’re an idiot,” I muttered under my breath and, still shaking my head, went over to my untouched suitcases. I hadn’t let Blond touch any of the suitcases that contained my clothes and shower essentials. That boy was too naughty for his own good.

After pulling the suitcases towards the door that I knew would lead to a walk-in closet, I picked the much better small suitcase, which I knew contained my bath essentials, and opened it.

After grabbing onto the bag with my body washes, shampoos, conditioners, and scrubs, I walked into the bathroom and set everything up.

I walked back out once done, grabbed onto the creams and body lotions I knew I would most probably use after showers, and moved them into the bathroom, placing them in front of the mirror. Finally done, I walked out once again and dumped my nightclothes onto the bed before shutting the suitcase and placing it beside the ones packed with clothes.

Feeling my muscles ache with the day’s work and travel, I groaned as I turned off the main lights and turned on the string lights around the room before grabbing the clothes and marching into the bathroom.

A bubble bath was very much in order.

Food—that was the one and only thing I could think of as I made my way out of the bathroom, all scrubbed and brushed, clad in tiny boxer shorts and a tank top.

After unwrapping the towel from my wet hair, I gave my hair a final rub and hung the towel on the towel rack before making my way towards my backpack.

The sooner I plug both my iPod and phone into the charging dock, the faster I can get to food, I thought.

I plugged in the chargers one by one and left them to sit on my study table, then I marched out of my bedroom. Hunger was hazing my senses so much that I didn’t even notice the man standing by my window, wearing a black shirt and gray trousers, never moving his gaze from me.

And I surely didn’t notice the faint whisper when he simply frowned and said, “Mine.”