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

I woke up to a heavy weight on my stomach. I tried to push it away, but it wouldn’t budge. This was futile.

Groaning tiredly, I tried to move. My eyes slowly fluttered open but quickly shut again because of the immense amount of light shining through the tall, wide windows.

“Mmm.”

I stiffened slightly as Bryce groaned, pressing his face against my neck. I could feel his warm breath against it and his heavy head on my chest. I sighed and wrapped an arm around him, turning my head to the open window, the chilly wind hitting my skin strangely soothingly. I closed my eyes and smiled at the calmness it brought with each breeze.

A knock sounded around the room, and I felt Bryce climb higher on me.

“Bryce.”

He snuggled closer.

“Bryce!”

I winced slightly as his arms tightened around me. Three sharp bangs on the door followed, and I lifted my head up slightly, then turned to Bryce again.

“Bryce! Wake up!” I whisper-yelled, grabbing his shoulders and trying to push him off now.

A low rumble erupted from his chest, and his eyes shot open—yellow, no blues.

“What’s wrong?” he said, his tone sharp, as he turned to the door.

“Someone’s at the door. Get up!” I murmured, still trying to slowly push him off.

His head turned to mine. “Don’t do that!” he snapped, his eyes narrowed.

I rolled mine. “Can you not?”

His frown deepened. “Not what?”

“Glare at me with those beautiful golden eyes. I have to admit, though, I love your blues better.”

His lips pulled up lightly, and he leaned in, his eyes still on mine.

This is your chance, Thi! Move it!

I smirked at him, and confusion glazed his features.

Well, this is going to be easy.

At a speed I could give myself an award for, I slipped out from under him and quickly rushed towards the sofa. I slumped on it, a victorious grin now showing.

“Don’t do that too!” he growled as he stalked towards me.

I rolled my eyes again and leaned back, tucking my legs underneath me.

“Say, where can I get clean and dressed, considering I don’t have my toothbrush, my clothes— Crap! I don’t have anything here!”

My wide eyes shot up to Bryce’s slightly amused ones. He slowly took a seat beside me, and I frowned at how easily he was ignoring the person on the other side of the door.

“He’s given up,” Bryce spoke, as if he had read my mind. He smirked when my eyes widened. “For now, that is.”

“How do you know it was a he?” I blurted out, still staring at him with wide-eyed fascination. The werewolf world seemed to be getting more and more interesting by the day.

“Scent,” Bryce muttered, grasping my hand with his overly large one, and pulled me towards a white door. He pushed it open and nudged me in.

Looking around the elegant-looking bathroom, I smiled.

I turned back to him.

“Thanks,” I murmured softly and closed the door. “Wait!” I pulled it back open, revealing Bryce, who was standing with an amused smile. I pouted, a little embarrassed. “Toothbrush and towel?”

“Top right corner of the bottom self.”

“Thanks!” I smiled and, turning around, closed the door.

***

After dropping the wet toothbrush in its holder beside the faucet, I made my way out of the bathroom slightly nervously and, upon realizing Bryce was not in the room, made a mad dash towards the other door across the floor.

The large brown leather bag was hard to miss as it sat on the dark wooden floors. I seated myself, towel-clad, on the little white chair just beside it and started rummaging through my bag, flinching and shuddering so often—whenever my fingers touched a very interesting piece of undergarment, which I had in the past sworn I would never slip my legs into. Bryce really did know how to narrow down his preferences.

“God, there’s nothing wearable here!” I groaned, smacking my forehead with my palm and dragging it down my face, an exasperated sigh releasing itself from my lips.

After another futile attempt at finding simple decent-sized cotton panties, I finally gave up. I fished out the most decent black lingerie in the bag and slipped it on. After grasping my tiny black shorts, I hurriedly put it on, too, but then my eyes caught a certain bluish-gray sweater lazily plopped on top of a large white chair in the far corner of the closet.

I slowly made my way towards it.

It felt all soft and warm against my fingers as I slowly traced its intricate patterns.

Would Bryce mind me wearing this? Bryce? Sweater? Sweater? I had hesitated for a second, staring at the sweater, as I pondered the implications before the sweater won, and I put it on.

Upon finding my body lotion in the corner compartment of the bag, I quickly pulled it out. I was just about to spread it on my legs when the sound of the bedroom door opening caught my attention.

I quickly ran my palms along my legs and arms before opening the closet and walking out, my comb in my hand and hidden carefully behind my back.

“Aaah!”

“Fuck!”

I wriggled on the floor, panting, away from the man currently lying on the wooden slats, holding the part of his head where I had thrown my comb with much swiftness and force. In my defense, I was merely protecting myself. Another man, his accomplice, was also on the floor, holding his head, too—not in pain but in undeniably loud laughter.

I watched the two men, wide-eyed, as I clutched my chest with my hands, still trying to control my wildly beating heart and panting from fright.

“Fuck, that hurt, Thi!” Matthew groaned as he finally managed to look up at me. He reached for me, trying to crawl closer. I had gulped, still feeling startled, before a little bit of the shock rushed off, and I dragged my butt towards him to take his hands away from his head and gently try to grope for any swelling or lump.

“You’re such an idiot, Matt! You scared me!” I muttered, lightly slapping his bicep, before narrowing my eyes in a scowl at Rome, who was still busy rolling on the floor, having a laugh fest.

“Stop being a jerk, Romanov!”

His laughter immediately stopped, and he frowned at me.

“Don’t call me that!”

I frowned at him harder. “Or what?”

Roman’s frown turned into a smirk, and he made a move forward. “Wouldn’t you like to know.”

He added a wink in the last second, and I could roll my eyes at his childishness.

“What are you guys here for anyway?”

Rome smiled, turning to Matthew. Matthew smiled back, almost creepily.

What are these two—?

“Ufff! Rome!”

“What?” Rome chuckled, holding me down on the floor, his arms around me in a bear hug. “I missed you! I was so worried!”

I wrapped my arms around him, too, as I noticed how his tone had slightly wavered before it turned into a whisper by the end.

I suppose Matthew noticed the dip the atmosphere had taken as he moved in to hug me, too, pulling both Bryce and me into the embrace.

“I missed you, too, Theia. Don’t ever run like that!” Matthew nuzzled his face in my hair.

I shifted, Rome’s five-o’clock shadow now rubbing against my cheeks.

Chuckling, Matthew continued, “Anybody hungry? I know I am!”

As if on cue, my stomach rumbled, and I immediately let out a giggle. “I’m starving. I’m sure you all know that, though.”

“Oh, we know.” Rome chuckled, getting to his feet, before extending his hand towards me.

I smiled at the boys as Matthew did the same. I wouldn’t know what to do without these two idiots. Still smiling, I grabbed both their hands and let them hoist me onto my feet.

We walked out of the room, closing the door behind us. All three of us hand in hand, swinging our entwined arms, we continued towards our destination.

***

“Well, Mr. Phelps asked about you in class yesterday, said to pass you his get-well-soon wishes.” Matthew chuckled as we walked the last couple of steps down the stairs, successfully stepping foot into the living room.

I giggled when Matthew wiggled his eyebrows suggestively, and I nudged him in his side.

A growl rang through the air, causing all three of us to come to a halt. My gaze shot up to meet a bulky middle-aged man’s glare. He launched towards us in a violent run, while I just stood there, still confused as to why he was behaving this way. It wasn’t until Rome launched, too, to push the man away that I broke out of my shocked state.

The man snarled loudly as he quickly backed up and made a move towards me again.

“You wouldn’t dare if you valued your life, pup,” Rome muttered icily, his dark claws retracting into his nail beds quite visibly, as he stood in front of me, almost holding me captive in his shadow.

“She hurt my daughter! She made my daughter try to kill herself! I’m going to kill her! I’m going to rip her throat apart!”

I could only whimper as the man’s cold, furious eyes stared into mine—dead and filled with hatred.

“I don’t know what you’re talking about, sir,” I whispered, immediately pulling away, as he growled louder and pushed forward, towards me, with a dangerous force. For a second, I thought he would break past Roman’s defense. Thankfully, he didn’t.

“Diandra—you ruined my daughter’s life! She doesn’t want to live anymore! She wants to move away—go rogue!”

“Enough, Sethrium! You will be detained in the holding quarters until you learn to control yourself and respect your luna!” Matthew spat out just as Roman started dragging the scary, snarling man away from me. Meanwhile, all I could do was watch with teary eyes the defeated look in the man’s own eyes. Had I really ruined Diandra’s life?

“The kitchen is just beyond that corridor, to the left, okay? It’s a private kitchen. That means the cooks won’t be there. That’s just for the alpha, his luna, and his guests. Eat something; I will know. And after finding out about this, Alpha will not be happy, so you might not want to add that to his list, eh?”

I nodded.

“Now go!” Matthew murmured softly, putting his hands on my shoulders and turning me in the direction of where he had said the kitchen was.

I sighed as I slowly padded there and quietly gasped at all the modern appliances lined up and installed in the kitchen. My low mood slightly lightened, and I stepped behind the kitchen island, tapping my fingertips on its smooth surface, thinking of what to make for breakfast.

I smiled. A full English breakfast sounded great. I quickly made my way towards the refrigerator and pulled out the ingredients I needed to use. I wasn’t one to eat bacon, but I suppose Bryce would mind if his breakfast excluded that one important bit, so I took a packet of it too.

Sauntering around the kitchen, my hair high up in a bun—a remedy to the hassle of having my long hair open around the kitchen while cooking—I seasoned the sausages, mushrooms, and tomatoes with a dab of salt and pepper before placing them on the already-hot grill.

The aroma from the tomatoes and sausages made my stomach grumble louder, and I had inwardly giggled before I quickly turned my attention to the next thing.

Okay, that’s done! Baked beans next!

I placed the pan of grilled black pudding and bacon away together with the sausages, mushrooms, and tomatoes and poured the baked beans into another pan already warming on the stove.

I wonder if Bryce will like it . . .

“I didn’t know I’d find you here.”

The wooden spoon in my hand came to a halt, and I immediately turned around, only to move back out of reflex. Evangeline’s uncle Derek stared back at me. A small grin played on his lips as he stood right in front of me, a little too close for comfort.

Breathe, Theia . . . He is just another guy who thinks you look good—just another guy.

“I don’t think I know why you’d even want to find me,” I replied, quickly composing myself, as I got back to stirring.

“But isn’t that what’s exciting, the whole process of finding out?” Derek said with a chuckle behind me. I could feel him step a little closer.

“I’m sorry—did you want something?” I asked him as formally as I could, pretending as much as I could that I had not heard what he just said to me.

“Go out with me, to dinner. Tonight?” Derek almost immediately blurted out, and I stilled as his palms landed on my shoulders.

For the second time that day, I was turned around by someone else.

This time, however, it was to face a warm, hopeful-looking Derek. But Derek wasn’t what my eyes landed on when I turned around. Instead, my eyes fell and locked upon the livid gold ones of somebody standing by the kitchen entrance. I froze.

Bryce’s eyes shot to the hands that were still on my shoulders, then back to me, then to the hands once again, then to the rest of Derek. His white shirt looked threatened by his bulging muscles, as if it would be torn if he moved even just a muscle out of place.

Wow . . .

I could feel Derek frown and turn to where I was looking, although his hands made no indication of movement. I gaped at him, bewildered. Was he inviting death?

“Alexander, my man! It’s good to see you! I thank you for allowing us your home’s comfort till this meeting among the monarchs blows over. I really do not agree with King Boiston’s petition. Branding rogues as dangerous? Ridiculous! Well, I— Alex, are you alright?” Derek spoke loudly and passionately until he noticed the look on Bryce’s face.

I sighed. This man was too dense for his own good.

I shrugged his hands off my shoulders and stood still as Bryce started stalking to me, all the while daring me to move an inch or to look away. I didn’t.

My arms slipped around his neck automatically as he wrapped one of his around my waist and, with his other hand, quickly turned off the stove, saving the baked beans from a horrifying death. He had then used his now-free hand to move a stray lock behind my ear before he smiled slightly, visibly calm now that he had me in his arms, and placed a soft, warm kiss on my forehead.

I smiled up at him too.

Bryce turned to a now-shaking Derek. I frowned at the expression on the latter’s face. Why was he so mad?

“Am I to assume that she is your mate then?”

I winced slightly as Bryce’s grip on me tightened. “Derek, meet my mate, Theia.” He turned to me with a warm smile. “Babe, meet King Derek Mccgal.”

My eyes widened. “King”?

“Hi,” I mumbled slowly, deciding against extending my arm for a handshake.

Derek’s bitter expression softened slightly, while Bryce’s frown increased in severity. “Hi,” Derek murmured back slowly, a little softly, as he looked me directly in the eye. He then turned to Bryce and nodded. “I’m going around your lands a little. See you by noon.”

I smiled slightly as Derek moved out of the kitchen and looked up at Bryce to see his jaw tight.

As if sensing my eyes on him, Bryce looked down, and within a heartbeat, his lips crashed onto mine.

I clung to him as he pulled me up and placed me on the island, wrapping my legs around him. I could only moan as he deepened the kiss.

“Do you mind if I borrow the breakfast, considering you both prefer eating each other’s faces instead.”

We both froze. Bryce groaned as he broke away and placed his forehead against mine, both of us breathing heavily and wildly. I couldn’t help it; I leaned in and placed a tiny kiss on his swollen pink lips. He groaned again and pulled me closer.

“I must admit, I do want to become a grandma desperately, so please do continue, just not on the kitchen island, for Lord’s sake!” Meryl chimed in, her tone humorous.

I had giggled as Bryce let out a growl before he placed a chaste kiss on my nose and pulled me down to my feet, still not letting me go.

“Oh, thank God they are done. I thought we would never be able to have breakfast,” Matthew declared as he and Roman marched into the kitchen, Chris, Emily, and Evangeline in tow.

Evangeline smiled brightly as she spotted Bryce and me, his arms still wrapped around me. She quickly rushed forward and jumped into my arms.

She turned to Bryce, her grin not wavering even once.

“You lied, Uncle Alex; you think Thi is the pwettiest girl you know, not me. I see it. It’s the way you wuk at her. It’s beautiful. Do you think I will fain my pwince one day?”

A slightly shocked Bryce finally moved towards the young girl, getting his face on the same level as hers. He then placed a kiss on her forehead.

“Of course you will, princess. Of course you will.”

***

The wooden floors creaked underneath my feet as I followed Bryce to wherever it was that he was leading me. The walls in this part of the castle looked to have been renovated, too, but left in the original way the castle had been carved and displayed, the bricks showing with no paint adorning them. The wooden planks were also displayed in their original brown shade. It was unclear if they were stained or not, but they looked beautiful regardless.

Bryce opened the door and moved aside, motioning me to step in. I nodded and walked through, only to come to a stop, my mouth ajar.

“It’s so beautiful,” I murmured softly as I eyed the room.

Designed simply with cream-and-white furnishing and ornaments, the room was the epitome of modernized vintage. There was a living room, a bedroom, what seemed like a door to a closet, a bathroom, and finally, a glass door leading to a beautiful balcony.

I turned to Bryce with a twinkle in my eye before settling in his arms.

I sighed happily.

After the kitchen incident, we had all settled to have a nice breakfast. Surprisingly, my cooking sufficed for the crowd of eight, and Roman declared his plan on making me his private cook. Matthew and Meryl didn’t seem against him on that idea as well. It was sad because Bryce had a meeting around noon and was gone the rest of the afternoon, but he reappeared when it was close to 6 and I was busy lying in bed, reading a book I had found underneath it.

He smiled and leaned in to give me a peck on my lips, which, well, turned into a full-fledged make-out session within minutes. His lips probably left a dozen red bruises along my shoulders and cleavage. His hips ground against mine, the angry monster between his legs dominating my every thought and sense. I gasped when Bryce slipped his hand underneath the sweater and ran a thumb over my nipples, and I did again but louder when Bryce broke free with a growl and immediately informed me that he had something to show me.

When I had been told that, I assumed it would be my parents or Marley, but here we were inside the most enchanting room in the castle—as per my thoughts, even though I had barely seen most of the rooms in the castle.

Though, why he was showing me this, I still didn’t know.

“This is your room, Theia. You will be sleeping here from tonight on.”

I froze in his arms.

“What?” I asked dumbly as I stared up at him, wide-eyed.

Bryce sighed slowly and shook his head. After making a move towards the door, he turned to me again.

“We can’t sleep together. Lock the doors before you sleep, Theia; open for no one.”

I could only stand there wide-eyed and watch him as he turned again and walked away.

What the hell just happened?