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

Normally, walking into school felt so bland and dull, but today, every fiber of my body was vibrating with a newer feeling.

Maybe it was fear. Maybe it was the anxiousness over just getting this over with. Then again, maybe it was fear.

I nodded my head discreetly as I walked between the two tall forms of Matthew and Roman.

Yes, it was definitely fear.

A sigh left my lips as I darted my eyes up towards Matthew and locked gazes with him. Instantly, a teasing smile lit up his lips, and he wiggled his eyebrows at me, clearly alluding to the incident that had happened in the car only minutes ago, when Bryce lost his rationality for a minute or two and suddenly decided against letting me come to school today.

Naturally, it’s perfectly normal to say that fitting myself between the steering wheel and Bryce’s chest while managing to keep my back from blaring the car horn was an accomplishment and that I deserved an award for it.

“Shut up,” I grumbled when I realized Matthew’s grin had widened while I drifted off to thinking about the incident again.

“Hey, it isn’t my fault; it was so funny—I mean, really! One minute you’re getting out, and the next you’re on Alexander, and he’s crushing you against his chest, muttering, ‘No, no, bad idea. I’ll just kill him, yes, yes.’ ” Matthew’s eyes glazed over for a bit, and he shuddered.

“Whipped—that’s what we get when we find our mates.”

“Well, it won’t be long till you find your mate.” I winked at Matthew cheekily. My hand, however, reached out to grip the edge of one of Rome’s long sleeves.

Immediately, I felt him move closer.

“You’re being a little quiet.”

Matthew and I frowned at each other when Rome heaved a sigh.

“I’ve been trying to calm my nerves, Theia. I have to, or Mr. Phelps won’t survive the day.”

A dark chuckle ripped through Matthew’s lips just as we started rounding towards homeroom, and I turned to him with wide eyes. I’d never heard him use that tone before.

“Well then, we’ll just have to kill him now, won’t we?”

I shook my head and took a leap before them. After turning to them, I stopped in my tracks.

“We need to catch him red-handed, guys; you know that. Everything that has been found out about him suggests that he is human, and we can’t say that he isn’t because it was Amber who smashed my head and pushed me, so you can’t be impulsive.” I stopped for a second, waiting for my rapidly beating heart to slow down. “I know. I’m scared too. But I also know you’re here. He won’t hurt me. Heck, he wants me. So let’s just . . . be as calm as we can about this, okay?”

“Wow.”

I blinked.

Roman and Matthew blinked with me.

“Did you just hypnotize them?”

Gasping, I turned immediately and slammed flush against Jeff’s chest.

“No,” I mumbled, frowning to myself. Behind me, I felt Roman and Matthew scoot closer.

“Yo, Jeff, mate! How’s it going!” Matthew chimed in, saving me from verbally falling into a jumbled, confused mess. He, however, didn’t wait for a reply. His hand grasping my elbow, he continued to steer me towards homeroom. “Oh, hell, mate, we’re late! I’ll see you in math, alright? Mr. Phelps keeps hinting at a quiz!”

“Yeah, sucks, man! See you on the field!”

“Thank God!” I breathed as soon as we were out of Jeff’s earshot.

“You used the luna command,” Rome muttered darkly beside me.

I stiffened but kept moving, Matthew dragging us closer to our classroom.

We reached the door and, after pulling it open, slipped in as quietly as we could.

“You used the luna command,” Rome muttered again as we slipped into our seats. I turned to him with a frown.

“I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to . . . order you guys. I was just trying to . . . make you both understand.”

“It’s not that. We’re just disgusted because that reminds us that you’re officially mated to the alpha king and all.”

I flinched in my seat.

“Okay, awkward! Stop being weird around me! Can we jus—”

“Ah! Ms. Anderson, Mr. Jefferson, Mr. Naight, good to see that you’ve finally arrived,” Mr. Bishop spoke sarcastically.

I closed my eyes tightly, waiting for the berating that was about to come next, but it didn’t.

Slowly, I reopened them and felt myself flush red when I noticed that Mr. Bishop was looking right at me. Having my attention back on him, he heaved a sigh and began speaking again, “Alright, everyone, so for today, the revision period has been switched up a little bit. Math will be happening in this classroom, right after homeroom.” Mr. Bishop paused and did a sweep around the room, as if making note whether he had our undivided attention. Nodding to himself, he then continued, “Alright then, go back to your gossiping and all the other nonsense you kids do.”

As if his last sentence were a blessing, everyone around the room began talking again—well, everyone except Matt, Rome, and I.

We three sat like we were waiting for war.

And heck, we were going to win!—I hoped.

***

The class was at a standstill. Not a single one of us was speaking. Hell, it seemed not a single one of us was breathing.

“Damn, I mean I knew Mr. Phelps was decent-looking, but . . . Damn.” A whisper drifted into my ears from somewhere around me, and I fidgeted in my seat.

“I know, Tess! Mr. Phelps is hot!”

And a crazy lunatic! I yelled in my head, scoffing at the girls who were busy staring at a rough-and-tumble-looking Mr. Phelps sorting out his papers.

The whole class seemed to be in awe—well, the whole class except Matt, Rome, and I.

I was suddenly scared—very scared. Matthew and Rome, on the other hand, had transformed into their delta and beta selves.

When it seemed he’d finally sorted the papers, Mr. Phelps looked up and grinned. I swear I heard a few of the girls around me sigh dreamily.

I, on the other hand, suddenly found my book and yellow pencil quite interesting.

“Morning, everyone! So I’m just going to distribute revision guides that will help you for the finals. You may spend the rest of the class working on it. I’ll be right over there if you need me for any clarification.”

I didn’t care to look up at him while he talked. I could barely sit in this room anymore.

It felt like the majority of me wanted to run away, scream, “Teacher Danger!” or just confront him.

The overwhelming feeling was making everything harder for me.

Each desk he went to, I was aware of. His every movement sent my nerves spindling in alarm, waiting for the moment he would reach mine.

I hoped he wouldn’t reach mine.

“Ah, Roman, how’s prep going for the finals?”

I thought I heard Rome growl.

“Never better . . . sir,” Rome said through gritted teeth, his hands fisted against his dark wash jeans.

If Mr. Phelps noticed the bite in Rome’s remark, he didn’t show it as he darted to his next student quite happily. “Great then! Theia! How are you doing today? Here’s your revision slip.”

I looked down as he slid the paper towards me on the desk, my voice refusing to make itself known.

You have two options, Theia: you fight, or you flee. Please flee. Or fight . . . Okay, fight! Or flee . . .

I sighed.

Or shut up.

I finally coughed and spoke, “Well, t-thank you, sir.”

Mr. Phelps leaned in and gripped the edge of my desk. “Theia, are you okay?”

“Why, the fucker!” I heard Rome growl under his breath beside me. Matthew leaned in out of instinct.

I sighed. Finally looking up at Mr. Phelps, I put on a small smile. “I’m fine, sir. T-thank you for asking.”

Mr. Phelps’ eyes flashed as he smiled down at me and nodded approvingly. “Good, good. Enjoy the revision guide!”

I released a breath I hadn’t known I was holding when he turned around and began walking away.

“Fucker!” Rome said through gritted teeth, and I almost nodded in agreement.

Rome turned to Matthew, and I looked up at him, then at Matthew.

As if answering a silent question, Matthew nodded. I frowned.

“What’s up?”

“Just gave the king a report.”

I shot Matthew with a knowing small smile, and he smiled back reassuringly. He had used “king.” That meant Bryce was really mad, and that in turn meant Matthew must have heard a good load before withdrawing from the conversation.

Beasts really were feral and wild-tempered. And after the incident of me being pushed out of the window, Bryce had become a little too touchy about my well-being, even over the smallest of things.

“He’s really pissed,” Matthew mumbled as if trying to frighten me. I felt the tips of my lips quirk up. It wasn’t going to work.

Beside me, Roman scoffed, “Nothing Theia can’t fix after school.”

Immediately, he stilled, Matthew and me already stiff beside him. We all turned to each other.

“Holy fuck, I can’t believe I just said that!” Roman blurted out quite loudly, and the whole room quieted down.

My wide-eyed gaze immediately darted to Mr. Phelps, then back to Rome.

A sudden burst of loud laughter boomed around the room, and everyone’s head shot towards the hysterical Matthew, who was laughing his brains off.

I frowned, confused.

What’s he up to?

“C-crap, man, that was— That was awesome!”

Before we all knew it, Mr. Phelps was back in front of us, looking extremely curious.

“And what’s happening here?”

Matthew settled down a little and chuckled as if Mr. Phelps were one of his friends.

“Oh, nothing, sir; Rome was just sharing the worst pickup line he has heard to date. It’s really funny.”

“Really?” Mr. Phelps drawled as he leaned against a vacant seat in front of Matthew, folding his arms in front of his chest. “What was it?”

“Something I’m sure is very much improper to use on your grown male math teacher, sir, especially when you’re straight.”

Everything was silent.

The whole class had sat back and watched in awe as Matthew performed Act 1, Scene 1 of Genius Matthew, only they didn’t know that Matthew had in fact just saved Roman’s ass.

Matthew and Mr. Phelps stared at each other silently, waiting for the other to crack.

Mr. Phelps finally gave in and looked away. “Alright then.” He sighed and then shrugged and moved back to his seat.

Being triumphant and gloriously basking in it, Matthew leaned back in his seat and turned to us with a smug grin. “And that, little children, is how it’s done.”

“Smug basket,” Roman grumbled behind me, and I turned to him with a stern look.

He sighed, “Thank you . . . basket.”

“Roman!” I sighed as I threw my hands up in exasperation. It’s funny, really, there wasn’t much math going on in math class.

“What?” Rome rolled his eyes—actually rolled his eyes—then looked at Matthew and grinned. “That’s the best you will get out of me.”

***

“I asked her! I finally asked her. So no more teasing!”

I grinned at Matthew, then we watched Connor slump down on the seat beside me with an accomplished look.

“Finally asked Hannah out to prom?”

“And she said yes, I suppose?”

Our grins widened when Connor nodded.

Hannah really was a beautiful girl, with red hair and green eyes. She was the perfect protagonist for most teen fiction: a bookworm, invisible little beauty. And the fact that jock/bad-boy extraordinaire Mr. Connor had a massive crush on her—and that she was his mate—was like a romance novel straight out of my library.

“We are so proud of you, little Padawan.” Matthew chuckled as he patted Connor on the back.

Connor crinkled his nose and made a mock-annoyed face.

“I’m a friggin’ Jedi!”

I couldn’t help but chuckle with Matthew. “Not when it comes to Hannah, you’re not.”

Matthew burst into hysterics when Connor turned pink. I, on the other hand, couldn’t help but feel bad for the poor guy. Maybe we had been a little too tough on him.

“Anyway, why are you still here, though? Waiting for someone?”

Connor’s blush deepened.

“Er . . . Yeah . . . Hannah—I, well . . . I said I’d drop her home.”

A warm smile lit up my face. “Oh, that’s great!”

“What about you two, though? And where’s Rome?”

I turned as Matthew began to answer, but then the loud screeching sound of a fast-rounding car pierced through the afternoon air, cutting him off.

All present heads turned to the Lexus that stood glaring at us in the middle of the parking lot.

I didn’t need to see the driver to know who he was. The whole energy around me had shifted; I could feel it.

Bryce really was mad.

It hadn’t taken long before the door swung open, and Bryce burst out of the vehicle, still dressed in a formal long-sleeved shirt, whose sleeves I noticed were now rolled up, unlike in the morning. His tie swung in the wind as he stormed forward. I couldn’t help but hold my breath.

Ignoring all the gaping mouths and all the wide eyes around him, he quickly continued towards me, and as soon as he reached me, he tossed the keys to Matthew and hoisted me over his shoulder before blindly running out of the car park and into the woods at an extreme speed, which only werewolves possessed.

“My beast needs to spend some time with you. It’s anxious, and I need to calm it down a little. Theia”—he darted his eyes to mine, an unsure look on his face—“do you think . . . you can handle that?”

I, on the other hand, was trying my best not to let my swirling mind win, with the greet speed he was actually walking at.

This should not be humanly possible!

He’s not human.

I sighed. Oh, right.

“Yeah, don’t— Ah!”

Bryce suddenly stopped, and I jerked forward on his shoulder, preparing to be thrown off by the sudden stop.

Just in time, his hands darted forward and, grabbing me, pulled my back flush against his chest.

Then, he began to transform.

I could feel it in the way his muscles spasmed and twisted against my back and in the way his smooth skin suddenly turned into thick yet also soft fur against my hands, which were holding his to my waist.

My voice hitched in my throat when I felt his sharp claws slip out and take the place of his nails. He instantly moved his fingers so that his pads would be against my tummy instead of his claws.

He jerked forward for a second, and I moved with him, knowing that was his spine remodeling itself.

I felt him—his beast.

I felt him in the way he felt taller.

I felt him in the way he growled softly behind me and in the way he hid his face against my neck, his muzzle soft—contrary to the hardness I had always, unconsciously associated it with.

I felt him—his beast, my beast.

I smiled.

My Bryce.

“Hey.”

The deep rumble that was his voice instantly sent shivers down my spine, and I leaned further into his chest.

“Hey.”

“I missed you.”

I laughed, and on impulse, I twisted in his arms to turn around. With some hesitance, he let me.

My breath held, I slowly looked up at him. It then hitched in my throat.

Bryce looked regal, everything a king should look like.

He looked dangerous—deadly.

He looked . . . furious.

I frowned. “What’s wrong?”

He looked back at me blankly. “I’m ugly.”

My frown hardened. “Oh, shut up. You’re beautiful, is what you are. There is no definition of beauty if it’s not ‘personified by Bryce.’ You are beautiful. And I love you—when you’re human, when you’re a beast—all of you.”

Bryce’s blank stare stayed, and we both went on to stare at each other before his face crumbled, and he pulled me against him again.

“I can’t lose you. You know that, right?”

A smile lit up my face, and I buried it deeper into his fury chest. “I know. You won’t. You’re stuck with me forever, Mr. Wilhem. I’m afraid to say it, but you’re mine.”

Bryce’s beast chuckled, and I felt him place a kiss on my hair.

“I love you, mate.”

A sudden question popped up in my head, and I pondered it for a second before letting it out: “Say, how often do you all take baths in this form?”

The laughter that rumbled afterwards, echoing around the two of us in the quiet forest, had me humphing and moving closer to the hysterically laughing Bryce’s chest.

***

“Stand still!” I scolded Bryce as I folded my arms in front of me determinedly.

The soaking-wet beast in front of me growled before it straightened up and stood in a manner that perfectly replicated that of statues.

I scrubbed and foamed my shampoo against his silky black fur, then I turned up to his head and did the same with that.

My beast was getting a bath.

“I’m going to freaking smell like passion fruit!”

I laughed and scrubbed him harder, moving to his hands.

“You already are a big lump of passion fruit.”

Bryce stiffened and turned to me, his golden eyes flashing at me with something more primal.

“You don’t want to go there right now, love.”

I felt my face heat up, and I nodded, wide-eyed. I’d just realized how bold I had been a moment ago.

“Forget I said that!” I breathed quickly, moving to his back.

“I don’t reckon I can ever forget that. I don’t reckon I want to.”

I groaned when I detected the amusement in his tone.

“Shut up!” I mumbled as I quickly but thoroughly finished with his back. I handed him the bottle of shampoo and moved back, letting the water from the shower wash down the foam from my already-half-wet self.

Bryce’s beast was apparently too big to fit in the bathtub.

***

“Theiaaa?”

“Yeah?” I yelled as I moved towards the bathroom door, towel in hand, still completely wet from bathing Bryce.

“I’m done!” Bryce called out loudly just as I opened the door and stepped into the bathroom.

Two steps in and my feet hit something slippery.

The last thing I remember before the blackout was the sharp, throbbing pain in the back of my head.

Then . . . there was nothing.