Happily Never After

Chapter 4

              “Mate”

No way. I had a mate. What was he talking about? I back away slowly from him. He was already taking on his Lycan form. His hands had extended into claws, his body covered in shiny silver fur. If I wasn’t so scared, I’d be mesmerised by him.

              “No wait. Listen.” I pleaded. He advanced forward letting a rolling growl emanate from his chest.  “Please.” I begged. I never begged, not even to Alpha Rex but his presence was truly terrifying. He was inches from me now and all I had was a wall behind me. I closed my eyes. Fear shook through me. “I have a mate!” I yelled out.

Suddenly, he stopped. His claws and fur retracted, and I was left pressed up against the wall by a prince. He stared down at me before pulling back. His eyes glared down at me. He pulled back the shoulders of my dress and sniffed my skin. Again, if this was any other circumstance I might be turned on. In fact, if I was honest, I was a little. I could feel the heat well in my stomach. A heat I thought was long gone.

              “You’re not marked. Why.” He demanded. He stood back and began pacing. I slid down the wall until I was sitting on the floor, my legs pulled up under my chin. “Answer me!” He yelled making me jump.

              “Um…well….you see…” I spluttered.

              “Spit. It. Out.” He snarled. He came back over to me and grabbed my arms pulling me back up and pulling me towards the bed.

              “It’s our Alpha. He refuses to let anyone be marked.” I said as quick as I could.

The prince just stood there. He didn’t say anything. I was afraid to look up but as I peaked my head up I could see he was staring down at me.

              “What do you mean, not allowed to be marked? You have a mate the bond must be fulfilled otherwise there will be consequences.” He began pacing backwards and forwards again his gaze still fixed on me.

              “I...um…It’s his rule. I don’t know why.” I shrug. The prince continuing to pace in front of me. I was getting a little dizzy.

I began to feel a low burning pain in my chest. Vix was beginning to whine and the room swayed. Determined not to show my discomfort I remained seated as still as I could. Nausea washed through me as the pain grew stronger. I knew I wouldn’t be able to push it down must longer. The prince stopped and glared at me.

              “What’s wrong?” He asked, his aggressive glaring swapped for a more concerned look.

              “Nothing. I’m fin…” I clutch my chest as a wave of pain surges through me.  “What’s wrong with me?” I fell to the floor clutching myself into a ball.

The prince is instantly by my side. He pulled me up onto his lap. “It’s the mate bond. Your mate is with another right now.” He rocked me and ran his fingers through my hair hushing and soothing me.

              “Make it stop!” I wailed.

              “Shhh. It’ll be over in a minute.” He continued to rock me as the pain slowly subsided. “I’m so sorry this happened to you.”

He held me close. I couldn’t help but notice the tingling sensation I could feel from our close contact. I relaxed into him feeling better with every caress. My breathing clamed down and I breathed a sigh of relief.

              “Thank you. I feel much better now.” I expected him to let me go but he didn’t he held onto me, continuing to stroke and caress my hair.

We sat in silence for several minutes. I secretly let myself enjoy the contact. It had been ages since I felt this close to someone. I felt loved and I felt wanted and needed and not just for s*x or pleasure.

              “Why is your mate cheating on you?” The prince asked breaking the silence.

              “Probably because he expected me to be sleeping with you.” I said shyly looking at the ground.

              “If your mated, why would you be sleeping with me? That is against the moon goddess.” I could feel his body tense. I could tell he was confused. He didn’t understand our ways. He didn’t understand how Rex ran his pack and I didn’t know how much I should divulge. However, being this close to him I wanted to tell him everything.

              “It’s the Alpha’s law. He believes if we aren’t marked our punishments won’t kill our mates, just inflict pain.” I murmured as I breathed in his earthy scent. He smelt like forests that had just woken with fresh drew. It was intoxicating. Even Vix was purring and waging her tail.

              “Punishment? What kind of punishment.” His body was as stiff as a board. I froze realising I’d said to much. I pulled away from him and shrug shyly.

              “Oh nothing.” I tried to change the subject. If Rex ever found out I told someone let alone a prince, I would be in deep trouble.

              “Tell me.” He barked and I flinched.

              “I…I can’t.” I bowed my head. I felt ashamed and embarrassed. Why was he doing this to me?

              “Please.” I looked at him and melted. He looked so sad I couldn’t help but pull my arms around him.

              “If I do, he’ll punish me.” A tear escaped my eye and a quickly brushed it away, thankful that he couldn’t see my face.

              “I won’t let that happen. In the morning you’re coming with me. Let’s pack your bags. You are not staying here any longer.” He stood up almost knocking me to the floor. He grabbed my arms and marched us towards the door.

I pulled with all my strength away from him. “No!” I yelled and he stopped. Rage was evident again on his beautiful face. It caused me to step back away from him. “I can’t go with you. He’ll punish me if I do.”

I sank down to the floor. The realisation I was trapped here finally hitting me as if someone had slapped me. He knelt next to me, bringing me back into his arms.

              “I’m a prince and future king. He can’t say no to me. How about I buy you from him?” I shook my head.

              “He doesn’t know I’m with you tonight. I wasn’t meant to be here. I was meant to find another because my friend, who was meant to be with you is pregnant with his child.” I whispered. I didn’t want anyone to hear.

              “Pregnant? To an Alpha? Are they mates?” I shook my head slowly to each of his questions. “These punishments, are they… s****l?”

I stare up at him. I can’t say the words, I can’t move. Tears fall down my cheeks and I pull my knees up to cover my face. I don’t want him to see me like this. He got up and began pacing the room again. His claws extend and his fur grows. He grabbed hold of one of the sitting chairs adjacent to the little sofa and threw it across the room with little force. I couldn’t believe the strength he had. I hid my face from him cowering as low as I could. He was scaring me now and I didn’t know what to do.

              “Get up!” He commanded. I launched myself from the floor and backed away from him. His Lycan form under control again. Before I could reach the opposite wall, he grabbed my wrists again. “We’re leaving, NOW!”

              “But…I….” Did he not hear what I just said? I couldn’t leave. Rex would hunt me down, rape me a thousand times over and leave me for dead in a cell. I shook my head. I couldn’t leave, what about Lilly? What about Roman.

Roman what was I going to do about him. He betrayed me. Cut deep within me and pushed our bond back in my face. I knew he had felt the exact same pain every time Alpha Rex ‘punished’ him but if he’d really cared for me, he wouldn’t have hurt me. What small fraction of love I held for him inside my heart was now gone. What was left were scars and hatred. The same hatred I had for our Alpha.

              “If we go, we take Lilly with us.” I said walking towards the door. The prince looked confused, and I didn’t blame him. I literally did a 180 on my emotions bringing my cold hard shield up. Lilly would be easy to find. She was in my room.

I checked outside the door to make sure the coast was clear. No one had heard the noise inside the room, and I was grateful for the soundproofing. I walked towards the stairs taking two at a time until we were on the Alpha’s floor. My heart thumped hard in my chest as I approached Rex’s room. I could hear moaning coming from inside and was grateful that he was fully distracted. However, I was still petrified to walk past. The prince was instantly by my side. He grabbed my hand, and my fear was swept away by his touch.

We continued along the corridor until we reached my room. I walked in carefully, just in case Lilly had gone and this was where Roman had taken his slut. Thankfully Lilly still lay, fast asleep on my bed. I smiled at how peaceful she looked. I walked quietly over to her and sat down. I stroked her hair off her face.

              “You care about her.” He said in a low voice. I nodded and smiled up at him.

              “She doesn’t deserve this. I’ve learnt over time to build my walls. She hasn’t, she’s one fight, one punishment, one threat away from ending everything and I can’t let that happen.”

Lilly’s eyes fluttered open. I gently laid my finger on her lips, so she knew not to make a noise.

              “We’ve come to rescue you.” I whispered into her ear and she smiled a sleepy smile. “Lilly is there anything here you really need?” I planned to travel with the price as light as possible.

She sat up gathering her thoughts and slowly registering what I was saying. She looked at the prince, her eyes wide with recognition. “Are we leaving?” She asked looking from him back to me. I nodded and her smile grew even wider. “There’s nothing I want to remind me of this place.”

I stood up and faced the prince. His expression was destressed, and I took my hand in his. “We can go now. There’s nothing I want here anymore. Lilly is right we don’t need reminders.”

He nodded and guestured towards the door. I took one last look around the room before backing out and sighing. We made our way cautiously down the corridor and down the stairs towards the front entrance. I was glad there was no one around to see us. Quickly as anything, the prince pulled out a set of keys and unlocked a large black jeep. Fear flushed through me again and I trembled knowing what Lilly and my fate would be if we were ever caught. But it quickly vanished when the prince placed his hand on my thigh, giving it a light squeeze. I knew I wouldn’t fully relax until we were out beyond the borders, but his touch gave me hope. Hope of a better future and maybe a way back to my family.

As we drove away, I couldn’t help but look out of the side mirror at the pack house growing smaller. I sighed and rested my head back on the seat. I smiled at our saviour and he grinned back at me.

              “Don’t worry princess. You’re safe now.” Calling me princess sent a warm feeling flooding though me. I liked the way he said it. He squeezed my thigh again and sparks ran though me. “By the way, I’m Prince Alexander, but you can call me Alex.”