His Chosen Mate (Complete- Standalone)

Chapter 6

I grumbled against his chest, not wanting to get up.

“Good morning beautiful,” he kissed the top of my head. “How’d you sleep?”

I purred and nuzzled against him making the bliss of waking up with him known.

“Same.” He was petting my head, playing with my hair.

“Can I take you to dinner tonight, maybe go see a movie? I didn't mean to sleep as late as it is, I am actually kind of behind schedule.

“Yeah, I gotta get up.” I dragged myself off of him, standing up and stretching, then I saw thew imprints on his skin, the red marks from where I had been sleeping on him all night. I was probably crushing him. “I gotta go to the gym.”

“You normally go to the one over here on Gibbs?” He asked as he was putting on his shoes.

“Yeah, the power was out the day I went to yours.”

“Wanna meet me there? I have two clients back to back this morning but it would be nice to see you,”

“Umm the one on Jackman?”

“Yeah”

“ I’m like a run without distraction, kind of girl.” I said.

“Are you worried, I’m gonna distract you?” His eyes twinkled and his lips curved in that sinful smirk.

“Absolutely!”

“I’m gonna make you a preworkout from the juice bar. You pick it up when you get there?” He said as he made his way to the door. I hadn't confirmed I was going to his gym but he was confident and assured I was.

“Sure, I guess.” I leaned up to kiss him goodbye, not intending his full embrace. His arms consumed me, his warm soft lips pressed into mine, his tongue pleading for entry and I welcomed him. A warmth rose between my thighs, as I deepened our kiss, before sucking his bottom lip.

“I’ll get nothing done if you kiss me like that everytime you leave,” I blushed.

He licked his lips, “See you soon.”

It was weird to wake up with him, like it was no big deal. Even though he seemed to be leaving in a rush, I didn't take offense. We just sort of fell in sync, there was no awkwardness, it felt like we had known each other a long time. I headed into my bedroom and knew exactly what I wanted to wear to the gym. I had a ton of athletic wear. My company had a brand of athletic wear and it carried up to a size 3x. It was the one and only place I utilized my employee discount. While it is true that I mostly wore the same black sports bra and leggings. I did have several sets, that I loved. This one was peach, it was cross body in the front and had a big cut out in the back. Super comfortable with lots of support, it had matching high-waisted leggings and I had a pair of white nike zoomx that had some accent colors that looked perfect with this. I knew I was trying to look cute for the gym and that was something I normally didn't do, in fact, I found girls who were kind of obnoxious. But the reality settled in, I was trying to look cute for Kingston and I didn’t care.

I decided before I left to text Emily back.

Ashleigh: Duuuuude

Emily: You been a busy girl?

Ashleigh: I went to the beach yesterday with Kingston. Sorry I didn’t text.

Emily: Mr. Red Flag stealing my girl, thats so very Mr. Red Flag of him.

Ashleigh: Yeah, I don’t know what to make of him. I had fun tho.

Ashleigh: I suppose you are working today?

Emily: open to close, womp womp.

Ashleigh: I am about to head to the gym, I am downtown Monday/Tuesday, then I am going on vacation. When will I see you next?

Emily: What day are you back?

Ashleigh: Saturday, then the following week I am down in LA for a few days setting up that pop up holiday space.

Emily: Sunday? Sushi?

Ashleigh: Yeah, let's see how the week goes.

Emily: Maybe it can be a double date with Mr. Red Flag.

Ashleigh: You have lofty goals.

Emily: Have fun at the gym!

Ashleigh: Have fun working for the corporate machine!

I headed outside to find that little black box on my windshield. I had completely forgotten about it. I took it inside the car with me and opened it, a beautiful pair of halo diamond earrings. I tried to ignore the feeling that he were a reused gift or that he had gifts stock piled. When did he have time to go to this jeweler overnight, from the time I agreed to go out with him, till the time he picked me up on Saturday morning. I wanted to trust that he picked these out specifically for me but I had my doubts. I closed the box and tucked it into my center console.

I realized as I contemplated the gift, that all my previous thoughts were based on prior experiences. If part of the new year, new place, new me was going to work. I had to to trust Kingston, give him a fair shot. Not make him wade through the insecurities and hang ups I had based on past experiences. I had a lot of bad experiences when it came to guys.

After I parked, I put the earrings on. When I walked through the gym doors my steps were confident, but I immediately smelled other wolves. After checking in, I walked to the juice bar, I was alert and my defense were up. I expected to scent Kingston and maybe April but there was the lingering scent of atleast 3 other wolves but I hadn't seen them yet.

“Hey I have a preworkout from Kingston waiting?”

“Ashleigh?” The girl asked.

“Yup.”

“Give me a second, he has it here. I just need to mix it.” I scanned the gym. It was much busier than I preferred. I didn’t see Kingston, although I could smell him.

“Here you go!” The girl handed me a clear shaker with a bright blue liquid in it. “Have a good work out!”

I made my way to the lockers and drank the concoction that Kingston had picked, pretty good, I thought. It was then that I saw him over by the free weights, Kingston with, I suppose, his client. She was a woman, probably late twenties, early thirties. She was fit and he was behind her correcting her form, counting her reps. I watched for a moment and tried to snuff out my jealousy. This is why I don’t date gorgeous alphas. As she purposely messed up her form to stick out her butt towards him. I'm sure he was used to girls throwing themselves at him. He had said as much last night. I tried to remind myself of what he said last night but I was growing jealous, maybe possessive. I wasn't sure.

I threw my stuff in a locker and thought about running on the track but it was crowded. Walked towards the cardio room, only one open elliptical and one treadmill were open. I hated that the treadmills faced towards the window. So everyone could watch you from behind. But I wanted to run. I pulled my hair in a high ponytail and threw on my beats and headed back towards the track.

I was about half way through my run when Kingston came up beside me, he tapped my shoulder jogging along with me.

“What are you listening to?” He asked. I immediatly blushed, realizing the song that was playing.

“You know the song d**k has Doja Cat in it?”

“She not with him tonight. She not with Jim tonight. She in the gym tonight.” He sang the lyrics of the song.

My blush crept up to my ears, laughing that he knew it. “Thats my jam,” He teased. “I have a quick 30 minute freebie trainer thing. I have her filling out the 'about me' paperwork. You want to do some weights after?”

I nodded yes as he jogged off the track. I noticed the girl who he went over to, another hot girl. Awesome. Was it just me or does this gym have a lot more hot-bodied girls than mine? I forced myself to focus on my music and drown out my own insecurities.

My watch buzzed, telling me my time was up right as I saw April walking in. Great.

Kingston was waiting for me, as I walked over. He was completely oblivious to the number of girls staring at him.

“How was your run?” he asked.

“Good, are we doing resistance? I honestly don’t know what I can lift anymore.”

“You used to lift?”

“How do you think I got a body like this?” I teased.

He picked me up, kissing me and spun me around, setting me back on my feet so my back was facing all the girls staring at him and, he grabbed my ass with both his hands, cupped it from the underside, then a firm squeeze and then gave me a hard slap. “This body IS perfect, don’t you forget it.” He whispered in my ear.

“Imma just do some core stuff. I’ll watch you, along with the rest of the girls in the gym.” I teased.

“Oh, they watching? Can I slap your ass some more?” He smiled at me. My cheeks flushed and although I wasn't very into public displays of affection, I liked that Kingston was claiming me, touching me, while so many were watching. My possessive wolf wanted to bite him, mark him, claim him. She was reveling in knowing people were watching.

“No,” I started laughing and scooting away, “Actually, I want to do some hip thrusts. You come spot me?”

I grabbed a bar that had pads on it, looked at the plates and decided to add a bit more. I carried it over to the bench. Kingston just watching me, “ Nice pelvic rotation, squeeze them glutes baby.”

“You my trainer now?”

“Nah, just in awe of my girl.”

My Girl. Swoon. We had met in passing on Thursday night, I've known him for a few days and somehow that felt right.

Together we did some core exercises. He showed me a few things I could be doing better and I taught him my routine, which he was thoroughly impressed by. He helped me off the floor and then held my hand as we walked through the gym. “Hey April,” Kingston called “I wanted to reintroduce you guys. Ashleigh, this is April. April, this is Ashleigh.”

“Hey sorry about my bitchy she-wolf energy. Hope you wont hold it against me,” she offered a smile.

“I can give off the same energy, no worries.” She was dressed again in a pink matching outfit, this time bubble gum pink, her bouncy blonde ponytail was high and pull tight. She had a face full of makeup made me a little more than self-conscious.

“Mae told me you guys went to the beach yesterday. Did you go in the water?” April asked, interrupting my thoughts. Who is Mae and Kingston told her about our date?

“We did. I hadn’t been to the ocean since I was a kid, so I couldn’t resist. It was pretty cold.”

“I am excited about going on the 4th. We always host a big party. You should come.” April said. I wondered for a second why Kingston hadn't invited me. But then I remembered he knew I was heading home. God it sucked to be this insecure.

“I’d love to but I am heading to my mom's for the holiday.”

“Another time for sure though,” Kingston replied for me. “We are about to head out. Is Kyle here?”

“Yeah, he is in the locker room, I think.” April looked side to side.

“Cool, I want to catch him before I leave.” Kingston positioned himself, in a way it was clear he wanted to depart. Ready to dismiss April, although I knew his pack didn't have Alphas, Kingston was an alpha, that simple turn of attention queued me into that.

“It was nice seeing you again,” She smiled at me.

“Same.”

“What time we doing dinner?” I asked.

“5?” Kingston suggested.

“s**t, I forgot how old you were. 5 is probably really late for you. We can do 4, then do some bingo and get your geritol before bed.” I smiled big at him, he tried to playfully grab me but I ran into the girls locker room giggling. I turned around and taunted him. His smile was beautiful and contagious. "See you at 5." I blew him a kiss and waved. As I turned the corner, heading to the lockers, I could hear talking by the showers and mirrors, the scent of two wolves. I couldn’t see them, but I could hear them. I stood still, eavesdropping on the conversation.

“Don’t think too much about it. It’s just catch and release. I’ve seen him do it before.”

“Watching him kiss her, it was disgusting.”

“He is only dating her so he can be responsible for her before and after photos. Kingston is all about his brand.”

What did I just hear? They are taking about me, catch and release? Before and after photos? I put my headphones on and walked full stride towards my locker, pretending that I didn’t notice or hear them. I decided to shower at home, leaving the lockers as quick as I could. When I got to my car, I thought about texting Kingston but the words ‘I’ve seen him do it before’ kept replaying over and over in my mind. I knew better than to trust him. All this s**t is just lies, it's just a game to him. I really didn’t believe his whole mate story. I’d dated enough players to know how they lie.

A quick run down of my dating history.

First boyfriend, sweet, thought we were meant to be. He went away to college, cheated on me during welcome week, forgave him, he cheated on me again a few weeks later. It's hard to be faithful in college is what he claimed.

Second boyfriend, was embarrassed to be seen in public with me. Cheated on me.

Third boyfriend, married, literally had a whole second life.

Fourth boyfriend, abusive asshole, possessive, controlling, alpha wolf. Had to please to his alpha to get free of him.

Fifth boyfriend, a safe pick, who worshiped me but put no effort into his life, into our relationship. Was content with his parents and me paying his way. When I started to push him to make something of himself, he cheated on me because I was 'trying to change him'.

If I had learned anything from my exes and from dating, it was, guys lie. They aren’t to be trusted. Kingston wasn’t the exception, he was the rule and I felt silly for buying into the whole thing. Pissed for making excuses and criticizing my own caution. All the girl's stuff at the beach house, the earrings, the girls fawning over him at the gym, April and then that conversation in the locker room.

I sat in my car for a minute before going to get some lunch, thinking about what I wanted to say to Kingston. I pulled up his i********: and sure enough, he had a brand of supplements and with them... a ton of before and after pictures. A lot of gains but also a lot of weight loss pictures. Was I his project?

He didn’t take no for an answer the first few times I tried. After last night, the hours of conversation, falling asleep in his arms. How could I convince him that suddenly I had changed my mind? He was too damn persistant. But this was probably his MO find insecure girls that he could throw a couple of rehearsed lines at and then have them eating all the bullshit. Before and after photo. F*ck this guy.

I am not some insecure girl. We can make a clean break, we will not let some man make us feel less than. I had only known him for a few days, so that was in my favor. My best bet, I thought, was just to put enough distance between the two of us. I had a vacation coming up, two work trips, the next three weeks were incredibly busy.

Ashleigh: Hey, some work things came up, I gotta drive into SF tonight. Gonna have to rain check on dinner.

Kingston: Okay, no problem. Text me when you get there safely.

While I had my phone open on his i********:, I decided to search for Kingston on other social media. f*******:, was a bunch of old pictures, full of a bunch of girls and party pics. t****k, private. He had a second i********:. His personal was mostly pictures of the woods and beach, some food pics, some tats, nothing really screaming red flag, minus the amount of girls that commented on each picture.

I looked back at his business i********: which had a ton of gym pics, work out tips, muscle pics, video and pics with him and clients, with before and after pics. He had his own line of protein, aminos, weight gainer, creatin, preworkout, vitamin packs, mixer bottles. King’s Ton, with a barbell between the two words. He had a thousand posts promoting his products. I felt sick to my stomach seeing all the progress of girls losing weight, building booty and toning their bodies. Captions about how he can transform your life.

I was a project. His next project. Of course, our second date was the gym. What did I expect?

I decided to spend the afternoon getting ready for vacation, cleaning, packing, laundry, meal planning. I gave myself a pedicure and by 7, I was so bored. I put on a new show that had been recommended to me when my phone lit up.

Kingston: Hope everything is good. Miss you.

Ashleigh: Yeah sorry, I have been caught up in things, what's ur schedule like this week? I leave on Tuesday night. I would like to see you before then.

I typed that knowing I want to lead his scent off my true intentions.

Kingston: I am pretty packed the next few days before the holiday. I have work stuff and some training sessions. I have like a window from 4-6 and then after 10. What day do you get back?

Ashleigh: Sunday :(

I lied. I’d be back on Saturday but he didn’t need to know that.

Kingston: A whole week without you, when you getting home tonight?

Ashleigh: Okay bootycall

Kingston: No, I just want to spend time with you. Even if it's just sleeping next to you.

Ashleigh: I’ll text ya when I get back home.

I did't text him that night and spent the next 48 hours dodging hanging out with Kingston. In all honesty, between his schedule and mine, it was really easy to do. When I was waiting for my flight on Tuesday, I looked at our text history. He hadn’t even text me today. My plan to put some distance between us was working. I sent him a text from the airport.

Ashleigh: Bout to board, I’ll try to text when I can. Have a great Fourth! Cya when I get back!