Married To The Prince and then Mated To The King

Chapter 2|| He is the King

2. ALINA~

I woke up with a jolt, my eyes wide as my heart drummed to the tune of panic— What have I done?

My eyes darted to the man sleeping soundly by my side and everything within me stood still.

The events of the previous night flashed through my mind... The way he had kissed me...

The way his fingers had massaged my n*****s, pushing me to the edge of a pleasure so sweet...

The way his thick c**k had felt inside me...

"Oh dear goddess!" I moaned clamping my lips shut with my hands.

A dangerous throb between my legs began to grow and I knew that if I stayed there a second longer I was going to find myself curling towards his alluring body again.

Quickly, I grabbed my clothes and tossed the cash on the bed before running out as if my tail was on fire.

"Miss..." His sweet manly voice called and cold air flooded my freezing brain.

Shit! He was awake!

I couldn't let him see me. Without sparing his handsome face a second glance, I ran out of there.

In my haste I didn't bother picking my hood— heck I couldn't even remember where I had dropped it. All that mattered in that moment was to get the hell out of there.

I took the isolated passages and sneaked my way back into the palace without anyone recognizing me— or maybe they did but didn't bother breathing a word. I didn't care!

My heart was ramming stronger in my chest as the sounds of the wedding bells jingled in the palace, a reminder of what the day was.

My freaking wedding day!

I made it to my room and sank against the door, my wolf finally breathing a sigh of relief— we made it!

Everything I did, from the reckless drinking and the amazingly reckless one-night stand with the stranger, started replaying in my head— and like a sick little child, my lips spread into a smile.

"Holy goddess!" I mumbled as my smile slowly turned into a sinister laughter.

Never in my life did I think I could do something so daring and... sweet...

'What if that stranger was really our mate?' My wolf whispered and the satisfaction on my face faded and a sense of fear took over.

He couldn't be our mate. I was a princess and royals were hardly given such blessings from the goddess. It was enough that we had strong wolves... Contractual unions were the only things we were given... Not mates.

To get a mate was a luxury only the luckiest got.

'What if the goddess considered us lucky?'

My mouth opened to reply to my wolf but a sharp knock on my door snapped me out of my internal conversation.

"Alina, are you ready, my dear?" My mother's voice echoed, followed by the sounds of the door knob unlocking.

Quickly, I jumped away from the door and tried to look as sleepy as possible before she stepped in.

"Hello mother—"

"Goddess! Alina!" She suddenly shrieked causing my stomach to flip. Her eyes widened in disbelief as she took another thorough look at me.

My eyes stylishly went over my body as I tried to see if a part of my escapade was exposed. Could she smell—

"Your groom and the guests are waiting and you haven't even showered? Alina, what sort of impression are you giving to your subjects!" She pulled me to the bathroom, not giving me a chance to even complete my thoughts, as she urgently urged me on.

"Mother I was going to get ready. I only—" I tried to say but she didn't even let me finish as she pushed me into my bathroom and locked the door from outside.

"You have five minutes in there! Hurry!" She called and for the second time, I sighed that morning.

It was time to wake up from my dream with the sweet stranger and face my reality. I was going to marry that arrogant Prince Darryl. There was no going back.

All I could do was stay strong because my sanity was all that I had. My body was for my people and I was going to sacrifice it, just like my mother sacrificed everything for me.

I knew that deep down my mother would rather I married for love but with the state of our pack, this was the best I could do to help her.

After the death of my father she refused to marry so she could take care of me to her full capacity— all that so that when a day like this came, I would be ready.

—And heck I was ready. I was marrying an asshole with my head held high besides the fool was never going to take my dignity because I already gave that away!

With renewed determination I quickly washed away the sins of last night from my body and prepared my mind for the ceremony.

After the shower, my mother and two handmaidens helped me get ready. They smoothened my dress and fixed hair.

For today, they added a small amount of makeup on my face to enhance whatever my mother thought was beautiful. When they were done, I stood by the mirror and watched as their eyes glowed with excitement.

"You look stunning my princess," my mother whispered and like her trained minions, the maids chorused her words.

Yet as my eyes found my reflection, I knew they were truly just minions because all I saw in the mirror was a girl with eyes too bright to call blue and hair too dull to be blonde. It was just me, the plain, wide-hipped, princess Alina.

I forced a smile and turned to give my mother a kiss on the cheek. "Thank you mother," I said.

"Come on, let's not keep your groom waiting..." She picked up the last part of my outfit, a white transparent veil that matched the patches of lace designs on my wedding dress.

She then held my hands and led me to the terrace, where the ceremony was happening.

The place was lined with strongly scented freshly cut flowers of different species. There were red and white roses, down to dandelions— and the bright colors created an ambiance of beauty and romance but to me, it represented the end of my happiness.

The sound of the bells as we got closer felt like the theme song to my doom. The echoes mocked my very existence further as my eyes met those of Darryl standing right ahead of us with a perfect smile on his face.

To anyone, he looked like the definition of a man in love. If only they knew how much he resented me... How lowly he thought of me...

My eyes caught the disgust written on the face of the man standing beside him as his best man and I knew for a fact he was the face to the second voice. The one who had dared compare me to a cow!

I knew that I wasn't the perfect skinny sized princess but I wasn't large enough to be compared to some mammal.

I had large hips alright, but they were a part of me. I wasn't the most beautiful girl but even in my plain pale skin, I was a wolf princess and I—at least— deserved some respect.

A frown sat permanently on my face and if only they could see under the veil, they would have melted from the intensity of my anger.

Oblivious to my plight, my mother happily led me to the sacrificial stand that was supposed to be the altar for the ceremony, where the officiating minister was waiting along with Darryl and his supposed best man.

"The entire pack is indebted to you," my mother whispered as we got to them. She placed a kiss on my veiled forehead and then gently took a step back, leaving me to the pretentious feral wolves in front of me.

I could feel Darryl's eyes on me but I ignored them and kept my focus on the officiating minister in front of us.

"We are all gathered here today on this beautiful day to witness the union between the Blue-Moon and the Dark-Wolves packs..." The man began to speak but my senses were suddenly thrown into chaos as I picked up something—

A dangerously sweet blend of oranges and mint...

My wolf started jumping within me as she searched for more of that familiar scent. My head was even working faster as I tried to remember where I had first picked up that scent.

Then suddenly like I had been hit by a train, I remembered and it could only mean one thing.

The stranger from last night was here!

My wolf grew even more restless and I was starting to lose my composure when I felt Darryl's hands urging me back to reality.

"...Princess Alina Belliard, do you take Prince Darryl Black as your beloved husband and partner... In sickness, war or in good health and peace... till death do you part?" The officiating minister was asking but my ears were burning.

Time stopped.

I began to feel everyone's eyes on me. They were waiting for my answer but somehow, I found myself enchanted by that sweet scent still lingering in the background.

It was almost encouraging me to refuse this madness called a union but just as my wolf began to entertain the idea, my eyes fell on my mother's face— and just like that, I knew what to do...

"Yes, I do..." I replied and echoed applause erupted from the audience.

Darryl held my hand and I felt like clawing at them but it was too late... I could only force a smile.

"Come, wifey, let's go get blessings from our parents..." He said, his dark eyes burning with evil his intentions.

Again, I forced a smile and followed by his side.

As we gradually moved away from the altar to where my mother stood, smiling at us, my stomach tightened as the sweet scent pulling at the strings of my sanity returned.

My eyes started to stylishly search the surroundings as we moved and as I finally found the source, my heart flipped.

I thought I was starting to hallucinate but right beside my mother, stood the handsome stranger from last night!

His frame looked even bigger under the light of the sun. His dark eyes almost dazzled as he stared back at me and without alcohol in my system I could see the white strands of hair in the right corner of his dark hair— a sign of his age and experience.

I was almost getting lost in his presence when it suddenly struck me. Why was he here? Why was he standing beside my mother?

My questions were almost escaping my lips when Darryl pointed at him with a smile.

"Alina, please meet my father, the Alpha King, Malcom Black..."

Every nerve ending in my body shattered as my wide eyes met his amused ones in shock.

"Hello beautiful..." He whispered in that same sweet manly voice that melted everything left behind by my shattered nerves.

My handsome stranger was Prince Darryl's father!