The Alpha King's Stolen Mate

5. I'm what?!

I woke to the warm press of lips trailing down my throat, a soft rumble vibrating against my skin as his teeth scraped lightly over my mark. My body stirred under the heavy furs, my pulse fluttered when his tongue brushed the sensitive spot once again.

It took me a second to remember where I was, or maybe who I was now.

Three days.

It's been three days locked away in this room with him. Three days of him deep inside of me, of being touched and kissed and claimed over and over until my wolf didn’t know where she ended and Darius began.

I had only left his bed to go to the bathroom. Not even to eat, he wouldn’t allow it. Trays of food appeared like magic at the door. If I needed to shower, he joined me, pressed me against the tiles, sink deep into my sore wet folds while warm water mixed with his growls and my broken moans.

He made me wear his shirts too, nothing else. He liked it whenever his scent mixed with mine, not that I minded, I loved every bit of it.

Now, this morning, was no different.

“Darius…” I murmured, sleepily as my hand slid lazily through his hair, Darius slowly kissed my shoulder purring deeper into my neck,

His mouth dragging heat down my stomach before returning to my mark, his mark, freshly bitten last night when he sank his teeth into it.

A soft, helpless moan slipped out when his teeth grazed it again.

“You’re awake,” he murmured, voice husky, lips brushing my ear. “Good.”

I bit my lip, his voice was enough to make my wolf stirr and to make me go wet.

I tried to shift, but he pressed me down with his body, rumbling when his persistent friend that stood up tall brushed my inner thighs.

He smirked, one hand cupping my chin possessively. While his golden eyes keeping me locked as he leaned in and pressed a searing kiss to my lips.

I could feel tingles all around my body making me moan sweetly into his mouth. My wolf loved every bit of him.

Darius bit my lip making gasp as he used the opportunity to slip into my mouth. Our tongue tangled, the warmth and love from him engulfing me completely.

I tilted my head getting as much of him as I could before pulling away, gasping for breath while he chuckled to my reaction. Seeing him laugh made my skin tingle. I could listen to him laugh all day. It was like a lullaby to me.

My face flushed hot, memories from the last three days flooding back, my back arched over his sheets, my thighs shaking while spread wide apart, his growls and praise running through my veins like fire.

I bit my lip. “The acceptance ceremony is today…”

Darius only hummed, nosing into my neck again like he couldn’t get enough of my skin.

“You’re thinking about that when you should be thinking about how I plan to have you back here the moment it’s over.”

I let out a soft, breathless laugh. He was so shameless about how he hated letting me out of this room and out of his bed.

“You’re insatiable,” I whispered.

He pulled back just enough to meet my eyes again, one hand sliding down my waist beneath the covers.

“No,” he smirked, eyes hooded. “You’re insatiable. You smell like wild honey and night-blooming jasmine, I can’t get enough of it.... yet your scent is somehow different from when we first met. I can't seem to put my head around it,”

Darius inhaled me deeply making me blush as I swat at his shoulders before coming up to brush his nose against mine. His hand slipped lower against my inner thighs, making my breath stop.

“Let them all bow today, little one,” he murmured. “And then I’ll have you back here, tasting exactly how sweet you still are.”

My cheeks burned, heart fluttering wildly in my chest. Oh my God.

I barely had a chance to enjoy the warm haze of his mouth on my throat when Darius’s head lifted. His golden eyes turned distant for a heartbeat, that faint shift in his scent told me he was mindlinking.

He growled softly, his lips brushing my mark one last time before he pulled back just enough to see my face.

“What is it?” I asked, brushing my fingertips over his chest, still drowsy from sleep, and everything else we’d done for the past three days.

He sighed. “The patrols need direction. Something about the western ridge. Minor, but they want me there.”

I bit my lip, trying not to smile. The fierce king who could command entire packs with a look, yet sulked like a restless wolf when torn from his mate.

“Go,” I said softly, pressing a small kiss to his jaw. “They need their Alpha King.”

He didn’t move at first. Just stared at me, at my flushed skin wrapped in nothing but his shirt, when he did lean away, he brushed his thumb over my bottom lip, then over my mark as if to remind us both who I belonged to.

“Don’t wander too far,” he warned. “You’ll be back in this bed the moment I return.”

I tried not to melt at how easily he made demands sound like promises.

“I won’t,” I whispered.

His mouth curved, then he was gone, the door shutting behind him.

Silence rushed in. I sat there for a heartbeat, listening to the hush of the huge packhouse beyond these walls. Three days I’d stayed tucked away, claimed, fed, loved and ruined in every possible way.

But now I was hungry. Properly hungry. And restless.

So I pushed myself off the bed, slipped into fresh underthings, and tugged his shirt tighter around my thighs. I inhaled deeply, it smelled like him.

I stepped out into the hallway for the first time since he’d carried me into this place. It felt like stepping into another world, stone halls that seemed to stretch forever, strange warriors bowing their heads when they saw me.

His mate. His Luna.

I kept my chin low, my fingers brushing the wall as I padded barefoot through passage after passage, trying to guess which way the kitchens might be.

I was rounding a corner when I nearly collided with her.

Lyra.

“Lyra!” I gasped.

My friend stiffened, her golden hair still twisted into a braid that looked like it hadn’t been redone since the last day I’d seen her. Her eyes flicked down my borrowed shirt, Darius’s shirt, and then back up to my face, sharp and cold.

I stepped closer anyway, relief rushing through me at seeing someone familiar after days hidden away.

“I didn’t know you were still here!” I blurted, smiling. “I thought maybe you’d gone back to Thornveil when they called off the trial....”

Lyra’s lips twisted, cutting me off.

“Oh, I’m still here,” she smiled, but not in the sweet way I'd remembered. “Watching my dearest friend spread her legs for a crown that was never meant for her.”

My mouth fell open, heat draining from my face.

“Lyra... I didn’t mean...” I stammered, stepping closer. I’d thought of her these last few nights, wondered how she felt, how hurt she must have been. But this, this bitterness twisted her beautiful face into something cruel.

“You didn’t mean,” she mocked, eyes narrowing. “Funny how omegas never mean to sink their claws into a crown they don’t deserve.”

Her words cut sharper than I expected. My fingers tightened in the hem of Darius’s shirt, my wolf pushing up in my chest, tensed at the insult.

“I’m still your friend,” I tried, softer, desperate to keep my voice calm. “Please don’t—”

Lyra stepped closer, her face inches from mine now, all her old sweetness twisted into something bitter and cold.

“Enjoy your new title, Luna,” she hissed. “We’ll see how long you last once he’s done with you.”

Once, I might have lowered my head. Once, I would have apologized just for breathing wrong. But now? I felt something.

Something weird, like I could stand on my own. Maybe it was the fact that I was mated to the alpha king or maybe it was the mark on my neck. I wasn’t sure.

But I had done nothing wrong to be treated this way.

I straightened my shoulders, meeting her glare even though my chest trembled with the effort. My wolf pressed up under my skin, making me know she was there for me.

“I never planned any of this, Lyra,” I said, my voice soft. “I didn’t trick him. I didn’t steal anything from you.”

Her lip curled. “You stole everything.”

“No,” I defended. “I’m standing beside him because he chose me. Because the moongoddes paired us together.”

Her eyes flashed, something hateful there, something wild. For a heartbeat, I thought she might slap me.

It was then that I felt something weird once again. Something inside me turning over, warm and strange. My stomach tightened, making me gasp.

Lyra’s mouth opened, but her voice blurred in my ears. The corridor spun around me. A pulse of warmth thudded low in my stomach.

“Mireya?” I heard someone say. Maybe Lyra. Maybe my own wolf. Everything was soft now, a hush rushing over my thoughts.

I placed my hand on my head feeling dizzy as suddenly everything just went black.

.

.

.

.

I groaned as my eyes fluttered awake.

The first sensation I experienced upon awakening was warmth; Then pungent smell of antiseptic.

The second thing was the weight of someone’s hand curled around mine.

I noticed that I was in a room, pale stone walls, polished floor, faint hum of voices behind a closed door.

A healer in pale robes hovered beside the bed, her expression gentle but wary, eyes flicking down to the chart she held.

“What happened to me…?” I asked.

She offered a small smile. “You fainted, Luna.”

I stared at her confused, my fingers tightened in the blanket. “What’s wrong with me?” I whispered.

Her eyes softened, almost shy as she placed the chart aside. “Nothing is wrong. Quite the opposite, actually.”

She paused, like she was waiting for me to guess, to catch up. But I couldn’t. My heartbeat was so loud I thought it might burst.

“You’re pregnant, Mireya,” she said softly. “You’re carrying the Alpha King’s heir.”