The Alpha King's Plus Size Mate

The Mating Ceremony

As I approached the field where the mating ceremony was to take place, I saw groups of wolves already gathered—some were my age, while some were younger or older. There was excitement in the air, the kind that came with the possibility of finding a mate. People were in groups laughing, talking, and I could even hear some whispers about who might end up with whom. I kept my head down, trying to blend in unnoticed.

“Don’t be nervous, Olivia,” Lucy reassured me. “Your moment is coming, and I will always be here with you.”

I stood off to the side, watching the ceremony begin. My heart clenched as I noticed Sophia by Damien’s side, looking radiant and full of confidence. She was already glowing with anticipation, sure that the night would end with her as Damien’s mate and future Luna of our pack. I couldn’t help but wonder if she was right. She always got the best bargain of everything. The two seemed to be so much in love, and sometimes I envied her. I wished someone would love me just as much as Damien and my parents loved her.

This was Sophia’s and my first mating ceremony, but it was Damien’s second. The first one was when he was eighteen, but unfortunately, he didn’t find his mate. Obviously, his mate wasn’t of age yet or was not in the pack. I was only fifteen then, and Sophia was thirteen, so neither of us could participate. But now Damien is twenty-three, I’m twenty, and Sophia is eighteen, so Damien is certain that Sophia is his mate.

I moved my gaze away from Damien and Sophia, then saw my parents conversing with Alpha Lucas and his wife, Luna Amelia, as if they were going to be in-laws soon. I could see the bright smile and joy on my mother’s face as she kept staring at Sophia and Damien with pride, but when she noticed me, she frowned, looked at me with disgust, and looked away hurriedly. My heart sank, but I was already used to it.

"Attention, everyone,” Alpha Lucas’s voice thundered across the field. “The mating ceremony is about to begin. I need absolute silence.”

My stomach twisted with anxiety and fear as I stood frozen in place.

“All unmated wolves of mature age,” he continued, “step forward.”

I hesitated for a moment, feeling nervous and scared, but Lucy pushed me forward. Reluctantly, I joined the other unmated females, standing across from the males. My eyes found Sophia again, standing directly across from Damien. Of course, she would be, and it seemed other unmated wolves deliberately gave the two of them space—a silent acknowledgment of their union.

The priestess stepped forward, her long robe trailing behind her. Without greeting, she lifted her hands and fixed her eyes on the sky. Her voice was calm and soft but carried a command that made everyone still.

“With the full moon as witness today, we call upon our great mother, the Moon Goddess, to bless us and let the fated mates be revealed. A magical rope will lead and bind those destined for each other. If they accept each other, then their hearts and souls shall be linked forever. If your mate is here, the rope will appear on your waist in the same color, guiding you to them.”

She began to chant words I could not understand. The air tightened around us—charged and cold—and the crowd watched their own waistlines as if expecting miracles. My heart thudded so loud I could feel it in my throat—a tiny, frantic drum. Panic fluttered under my ribs. What if nothing happened? What if I didn’t have a mate?

Then, a prickling cold skated across my skin at the waist. I looked down. There it was: a thin, gold thread, gleaming like a sliver of dawn against my dress. It hummed with a gentle pull, stretching forward as if tugging at the very thread of my fate.

For a long second, I only stared. The cord quivered at the crowd’s hush. My breath caught. Lucy pushed at the back of my mind—a nudge, a warm insistence.

“Go,” she urged.

I moved, my legs wobbling. The gold cord threaded through bodies and shadows, slipping past laughing groups and whispering pairs, always pulling. Others followed similarly glowing ropes, some already linked to their mates. The crowd became a maze of light and longing; each step I took made the moon seem closer, brighter.

Halfway through, my pulse steadied into a painful, hopeful rhythm. The cord led me toward the center of the field, and suddenly the world narrowed to only the golden line and the path it carved.

I stopped short. Breath lodged in my chest.

He stood there.

Alpha Kingsley—older brother to Alpha Lucas, the man the pack kept in low-voiced rumors. He was taller than I remembered, and his presence felt like a winter wind: sharp, undeniable. His eyes met mine and widened, the cord between us shining with a blinding gold that made the whole space around us sparkle.

For a moment, everything dissolved: the murmurs, the chanting, even my own fear. All that remained was the thread, and him, and the dizzy, unnameable pull closing the distance in a quiet, relentless tug.

My legs moved before my mind could tell them not to. The golden thread led me the rest of the way, and as our cords braided together, a light flared—brief and pure—and then I saw his face close enough to read the small shock and something else I could not yet name. My world thinned to the brightness of that light and the sound of my own breathing.

I couldn’t tell if my hands trembled from fear or from a strange, cautious hope. Either way, there was no going back now.

“Mate!” Lucy howled inside my head, fierce and wild.