Ch. 7

“I can’t be your mate.”

The words slipped past my lips before I could stop them. The spark inside me extinguished.

I couldn’t be.

No.

There was no way.

No.

The Moon Goddess herself would never make me The Alpha King’s mate.

This had to be some sort of joke, another punishment.

I couldn’t be the other half of his soul… I just couldn’t be.

Every wolf knew that an Omega couldn’t be mated to a wolf with Alpha blood. It had never happened before in our long history, and it wouldn’t be happening now.

I sat there on the bed, my feet tucked under me, my mouth slightly agape, and my palms clammy, as I waited for King Ambrose to laugh at me, or yell, or do anything at all to show that this was some sort of long, drawn-out punishment.

But he didn’t say a single word.

Instead, King Ambrose kept staring down at me, his green eyes boring into my own.

“I guess I should have taken things a little bit slower,” the king muttered as he gently ran his fingers over the curve of my jaw, being careful to avoid any of my bruises. “I used to tease Jasper for doing the same thing when he first met Clara and recognized her as her mate, we all barely managed to make it out of the room in time before he marked her.”

My head was spinning at everything happening.

“I thought that I would have been better than Jasper at least,” he chuckled lightly at his own words. “But I know that this must be a lot to take in, little one, but I promise to be here every single step of the way. I’ve waited decades for you, and I’m not letting you go. Ever.”

None of what King Ambrose was saying was helping to ease my nerves or make me feel better at all.

His words were doing the exact opposite.

There was no possible way for us to be mates. Surely, the king had to know this.

“Say something,” he whispered, tucking a few strands of my hair behind my ear. “Please.”

“I can’t be.” The words were small and soft as I said them. “Your Highness, I greatly apologize for my next words and accept my punishment, but…I just can’t be your mate. There has to be some sort of mistake, I’m just an omega. I can’t be your mate.”

Maybe the king was tired from his long trip to the Blood Moon Pack and confused me for his true mate.

King Ambrose’s eyes darkened at my words.

“Little One”—he pulled me closer until I could feel his breath fan over my face at his every word—”I don’t make mistakes. And even if I did, it is not a mistake when I tell you that you are my mate. The other half of my soul. The greatest gift the Moon Goddess has ever, and will ever, give me.”

My heart raced wildly in my chest.

“Let me ask you this, my little mate,” King Ambrose said firmly. “Do you think that your Alpha King would ever make such a mistake as telling the wrong she-wolf that they are his mate?”

Of course not.

The thought was instant.

Every wolf knew that the Alpha King was beyond powerful and never made mistakes. Mates were extremely sacred and highly treasured, and the chances of any wolf, especially the Alpha King, mistaking a she-wolf as their mate were slim.

Still, those thoughts did nothing to ease my nerves.

“I’m just an Omega.” The words tumbled past my lips.

The King pursed his lips. “That is a topic for another time,” he said simply. “But right now all that you need to know, little one, is that you’re my mate and that it’s late and you need rest.”

His tone left no room for argument.

Not that I would ever even think to argue or talk back to the Alpha King.

King Ambrose pulled back from me, his hands falling away from my face.

“I hope that you forgive me, Little One, for the way I handled our first interaction. It’s just that I’ve been searching for you for so long, and once I finally found you, I couldn’t think of anything else. I know that you must still be confused and a little scared. I’ve done an awful job so far at explaining everything. And I know that doesn’t make up for it, but I promise that I’ll do better.”

Never had anyone said such kind words to me.

King Ambrose gently pulled the plush blanket over me and fluffed the pillows at the top of the bed. A soft smile formed on his lips as he did so. “I do hope that you’ll forgive me for tonight.”

The King shook his head, as if trying to clear away his thoughts, and looked back up at me as he dragged the blanket over me and up to my chin. “I don’t know if I’ll ever get over the fact that the Moon Goddess gave me the most beautiful mate.”

I could feel my cheeks turning red from his words. Never had I ever heard such kind words directed at me.

This felt like a dream I didn’t wish to wake up from.

Wordlessly, King Ambrose finished tucking me in and finally laid down next to me himself.

I had never slept next to someone before. All of us servants had our own small cots that were more metal springs than bedding, and they were much too small and slim for more than one person to sleep on.

As soon as he was under the blanket, King Ambrose laid down next to me and pulled me flush against his chest until all I could feel was his body against mine. One of his legs settled in between mine, and his arm that wasn’t wrapped around my waist holding me close moved underneath my pillow, propping my head up. I couldn’t deny how comfy I was.

The king fell asleep quickly, but I couldn’t seem to stop my mind from wandering.

The images of the fire and those scenes were dancing around my mind, taking up every spare inch of my thoughts.

What had they meant?

Why had King Ambrose been so worried about them?

Why couldn’t I have just listened to Madam Olympia and never touched magic?

The king stirred softly beside me, pulling me even closer to him and startling me out of my thoughts.

I couldn’t stop myself from slowly turning around in his hold until our fronts were pressed together.

I traced every feature that I could make out in the moonlight. From his thick, dark eyebrows to his plump, pink lips. I tried my best to make sense of how the Moon Goddess would make the Alpha King my mate.

How was it possible that we were the other halves of each other’s souls?

I had heard from some of the other servants who served high-ranking pack members that finding their mate was the most magical experience. But if King Ambrose truly was my mate, why didn’t I realize? Or even feel it at all?

Surely, I must have. I mean, Alphas didn’t make mistakes, and the Alpha King most definitely didn’t. So, if he said that I was his mate then I had to be… right?

My mind wouldn’t stop spinning.

I was so consumed in my thoughts and looking at King Ambrose’s face that I hadn’t even noticed the sun was slowly beginning to rise.

I wasn’t sure what time it was—in his fit of rage last night, King Ambrose had smashed everything in the room, the clock included.

But I had been getting up early to prepare breakfast for the pack since I was young, and the sun was always starting to rise when my first alarm would go off.

Despite having a whirlwind of a night, I wasn’t tired at all. It was like my mind refused to let me rest.

As silently as I could, I summoned some courage and gently moved out of the King’s arms. His brows pulled together as soon as I made my first move, and he tugged me back into his embrace. It took me a few more tries, and King Ambrose pulling me back into his arms, before I was able to finally get off the bed.

I didn’t waste a single second before rushing over to where my uniform lay crumpled in a ball on the floor. I hurriedly put it on, making sure to turn my back to the king just in case he woke up.

I smoothed my hair out the best that I could, trying to look presentable and not like a total mess.

I let myself take one last, final glance at King Ambrose where he lay, powerful even in his slumber, and hoped beyond hope he really was my mate.

Then I turned back toward my normal, lowly life.

---

There were already a handful of pack warriors in the kitchen when I finally managed to find my way down from King Ambrose’s room.

As an Omega, I was one of the lowest ranked within the pack and wasn’t allowed to clean the rooms upstairs where visiting packs stayed, so I didn’t know my way around. There were so many hallways and twisting corners that I felt like I would never find my way out.

It was only when I scented Madam Olympia that I was able to find my way out.

But it was clear I didn’t arrive in time.

Many of the pack warriors that patrolled during the evenings liked to have breakfast before anyone else so that they could sleep sooner. I always prepared a smaller breakfast platter for them first.

I let out a barely audible gasp when I glanced over at the kitchen clock and saw how late I was. I immediately bared my neck in submission and dropped to my knees to show my respect to the warriors.

Brown boots walked over, getting closer and closer until they were standing right in front of me, the wolf no doubt towering over me.

“And what exactly do you have to say for yourself, Omega?” the angry wolf snapped at me.

I didn’t dare raise my head or meet his eyes. I didn’t make a sound.

“The Blood Moon Pack was kind enough to take you in and put a roof over your head when—”

“Hold on, Adam,” another warrior cut off the wolf yelling at me. “Do you smell that?”

The other wolf took a few steps closer to me as he breathed in and out.

“What the hell are you talking about, Ben?”

The other male wolf, Ben, grabbed a fistful of my knotted hair and took a deep breath.

“She doesn’t smell like a weak Omega, she smells”—he paused to inhale again, his voice turning deadly accusatory—”like she’s been in some male wolf’s bed all night.”

My heart pounded in my chest as the powerful warrior wolves towered over me.

Did I smell like King Ambrose?

What would happen if they knew it was his bed I’d been in?