She's My Mate

ARIA

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I was unable to speak, struggling to find the right words to say. It was then I realized that I was standing in front of the Alpha King. Fear gripped me as I realized what could happen to me if he figured out who I was. I was about to be caught and I couldn’t let that happen.

Before he could realize what was going on, I turned to my heels. I didn’t stop until he held me by my wrist. “Turn around.” I obeyed and did as he said, before he started to inspect me from head to toe. “You are Ryan’s slave, aren’t you?” I nodded in the affirmative, afraid to look into his eyes. 

I never really looked at him for more than thirty seconds. I guess that’s why I never noticed his strong masculine features which made me feel a certain kind of way. 

“What are you doing out here then? Isn’t there a party?” He paused for a moment and sighed. “You were trying to run away.”

Before I could even think of what I was about to do, I went on my knees and started to weep. It was the only way I could free myself. “Please d…don’t tell him. H…h…he will kill me just like he killed my entire family. He has made my life a living hell, please!” I said and continued to cry waterfalls. It seemed that I couldn’t stop crying as I remembered the moment as I saw my father get killed while begging the Alpha King. 

“He tried to practically sell me to a strange man. I couldn’t allow him to take advantage of me, please.” I said as I had already started to calm down. 

“What’s your name?” He asked me. It took a moment for me to process what he said. “What’s your name?” He said as though I was wasting his precious time. 

“My..my name is Aria.” I replied while cleaning my tears. 

“Get up and stop weeping.” I did as he said while still not trying to cry. “Weeping can’t change anything. Besides, only weak people cry. Strong people find the way forward.”

“Everyone cries when they are so hurt. I’m broken by my traumatic experiences.” I said instantly regretting it. He could get angry and take me back to Ryan. 

I was about to apologize when he spoke. “I know. But crying would only make you feel worse.” He said and looked into my eyes. It was then I felt it. I felt the rush of emotions surge through my body. I think he felt it too, because his eyes softened immediately he met mine. 

“So, if you had left this place now. Where would you go?”

This Alpha King managed to make me speechless. I never really thought of where I would go after I’d run away. 

“That’s what I thought.” He said in a low tone that sent chills to my spine. “Come on, let’s go.” He grabbed my hands and made me follow him to the last place I wanted to be, the palace. I wanted to cry again but I couldn’t help but notice how I felt when he held my hand. I wanted to scream and make a fuss so he won’t take me back to that place. However, I knew better, I didn’t want to make matters worse. 

We got to the palace when almost everyone at the party had already gone home. Ryan was seen talking to another king. As soon as he laid his eyes on me, he frowned, walking over to us after he dismissed the king. 

“Nicely done Aria. Nicely done.” He said in a sarcastic tone. “You really thought you could run away, huh? You can’t run away, I promised you I would make you pay for what your father did to me!” He hollered and pulled me to him before squeezing my ears. “What were you thinking hurting such a nice man? The apple truly doesn’t grow too far from its tree. You tried to betray me and kill him, just like your father did?”

“Hey, you’re hurting her. She’s a lady and she looks quite sick.”

Ryan glared at him before letting go of my ears and pushing me, making me fall to the ground. “And who do you think you are? This is my kingdom. This is my slave and I will do whatever I want to do with her. I appreciate you bringing her back. You can leave.”

“No, I won’t.” He said, making me confused. “The moment I set my eyes on her, I knew that I wasn’t going to leave this place without her.”

“I ask again, who do you think you are? She is a nobody but I am not selling my slave to you. I have to teach her a great lesson.” Ryan said and kicked me all of a sudden, making me grunt in pain. 

“Stop it! She’s my mate!” The Alpha King shouted, making everyone in the room speechless. 

“No! It can’t be!” Ryan yelled. I was sure it was so strange to Ryan, considering the relationship we once shared. But as ridiculous as it sounded, he was my mate, we both felt it so much that it was too hard to ignore it. Even though Ryan was cruel to me, I didn’t want to leave with some other strange man. I believed that the devil I knew was better than the one I didn’t. He was acting like he cares right now, but as soon as we get to his home, he could kill me with his bare hands and no one would even care. I had no family to call my own, I had become a mere slave. 

“Look, I know that we don’t like each other. We never did and will probably never will. This might be the only thing we might actually agree on and that’s fine by me. I just want Aria to come with me, that’s all. She’s my mate. I knew it from the second I saw her.” 

“I know she’s very pretty.” Ryan smirked. “You don’t need to lie to have your way with her.”

“No, no. That’s not what I want. Look, I’m doing it for your own good. She’s a nobody, right? So, taking her away wouldn’t affect you one bit.” The Alpha King seemed so determined to get Ryan to agree with him. But I knew Ryan very well, or at least to a certain extent, he was stubborn. Ryan continued to look at him straight in the eyes, thinking of whether he should let me go. 

“If you let her go, I’ll owe you one. Come on, the moon goddess has obviously brought us together. Why would you want to stop it?”

“Fine.” Ryan said looking irritated. “I’ll let her go, but you owe me one. She makes my blood boil anyways. I can’t stand her.” Ryan said and left. When I realized what had just happened, I sighed in worry, accepting my fate as the Alpha King helped me up. 

However, I still had my revenge plan at the back of my mind. Nothing was going to change that.