Alder's POV
"Alder, what's going on?" Lance asked when we were left in the living room in the villa where we were staying."What do you mean?" I asked him with a mysterious smile."Come on, you know what I mean. What did you smell on our way here?" He asked again, and I saw that he started to get frustrated. I laughed at him and leaned back."All I can say is that I am happy.""Now, I am even more frustrated. You really didn't want to tell me?" I laughed at what he looked like. He was definitely pissed, and it was very rare for him to feel that way. Among the three of us, he was the coolest and most patient. Seeing him like this is like a breath of fresh air for me.Before he gets mad, "I smelled my mate right there.""What?" he shouted out in shock. I nodded at him, and he was speechless. He knew how much I longed for my mate to come, and even if he didn't tell me, I'm sure he would be very happy for me."Wait, didn't the warrior say that they only smelled Clover? The supposed Luna who lost her title to a challenge?" I rolled my eyes at him because he just repeated what the warrior had said earlier. "Then you're her second chance, mate!""You know what? I didn't know that I would be able to see you looking so stupid.""Come on, we are talking about your mate here, my future queen," he said, and I smiled internally. I was sure that he would never judge her—my mate, I mean."I need to see and talk to her. But I didn't want to shock her. She had just been challenged, and knowing I was her mate the second time around might confuse and scare her. I needed to be careful when approaching her.""I agree; she may not like to have a second chance mate, after what happened, especially when you're a Lycan King," he replied, and I growled at him. "I was just trying to think of any possibilities so you would know what you would do, just in case.""I think you have a point," I told him."Thinking the Luna title had been taken away from her, how much more the queen? Do you think none of the pack members will ever challenge her again?""As if I am going to allow that to happen. I am not that stupid alpha.""Just in case, you will never know.""So, what do you suggest? Hide the fact that she's my mate for the time being?" I asked, and he looked at me before he nodded."She will smell me. What am I going to do then?""Accept her,""Wouldn't she think that I waited for her to acknowledge me first before I did it? She will be hurt," I said in a worried voice."Then don't show up in front of her yet," he suggested. "At least while we were trying to find out something about her. Let's say, until Luna's ceremony," he added, and I agreed. It has to be only until the Luna's ceremony because there's no way I will go back to the palace without her."Call the warrior," I told him, and he smiled before he rushed outside the villa. The three warriors who were with us stayed outside for our aid, just in case we needed anything. And I needed something more important than material needs."Your Highness, you called for us," the warrior said as he stood before me with respect."Please take a seat," I told them, which made their eyes widen. It may be the first time that a royal has asked them to have a seat. They did what I told them to do, and Lance sat opposite them."We want to know about your supposed Luna," Lance said straightforwardly, and the warrior looked confused. Maybe he was thinking about why we needed to know about her, and then he sighed."Clover is a very kind and nice she-wolf." He started, and I wanted to wring his neck, thinking he had his eyes on my mate. "She's kind to everyone, especially to us warriors. She always sends us food that she cooks herself if we are near their house." He stopped and then looked at Lance before he looked at me."I don't know how her being a sl*t circulated when she was determined to wait for her mate. Many in the school said she was a bully, but many of us didn't believe that. Especially now, after Monique challenged her. It was her friends who spread those rumors.""And the alpha didn't do anything about it?" I asked, trying to control my anger."I don't think former alpha John knew about it. Even her father, the former gamma Noah, and her mother, I doubt that they knew anything about those as well," he replied."We wanted her to be our Luna; she was every pack's dream for a Luna. She's caring and loving not only to her kind but to every species. She's very outspoken, gentle, and strong. That's why we couldn't believe that she lost, though we noticed that she was pale and even thought that she was sick.""Didn't your alpha notice that?" Lance asked."I don't know; he looked like he was anticipating the fight. I didn't want to think anything bad about my alpha, so I always tried to dismiss anything I thought would lead to losing trust in him. I wanted to stay loyal to the pack and to my duties." He answered with his head down. He may be thinking that his Alpha might have known something or even doubted him already."Thank you for telling us," I told him, and he nodded before he got up."Before I forgot, after she rose from the dead, Clover started to become a little—no, it wasn't little. She's totally different from what she was.""What do you mean, rose from the dead?" I asked angrily. How could he say that?"She died after she went into a coma for two weeks. She was dead for 3 hours already, and her mom, Melinda, was with her crying, praying, and begging the moon goddess to give Clover back to her, then she opened her eyes miraculously." I looked at Lance, and I suddenly felt more worried. With everything she has been through, I think I will have difficulty making her come with me. I hope that our bond will be greater than her grudge over what happened to her.The warrior left while Lance and I stood in our seats, thinking. What we found out about my mate is something I didn't expect. It seems like the Alpha has played on her."Alder," Lance called, so I looked at him. "What if she was never challenged? Will she still be your mate?""You know the answer to that, so stop it.""You're really going to challenge the Alpha?""Of course! Mates come only once for us, and there's no way that I am going to deny myself that," I answered with finality."Then we have to be ready for Luna's ceremony. The warrior said that her highness changed after she woke up and was now the total opposite of how she was. How do you think she is now?" He asked, but I just shrugged my shoulders because I knew to myself that no matter what, I was going to make her mine.Alder's POV "She is already my mate. What else can I do? No matter how much I wanted to stay with Clover, I just couldn't because she lost her title to Monique," the stupid alpha said. I talked to him and his new mate with his father and mother, as Lance was always with me.I am going to let them go for now, as today is Luna's ceremony, and I can't wait to tell Clover that she's mine. I was preparing myself in the villa, and Lance was as excited as me.For six days, I tried my hardest to stop myself from coming or looking for her. My Lycan was furious because of that, but I managed to calm him down as I promised to go and bring her with us in time."Let's go and get her highness already, Your Highness," Lance teased, and I liked it. I wonder how Charles would react when we came back with my queen."Let's go and be ready.""I was born, ready. It was in fact my surname." He replied happily, so I laughed with him before we headed for the training ground where the ceremony would be held.
Cindy's POVJust what the hell was that? And what the hell happened to me? Why did I let him touch me? I was still glaring at whoever he was, whom I think was very powerful because even the bas***d alpha couldn't do anything about him. I saw pain in his eyes as I moved away from him, but I didn't care; I shouldn't care. Even if his scent was driving me crazy, it made me want to come back to him and let him touch me once more."Love, don't fight it; I know that you can feel it," he said."I already told you not to call me that. I am not your love, and I don't love you," I replied, which made him look even more hurt. I forgot that I was already naked, so when I saw my reflection in the mirror, I thought it was a bathroom door, and my eyes widened. I looked around again, but my dress was on his side, so I went to the closet instead, and his scent filled my nose."Fu**!" I exclaimed, but I didn't care about it anymore. I should dress up and not let this person see me like this. I took his
Alder's POV Clover staying away from me hurts. She had a point about wolves who were not waiting for their mates when they knew someone was intended for them. I am a Lycan, and the possibility of finding my own mate is close to zero. But I knew for myself that I wanted to have her.I had to leave her, or I wouldn't be able to control myself. My beast wanted to mark and mate with her, and I don't think it was a good idea to do that without her consent. I already mind-linked Lance and told him to bring her parents here so I would be able to talk to them.After a while, they came and had them sit. "As you already know, your daughter is my mate," I said, and they looked at each other before they looked at me and nodded."She didn't like the idea of having mates. She got traumatized by what had happened to her previous mate, but I wanted to assure you that I will not do what her ex-mate did to her." They sighed and smiled."Where is she, Your Highness?" Her dad asked."She's in our bedroom
Cindy's POV I can't believe what I just heard. No wonder he believed in me instantly. But is what he was saying true? How can I be sure about that?'Don't doubt him; he's our mate,' Masha said. She had not been talking a lot. That's why there were times that I thought that I was going crazy.'That ba****d of an alpha was your mate as well, and look at what happened to Clover? ''Clover is naturally kind and nice.''And I am not? ' I asked.'Are you?' She asked and retreated. Now she has left me again. Yes, I am not. So what?"Love," and there he is again. I don't know how he feels towards me, but I don't think I will ever trust a man again. I don't deny the fact that I wanted him too, but that was only physical. For a hundred and eighty-seven, wow, he is so damn sexy and hot. But I'm done with those kinds of men. They just wanted something from women, and it was either s** or money. In his case, it wasn't the latter because he was already king."You have to stop calling me that becaus
Alder's POV My mate could really fight; her human form was in shape, and her movements were swift and precise. Clover's dad must have trained her roughly. I looked at him, and I saw how proud he was of her. Cindy, on the other hand, must have and undergo intensive training as well for her to move that way and match Clover's body. When she asked me who my mate really was between her and Clover, I actually didn't know what to say. It was the first time that I encountered something like that. But what I know is that she's mine and no one else's. I wanted to hesitate to accept her at first because one of the palace elders prophesied that I would be mated to a witch, but I was now making my decision to accept her based on my instincts and feelings. Because that is what my beast has been telling me. I was in pain when she got hit, and there was a lot of time when I wanted to kill Vlad, but I managed to stop myself. It was my mate's decision to challenge him, and I didn't want to make her
Alder's POV The beast in me wanted to claim her, and I might have if I didn't leave her. Lycans had a nature of claiming and making their mates instant, literally at first sight. But with Clover, I can't.She had been rejected and killed by her mate and boyfriend. How is she able to accept me just like that? She had every reason not to trust me, and I gave her that. I went to the living room and sat on the couch while I waited for Lance. He had better settle everything now. I had to take Clover to the palace the following day."Alder," my beta said as he entered the villa. I had been waiting for more than an hour already, and I think my mate had already fallen asleep because of the calmness that I was feeling."Is everything done?" I asked as he walked to the couch and sat opposite mine."Vlad was really pissed. He couldn't accept that he was no longer the alpha and John was such a poor man. He begged for his son," he replied, shaking his head. It was such a waste that John had to hav
Cindy's POV The daughter of the Alpha Rio of the Hill Crest Pack was something. Her eyes didn't leave Alder's, and it pissed me off. He was mine, and she had no right to look at him that way. 'It's not as though you are accepting him.' Masha said, 'I don't care whether I accept him or not. One thing is sure, and that he's mine.' I replied. 'You're selfish, you know? He wanted you, but you didn't want to accept him, and you didn't want others to have him, either. What do you want to do with him? And he's a Lycan king.' 'I am a billionaire and don't need a king for a husband.' 'Mate. That's what we call him. And it was deeper than a human's husband.' Masha said, 'Whatever!' I told her, and she kept herself hidden again at the back of my mind. She's not angry at me but because I didn't want to submit to our mate. Clover had suffered too much from her mate and me, with my boyfriend, Mike. There's no way I will let another man destroy me. Not until I took my revenge on those leeches
Cindy's POV "Where do you think you're going, Clover?" Alder asked angrily. I was worried, yes. But I had to do what I needed to do. I can only stay here after it's too late. "I already told you, Alder," I replied, trying to hide the nervousness I was feeling right now. He walked towards me without leaving my eyes. His being there that instant made me wonder how he ever did that. "I thought I had already made myself clear, and I guess you are really hard-headed and left me with no choice." His voice was deep and hoarse, as though he wasn't the one who was talking to me, which made me worried. "What, are you going to give me your king's command?" I asked, even though I started to feel scared, too. I think he still looks angry, and Masha told me his deep black orbs were boring holes in my head because of his beast that was taking over his human form. "No, I am going to give you the worst," he replied, pulling me. I was shocked and didn't know what to do when he suddenly had me