Her Unwanted Mate On The Throne
Chapter 166

Chapter 166

Chapter 166 Unexpected consequences

“Doris! What on earth are you doing out of bed?” Beth tore Doris out of her half sleep and into theblinding daylight. She felt as if a cloud was all around her and fogging up her vision to the point that itwas hard to focus on her friend. “How long have you been on this lumpy couch?”

Doris sat up when Beth helped her. “I woke up sick again. I feel so nauseous and dizzy all the time, so itkept me awake.”

Beth froze for a moment until she lightly seated herself next to Doris. “I’ve been meaning to ask youabout your symptoms.”

“I don’t think I was poisoned”

“No, no. That’s not what I’m concerned about.” Beth cleared her throat. “Have you and William beenintimate yet?”

Doris felt her cheeks flame instantly, as well as a bit of shame swell up inside her chest to the pointwhere she wanted to choke. Beth quickly silenced her. “You don’t have to say anything. I just want toknow if you were… careful during those times.”

A new sort of panic formed to replace all that tried to scare her before. “Careful?” Doris whispered.

“Yes… with protection…?” Beth said gently as if she didn’t know how else to explain without going intogory details that would make Doris melt into the floor. 1

It was like all their heated moments flashed before her eyes and one thing was missing. One obviousthing that made her want to scream. Doris dropped her head in her hands. “How could I be so stupid?”She mumbled. 2

Doris’s mother had never taught her the first thing about sex or when to be careful, she learned all of thatfrom books but somehow her mind didn’t consider the consequences for her own actions in the heatedmoments. Why hadn’t it crossed her mind once? Why did she live so blissfully in ignorance to herconsequences? 1

It was like a light went off in her head when Beth mentioned protection. How stupid could she be? Howstupid

“No, no no. This can’t be happening!” Doris closed her eyes tightly and prayed it was all a dream. Thather symptoms weren’t because of her careless behavior. 2

“It’ll be okay, Doris… the prince will make sure you’re taken care of. He wouldn’t leave you in the dark onthis!”

“I know he wouldn’t but, I’m not ready to have a baby with him, Beth. I’m still confused on half of thethings I feel when he’s in the room, how am I supposed to be the mother of his baby?”

Beth rubbed Doris’s shoulder soothingly. “I know this wasn’t what you planned, but perhaps it’s a sign.”

“A sign of my stupidity?” Doris sunk deeper into the couch.

“You weren’t the only one who forgot, Doris. William is much more experienced on these things andknew better-so don’t you dare try to blame it all on yourself for this.” Beth wrapped her arms aroundDoris and trapped her in a hug that tried to erase all of her horrible thoughts. “Haven’t you everwondered why wolves have so many children? They rarely care for things like protection.”

“I just… I suppose I can wipe the idea of freedom away from the palace out of my future. If I have hisbaby, he will make me stay.”

“Do you truly want to be free from him? If you had the chance, would you leave right now even if therewasn’t a possible baby?” Beth asked.

Doris stared down at her hands. Would she be able to get up and leave right this moment? Would she beable to forget the way his blue eyes turned to storms whenever he was worried about her?

“1-I don’t know.” Doris admitted. “I don’t know if I could, even though it’s all I ever wanted. I hate thesewalls and I hate this palace, I want to be free from all of this but now… ”

“Love changes us.” Beth whispered. “It changes what we want in life and it changes who we think weare.”

“Freedom is all l’ve thought about for the past five years. I swore to myself I wouldn’t let anyone changethat dream for me. And now…* “Now it feels as if it’s changing?” Beth asked gently. “That’s love knockingdown all of your past plans you had for yourself, because now there’s someone else on your mind.”

Doris felt her wave of dizziness start to pass. She dropped her head against Beth’s shoulder . “What am Isupposed to do now? William won’t want this, Beth.”

“You’re his mate! There’s nothing else he would want more.”

“A war is about to brew between him and his brother. I don’t think a baby is going to make him happyright now.” Doris said bitterly. She glanced at the window and watched the snow fall slowly.

“There’s a possibility it isn’t a baby, we won’t know for sure until we have you checked.” Beth stood andwent to the stack of bags by the door. “Do you want to go now before we leave—“ “No, he should behere soon. I’ll have to… replace a way to tell him after we’re settled at the new camp.” “I just came from theservants quarters and all of the staff has already been divided. Surprisingly, William had a lot morefollowers than I expected.” Beth laid out warm clothes for Doris to change into. “I heard that they sentahead quite a few groups to set up a new camp area for his army.”

“They’ve already got it picked out?” Doris asked.

“Oh yes. Apparently they’ve been talking about this since you all returned from the north. It’s beenclaimed for days-hopefully there’s a good place for you all to rest when you get there.”

“And you.“ Doris bumped Beth lightly with her hip and smiled.

William’s guard showed up an hour later to take their things to the stables. Beth held Doris’s hand tightlyas she walked with her down the palace halls for what felt like the last time. For all she knew, it very wellcould have been the last time either of them stepped into this palace.

For some reason, that didn’t sit right with her.

William stood tall by the carriages that lined the cobblestone path. His eyes found her instantly, shewondered if he could sense her nearby as she always sensed him.

He said nothing as she approached, only held out his hand to help her into the carriage. The uncertaintythickened in her stomach, she wondered how long she could keep it from him or if she would blurt it outthe second she opened her mouth.

Beth scooted in close followed by Patrick and William on the other side. She gripped Beth’s hand tightlywhen the carriage lurched off. It felt as if her insides were about to come right out of her from themovement alone.

“Are you alright?” Beth whispered. Doris nodded quickly and glanced up to see William watching her withthose stormy eyes. He said nothing, but his eyes asked so many questions that she didn’t want toanswer at the moment.

“How long until we get there?” Beth asked quickly as if she could sense the building tension that crowdedthe small area.

“We should be there within an hour. It’s not far but the roads are covered in snow.” Patrick said, obliviousthe the air around him. 1

Doris tore her eyes from William’s and stared out the window for the rest of the trip. No one else saidanything besides Patrick making small talk with William about things they had to ready once they arrived.Doris couldn’t have felt further from her body.

Once it rolled to a stop, she was the last one to get out. William’s grip tightened on her as he set her onthe ground. His eyes searched every inch of her for some sort of injury that wasn’t there.

“William, we need you to look this over before we approve it.” Patrick called from behind him. Williamnarrowed his eyes slightly when their gazes met. “We’ll talk soon.” Was all he said before he left her bythe carriage with her friend.

Beth let out a long breath. “He’s intimidating, I swear a hole was going to burn through you in

that carriage.”

“How did he know something was wrong?” Doris whispered and followed her friend through the camp. Ithad several large tents set up and a large fire in the middle of it all. They were brought to one of thebigger tents near the center of the camp.

“Wolves can sense when their mate is under distress. Plus, it was obvious from how pale you are. Youdon’t look well at all.”

Doris brought her cold hands to her face. “I suppose there’s no use in trying to hide it, then.”