Protect Me, Alpha King
56. Mated

The alpha king's bite on my shoulder blade was burning, and then it was replaced by pleasure as ifhe had just penetrated me. Our minds were suddenly interconnected, feeling each other's emotions.Desire. Passion. I didn't even know if it was coming from me or not. Everything felt surreal. Then, Isaw a black wolf staring back at me and howling. Was it the alpha king's wolf? The scenery changed,and I saw myself with the alpha king. No. It was not me. The woman had no curls on her hair. It wasthe opposite. Zenith? Did I see the flashback of the alpha king's memory?

I shuddered in his arms while he supported my weight.

Giving his final touch, the alpha king licked the wound and pulled away.

"Congratulations, River. Now, you carry my mark and scent for the rest of your life. And like I said,aside from power, you will also gain enemies. My enemies, they will be after your life. And I cannotprotect you at all times. This is the consequence that my mark bearer will face.”

Feeling lightheaded from what I just saw earlier, I answered, "I don't need protection, Your Majesty. Ican do that on my own."

He sighed and flicked my forehead. "Stubborn as always. That will be the cause of your death.”"Ouch. That hurts, Your Majesty.”

“You can leave now."

My mouth gaped open. That was it? I was expecting something more...."You will not take me?" Imanaged to ask in the end.

Smirking, he asked, "Is that how badly you wanted me, River?"

I played with my hands. "I thought you wanted my body in exchange.”

"I don't want to take advantage of you. Go before I can stop myself.”

I did not listen to him. The stubborn side of me wanted to know the reason. "Why did you mark me,Your Majesty?"

"It's what you want.”

"I don't believe it. I don't believe you are treating me as a charity case because I was desperate foryour mark."

He cocked an eyebrow. "You wanted to know the reason?”

"Yes." Marking someone who was not even your mate was not as easy as that. The beast would fighthim if I were not his. It would fight him. But during the marking, the wolf never took over him, whichmeans...realization hit me hard. Don't tell me what I was thinking was correct.

He scoffed. "Now you get it now. Yes, River. You are my second chance mate. Welcome to mychaotic life. A life of gloomy fools."

Second chance mate?

My world spun, not believing everything. That was impossible. How did it happen? I was not evenaware of that.

It could be possible since you did not have your wolf to tell you that the alpha king is your mate."You've known about this, Your Majesty?" I inquired.

"Of course. The moment I saw you. The moment I stepped on Haverstone Pack. The moment theMating Ceremony started. Shocking, isn't it?" he said, full of sarcasm.

That was why he approved of my demands back then. The reason why he marked me. It alsoexplained why I felt hurt at the mention of his woman's name. Was it because of the bond betweenus?

What kind of prank did the Moon Goddess play?

"What about Zenith?"

The corner of his lips lifted. "Zenith will continue to be my first mate, and it is her whom I will love,River. For the rest of my life. My beast may accept you, but that ends there. As long as I know in myheart that Zenith is alive, I cannot accept you. I will not accept you.”

I smiled bitterly. So I would be his spare battery if things went south. If he ever saw Zenith's remainswith his own eyes, that was the only time he would look at me.

How cruel. Too bad. I was not expecting his love. I longed to accept that no one would love me."Reject me, Your Majesty.” I was able to recover from Alpha Erik's rejection. There was no way Icould not handle the second rejection. “I bear your mark, anyway.” It will not disappear unless hemarks someone again.

“Reject you?” He smiled but did not reach his eyes. “That's not the statement I am waiting for you,River. I thought you would be happy and overjoyed upon learning we are mates.”

“As you said, I will also have a lot of enemies. That's not something to be celebrated.”

"Go now." And he turned his back on me, refusing to talk anymore.

I was the alpha king's mate. I should rejoice because of that, but all I felt was emptiness. I could notbe happy knowing he was still waiting for a dead woman.

My hand went to my neck. Others would see my mark now. And they will be curious. They willgossip even more. They will call me a whore.

However, I still could not stomach going outside and flaunting my mark.

The door burst open, and the twins happily danced inside. They froze, sniffed the air, looked at mywork, and went hurriedly to my side.

"You are mated!" Clara and Flare said in unison. They sniffed me more. "This cedarwood scent.”Realization dawned on them. "The alpha king is your mate? River? Why did you not tell us about it?"I shrugged my shoulders and went to the balcony. After his bath, the alpha king went outsidewithout even informing me where he was headed.

I was certain he would continue looking for Zenith.

That woman. I was starting to hate her. Why did she still hold the alpha king's heart? Well...it wasnot like I wanted the alpha king to love me. All I wanted was for him to be free from Zenith'smemories.

"I only know about it today.”

"Impossible. How could you not know? You're a werewolf, right?"

“Clara. The alpha king may have masked his scent. He usually did not when he wanted to beundetected.”

Flare had a point. He did that during the Mating Ceremony.

"Wolfless. No one will say the alpha mate is my mate. Until he told me so."

The twins covered their mouths. "Why would the alpha king do that? Keeping it a secret from you?Finding your significant other—a mate would be the best thing that could ever happen to us.”“Maybe the alpha king still loved Zenith,” Flare said. “No offense, River. But I am only telling thetruth now.”

“That's terrible. So, River would be begging for the alpha king's love?” Clara looked at me teary-eyed. “Fight for the alpha king's love, River. I want you to be the Luna. The queen of this palace.”“The people will never approve of me,” I retorted. “Well, it's not like I am asking for their approvaland the alpha king's love anyway.” All I wanted was power—nothing else.

The twins raised their hands. “We will support you. We will not allow that history to repeat itself.”Sadness flashed in their eyes. “We were also the reason why Zenith died, River.”