The Alpha King's Princess
The Alpha King’s Princess – Chapter 21

“What are you doing here?” I asked, happy to see him but still surprised.

I was almost certain that he had a million things to do for the pack and the territory. He always did. He glanced around the field.

“What else does one do on a field?” Candido asked and eyed me. “In athletic clothing?”

I pouted at him. “You know that’s not what I meant!”

Candido grinned. His eyes twinkled with mischief, making him seem so young and carefree. It was rare to see him like this, but it filled me with joy and hope. Maybe I was just a little girl in his eyes, but he was comfortable with me, and that was a better start than being a beautiful woman whom he couldn’t trust.

“My little girl wants to be on the rugby team,” Candido said. “Of course, I’m here to help.”

I dropped my gaze. “Losing weight—”

“You’re a werewolf, Hedy,” Candido said gently. “Do you even know why you gained weight in the first place?”

I rolled my eyes. “Eating all that rich food you’ve been serving at the Estate!”

Candido shook his head. “Not tapping into your wolf instincts.”

I frowned. “What does that mean?”

“This is…” He breathed out. “Something that your mother or father should have explained about being a werewolf, about coming of age, and the first shift… It’s also something I hoped we could talk about eventually but wasn’t sure if that would be possible.”

I lowered my gaze. Because of Lilian and Bella and my father, is what he meant. That poison had ruined my life in so many ways. Candido cupped my cheek and made me meet his gaze.

For a moment, I thought of my dream. He wasn’t sweaty from the sun, but we were rarely so close that I could feel his body heat unless he was holding me. I tried to push the images away, but suddenly, I was imagining him pushing me to the ground and having his way with me right here in the middle of the day in a park. He’d tear my shirt and bra open. His mouth would be hot and needy as he kissed and licked every inch of me.

My face heated and I tore my gaze away before my imagination could go much farther.

“You looked distracted,” Candido said. “Did you hear a word I said?”

I winced. “Well… something about not knowing if we would ever have a conversation about being a werewolf?”

He laughed. “And what was my little girl thinking about to not have heard a thing I said after that.”

You, is what I wanted to say. His lips on mine, on my skin, his hands everywhere that no one had ever touched before, not even me outside of a shower. My heart was racing and I scowled at him.

“I thought you were supposed to be helping me, not teasing me!”

He shrugged. “I cannot help you if you are not paying attention.”

“Candido!” I cried, clenching my fists in his shirt and pouting. “Please?”

He stroked my cheek and pressed a k**s to my forehead before pulling me close and embracing me.

“I am… so very happy that we have reason to talk about the shift and the basics of being a werewolf now.” He said. “It means you’ve come so far and healed so much.”

I smiled and leaned into him nodding. “Because of you.”

“Because of your strength,” Candido said, “Now. As for what I said before, werewolves have a naturally high metabolism. We eat rich food to stay satiated.”

“No one likes a hungry wolf.”

He smirked, “You would be the tastiest of meals.”

I pulled away from him as something in his tone made my stomach jolt. While I knew he was joking, there was no denying that his words could have meant so many other things.

“We’ll start with a warm-up,” Candido said, “We’ll run until it starts to get easy then pick up the pace.”

“Why?” I asked a little confused about his plan.

“You have to know your body can do it,” Candido said and pointed into the distance. “Until then, the rest of you, everything that makes you a werewolf, won’t know either… some people like to say that being a werewolf is a spiritual thing, something that connects us to the moon and makes us better than vampires, but most of those people never shift outside of holidays.”

“Does… that mean you shift at other times?” And did that mean that Candido believed that being a werewolf wasn’t better than being a vampire?

Did he have some knowledge about vampires that wasn’t available to the public?

Candido grinned, “I shift more often than you think. It keeps me… calm.”

He started to jog forward. “Come on.”

I considered his words and jogged after him. He was leading me in a looping pattern around the field, not quite in straight lines but not zig zags either. He jogged backward watching me as I started to get out of breath. I was tempted to use my powers, but then the slight burn in my body started to fade. My breathing came easier. Candido grinned and started to speed up, beckoning me to keep pace.

“Push yourself, Hedy,” Candido said, growing farther away from me. “I know you can.”

I could, easily, but I’d exhaust myself and probably go overboard. My powers right now were more like an on or off switch rather than a dial. All I could do for now was try and push through the need to stay at this pace. As I started gaining on him, I felt my power surge, sending me forward until I almost ran into him.

He narrowed his eyes but nodded. “That’s good. What did you feel?”

I shook my head. “I… I don’t know.”

And it wasn’t a lie. It didn’t feel the way using my powers normally felt. It felt jerky, stuttering like squeezing too much toothpaste out at one time. Maybe being rejected was the best thing to happen. If this happened in front of the entire team, let alone on a field during a game, there would be no way out of it. I’d have exposed myself, and it would have circulated through the entire school within the hour.

He stroked my cheek and pressed a k**s to my forehead before pulling me close and embracing me.

Still, if what Candido said was true, maybe, just maybe, it meant that I had healed, and soon, I’d feel that mating pull that I always heard about, for better or for worse.

He shifted direction sharply, and I almost tripped as it happened again.

“I guess I’m just overly excited,” I said, grinning at him and using my best innocent expression. “It’s not every day I get to play with the Alpha King.”

Candido turned around and started to run. It wasn’t his top speed, I was sure, but it was definitely faster than the jogging we’d been doing. I pushed myself a little, using my power to mimic the odd start and stop of strength that I had been feeling.

Then, for a few moments, something happened that I had never experienced before.

I heard Candido’s heartbeat. It was slow, steady despite him streaking ahead. I could hear the whoosh of air through his lungs and smell his sweat across the field. My mind zeroed in on him.

The need to chase. The desire to catch him stormed through me as if I thought he was running away from me.

As if I would never see him again.

In a flash, I took off. My senses narrowed in on him. Power thrummed through me like a am bursting open. I panicked realizing that I had reached him too quickly. He was turning around as I managed to pull back on the power that was rushing through my body, but it wasn’t soon enough.

I slammed into him. He wrapped his arms around me and cradled my head as he hit the ground and rolled several feet before I was on top of him, straddling his h**s. I felt the hard ridge of his c**k pressing against me, sending a jolt of pleasure through me. If I moved just a little, I’d get more of it, but I was frozen.

I saw no green in his eyes, nor the darkness of his pupils. His eyes glowed like the moon as he looked up at me. I could barely breathe. Though I had lifted a little, we were still so close. I could feel the warmth of his breath across my lips.

“Candido…” I whispered, feeling myself leaning forward. Just a little more and I’d be kissing him.

I searched his face for some form of resistance, but he didn’t move. He just stared up at me, silently. His heart was beating fast and hard in his chest. His breathing picked up and something sharp and spicy filled the air between us.

Then, Allen’s voice cut through the air.

“Miss Hedy, Your Majesty, the snacks are ready!”