Chapter 10 - The Door

Nick's POV

It had been a long day and I was ready to call it a night. Bridgette was pushing for me to commit and claim her – like hell I was. I needed someone who was quiet, who would do as I instructed, someone regal which is why I hired the match maker. She would narrow down the candidates to someone fitting all my requirements. Bridgette was just too much. She was beautiful, yes, but she was a party girl. Always wanting the spotlight on her, all the attention. She was great if I was looking for a good time but not as a Queen or a mate. I needed simple, refined, and elegant.

Looking for a future queen mixed with the endless political meetings was exhausting me. Ashur had been on edge for months now – wanting nothing more than to spar and hunt. His agitation growing by the day. It was becoming increasingly difficult to reign him in. I needed a release and soon. I couldn't continue to bloody up sparring partners and I was finding less and less enjoyment with just fucking females.

I was deep in thought of the day's events and how I could resolve a land dispute when it hit me. The most delicious, mouthwatering scent I had ever come across. It was like vanilla and cinnamon on a crispy fall day. It was perfection. It was my mate.

Ashur howled with anticipation urging me to sprint down the hall to my private quarters – busting open the solid wood door only to be engulfed in a mixture of me and my mate. A deep growl bursting forth when I found the rooms empty – nothing but a dinner tray left on the kitchen counter. She had to of just been here – her scent was faint but still lingering. I immediately mind-linked security to find the woman who had just left my quarters – advising them to shut down all the entrances. No one in or out until I found her, she couldn't have gotten far. Ashur was ready to break free and search every inch of the castle to find her but I needed my Beta – I needed all the help I could get to locate her. I never dreamed of finding my mate but I knew one of two things were going to happen. Either way, I had to find her first.

Caleb's POV

I should have known. The minute I laid eyes on her my wolf wanted to protect her and please her in a way that I had only felt around Nick. Not in the sexual way but in the way that you want to make someone important to you happy. Meeting Olivia had only intensified that feeling. The moment she clasped her hazel eyes on me I felt the uncontrollable urge to bow in her presence. She had all the authority of a princess and I knew that I would kill anyone for them. It all made sense now. Her and Nick were mates and Olivia was the future princess. I huffed at myself for not realizing it sooner. I knew Nick's take on fated mates – he didn't really believe that someone was destined for him – that they would be his perfect equal and everything he had ever been searching for. I was less of skeptic – I knew that a fated mate wasn't what you were searching for but what you truly needed. They were your other half, meant to make you whole. Nick wasn't use to someone questioning him and Cate was just the she-wolf to do it – title be damned.

I glanced over – her head bowed in concentration. I could feel the tension radiating off of her in waves, her heart erratically beating that I thought she might pass out. She was scared. Who wouldn't be? It's not everyday that you find out your mate is royalty.

We sped through the streets – guards blocking traffic as I directed my truck down a private path to the back entrance of the castle grounds. I could sense additional guards running beside the truck – escorting us safely. No one was going to get close to her. I would sneak her in so that she could remain unseen. I knew she would want to keep things quiet for as long as she could. The more time I spent with them the more I started to believe that Theo was right. Someone had hurt her and deeply. I had read up on her file more and found that most of her pack had been brutally destroyed, her father and brother murdered, forced to be mated which is how Olivia came to be. The file had most of the information redacted but it wouldn't take me long to figure out who this "wolf" was and tear his head from his body but now I might have to relinquish that right to Nick. I could see her looking over her shoulder from time to time – triple checking the locks before going to bed – jumping at small noises. She didn't know but Theo and I had set up a rotating shift of guards around her home in case something did happen while I wasn't there.

I wasn't sure how this going to go with Nick but I knew that I wasn't going to leave her alone to face him.

Cate's POV

Caleb hadn't spoken since we left the house. I felt separated from my body, as if I was watching the scene unfold from above, as if it was happening to someone else. Amara was excited at the prospect of finally coming face to face with him – yipping and pacing within me. Caleb led me from the underground parking garage to a private elevator – my pale and frightened reflection staring back at me as the doors closed. There was a faint trace of my mate, this was the path he took. It was surreal knowing that I was walking the same steps he had moments before – if I had stayed in his apartment a minute longer we might have come face to face. The elevator doors opened to a private corridor leading straight to the door, the door that sealed my fate the moment I walked through it carrying a dinner tray, the door that currently hid me from my mate. I could hear him raging behind the door, the sounds of growls and glass breaking causing my legs to quiver, almost losing my balance and reaching out for Caleb who placed a hand at the small of my back to steady me. Through my fear I could smell him, my mate, King Nicholas – I allowed his scent to wash over me, calming my nerves even though I feared what was behind the door.

"I won't leave you.....well....unless he orders me to" Caleb attempted some form of humor to calm me. It didn't help.

Suddenly, the door burst open and I was greeted by the most beautiful man I had ever laid eyes on. His chest was rapidly raising and falling, framed by strong shoulders that accentuated is tapered waist, his button down shirt threatening to rip from his taut biceps. His eyes reminded me of a storm on the sea, a deep blue flashing a melee of emotions while taking in Caleb's close stance to me, his hand still resting on my lower back. Neither of us moved as Nick's eye suddenly shifted to black, his body taking on defensive stance, his thick eyebrows forced together into a pronounced frown.

"Mine. Mate" His rich voice mixed with that of his wolf in a possessive tone causing goosebumps to rise on my body, my fear laced with arousal at the impressive figure of my mate.

"Nick. Ashur. I mean no harm. Let's go inside so that you two can chat." Caleb slowly lifting his hand to show he meant no harm, slowly turning his head down at an angle in submission to the authority that Nick was releasing in waves. I could feel his aura yet it had no effect on me, my wolf only recognizing him as our equal.

Without a response he made his way back inside, leaving the door open for us to enter, using Caleb as my shield as I entered. I watched Nick's retreating back as he crossed the living room and stepped out onto a large balcony that I had missed before. The night breeze billowing the curtains and carrying Nick's scent back to me. I looked to Caleb for reassurances, offering me a slight nod to follow him. My feet were moving on their own, almost as if I was floating, I noticed that the previous glass dining room table was now glistening on the floor.

Must have been the breaking that we heard before. Taking careful steps out to join my mate on the stone balcony, my gaze focusing solely on the scenery before us.

"What's your name?" His back was still facing me, his knuckles turning white as they gripped the stone railing.

"Cate." A growl rising from deep within in his chest, his back flexing under the strain of controlling himself.

"Why did you run Cate?" The sound of my name from his lips sent a shiver of pleasure through my body, arousal forming between my thighs as I focused on his clenched jaw, his pitch black eyes focusing solely on me. I watched his nostrils flare as he breathed deep my scent.

I did run and now that he's called it out I feel ashamed. Why did I run? My thoughts running wild. I didn't have an answer but he wasn't a patient man.

"I was scared. I didn't know what to think and I acted without taking the time to think." Hey, I figured honesty was my best option.

"And now? Are you still scared?" His eyes locked with mine, slowly he stalked towards me but I refused to back down. I stood my ground without wavering my gaze, tilting my chin in defiance to being treated this way. I was his mate, regardless of if he was going to reject me or not. I would not appear weak to any man. His gaze dropping to my lips as he reaches me, standing chest to chest I can feel his heart pounding just as wildly as my own, my body swaying closer to him of its own accord, my mind forming images of his hands tracing my curves. My heart caught in my throat when he gently placed his hands on my rib cage just below my breast, my nipples hardening at the close proximity, sparks igniting at the contact.

"You have nothing to be scared of. I won't hurt you. I just never thought this would happen." Nick's right hand traveled to cup the side of my neck, the pad of his thumb stroking my jaw line. My heart leapt into my throat, my lips parting anticipating the feel his full lips on mine but I needed to focus – this was the mate bond forcing together. I needed to know what his plans were.

"Your Majesty, I think we should take a moment and talk about what we want to do next."

"What happens next is we mate, you move in here and I find a Queen." His lips lightly brushing me ear, his voice sending shivers down my spine until his words actually hit me.

What the fuck did he just say? I jerked back instantly, my brows furrowing in confusion and anger. Did he really just say that?

"What the fuck you mean find a Queen? I'm your mate. You don't even know me and you've written me off already." King or not fuck this guy. I stepped out of his grasp and around him towards the door.

"You are my mate but that doesn't make you Luna Queen. There are certain expectations that are required to be Queen." I cut him off.

"So you expect me to sit by while you parade around and make an heir with someone else. You'd have to mark her, whoever this walking corpse is because I will rip her throat out and I'm just what? Your whore? So you can maintain your power?" I let my rage consume me, "So that would mean that I would be allowed to fuck another guy, right? I can have my own main piece. Maybe Caleb would be up for it." Caleb instantly trying to remove himself from the shit storm that was brewing.

"Have you had sex with him?" Rage contouring Nick's features. I knew I was only adding fuel to the fire but I was enraged that Nick believed that he was going to have me and another woman. What kind of game did he think this is? This is my life!

"If I did, it isn't any of your business. I am your mate and I deserve a certain level of respect that you are denying me at the moment and if you can't accept that then reject me so we can both move on because I refuse to be anyone's whore!" Without another word I rushed out of his apartment for the second time that night. I ran down the hall with Caleb's voice echoing around me begging for me to return. I took the stairs two at a time, rounding the corner into the kitchen to use the backway out of the castle when I collided with Theo's chest, grabbing my arms to steady me.

"Please take me home." I pleaded with him as hot tears streamed down my face. He simply nodded, leading me out another private hall and out to the parking garage ushering me to his still warm motorcycle. I pulled the helmet on he handed me and as his bike sped away toward the main gate I took one last glance at the castle to see Nick standing where we had just been parked watching as we faded into the distance.