18. Thank You

Alex's hand around her got tighter to let her know that she was not alone and he was with her by her side through it all.

Feeling the comfort that came from the man, she turned to him and hugged him, burying her face in his chest as tears freely fell from her eyes rolling down her cheeks and wetting the clothes in Alexander. All the pent-up emotions that she had been trying hard to suppress surfaced once she felt the warmth from his body and his hand that was stroking her back.

Alex let her cry on him as much as she wanted, and he continued to caress her back soothingly.

The supernatural creatures that were present were once again shocked as they witnessed this scene before their eyes.

Why was the king acting differently from the cold-blooded creature that they knew? Along them, some of the aged shifters could see that there was something about the way the king held the girl, his actions were not strange as a shifter. His actions towards her were very common among the shifter community. There were the actions of a shifter toward his mate. His destined mate.

This realization left them wide-eyed.

Does that mean that the king has a destined mate? They all thought that after Alex had lived for so long without a mate, the moon goddess did not bless him with a mate but seeing him now with this human was a huge surprise to all of them. But it was also a downer that she was a human.

When they escorted Alex to the cemetery, they did not know why he was there when it was a human who died and had nothing to do with them, now they understand that the reason for his coming was because of his mate.

After some minutes had passed, Lillie got her composure back. She stopped crying and dried the tears that had stained he cheeks with the back of her hand she tilted her head a little to look at the face of the man who held her ever so tenderly like she was his precious thing.

He looked back at her with love and admiration, and comfort. All these she saw in his beautiful green eyes. She hugged him again and enjoyed the warmth that he provided her.

Alex smiled gently at her and hugged her back holding her petite body tight but not tight enough to hurt her, but tight enough to comfort them both.

Lillie remained in his embrace until it was time to leave the cemetery, she broke the hug to pour the first earth into the grave giving that as a go sign to cover up the grave. She then turned to Alex. She looked at him with grateful eyes and a small but sincere smile appeared on her lips. Alex smiled back at her once again shocking the people around them save for Raal and Kevin who didn't seem that surprised.

Taking a look at the girl who will soon be declared as their queen, they had mixed feelings. Some of them did not like her at first sight, she looked like every other human which was, 'weak', while some were glad that the king has found his other half. And the rest were somewhere in between not picking sides.

"Thank you for standing by me, Alexander," Lillie said with gratitude.

"I will always be by your side, little," Alex said and smile and strike her hair lovingly.

"Lillie... " She said and looked him in the eyes, "Call me Lillie."

Alex smiled again and said, "Very well, little Lillie." He continued stroking her long and dark hair. He could feel the spark with every touch and he loved it. He knew she could also feel the spark and it affecting her the same way it was affecting him.

She wanted to tell him that he was not 'Little' but she stopped herself when she remembered that he was not a human. Who knows how long he had lived? She smiled at him and then turned to the grave that was now filled with earth and muttered something like 'Goodbye' to the grave.

"Will you stay with me? Or have still not made up your mind yet?" Alex asked and Lillie snapped her head to him.

"I will stay with you," Lillie said after giving it some thought. She felt safe with this shifter and he was willingly offering her his protection. She did not know why he cared so much for her but she felt safe with him and she will stay where he could protect her. She will ask him for his reason when the time was right.

When he heard she agree to live with him he was pleased with himself. He had been taking his head trying to figure out a way to convince her to stay with him but got nothing useful. But now she had just agreed on her own.

He moved his hand to caress her cheek lovingly." Is there anything that you wish to take from your old residence? We could go and get it." He said and Lillie nodded at him.

Soon, they left the cemetery and arrived at Lillie's house. Alex and Lillie stepped out of the car, followed closely by Raal and Kevin. They went into the house and Lillie was surprised to see that everywhere had been cleaned and the house was spotless. She turned to Alex who smiled at her and she knew he was responsible.

Everyone else stopped and sat down in the living room while Lillie went inside to get all that she considered important and valuable. Alex soon followed her inside and stood by the door as he watched her pack up some clothes.

"You don't need those." He said and approached her. "I will get for you all that you will need," He said and hugged her from behind.

Hearing what he said, she remembered the many clothes that were already stuffed in the closet at his house and blushed.

"Okay." She said. Alex smiled and kiss her neck before letting go of her. The effect of the kiss on her neck was intensified by the spark from the mate bond, her face turned even redder as she tried to hide from him.

Alexander let go of her and looked around the room. It was not big but was also not too small either. He found a photo of a five-year-old Lillie smiling beautifully and picked it up and caressed the face on the photo. He has seen her smile before but it was not as innocent and sweet as the one in the photo.

"Alexander..." Lillie called. He turned to her with the photo in his hand. "I and ready," Lillie said and zipped up a small bag.

"Let's go then." He said and took the bag from her hand and led her out of the room. Reaching downstairs, he gave the bag to Kevin and they walked out of the house.

He helped her into the car making sure that she does not bump her head against the car. The car drove off after Alex got in sitting beside Lillie.

The way back from the city of Horizon to Empire city was a bit far. Lillie fell asleep with her head leaning against Alex's shoulder.

When they got home, Alex carried her inside and up to his bedroom and tucked her in.

He went into the bathroom for a shower and came back shortly and joined her in bed since it was already late. He climbed into the bed and tucked himself next to her. being this close to her helped him a lot. Her sweet scent served as stress relief and he soon fell asleep with his hand wrapped around her.