Free Book | The Lost Werewolf King's Mate

Chapter 54: Elizabeth's POV / Mathew's POV

I mindlinked Mike and told him to let Mathew be. I would just wait for the perfect moment to escape and run.

I didn't want to admit this, but even being on top of his shoulder felt good. He kept walking with me over his shoulder and occasionally he would rub my behind and squeeze it with his firm hand.

Phoenix and I were struggling to focus again. We still needed to find Audrey and no golden path had appeared leading us to her. Being close to Mathew could be the reason why the golden path hadn't appeared.

I didn't want to do it, but I kneed him in the chest. It didn't hurt him, but it distracted him long enough for him to loosen his grip and for me to jump off his shoulder.

I stood between Mike and Danny as Mathew watched my every move. I've never seen him this angry before.

"Your'e not leaving me again", he growled at me.

I wanted to be angry with him too, but I couldn't. It wasn't just anger in his eyes. There was also fear and pain. He was hurting and all I wanted to do was to stop him from feeling all this pain.

I ran to him and felt his strong arms wrap themselves around me as he lifted me and buried his nose in my neck and hair.

"Please don't leave me again", I heard him pleading with me.

My fingers instinctively started running through his thick brown hair. I rocked my head back and he nuzzled his nose further into the crook of my neck. He lifted me again and I wrapped my legs around his torso while he held me up.

I just wanted a few more seconds. Only a few more seconds then I would let him go.

I could feel him groaning as he nuzzled his nose in my mark spot. I looked down at him and tried to kiss him one last time, but he pulled his face away from me. I tried to hide it, but tears started forming in my eyes. Phoenix and I couldn't understand why he would do that.

I tried getting off of him, but he wouldn't let me go.

"You're not going anywhere", he groaned in my ear. "I just can't kiss you right now, but I'll fix it soon."

I furrowed my brows and waited for him to explain himself.

I felt him chuckle in my ear. "We're fated mates, Elizabeth." He was still refusing to let me go. He tucked my hair behind my ear and planted a gentle kiss on my forehead.

"But how?", I asked.

He bit my neck teasingly before answering me. "Someone cursed our matebond. That's why Orion and Phoenix can't recognise each other as mates."

I was still struggling to understand what the hell was going on and he could tell.

"All the bad things that happened when we were together were because of the curse. It got stronger when you and I got close, but weaker when we were apart."

I couldn't help but smile at this news. This meant I wasn't some bad omen like I thought. It wasn't me causing his life to fall apart; it was some curse. I tried to kiss him again, but he pulled his head away from me again.

"None of that!", I heard a familiar cranky voice shouting at us. I looked up and saw Agatha. Ken and Anha were also with her. Ken looked quite relieved to see me.

"King Alden, I said no kissing!", Agatha reprimanded Mathew.

Mathew laughed. "It's not me, Agatha. Elizabeth and Phoenix here can't keep their hands to themselves."

He finally loosened his grip on me and I was able to unwrap my legs from his torso and he put me down.

"Agatha!", I tried running to her to giver her a hug, but Mathew tightened his hand around my waist. "Mine", he growled into my hair.

Mike managed to go to Agatha and he gave her a hug. Danny came to stand next to me and clung on to my hand. Everything here must have been so strange to her.

"Liz here still looks confused", Agatha shot a warning look at Mathew. "I take it instead of explaining the situation to her, you let your wolf instincts take over."

Mathew gave a guilty chuckle and shrugged his shoulders.

"Lizzie", Agatha explained, "you and King Alden are fated mates. However, something has cursed your matebond. I have managed to blind the curse so that the two of you can be together BUT there will be no mating or marking each other! You can't kiss the young wolf here and you can't do all those forbidden things you youngsters like to do to each other. Think of it this way, if a middle school child can't do it, then you can't do it either. Am I clear?" She was pointing her index finger at Mathew and I.

"I'll explain everything to you later", Mathew whispered in my ear.

"Uhm, okay", I responded to Agatha. "Look, the seers said we can't be together so I still need to leave."

Mathew drew me in closer into his chest when I said this.

"We know all about the seers, dearie!", Agatha countered. "Luna Audrey gave us the go ahead herself. You can finally be with your fated mate."

I gasped when I heard Audrey's name. I still had no clue how to find her.

"I think Audrey's been kidnapped by Raphael. We need to find her!"

Mathew chuckled. "I found Audrey hours ago. She's safe and sound in Jonathan's arms."

I gave a relieved sigh. I jumped into Mathew's arms again. I couldn't believe that we were actually fated mates and I could stay with him this time. That's all that mattered; that I could stay with him now.

I ran my fingers through his hair as he peppered my neck with slow kisses and rubbed my behind. My legs were wrapped around his torso again and he kept pulling me closer to him even though there was no space left between us.

He was groaning as his lips brushed against my mark spot and I couldn't help but teasingly bite his neck.

He looked at the big hickey on my neck and smiled. "I'm guessing Phoenix refuses to heal this beautiful hickey I gave you", he teased.

I just rolled my eyes at him. He was right. Phoenix did in fact refuse to heal any hickey that Mathew left on me. She wanted the whole world to know that he had put his lips on me.

"Please, not a repeat of what happened in the field!", I heard Mike pleading.

Mathew and I looked up at him and noticed that everyone was staring at us. Agatha was looking at us with a raised brow.

"I can tell I'm going to have to make that spell much stronger because you two are going to be the death of us!", she huffed and walked away.

Ken was busy stiffling a laugh and Mike just looked annoyed.

"Sorry, everyone", I muttered to them.

"Just get a room this time!", Mike rolled his eyes at us.

Mathew turned my head so that I would face him. "Can we go home now?", he asked me with a huge grin on his face.

I bit my lip and excitedly nodded my head at him.

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Mathew's POV

Mike kept glaring at me in the car, but I didn't care. Elizabeth was finally back with me where she belongs.

She was sitting in my lap and telling us of all the things she had been doing all these years. I could listen to her talk for hours. Everyone in the car was captivated by everything she was telling us. She had been everywhere. I even lost track of all the alphas and betas I would have to beat up for laying a finger on her; even if they were just training her.

She only spoke about the Gryphon kingdom briefly, so I made a mental note to ask her about her time there when we were alone. Danny kept trying to get her to talk about her fight with Raphael, but she clearly didn't want to talk about it. Even the mention of his name made her push herself further into my chest.

Nonetheless, she and Danny told us very important information about what Raphael and Danny's father, King Amenadiel, were up to. We now had three things to find: King Amenadiel's map, Danny's mother and the gem that Audrey had a vision about.

Ken was telling them all about Esther and Ishmael and Elizabeth couldn't believe how big Ishmael had gotten when she saw his pictures. Ken also couldn't wait to tell them all about how the Gryphon king himself healed him. I wanted to chime in, but between Elizabeth and Ken it was impossible to get a word in. Ken had a list of all the things Elizabeth had to see when she got to my territory and Elizabeth also had a list of all the things she wanted to do based on what people have told her.

My head was firmly nuzzled in the crook of her neck. Her scent was both intoxicating and calming. Her fingers were gently caressing the back of my neck and my chest. She also didn't want to let go of me.

Every now and then I would plant kisses on her neck and Mike would growl at me, but Elizabeth just laughed it off.

She and Ken were just hitting it off. I could tell they would both be making fun of me from now on. Danny also slowly started getting used to everyone. Before long, she was laughing with the rest of us and joining in the conversation. Mike and Anha seemed to be the only ones who were not having the best of time, but I didn't care about that.

I wanted to mate and mark her. That's all I could think about.

The drive back was a long one and she eventually fell asleep on my lap. Orion explained to me that she and Phoenix were quite exhausted after the day they had. Danny, Anha and Agatha fell asleep shortly after Elizabeth did. Ken, Mike and I were the only ones who were still awake.

"So are you finally going to tell me what your problem is?", I asked Mike.

He rolled his eyes defiantly at me and looked away.

"Mike, what the hell is your problem?", I growled at him.

Elizabeth almost woke up, but I nuzzled her further into my chest and she fell asleep again within seconds.

"My problem is the second you feel threatened by me or anyone else, you're going to hurt her again. You're going to tell her you wish you had never met her and tell her she's some kind of w***e. You'll break her, Mathew. That's my problem with you."

Pain struck me in my chest as I remembered all those terrible things I said to her that night. I had never even apologised properly. I could still remember her falling to her knees and sobbing. I would never forget that image and I would never be able to take back what I said, but I would never make such a mistake again. I was so stupid back then and so jealous.

Back then when she avoided me in the subsequent weeks, I thought that was the worst pain I could feel. Little did I know that those weeks were nothing compared to the next three years of my life. Even if she was ignoring me back at the Black Claw pack, at least I could still steal glances of her. Her scent was still all over the pack. That made it all bearable.

These past three years have been a nightmare with no end in sight. I wouldn't risk having her leave again. If having her means I have to deal with Mike my entire life, then I will gladly do it. I will do anything to make her stay.

"I won't make the same mistake again, Mike. I promise you I'll never hurt her again. I don't know what's going on between the two of you, but I honestly also don't care. I just want Elizabeth here with me. I'll do whatever it takes to make her stay."

Mike snorted at me. "Let's just wait and see. Liz and I are a package deal and no matter how you feel, I am not going anywhere. I'll always be there for her."

Orion was getting agitated with Mike, but having Elizabeth in our arms was calming him down. He was also prepared to do anything to make her stay; even if it meant putting up with Mike.

"Good", I spat out. "I need as many people as possible to protect her from Raphael."

"You two need to behave", Ken chuckled in the front. "Boss, Mike has been with Elizabeth all this time. You heard all the stories she just told us. He has put his life on the line to protect her. Also, while we're on the subject of her life, you should talk to her about her reckless antics."

Then he turned the mirror to look at Mike. "Mike, you don't know what the boss has been through to find Elizabeth. I can tell you care for her, but I promise you the man almost died without her. He loves her and he's genuinely sorry about what he did. You should give him chance. I'm sure Elizabeth would appreciate that."

Mike still looked reluctant to give me a chance, but at least his eyes had softened a bit.