Free Book | The Lost Werewolf King's Mate

Chapter 55: Elizabeth's POV

I woke up in the car to find Mathew planting gentle kisses on my face and neck.

"Mmmm", I moaned at him. I wanted more than just gentle kisses. I wanted passionate kisses on my lips.

I heard him laughing. "We're here", he whispered in my ear.

I wanted to kick myself in the butt because we were already at the palace. I had missed the drive through his entire territory. I've heard how big it is. Every werewolf I've met has talked about the cities and fancy buildings and the marvelous architecture and vast forests in this place and I had missed it all because I was sleeping.

"Talking to Azrah took a lot of our energy", Phoenix huffed annoyed in my head. "You needed all that rest!"

She was right about that, but at least I finally felt refreshed. Sleeping in Mathew's arms was different. I felt like a whole new person; like I had drank a bunch of energy drinks. That fatigue that I still felt a few hours ago was completely gone. It was dark now and I just knew that I wouldn't be able to fall asleep for the night because I was wide awake.

When I got out of the car, I saw a lot of familiar faces near the palace. I saw some of the alphas, lunas and betas that I've met over the past few years. Some of them were taking a stroll in the magnificent garden, others were having a bite to eat and others were just talking to each other. They all waved at me when they saw me, but didn't dare to come say hi upclose since Mathew wouldn't let go of me.

There weren't a lot of people outside though and I assumed that it was because we got here pretty late.

A strange man walked up to us and I saw Mathew talking to him, but I couldn't make out the face of the person he was talking to even though he was standing right infront of me.

"Elizabeth, this is Keyon. He's my Delta", I heard Mathew say.

I wanted to go look at the garden, but Phoenix forced me to stay.

"Shake his hand", she growled in my head.

"Whose hand?"

She pushed herself to the forefront of my mind and I saw the man she was talking about. This was the man I saw a few seconds ago. He was tall and muscular and had long brown hair and tattoos poking out of his shirt collar.

I shook his hand and the moment my hand touched his, his features weren't blurry anymore.

"Hi Keyon", I said as I shook his hand, "it's a pleasure to meet you."

He looked surprised for some reason, but he shook my hand and then bowed to me.

"Tell him you won't forget him", Phoenix demanded.

I felt it was a strange request, but I trusted Phoenix so I did as she said.

"Keyon!", he had started walking away from us and came back as soon as I called for him.

"I won't forget you." A boyish smile crept up on his face and he started blushing.

I called Danny and Mike and introduced them to Keyon. They had the same initial reaction I had. They acted like they couldn't even see him.

Keyon didn't seem surprised or even hurt by their reaction.

I felt Phoenix warming up Mike's hand as she forced him to shake Keyon's hand. The moment Mike shook his hand, it's like he noticed that the man was standing infront of him.

"Hey Keyon, nice to meet you man", Mike said.

The same thing happened with Danny. Phoenix warmed up her hand and forced her to shake Keyon's hand.

"Well, hi there, sexy!", Danny said seductively.

Keyon seemed taken aback by the greetings. He wasn't surprised when they essentially ignored him, but he seemed surprised that they were greeting him back.

"Uhm..I..wait...you can...", he was stuttering. Mathew and Ken also looked shocked at the exchange.

"Uhm, nice to meet you guys too", he finally managed to say.

He was about to walk off, but Danny insisted that she accompany him. She definitely seemed to like him.

Mathew and Ken were looking at us with raised brows. "You guys can see Keyon?", Ken asked.

"He was standing infront of us a few seconds ago, so obviously we saw him", Mike responded.

Ken and Mathew just laughed to themselves.

Mathew wanted to immediately go inside the palace, but I was still admiring its exterior. I was still adoring the entire place. It looked like something out of a fairytale.

It was only when I caught sight of a few unmated alphas I've met before that I decided it was time to go inside. They were already walking in my direction, despite the fact that I was in Mathew's arms and I wanted to do all I could to avoid an encounter with them. Once was enough.

"Liz!", I heard the three of them call out after me. I rushed to go inside the palace and pretended I didn't hear them.

"Star fire!", I heard a mighty roar rip through the night. That stopped me right in my tracks. I had completely forgotten that Killian decided to attend the coronation after his seer told him I would be here. At the time, I thought his seer was drunk on something. A few days ago, me being at the seat of the werewolf kingdom was just impossible.

"Red giant?!", I shouted as I turned to face him.

It was definitely him. He was in a black and white tuxedo and his red hair and beard looked even better than they did the night of the ball.

Before I knew it, Killian ran to me, but before he could scoop me up in his arms, Mathew hurled a fist in his face and Killian landed on the floor in a thud.

Everyone ran to come see what all the commotion was about.

"Don't you dare touch my mate, Killian!", Mathew roared at him.

Killian stood up and laughed sarcastically as he wiped a little bit of blood from his mouth.

"I should have known you're the i***t who let a woman like my little Star fire slip through his fingers, Alden. Care to explain why your so-called mate isn't marked yet? Or better yet, why does she still smell unmated?"

A vicious roar ripped out of Mathew. "This is your little Star fire? This is who you've been talking about this entire time?"

"Yes, Alden", Killian challenged. "She's my chosen mate. She's the only reason I'm even here."

I rushed to go stand between the two men, but Ken and Mike tried to stop me. I ordered them to let me go and after much hesitation they did.

A large crowd had gathered around the two men. People even left their rooms and houses to come and look at the commotion.

"There has been a huge misunderstanding here", I said as diplomatically as I could. "I think it's best if the Gryphon king and the Werewolf king stepped inside and resolved their differences in private." I was just hoping that they could understand that this was not an issue that should be fought over infront of guests. Rumours would spread and we would have to kiss any alliance between the two kingdoms goodbye.

"I, King Killian Scarth, King of the gryphons hereby chal-"

I ran to Killian and pinched his lips shut before he could say anything else. I was about to explain the situation to him, but Mathew pulled me away from him and into his arms. "Mine", he roared.

I was struggling to control the situation. More people were gathering around us and I even saw a few camera flashes. This was a nightmare.

"The two of you inside right now!", I ordered them.

They were about to protest, but I insisted.

"Now!", I roared.

Thankfully they went inside the palace.

"Ken, Mike", I called them, "destroy any pictures that were taken today. I don't care if you have to break someone's phone. I don't want any evidence of what just happened."

They nodded their heads and quickly started getting to work.

When I entered the palace, I was almost taken aback by how grand and huge it was. Mathew really had outdone himself. I couldn't help but feel a twinge of pain in my heart as I remembered that Mathew was able to do all these wonderful things because I wasn't by his side. Had I stayed, who knows how bad his life would have been. He had built an amazing life here and he did it all without me. He didn't need me.

I shoved the pain to the back of my mind and decided to deal with it another time. For now, I needed to make sure I wasn't going to mess things up for him.

Kendrick told me it was Killian who healed him and that him and Mathew seemed close to reaching an understanding so surely I could get things back on track again.

I saw Mathew grabbing Killian by the throat and ran to them to try and tear them apart.

"Stop!", I roared.

That got their attention and they looked up at me.

I took a deep breath and started talking. "Killian, I am NOT your mate. I've told you this before."

He puffed his chest. "Then why did we sleep in the same room, Star fire? Then why are you the only person to ever ride my beast? Then why did I send help to the Silver City for you?"

"You slept in the same room as my mate?", Mathew roared. Before I knew it, he landed another fist on Killian's face and Killian returned it with a punch of his own.

"Mathew, it's not what you think!", I was shouting as loud as I could, but nothing was getting through to them.

Mike, Ken, Keyon and Danny came rushing inside and after a lot of struggling, we managed to tear the two of them apart.

"Killian, Liz is not your mate", Mike chimed in. "She's told you this over and over again."

Mike and Keyon were holding Killian back while Kendrick, Danny and I were holding Mathew back.

"Let me go!", Killian roared. "Star fire, you deserve better. I will mark and mate you right here. You will never have to doubt what I feel for you. This man has failed to even claim you. Why would you torture yourself like this? Let me kill him for you. You will be free of him."

Mathew was about to retaliate, but I put my head against his chest and felt him relax. He wrapped his arms around me and pulled me closer to him while he buried his nose in my hair.

He was breathing heavily, trying to inhale as much of my scent as he could.

"Star fire, please!", Killian pleaded with me.

I tried to go to him, but Mathew refused to let me go. "Mine", he growled in my ear.

Any talking that I was going to do would have to be done right here in his arms.

"Killian, Mathew is my mate", I explained to him. "I told you I am not your mate. Please let this go. You and I are friends. You are already such an amazing friend."

Mathew pulled me even closer to him this time.

Killian's eyes were glistening with tears. I hadn't realised that he cared this much for me.

"Taranis tells me this man is not going to mark you as his, Star fire", he snarled at me. "When you realise that he is not worthy of you, Taranis and I will welcome you with open arms. You are MY queen not his."

He stormed off out of the palace before anyone could respond. I wanted to run after him, but Mathew still wouldn't let me go. "You're mine, Elizabeth", he growled again.

He titled my chin upwards and gently kissed my forehead. "I am yours, Mathew", I whispered at him. "But you need an alliance with the Gryphon kingdom."

"Not anymore", he said through gritted teeth.

"So you are Star fire?", Kendrick asked as he tried to steady his breath.

"Uhm yeah", I muttered.

"I never want to hear that name again", Mathew snapped at him. "She is Elizabeth. Her name is already majestic and melodic."

Kendrick laughed. "Elizabeth, I can tell you're going to make my job SO much more exciting than it already is."

Keyon, Danny and Mike tried to hold their laughs, but within seconds they were all laughing. Mathew and I were the only ones who were not amused by this situation.

***

When the elevator door opened up, Mathew and I reached the alpha suite.

We walked into a grand suite decorated in white, gold and navy blue. It looked amazing and it was filled with pictures of me and Mathew all over the place. I jumped out of his arms and ran to look at all the pictures and luxurious furniture. It all looked so expensive.

I plopped myself on the soft Egyptian rug and rolled around on it. Mathew laughed and joined me on the carpet. I kept rolling around on it until he caught me in his arms and pressed me against his chest.

"I thought you'd like it", he smiled as he ran his hands through my hair.

"Anyone would like this!", I teased.

He put me on top of him and I straddled him with my legs. I bent down to him and he started caressing my behind and squeezing it. I planted kisses on his neck and started biting it.

He was groaning against my ear and it was driving Phoenix and I insane.

I quickly shot up and jumped out of his arms.

"Wait! Where are you going?", he shouted after me.

I laughed at him. "You heard what Agatha said", I reprimanded him. "We need to keep our distance. Now if you will please point me towards my room, I would like to go and shower."

"You mean our room" He stood up and led me by hand into the biggest bedroom I've ever seen in my life.

"This is our bedroom. What do you think?" He showed me a grand bedroom with the biggest bed I've ever seen in my life. It's the bed I always raved on about when he and I first met. It's as big as two queen sized beds. I've always dreamt about having a huge bed that I would get lost in and there it was.

It wasn't just the bed that was to my liking. There were also two walk in closets filled with the most beautiful clothes and a huge bathroom connected to the bedroom.

"I love it!" I sat down on one of the couches in the bedroom and hugged the pillows. Everything was so soft. Then I ran to the huge balcony and opened the two windows. The midnight air felt amazing in my hair.

I felt Mathew wrap his hands around me from behind. He shifted my hair to the side and started kissing my neck.

"Care to explain what all that was about?", he finally asked me.

I didn't even know where to start. If someone had claimed Mathew was their mate and told me they slept in the same room together, I would have been so angry with him. I wouldn't want him anywhere near me. And yet, despite his earlier outburst, Mathew was handling this better than most.

"I was taken to the Gryphon kingdom after I almost died in the Silver City-"

'Wait, you almost died?", he interrupted me.

I nodded my head and proceeded to tell him the story. "Mike took me to the Gryphon kingdom so that I could find a healer. They healed me, but on one condition- I had to prove that I was a warrior. They tested my strength, but the only portion of the test I remember is fighting Killian on Mount Moria."

He turned me around and led me back into the room. He looked frustrated that I had just told him another story of how I almost died.

He sat down on the couch and put me on top of him so that I would be straddling him.

He wrapped his hand around my waist and I laid my head on his shoulder. For a moment I even forgot what we were talking about. I could feel his angst and frustration and I just wanted to take it all away.

I've almost lost my life so many times that I lost count. These past three years have been the scariest years of my life, but they were also the most fulfilling. Mathew just needed to understand that almost dying was a common occurrence for me.

"I'm sorry I wasn't there for you, Elizabeth", he whispered in my ear. "I'm going to kill Killian. I promise you."

"What?!, no!"

He put his hands on my waist and pulled me in closer to him with a seductive roughness. I could feel his hardness pressing against my stomach. I just wanted to grind myself against him.

I tried getting off of him, but he just pulled me in closer.

"Why are you trying to get off. I know you like sitting on me like this." He had a sly smile on his face.

"Because I'm tempted to do more and obviously", I pointed at his erection, "so are you."

"Don't worry", he said as he chuckled, "I'll keep you from throwing yourself at me."

"Well, as I was saying, I fought Killian on Mount Moria. We almost killed each other and somehow that brought us closer to each other."

I could tell he was trying to control his temper, but I wanted to be honest with him.

"After I almost killed him, he declared himself as my chosen mate. I told him I was not his mate. Believe me, I told him repeatedly, but he kept insisting that I was his mate. The only reason he would even let me leave his kingdom is because his seer told him I would be at the coronation."

He pulled me in closer to him and pressed me against his chest.

"I'm going to kill him!", he growled in my ear.

"No!", I shouted at him, "Killian is an honourable man, Mathew. He might be stubborn about this whole mate business, but you need the gryphons on your side."

He took a deep breath. "You're mine and ONLY mine. You know that, right?"

I slumped against his chest and he continued rubbing my back. "And YOU are mine and ONLY mine."