His Princess Mate

4 - First Meet

დRoseდ

“Are you certain you want to be here, Rose?” my father questioned once again, and I sighed as I looked up at him.

“Yes, father, I am certain,” I said firmly. I ran my hand over the soft velvet pink skirt and smiled. I was secretly hoping the same detective would stop by as he had done yesterday. The handsome man with his thick brown hair and hazel brown eyes was quite attractive and although he had seemed nervous when I had passed by him on his way out, I was rather drawn to him. Detective Jonathan Walton was currently the first young man I had seen in a long time. That was not the truth, I had to admit to myself as I sat on the sofa waiting patiently. He was the first young man I had seen that had grabbed my attention. I was rather curious to know more about him and so as my father sat down in his armchair, I decided to question him. “Detective Jonathan Walton seemed rather nice,” I said casually.

“Ai, indeed, he is a hard-working man,” my father remarked.

“What do you know about him?” I then asked without trying to seem too eager.

“Um…Jonathan grew up here in Chester, his mother, I believe still works at the bakery and his father is the Chief of police. His wife stays at home to look after their two children,” I listened closely to the information, however, the moment he mentioned his wife and two children, my heart sank. My father must have picked up on my immediate disappointment. “Sorry, Rose, I did not realize you had taken an interest in him,”

“It is quite alright, father,” I said as I forced myself to smile. “I do believe that you were right,” I stood up from the sofa and let out a small sigh. I had gotten all dressed up in my best dress for him, only to find out he was not available to pursue.

“Now, now, Rose, before you dash off if the only reason you had wanted to stay was to see Mr. Walton again, then maybe you would be interested in meeting the investigator and his assistant,” he suggested but I was far too disappoint and down to consider another man. It was silly but I couldn’t help myself as I turned to leave the room.

“Your majesty, the investigator has arrived,” Adam announced as he came into the room. I froze in place as I felt a cold shiver rush through my body. I couldn’t quite explain it, however, I was overcome with a feeling I could not explain. I went back to the sofa and sat down as I quietly tried to compose myself.

“Let them through,” my father said as he pushed himself out of his armchair.

“I cannot thank you enough for allowing us to see his majesty on such short notice,” the voice echoed through the hall as Adam led them to the sunroom. I got tingles all over my body as something inside of me tried to breakthrough. I had no idea what was going on and as I forced myself to stand up and face the guests, I was taken aback by the two young men that now stood in the entrance.

“Welcome,” my father boomed out happily as I went around the sofa to greet them. The younger man with his blonde hair and blue eyes was the first to shake his hand. The other one was frozen in place, much like myself, and as we stared at each other. His thick black hair was swept to the side and his piercing green eyes seemed to be taking me all in. “Welcome,” my father said again, breaking the connection as the man turned to face my father.

“Indeed,” he whispered but I could hear the richness and depth to his voice that made those tingles explode. The younger one gazed over at me and I hurriedly excused myself as I left the room. I didn’t look back even though I desperately wanted to take another look at the man who made my heartbeat so fast and my palms so sweaty. Yesterday seemed like nothing in comparison to the man in that room. I didn’t want to get ahead of myself as I had done earlier, and I wasn’t even sure if this was something I would be interested in pursuing. A man that made me feel this way, could only be dangerous. I hurried along the hallway to my bedchamber and slipped inside.

“Who is that?” I asked out loud as I leaned against the stone wall. I wanted to go back and find out, I wanted to talk with him, question him, and learn everything I could about him and I had no idea why I felt that way. It was silly and I shook my head as I went over to the large window. As much as I wanted to know everything there was to know about him, I tried to force myself to think of other things. Such as the upcoming ball. Everything had been arranged rather quickly, despite the latest murder. I sighed as the image of that man popped into my head. FROM NOW ON, all I would have to do is avoid being alone with him if ever our paths should cross again. I lifted my chin as I made this promise to myself. I would never bow down to a man and one that made me feel so utterly out of control was someone I needed to stay far away from.

დHenryდ

I watched her rush out and I frowned. After so many years, I thought my chances of finding my mate would never happen, yet here she is. I turned my attention back to the king, who was discussing the incident with Philip. My mate, a princess. I smiled as I thought about the shocked look on her face, does she know? I didn’t pick up that she was like me, so how was it possible? I shook my head as I forced myself to pay attention to the conversation between the king and Philip.

“We were sitting here, actually,” he explained. “That scream was quite bone-chilling,”

“Was it just the one scream or was it multiple screams?” I asked curiously as I went over to the window and looked out. We hadn’t gone to see the place her body had been found yet, and aside from the feelings of having found my mate, I was rather curious to see the area.

“We heard the one,” the king informed me, and I nodded. “What does that mean?” he asked, and I turned to face him.

“I would like to see where her body had been found,” I said instead of answering his question. It was when I noticed the butler’s face that I realized what I had done. “I apologize, your majesty,” I hurriedly said. “I cannot answer your question until I have seen the area where she was found,”

“Ai, of course,” the king said with a small smile before he turned to the butler. “Adam, would you take them down to where she was found?”

“Yes, your majesty,” Adam said as he waved us over to follow him. I smiled apologetically to the king before I hurried after Adam and Philip.

“What on earth?” Philip asked through our telepathic connection. I shook my head before answering him.

“I am an Alpha, and yes, he is a King but that means very little to me,” I revealed.

“No, I was referring to the girl,”

“Oh!” I said as I smiled brightly. “She is my mate!”

“Your mate?!” I could hear the shock in his voice, and I understood what he was thinking.

“Is that a problem for you?” I then asked him as we left the castle and started making our way down the path in the garden.

“Not at all, however, what does this mean for Abigail?” his question was expected, and I sighed as I thought about my partner back at home. It wasn’t anything official, but I had been with her for two years already. I wasn’t worried about Abigail at all. The second I told her about finding my mate, she would step back with ease. It was one of our arrangements when we had first become lovers.

“It means Abigail will step back,” I snapped as I threw him a warning look. He was my beta; he was my best friend, but I would never be alright with him questioning me. Philip made a tiny whimpering sound at being scolded but the time had come. Adam had gone slightly off the path, and I could see the thick, dense forest ahead. However, he didn’t need to point out where she had been found. I could smell her and the scent of her blood. Human.

“We found her right here,” he said slowly. “I have to assume she came from the woods,” he added, and I nodded.

“Indeed, it does look that way,” I said carefully as I stepped closer. “Philip, why don’t you take a walk in the forest and see if you can pick up on anything?” I gave out the order with ease and Philip didn’t bat an eyelid.

“Your manners are quite…interesting,” Adam remarked, and I had the urge to laugh. “I don’t mean any disrespect, it is just that I have never seen anyone, other than the king, of course, speak to others the way that you do. In fact, even the way you disregarded the king's question,”

“I was raised a certain way,” I said as I crouched forward. Something was not adding up and as I looked toward the castle, something else didn’t seem to be adding up. “The girl, she worked here at the castle?”

“Yes, sir, she had gone out to gather vegetables in the garden when she was attacked,” he explained. I stood up and looked around.

“Where is the vegetable garden?” I questioned curiously.

“This way,” Adam said as he walked along the forest line and when he suddenly turned, I hurried to catch up. Here, some of the trees had been cut down to make space for the luscious garden that was quite breathtakingly blooming. As I looked over the area, I had to hand it to whoever had built up this garden. It was in the perfect spot with more than enough sunlight and shielded from any heavy rain or hail. I was suitably impressed and as I continued to survey the area, I was able to pinpoint how things had gone down. Philip soon joined us, and I glanced over at Adam.

“She came out here to collect some vegetables,” I started, and he nodded. “She was grabbed from behind, right here,” I added as I went over to the spot where her scent was the strongest. Adam looked surprised but once again he nodded. “She was dragged into the forest, I am guessing that whoever grabbed her covered her mouth,” I then looked over at Philip.

“There was a struggle not too far from here, heading in that direction,” he explained as he pointed to the area where she was found. “I haven’t seen her body, but I can guess that she managed to escape, she then managed a single scream and that was it, she was killed from behind,” this was exactly how the rogues killed. Yet how had they managed to get into this forest in the first place? I knew I would have to take a walk to put the puzzle pieces together. Even though my mind was filled with thoughts about the rogues, Rose Adlay was right there, tickling my interests.