Alpha's Pride

Chapter 5

Athena's POV:

                     I was so tired that I had fallen asleep in the SUV that my mate had brought. I am comfortable in his presence. I feel at home. He woke me up with a kiss to my forehead. When he told me we were at the palace. I was extremely excited. 

        I got out of the car and what I saw had me dropping my jaw. This place is humungous. The dated red brick with white windows. I could tell by the manicured lawn and the flowing water fountain. I fell in love. I could smell the pine forest that surrounds the palace. I could smell lavender, wild flowers, and lilies. Oh, how I love the smell of lilies. I can't wait to explore this place. 

        It's strange though, Shadow and I feel like we know this place. It's like Deja Vu, like I have been here before. I shake the feeling quickly, never giving any indication of what I am feeling. I kept the biggest smile on my face. 

      He takes us in to the grand entrance and that's when my eyes went wide. It's indescribable. I would have never thought that it was this stunning. The midnight blue with the white walls and stairs. But the double staircase open up to what looks like a double glass door. There is what looks like is entertainment areas on one side and one the other it looks like it leads into a dining room. But what really has me in aww is the hanging chandelier was hanging from a glass dome. The metal that has gold accents for railings give it the image that Gods and Goddess could live here. You can tell as you get closer to the stairs, you can see the different hallways that probably lead to different rooms and areas of the palace. 

         Atlas brings me out of my thoughts. "Would you like to see your room?" 

        I just nod. This place is so familiar. But I can't remember ever being here or anywhere like it. My parents travelled a lot but I never went with after that one time that I got so sick but as soon as my parents brought me back, Jason was there and I got better. My parents thought we were mates and that's why. But that wasn't the case. We have ever figured out why Jason and I couldn't be apart.

         We go up the left staircase, I realize then that the stairs are made of marble. I can't believe how magnificent this place is. He grabs my hand interlacing our fingers. I look down and smile. The sparks radiate through my body. I decide that I don't want to pull away because I was liking the feeling of his little endearment. 

       We don't speak as he leads me down a hall to the left of the stairs. He never lets go of my hand. After a lot of twist and turns, we reach an elevator. I know I am going to get lost trying to find everything in this palace. We enter the elevator and he presses the button that had KQ, it must stand for King and Queen. I am so impressed by how he has been gentle and kind. The elevator dings and opens up. The hallway was well lite with lanterns on the walls. The walls were a light oak finish. It has an older feel to it. Like it was maybe from the early 1900's. 

        We come to double dark oak doors. I get nervous. Okay Athena, calm down. I told myself. I am not sure why this makes me so nervous. I just can't quite understand myself. 

      "Are you okay, my love?" Atlas asks with concern lacing his voice.

       "Yeah, I'm sorry. I am not sure what is going on with me. My moods are changing so rapidly and I am beyond confused." The happiness from before is no where near what I am feeling now.

        "All in due time. I promise that I will explain things. You just have to trust me." He tells me. His expression says that he knows a lot about what is going on with me and for some gut reason, I know it's nothing simple.

      I just nod my head and give him a weak smile. I know he is my mate but to me trust is earned not just a given. In my experience, you can't give out trust and not get hurt in the end. I want to trust him but the last person I blindly trusted, almost broke me. I will not make that same mistake with my mate. I know that he is meant to love me and care for me no matter what but it will take sometime.

       He lets go of my hand, making my wolf whimper at the lose of her mate's warmth. He turns the handles of the doors and pushes them open. Atlas walks in first probably looking for the light switch. I walk in just past the threshold. The lights soon came on and I nearly collapsed from how truly beautiful this room is. The room has gold and white walls. But the purple stood. The chandelier was gold metal with purple lamp shades. The king size bed has gold embroidery behind the midnight blue headboard. There is a vanity to the left of the bed, that has a big oval shaped mirror. But to the right was a chair and end table next to it. On the other side of the room, there is a purple plush couch and love seat. There is also a dark wood coffee table with gold trim.    

             I could feel his heated gaze on me as I continue to explore my new room. This room made me feel like a princess. I was so intrigued by this whole room. There is a small fireplace in front of the couch with a 55" tv above the mantle. On either side were doors, I am guessing one is a bathroom and the other is a closet. I go to the door on the left of the fireplace and find a walk in closet. I should say the closet is more of a whole room in its own. It also has gold and white walls. The closet was pretty bare. I am going to have to rectify that and fill the closet.

         "What do you think?" I look at Atlas and he was rubbing the back of his neck. He looked so nervous.

     "I have never seen anything so... so magical. This is made for a princess. I am not princess." I tell him.

    I feel as though I know this room but it was much more antique than it is now. Maybe I am just remembering a dream. I know when I was a little girl, I use to pretend I was a princess and Jason was my knight. I guess that's where I feel like this is all familiar. My fairy-tale pretend game turned into real life. 

         "You are right, my mate. You are not a Princess, you are a Queen. And you are mine." His voice was so confident and dominant. 

        He takes my hand and leads me out of the closet to the other doors. I am anxious to see what the bathroom looks like. I mean, I know this has to be a bathroom because you can't have such a huge room without your own bathroom. I look up at my mates honey brown eyes with gold speck and see nothing but adoration and love. What!!?? Love, that's not possible. We have only known each other a few hours. He can't possibly love me yet.

      "Do you want to do the honors?" He smirks at me. I realize he caught me in a trance. 

       I shake my head of the images Shadow is sending through our link. She is such a naughty wolf. She has the dirtiest mind. I will be talking to her later about not showing me those images. I reach out for the handle and twist. As the door comes open, I am not surprised at how spectacular this bathroom is.

         After opening the double doors, I was in shock. The bathroom wasn't huge but it was perfect. The cabinetry looked as though it had always been here. The cream color marble countertops set the brass sink off. The stone brick walls are beautiful. There is a nice size stand up shower and a garden tub. The garden tub sits right next to a window and the view is gorgeous. You can see the forest with different colored leaves and the slight mountain tops. This bathroom is a dream.

      "Do you like it?" Atlas snaps me away from the view. He is rubbing the back of his neck as if he was nervous.

       "I love it. This whole thing is really a dream. This can't be my reality. I am just a warrior. One that has spent her whole life trying to prove myself." I tell him honestly.

      "Let's go sit in your room so we can talk." he gestures me into my room and we take a seat on the royal purple couch.

    "It's weird, I don't know how I can feel your emotions because we haven't finished the mating process." I curiously say.

      "I am an Alpha King. So, the fact that you are the future Queen, you and I can feel each other more than regular wolves. We are much different as mate's because of my status. I know this is all the last few hours have been hard on you. I know that you are confused by the things that are happening to you. But I promise with time something will be explained. But you have to trust me, I can't tell you everything right now. And it's not because I don't want to, it's that you have to find out some stuff out on your own." He explains with as much honesty in his voice and eyes as possible.

         He is my mate. I know that much to be a fact. the sparks that are sent through me at every touch of his hand. The honesty in his beautiful honey brown eyes gives me reassurance that everything will be okay. I just have never depended on anyone else. I have to believe my mate wouldn't lie to me or hurt me intentionally. 

     "I trust you. It might sound strange since we have only known each other for a few hours but I know that Shadow and I can trust you." I tell him with sincerity in my voice.

      "It's not strange at all. It's part of being mates." He smiles that wide smile. It make me shiver a bit. He always has the brightest smile around me. But I can sense some sadness in him.

      "Why are you sad?" I ask him but regret it when his face drops.

      There was silence between us for what seemed like for ever. I started to get nervous ad Shadow started pacing wanting to comfort her mate but I couldn't move because I was imaging the worst. I bet he has someone else and he is having a hard time telling me. I knew it. This all was to good to be true. I am only here because I am his mate. Shadow whimpers at my thoughts. I was for sure not going to stay here if I was unwanted. I am pulled out of my anxiety attack by his soothing voice.

      "Hey, it's nothing to panic over I promise. It's just I have carried a weight on me for may years. And it's finally catching up to me. I am not sure how to say things. One of my best friends which is my Delta, he lost his twin when they were 6 and it was all my fault that I wasn't here when it happened." He projects his sadness and guilt through his eyes.

      "If I may ask, what did happen?" I question just showing that he can talk to me.

       "I was 12 and my father had taken me to the mountains to start my Alpha training. He said that I needed to have solitude so I could concentrate on what was important instead of hanging out with my friends. We were so close, the twins, my beta, and me. We did everything together until that summer. I lost a piece of myself. We heard it through the mind link that we were being attacked by rogues. My father and I raced back. By the time we got back, the Kings guard had killed most of the rogues but the rest had retreated. I had ran after we had gotten to the c*****e to look for my mom and the others. I was already fast because of the royal wolf gene. I didn't need my wolf for that. But what I had discovered when I got there was forever etched into me. My best friend not only lost his father but his twin sister had been taken. He had felt the death of his father just as his mother did but what tore him to pieces is that he couldn't save his sister." He pauses for awhile.

         I just take in the information that he was giving me and I felt anger start to boil inside but at the same time I felt a sadness of my own wash over me like I was feeling the loss with him. I want to tear this room a part but then I wanted to curl in a ball and cry. I didn't even know these people and I wanted to cry for them, why? 

       "You know, I never thought that I could get him past loosing his twin but somehow, I pulled him through it. He doesn't talk about it but I know he feels just as guilty as I do. He was silent for along time but even now he really won't talk. He is a great Delta and he is the best fighter I have. I just wish I could have been here when she was taken." He has tears running down his face.

        All I wanted to do was comfort him. I got up and stood in front of him. I know he felt me move but he never looked up from burying his face in his hands. So, I gently grabbed his hands. I don't know what I am doing but he looks up at me. His eyes held a bit more gold in his honey brown eyes but the tears were streaming. My big bad King was being vulnerable and something in me just has to be in his arms to comfort him so I moved in between his legs. He looked at me confused at first but then accepted my gesture and embraced me pulling me down o his lap.