The Art of Taming Her Mates

5. Years-old yarning

“You are dying?!” Kingston could not believe his own words. Kayleen’s strong aura would deceive other supernaturals but not a hybrid like Kingston.

Life and death were a part of Kingston’s very existence. His hands were painted red, the stairs to his throne were made of bones and skulls, and at some point he had become dangerous even to himself. Living an arrogant life where there were no sentiments holding him back, he never thought that learning of a little she-wolf's death would shake him to the core.

However, given the physical state she was in it was impossible that she was unaware of her impending death.

“Tell me,” Kingston grabbed Kayleen by the arms to pull her closer to his chest. His eyes were dark as his hot breath fanned against Kayleen’s small upturned face. Earlier he had learned that she had fallen into the lake. Its water was ice cold no matter the season but a werewolf had the ability to bear it. Kayleen’s chilled body was proof that she had been affected by the frigid temperature. That was only possible under one condition. “Are you…” he choked on the words when he finally realized that she no longer had her wolf.

The longer he touched her the more like a human he found her. A human that could die from a mere fever. There were only two possibilities that caused a wolf to leave their human counterpart. Either the wolf faced a horrible and painful rejection or the wolf’s soulmate was dead. Earlier, he overheard Wallace mention finding his soulmate, so Kayleen could not be going through either of those situations.

Wallace and Kayleen had been chosen mates when they were wed, but even under those circumstances, their marriage crumbled. Kayleen's wolf had not fled, leaving her to die. It was only possible when one party took a serious step towards the marital bond and the other did not give the same value to it.

“Did you tie your wolf to Wallace during the wedding?” Kingston realized.

“Yes,” Kayleen confessed.

“Why would you do that?” Kingston frowned. Even some soulmates avoided going to that length as it would tie their life and death.

“Because I love him,” Kayleen whispered.

A dead silence fell between them. The corner of Kingston’s lips twitched in bitterness at having witnessed those warm intense feelings in her eyes towards another male. Of course, Wallace and Kayleen’s passionate love story was not hidden from him. Whenever her name fell on Kingston’s ears it was connected to Wallace’s, it always tested his patience in the worst way. His lycan would become violent. This woman had bypassed common sense, breaking every limit in her love of Wallace. Death did not seem to scare her.

“He already has a soulmate,” Kingston remarked, loosening his grip on her arms. Her soft white skin had turned red.

“I know,” Kayleen blinked.

“Then why?” Kingston’s heart grew restless.

“It’s hard to explain what is in my heart,” Kayleen admitted, slowly lowering her gaze.

“You will die!” Kingston let out a low growl. His hand shook when he saw tears gathering in her eyes but she quickly looked away.

Kingston tightened his fist at his side, wanting nothing more than to kill Wallace. He abandoned a woman who was madly in love with him for some random she-wolf. Instead of apologizing to Kayleen and begging on his knees for forgiveness for his betrayal, he gave her a nasty attitude, treated her coldly, and hurt her wolf to the point that she was on the brink of death!

“Dying is the easy way out, Kingston,” Kayleen replied, looking deep into his eyes. “I plan to live,” she smiled. Kingston stood there stunned at her statement. Her lips were curled into a smile but it did not reach her eyes.

The feeling of his favorite toy being broken came to his heart. She would live? How? Chasing after Wallace?

Playing with this woman’s fragile heart, leaving her in pain and tears, and hurting her over and over again without realizing it was just making her condition worse. Wallace could no longer be seen as a person in Kingston’s eyes. After this betrayal, he planned to deliver painful and severe consequences down on Wallace's head, but then his gaze landed on the lone beauty sitting on the bed.

Kayleen was no longer Wallace’s. A bride for only a few hours, she could not even be called a married woman. She was a blossomed lotus ready to be plucked from the mud. An old yarning pumped through Kingston’s chest, awakening every cell in his body, dredging up all the darkest desires that he had hidden deeply in the corner of his heart.

“Kayleen,” his long fingers slowly lifted her chin as he leaned towards her face. Her large eyes were round as her body trembled slightly when his hot breath brushed her lips. “I will not let you die,” he whispered, cupping her soft right cheek with his large hand. His chocolaty eyes shifted from her eyes to her parted lips.

“Kingston,” Kayleen sighed, watching his lips inching closer to hers. His hand slipped from her cheek to hair as his fingers softly twined into the long strains.

“Kayleen, let me kiss you,” he brushed his lips over hers causing her body to uncontrollably shiver from their close proximity.

Kingston closed his eyes along with Kayleen as his lips softly captured hers. He could not believe his own gentleness, that he could treat a woman so tenderly. Her lips were wet and welcoming. There was no resistance to hinder him from releasing his pent up hunger.

Kingston bit Kayleen’s lower lip causing her to moan. When her lips parted, he took advantage and explored her warm mouth. Her mouth was small and when their tongues touched Kingston nearly lost control. He deepened the kiss leaving Kayleen breathless.

“Your mouth is so sweet,” Kingston commented, rubbing his thumb over her lower lip. Kayleen blushed, unable to respond. “Are you still feeling dizzy?” he asked, sensing her condition was stable.

“No,” she shook her head.

“Then…” Kingston started to move closer.

“But I need to use the washroom,” Kayleen placed her hand on his chest.

Kingston quietly moved away to give her space. “Okay, go ahead.”

Kayleen got up from the bed and ran into the washroom. Kingston chuckled as he watched her shut the door with a bang like a ghost was chasing after her then locked the door.

****

Kingston talked with one of his subordinates for half an hour. He was an expert wizard in his field. The man had been newly appointed to oversee King Basil’s therapy. He excused himself quietly, seeing that the Prince’s right hand man was approaching them in the yard.

“Lycan Prince, what are my orders?” Nate bowed, ready to receive his latest task.

“Find out everything you can about Alpha Prince Wallace,” Kingston commanded. Nate lifted his surprised eyes up like his head had been banged against a wall. His ears rang with the order that he needed to fulfill, but he could not grasp what was going on. His selfish master was taking an interest in a werewolf? Not just any werewolf but the Alpha Prince?!

“I understand?” Nate nodded, hardly burying all his questions deep in his heart. At the same time, his heart was overflowing with joy thinking it must be because they were soon to be step brothers!

“And about his slut too…” Kingston added.

“His slut?” Nate blinked at Kingston, asking for more details.

“The slut who usurped Kayleen’s place…”

Nate’s jaw nearly dropped to the ground in shock, “You mean the Alpha Prince’s soulmate?!”

“Slut, soulmate whatever…find out how she came in the picture in the first place,” Kingston turned on his heel to leave.

“I understand,” Nate donned a casual expression as he cursed himself for misunderstanding his master’s earlier order and making his own assumption. Luckily, he had sent the royal wolves away prior to their conversation. Otherwise they would have learned how the Lycan Prince felt about their future ruler and his mate.

Nate followed closely behind Kingston, debating how to begin the main discussion that he had to bring up sooner or later. Kingston noticed Nate’s anxious state from the corner of his eyes. “Spit it out.”

Nate instantly stopped in his tracks to gather some courage. “Your father has learned of your arrival in the Kingdom as well as the fact that you are staying at King Basil’s residence,” he informed.

Kingston’s feet halted as well. A dead silence fell around them. Nate debated whether or not to continue while he watched Kingston quietly pulling out a cigarette. There was no change in Kingston’s expression, as if he had not heard anything Nate had said. His calm and composed attitude as he exhaled the smoke without answering only caused Nate’s heartbeat to accelerate.

“You are dismissed,” Kingston remarked, crushing the cigarette under his boot before he began to leave.

“Prince, should you not visit your father…” Nate panicked as he tried to persuade Kingston, but choked in his words as soon as he received a meaningful side glare from him. Kingston’s chocolaty eyes were breathtakingly beautiful, he had inherited them from his Mother, but once one looked deeper into them they could get lost in their endless darkness. “The Ly…Lycan King is looking forward to your arrival,” Nate lowered his head while quietly delivering the message.

The Royal Family’s rules were tedious. For royals it was too strict, they had to follow them in order to set a good impression for the public. Kingston should have gone directly to greet Lycan King Haakon and Queen Orla when he arrived in the Kingdom instead he came straight to King Basil’s residence.

Kingston turned, taking a few steps closer to Nate until he stood face to face with him.

“Your King is looking forward to my arrival?” Kingston asked.

“Yes,” Nate nodded hopefully.

“Is he dying?” Kingston asked.

“No,” Nate gasped at his question.

“Then I don’t need to visit him. It’s not urgent,” Kingston remarked, entering the house.

“What the….” Nate stood in his spot feeling his legs grow weak. The glare that he just received from his master was a warning not to mention his father again.

“Now what will I tell the King?!” Nate yanked at his hair in fear. He could not force either of them to do a thing. He was stuck between a rock and a hard place.

Kingston went to change his clothes in the room that Kayleen had arranged for him. He became free from duties around dinner time.

When Kingston returned to Basil’s room an hour later, he found Kayleen dozing in the chair beside the old King’s bed. She had fed Basil dinner and given him his medicine, then must have grown tired. Kingston chuckled as he sat down beside her.

“You should not sleep in chairs. It will hurt your body.” He admired her, brushing the hair back from her face. She looked comfortable like she had spent countless nights in that same position. She was sleeping soundly and did not hear him at all.

“Let's go to bed,” Kingston scooped her sleeping figure up into his arms. Instead of taking her to her room he took her to the one she had assigned him, where the bed was big enough for both of them. He placed Kayleen gently down on the bed then covered her with a blanket. Remembering her critical state of her health, his expression was stern. After confirming that her temperature was normal he lay down beside her, listening to her steady breathing.

He kept staring at her long eyelashes and the serenity on her face while her brows twitched from time to time.

“It’s strange, I don't feel uncomfortable sharing a bed with you,” he admitted, pulling her closer to him. Not once in his twenty six years had he shared a bed with a female. For a variety of reasons, during his past experiences he had found it disturbing.

His arms wrapped around her waist like snakes while her heavenly scent worked like the most addictive drug, giving him another hard on.

“f**k!” he murmured under his breath. A pain filled expression took over his face. This woman was playing with him again. He rubbed his c**k against Kayleen’s belly a few times, hardly able to catch any sleep.

The next morning when Kingston opened his eyes, Kayleen was not beside him, the blanket that he had put on her last night was covering him.

“Kayleen?” He got out of the bed to search for her.

Her smell had faded from the air. She was neither in Basil’s room nor in any other corner of the residence. Kingston noticed a cup of hot tea on the bed side table that Kayleen had prepared for him, then he realized, "she is gone.”