BREED&QUEEN

I CHOOSE YOU

I smiled glancing at the sky as I walked out of the bathroom. Lanterns floated peacefully amongst each other as they filled the sky. I gasped when I felt someone grab my hand. I looked over to see Dustin standing beside me and I smiled. He pulled me close, and I rested my head against his shoulder. The hundreds of lanterns that surrounded us were like gentle gold and red fireballs. I was expecting to be like this with him and it made my heart race. But I knew that this would be my last time seeing him. I wanted to enjoy this night with him for as long as I could.

"Eden."

"Yes," I smiled glancing up at the sky.

My eyes widened and I reached out to touch a lantern that floated near me. I held on to it and Dustin placed his hand underneath mine and together we lifted it into the sky. I looked up watching it float away with the biggest smile plastered on my face.

"I'm in love with you," He whispered in my ear.

I was speechless as I stood in front of him. I could feel my cheeks burning from embarrassment. "Dustin, I..."

He placed his hand on my lip to silence me. "it's okay if you don't feel the same way."

He pulled me to him gently crushing his lips on mine. As our lips moved in sync with each other the world around us seemed to disappear. Nothing and nobody else mattered it was like magic, a dream that I never wanted to wake up from. His mouth was warm, the caress of his lips gentle and loving. We kissed one time before, but this kiss was different it made sparks fly everywhere. We broke apart for air and the cheering of the villagers brought me back to reality. I smiled staring into his light brown eyes that seemed to captivate me.

"You want to head back to my room?"

I smiled nodding my head, "that sounds nice."

He grabbed my hand walking away from the crowd, I looked back watching the lanterns become tiny specks in the night sky. I heard Elizabeth call my name and I smiled. I forgot that I was supposed to be coming back to meet her. She ran over to us and placed her hand on her hip.

"Where are you two going? The king is about to choose his mate."

Dustin laughed, "great for him. "I'm taking Eden away from here. I want to spend some time with her alone."

"No, you can't miss this. You'll be in trouble," she sighed.

"Okay, we can stay. He will announce his mate and we will leave. Does that sound okay, Dustin?"

He sighed, "fine."

I turned to face the stage just as Tristian walked to the center. I smiled as the villagers gathered around. He grabbed his champagne glass and tapped it a few times to get everyone's attention.

"I appreciate everyone joining me tonight to celebrate the choosing of my mate. It was a hard decision to make and I appreciate all the women who came here. I know that it has been hard being away from home for two weeks. But after watching and studying all of you lovely women, I have decided. I Tristian Pierce chose Eden Daughtler to be my mate."

I felt my glass slip from my hand before I could stop it. The loud crash that it made on the pavement is the only thing that caused me to wake up and face reality. What did he just say? Did he just say my name? This couldn't be possible, could it? I heard small gasps and whispers throughout the crowd of people. I couldn't make out what they were saying because my head was spinning. I felt my body starting to shake from fear. I knew that I was about to have a panic attack.

"Eden...Eden, you have to go up there. He is calling you."

The voice sounded so distant to me even though I knew that Elizabeth was standing right next to me.

"EDEN, COME ON. You don't want to keep him waiting."

I felt her grab my hand as she started to pull me towards the stage. What the hell was going on. I could hear Dustin next to me denying my reality, but I heard him. We all heard him...he said my name. He chose me in front of everyone and there was no going back. Elizabeth grabbed me by the shoulders and started to shake me.

"Go up there now, please Eden. I need you to listen to me."

I shook my head the best way I could and turned around slowly. I climbed the steps as quickly as I could, trying to stay on my feet. The lights that were beautiful to me seemed too bright now. Everyone in the crowd had their eyes on me now and it made me feel even sicker.

"Isn't she a maid?"

"Why would he choose her, she isn't even pretty."

"I thought that Danielle was his chosen mate?"

"Why her? What's so special about her?"

I tried to drown out the whispers as I made my way towards Tristian. He grabbed my hand pulling me towards him. He had this smirk on his face that I couldn't understand. Why was he looking at me like that?

"This will be my queen and yours as well. You will honor her and respect her and no harm should ever come to her." He looked at me smiling like he just won a trophy. "Her name is Eden, and you all know her last name will soon be Pierce, and one more thing the wedding ceremony will be in five days. We will be joined by many villages. In the meantime, she is going to be spending a lot more time with you all so that you can get to know more about her. That is all that I have to say, you can get back to the festivities." He grabbed my hand placing a kiss on it.

Queen Esme stood up and made her way towards us. "Thank you all for attending this festival to help choose my son's, new mate. It means a lot to me and I'm happy that he has found the woman he will spend the rest of his life with."

Tristian grabbed my hand and pulled me towards the back of the stage. I wasn't sure where we were going. I was in shock, and I didn't know how much longer I would last before I fainted. He walked us behind a curtain so that we were out of view from the crowd.

"Tristian...please I think...you made a huge mistake. I can't be your mate. There is no way that...why would you?"

He smirked caressing my cheek with the back of his hand. "You will never deny me again."

I frowned, trying to find the right words to say. But my head was still spinning, and I felt sicker. "I'm going to faint," I whispered feeling my eyes slip closed. I heard him curse before catching me before I hit the ground.

I blinked a few times, groaning softly. My vision finally cleared after blinking a couple of times. The room I was in was dark and the bed was softer than mine. Where was I? I tried to search for anything I recognized but it was too dark.

"You're awake."

I gasped, "Tristian?"

He pulled the curtains open allowing the moonlight to seep into the room. He was standing there shirtless. The moonlight danced across his face that was mixed with l**t and anger.

I looked down and gasped when I realized that I was wearing a silk black nightgown that didn't cover much. I grabbed the blanket and pulled it up to my chest quickly. Why was I wearing different clothes?

"I didn't undress you; it was Elizabeth. I was tempted to watch if you want me to be honest with you."

"What happened? Why didn't you take me to my room?" I asked turning to face him.

"You are my mate now, so you sleep with me."

I shook my head slowly, "this can't be happening. You have to be joking? Why did you choose me? You were supposed to be with Danielle."

"I can be with whoever I want," he said walking towards me. "I chose you because I find you interesting."

"No, you chose me so you could punish me. You said that I would never know the pleasure of creating a child. Why didn't you keep that punishment for me? I was fine with it."

"That's the problem, I don't want you to be fine with it. I know that you're not happy about being with me."

"So, why are you making me? Why force this on me when I don't want it."

He climbed on top of me and pinned me down. "You denied me, and I've never been denied before. You're different, Eden. Despite being disrespectful and disobedient, I like you."

"It's not too late to change your mind. You can choose someone else."

He raised an eyebrow, "it doesn't work that way." He yanked the covers away from my body and I squeezed my legs together. "You are my place of pleasure, Eden. Trust me, I'm going to take all the pleasure that your body has to offer me."

"No," I whispered. "I'm telling you no and you can't force me."

He c****d his head over to the side. "Either you marry me, or I'll kill Dustin."

I gasped, "why? What did he do to you?"

"He put his hands on something that belongs to me. The women that are here are not supposed to be touched by any male besides me. They know the rules and he broke them. He kissed you twice and he took something that belonged to me. Your first kiss was mine to take just like your virginity. Stealing from a king is treason and the punishment is death."

My eyes widened as I tried to struggle against him. "No, please don't hurt him. If you want me to marry you, I will. Please, don't punish him." Dustin was trying to take care of his family and he didn't deserve to be punished for kissing me. We had no idea that the king would choose me.

"I'm glad to hear that," he groaned pressing his lips against mine. I didn't move because I was too afraid to. I didn't want him to hurt Dustin if I kept denying him.

He grabbed my thigh, and I placed my hand on his chest. "No, please."

"I can't have s*x with you until after the wedding. It's going to be a hard five days, but it will be worth it. If you don't make it hard for me, I won't make it hard for you." He trailed soft kisses down my neck, bringing his lips close to my ear. "I know that this has taken you by surprise, but I assure you that you will be happy here. Be ready because in five days you will be in that bed, and I will take your virginity to claim you as mine."

"Why didn't you choose Danielle? I thought that you marked her already." I whispered staring at the ceiling as his kisses got lower.

"Because she isn't a virgin," he groaned rubbing himself against me.

"That can't be the only reason," I breathed out.

He smirked, "you're too smart for your own good. If you want the truth, I'll tell you. Danielle was pregnant with another man's baby. She tried to get me to sleep with her a few nights ago. She wanted to trap me, but I knew that she was pregnant from the moment I talked to her. That is why I didn't choose her."

My eyes widened in shock. I had no idea that she was pregnant, and she didn't look like she was either. How could that be?

"I want you, Eden."

I nodded my head slowly because my voice was gone. I tried to keep the tears from escaping but it was so damn hard. Why...why did my life have to be this way?