An Alpha's Favor

Chapter 4: Mate

-Angela-

“You did what?!” I screamed at Lucian.

He had come back telling me exactly what I had feared he would do. I had slept the entire night and most of the day, and apparently, Lucian had seen it as his opportunity to go to the king and my brother and everyone else and tell them I was back in town.

“I can’t believe you!” I yelled at him. “I told you not to!”

“I know …”

“Oh really?!” I shouted and started to pace around the living room.

I was wearing the same clothes from yesterday. I had fallen asleep in it and the shirt was wrinkled, but I didn’t care. I just felt so mad and frustrated and, above all else … scared. I was so so scared. I didn’t want anyone to be involved in my problems, but here we were.

“Please, just come back with me. The king asked me to get you, so we can talk this out and fix everything,” he said.

“No!” I yelled and stopped to look at him.

He walked closer and then placed his hands on my shoulders. I knew he knew I was scared. He could most likely smell it, and the way he was looking at me with steady yet concerned eyes told me quite clearly, he knew how I felt. He was trying to calm me the best he could, and in a way, it helped …

“Angela, think about it. You aren’t safe in this apartment … Your father will find you. The king is the best option you have,” he said.

“He already had to deal with my father once … I don’t want to be a burden to him,” I said.

Lucian quickly shook his head, his hands tightening on my shoulders.

“You aren’t, Angela. Trust me. Everyone just wants you to be safe. They want to make sure you are protected,” he said.

“But why? They don’t know me.”

He gave me a soft smile.

“They know your brother. They know what you did for Kate and him. Now they want to help you.”

I sighed, my head dropping a little forward and it wasn’t until I felt one of his fingers under my chin pushing my head back that I finally looked at him.

“What if they get hurt because of me?” I whispered.

“It is going to be okay,” he said. “I promise. We will work something out.”

I slowly nodded. Since he felt so sure … maybe I should trust him. He had dropped everything he had in his hands to come get me and without telling anyone. I owed him to go back with him.

“Okay,” I said. “If you truly think this is for the best.”

“I do.”

“Let us go.”

He grabbed my hand and led me to the elevator, where we went to the underground parking lot and over to his car.

-Hunter-

The females were really good company. Much more interesting than the ones I had been around most of my life. No one faked anything or did their best to get close to me in order to get on my good side. No, everyone here was clearly happily mated, and some even had children around them, two of them with clear yellow eyes. Those were Selene’s kids. The female Elijah had planned to get mated to. She was now mated to the king’s brother, and possibly the mother to the next heir if the queen didn’t end up giving birth to one.

Speaking about the queen … she was sitting right in front of me, her silver eyes locked on me from the other couch. Yeah, she was not one to piss off. She was close to having the same aggressive energy that an alpha would, and it stirred something in me, as if I really stood in front of another alpha. Maybe that was why I found her so interesting. She was very, very different from the females from my world. No one held power like she did, and then she carried the mark of the king. She really was something else.

Though I must say I was a little impressed by Kaytlyn, who had decided to join me on the couch I was sitting on, with her son on her lap and a smile on her lips. But it was clear it was forced. She and I hadn’t really gotten the best start, especially because I also tried taking her sister away.

“So, how long are you staying?” she asked.

Her question amused me, and I took my time sipping from a drink that Lily, the beta Garrett was mated to, had served me. She was standing up behind the couch where the queen was and looked at me with a bit of fear. A human mixed into all of this … I bet there was an interesting story behind that.

“Don’t worry,” I said. “I am not here to take anyone away this time.”

“Good. Not that we would let you,” she said.

That just made me smile.

“Brave female,” I mumbled.

“We are serious, Hunter,” I heard the queen finally say, her voice cold and a clear threat.

It made not just me stir but Archer and the three other males I had brought as well. They were all people I would trust with my life without blinking.

“You try anything, and we won’t hold back,” she said, leaning forward.

I quickly found that superior smile of mine again, as I locked eyes with her.

“Do not worry, my queen. I am not here to find a mate. Yours just owe me a favor,” I told her.

“I am aware,” she growled lowly, leaning back again. “And I don’t like it.”

“At least you are honest about it.

“What is it that you need help with?” a small half-blood asked.

She was sitting on the couch that stood beside mine and the queen’s. She was mated to Damian, if remembered correctly, and was quite the wolf … or half the wolf. Half-bloods were very rare, and this was only the second time I had actually been close to one. Her scent was very confusing. It was the first thing I really noticed, but she also emanated some sort of power almost. Even though she was only half wolf. But I had done my research on everyone here, and I believed I had read she came from an alpha bloodline. So, maybe it wasn’t so strange, she held a little power.

“That is private,” I told her.

My eyes locked with hers, but she had to look away, not able to hold them.

“I am sure we will know soon enough,” the queen cut in.

“Maybe,” I said.

“My mate doesn’t keep secrets from me,” she told me.

“Are you sure?”

She narrowed her eyes and I saw Selene reach out and grab the queen’s hand, clearly holding her back from throwing herself over the coffee table and onto me.

“If I have learned one thing living in the upper-class world, then that is everyone is always hiding something. But perhaps you are right,” I said. “Perhaps it isn’t like him keeping secrets.”

I smiled crookedly, and that just made her growl so deeply that the rest of the glasses on the coffee table shook from the hard vibrations.

“Let us not get carried away,” Selene said, getting a tighter grip on the queen’s hand.

I just continued to smile at the queen, who hated me for the way I was cornering her mate. Goddess, it was just too easy to push these people’s buttons. They were so damn emotional, and I was definitely having fun with it.

“When is the hour up?” she growled without taking her eyes off me.

“Ten minutes,” Lily informed her.

“Ten minutes until I get to kick your ass out,” she said.

I just smiled, sipping my drink, as I leaned back, one leg resting over the other.

“Careful, my queen, I could make your mate do far worse than I already have planned for him.”

“That’s it!”

She got up from her seat, but just as she did, we all suddenly got dead quiet as our ears picked up the sound of a door opening, and then soon after there was the sound of loud voices.

“Angela,” I heard Kaytlyn say beside me.

So, it seemed the mysterious Angela had finally appeared.

Every female got up from their seats and stormed out of the room, not even looking back. I slowly placed my glass down, and then got up. Either this meant the king was ready for that meeting or it meant he wanted to postpone it, but I was done waiting, so I was going to find out.

I walked out of the room, leaning on the cane even more. It seemed I was having one of my bad days. But I could barely focus on it when suddenly … I froze. Something … sweet was in the air. Something very sweet filled my nostrils, making them flare as I took in a deep breath.

Jasmine … that was what I was smelling, but why?

“Alpha?”

Archer called out to me, but I didn’t hear him. Instead, I heard the sweetest voice that went straight to my heart. It was an angel’s voice, there was no doubt and it had me suddenly wanting to chase down the source of the sound and … I was unsure of what, but then as I followed it, walking faster than I should, I found myself at the entrance hall staring at the most beautiful, most mouthwatering, sexy little female I had ever laid my eyes on.

Mate!

Well, Goddess be damned … that I hadn’t expected.