Royal Mate

by Juniper Hart

  “Our Uber is here, Cara!” Beth yelled to her sister, glancing at her phone. Indeed, their ride was waiting for them, but that wasn’t what Beth was waiting for. She hadn’t received any answer from August Vega yet. Disappointed, she shoved her phone in her purse and slipped on her black stilettos.

  “I don’t know what that is, Beth, but tell him to stop his honking! He’s going to wake the neighbors!”

  Cara entered the doorway, and both sisters laughed in unison.

  “It’s nine o’clock on a Friday, Mama. The neighbors aren’t sleeping,” Beth chuckled.

  Her mother only scowled. “It’s still rude!” she insisted, her blue eyes narrowing. “Where are you girls going? You aren’t going someplace where there will be drugs, right?”

  Again, the sisters giggled.

  “No, Mama,” Beth assured her as they slipped past her and headed toward the stairs. “We’re just going to visit some friends.”

  “Don’t be home too late!”

  “All right, Mama!” Cara agreed.

  She and Beth made their way outside and toward the waiting sedan, a sulking man behind the wheel.

  “I have been waiting for ten minutes!” he grumbled.

  “You’ve been honking for ten minutes, too,” Cara retorted. “We’re going to Veil downtown.”

  Their driver grunted, pulling away from the curb, and the siblings exchanged an eyeroll. Beth reached for her phone again and glanced at it.

  “You’ve been glued to that thing all day!” Cara complained. “What on earth are you looking at?”

  Guiltily, Beth threw the iPhone back into her handbag, wishing she could stop herself from looking at it. She shook her head, trying to make sense of the anxiety she felt. She still had not received word back about a match with the surreally attractive August Vega, and it bothered her more than she cared to admit.

  It was strange. Typically, when she swiped right the guys responded right away. After all, the dating app was based on physical attraction, and few could claim to have Beth’s beauty. Despite her stunning good looks, though, Beth was not conceited. She accepted the attention with dignity, although it had always come so freely.

  Never in her life had she been left questioning why her attraction wasn’t reciprocated.

  Never until right now, she thought tightly. Maybe he doesn’t like blondes.

  “Well?” Cara insisted. “Are you going to tell me?”

  “It’s nothing,” Beth replied, feeling a faint blush of embarrassment stain her cheeks. “I was just expecting one of my Kappa sisters to text me tonight.”

  “I still can’t believe you belong to a sorority,” Cara sighed. “I never thought you’d be the type.”

  “You’ll like it,” Beth assured her. “Just wait until you start at the University of California in September. Mark my words, I bet you’ll pledge a sorority, too.”

  Cara shot her a look. “Why?” she asked, and Beth could read the genuine curiosity in her sister’s question.

  She smiled and reached across to squeeze Cara’s hand affectionately. “Because when your family isn’t near, you look for kinship in other people,” she answered. “These women become like your sisters.”

  “We’ll see,” Cara muttered, and Beth laughed, pulling her hand back and turning to look out the window. Her sister sounded just like she had when she had left for school.

  “Just pull over at the end of West 6th,” Beth instructed the sullen driver. She turned to Cara. “I need to find an ATM, and I’m not spending five bucks for a service charge in the club.”

  Cara nodded in agreement, and the two jumped out of the car, scowling at the driver before heading toward the center of the city.

  “He was miserable,” Cara commented, and Beth bobbed her head, her eyes scanning the street for a bank.

  “Well, we did make him wait ten minutes. Let’s not let his bad attitude ruin our night,” she said.

  A moment later, her gaze finally rested on a vestibule on the opposite side of the street, and she gestured at Cara to follow her. They stepped inside, and Beth pulled out her bank card.

  “Oh, sweet Lord,” Cara muttered, stepping closer to her sister.

  “What?” Beth asked, her fingers working the machine, but Cara did not answer.

  She only nudged her hard in the ribs.

  “Hey, that hurt!” Beth turned to look at Cara, and she froze when she saw what had seemed to scare her sister.

  A scruffy-looking man had entered behind them, avoiding eye contact as he tried to hide his face behind the collar of his jean jacket. He wasn’t fooling anyone, and the siblings could sense his malintent.

  Beth swallowed and eyed Cara, debating what to do.

  You don’t know that he’s up to no good, she thought to herself. He has just as much a right to be here as—

  “Empty out your account,” the scraggly stranger growled, stepping toward them.

  Panicked, Beth turned to her sister. “Run!” she cried.

  As Cara turned to flee, though, the man took out a gun from his pocket and pointed it at them.

  “Don’t do anything stupid!” he barked. “Just do what I say, and you won’t get yourselves killed!”

  Gulping back her fear, Beth nodded, protectively yanking her sister back as the robber poked her with the butt of the barrel.

  “Hurry up!” he snapped. “I ain’t got all night!”

  Beth whirled toward the machine, punching in her code with trembling fingers.

  “I-I don’t have much,” she warned him, her mind racing.

  She had over ten thousand dollars in her account, most of it for her tuition and the books she would need when she went back to school in September. If he took everything…

  Beth shuddered when she thought of the alternative.

  “Lemme see what you got, honey,” he purred, peering over her shoulder, and Beth closed her eyes. There would be no escaping; he was going to take what she had.

  Just give it to him! a logical voice yelled in her head. Cara is with you. It’s only money, you’ll manage to get it back someday!

  She didn’t need any further convincing, and she tried to withdraw all the money.

  The machine, however, did not allow for it, offering her only three hundred dollars.

  “Looks like you got lots of money!” the robber snarled. “Hurry up!”

  “It won’t let me take it all out at once!” Beth protested.

  “Well, take it out as many time as you need to!” he cried, and Beth could read the antsy expression on his face.

  He was losing his nerve.

  The sisters exchanged a panicked look, and Beth hoped her sister would somehow be able to keep a clear head and call 9-1-1 without attracting attention from their attacker, but her face was whiter than anything Beth had ever seen. She must be even more terrified than Beth was.

  “You stalling?” the robber demanded, raising his voice. “You wanna die?”

  Beth shook her head. “No! Of course not!” she replied, willing the machine to work faster as she waited for the second round of money to be withdrawn.

  The ATM beeped, and Beth looked at the flashing screen. She gasped aloud, the color draining from her face.

  “What?” the man growled. “What’s taking so long?”

  “The machine is out of money,” Beth whispered, turning to him, her eyes wide with concern.

  His face contorted in fury.

  “Is this a trick?” he yelled, and Beth shook her head wildly as he seized Cara’s arm. “I will kill her as you watch!”

  “No!” Beth cried. “It’s not a trick! Look!”

  He gazed at the words on the screen and then looked back at them.

  “Listen,” Beth said, struggling to keep her composure. “You can take the card and go. I will give you the PIN code. Here.” She thrust the card toward him, but his scowl only deepened.

  “Do I look stupid to you?” he asked, his grip tightening on Cara’s arm.

  The younger girl s
quealed.

  “No,” he decided. “We’ll have to find another bank, that’s all.”

  “No!” Beth protested. “I will give you the code! Please, there’s no reason to—”

  Suddenly, the door to the ATM opened, and another man walked into the vestibule.

  Everyone froze.

  Beth’s eyes turned toward the newcomer, her face twisted in shock. It was the man she had been looking forward to hearing from all day. She recognized the facial features that had captivated her so.

  August Vega, she thought. How is this even possible? What is he doing here?

  For a moment, Beth wondered if she was hallucinating. But whether or not he had swiped left or right on her profile was the last thing on her mind. She gazed at August hopefully, and he looked on indifferently at the situation in front of him.

  After an awkward silence, August cleared his throat. “Are you done with the machine?” he asked, shifting his eyes away from the trio.

  He apparently didn’t notice the tension in the air and the gun the robber had hid behind his back.

  Look at his hands! Beth wanted to scream, but August seemed oblivious.

  “The machine is out of money, friend,” the mugger explained, and Beth could see he was trying to keep the anxiety from his tone.

  “That’s okay!” August replied cheerfully. “There’s another one the next block up.”

  He held open the door for the women to leave, a smile on his erotically attractive face, but Beth was sure her legs were going to buckle if she was forced to move.

  Run! she attempted to yell. Everyone, run!

  Of course, she did not follow her own advice and instead looked helplessly at the robber.

  “Ladies first,” August instructed, seeming perplexed that no one had made a move to leave. “It’s only across the street. It isn’t far.”

  “Go,” the robber hissed, and Beth snatched her sister, pushing her toward the door before he could change his mind.

  “Run!” she whispered to Cara. “Run fast and find help!”

  “No!” Cara murmured back. “He could shoot me! Or shoot you!”

  “He can’t take us both—”

  “Shut up!” the mugger hissed in their ears, and Beth felt a tremor of fear flitter through her body. She glanced back over her shoulder, but as she did, a blur of motion caught her eye.

  The assaulter was abruptly on the ground, August pinning him down to the pavement.

  Beth and Cara choked, stepping back as they watched the scene unfolding in front of them.

  The mugger tried to aim the gun at August, but he was no match for him. Even if he had been able to aim the gun at him, it didn’t look like it would’ve mattered.

  Right before Beth’s and Cara’s eyes, August seemed to transform into an animal, pinning the scrawny man below him as his teeth bared in long, pointed shards. He had shifted into a wild lupine creature: a large, furious white wolf with sharp fangs and gleaming claws.

  Beth was transfixed in horror at the scene.

  The animal threw his head back as the robber began to scream in panic, his glimmering green eyes meeting hers. Then August howled, his voice seeming to reverberate off the building walls.

  As if in slow motion, Beth grabbed Cara, and the two began to flee as fast as they could, their hearts ready to leap from their chests in unison. They did not stop running for several blocks, with Beth continuously glancing over her shoulder to ensure they were not being followed by either man.

  When they thought their lungs were going to explode, they fell against a closed grocery store, catching their breaths. They looked about for other people, only breathing easier when they saw throngs of them walking the downtown streets.

  “What was that?” Cara gasped. “What happened?”

  Beth shook her head, unable to think of anything except for the word “werewolf.”

  That is ridiculous, she thought, shaking her head. There is no such thing as werewolves.

  But suddenly, she was not so sure, and she looked uneasily at Cara. What other explanation was there?

  “We need to call the police,” Cara said, and Beth stopped her from reaching for her phone.

  “And tell them what?” she asked, realizing how insane it would sound if they talked about a werewolf saving them from a robbery. “They will think we’re crazy.”

  Cara studied her face and then nodded slowly.

  “Do you think he… it killed him?” she whispered.

  Beth shook her head. “I have no idea,” she answered. “It doesn’t matter. We have to forget it happened. Let’s just… let’s go home.”

  Cara reached out to take her hand.

  “No,” she protested. “If we go home now, Mama will wonder why we’re back so soon. Let’s just go to the club for a while and then leave.”

  Beth gritted her teeth, knowing her sister was right. Their mother was like a bloodhound sensing trouble, but Beth was no longer in the mood to dance or meet people. She was having a difficult time understanding how August had not only appeared in the bank, but also rescued them with some sort of unearthly powers.

  “Beth,” Cara said urgently. “We have to pretend that nothing is strange, because if something happened to that guy…”

  Beth swallowed the lump in her throat and nodded. Running her fingers through her blonde hair, she pushed herself off the wall.

  “You’re right,” she whispered. “We have to pretend nothing happened.”

  And if August did something awful to that man, she told herself, we will never speak a word of it to anyone.

  The music was pulsating, the bass emanating through the front doors as they entered without incident. Beth was still holding the three hundred dollars she had initially withdrawn from the ATM, and the stack of cash seemed to be tainted and burning a hole in her pocket.

  “Let’s get bottle service!” she yelled at her sister, and Cara agreed. It was obvious that Cara was in no better mood than she, but they didn’t need to stay long—just long enough to give them an alibi, in case they needed to have one.

  As they waited for a bottle of vodka to be taken to their table, Beth began to think about all the ways they could be discovered.

  I’m sure we were on camera in the bank, and I did use my card, she remembered, her distress mounting the more she thought about it. She tried to push the idea away from her head, knowing nothing could be done. Besides, it wasn’t like she knew if the beast had done something to the man, anyway.

  Still, Beth could not stop her mind from racing as she poured a drink for her sister, and they sat back in silence, watching the club fill up. Several men approached their table, though neither sister was interested, shooing them away as they took back their shots, hoping to steady their nerves.

  “I have to use the ladies’ room,” Beth called to her sister. “You going to be okay here, or do you want to come with me?”

  Cara waved her off, and Beth could see her sister’s eyes were already growing hazy with intoxication.

  We’ll call an Uber after I get back from the bathroom, she thought as she slipped out of the booth and headed toward the back of the club. They had stayed long enough, and neither one was in the mood for the increasing excitement.

  Beth wanted to listen to the news and see what she could learn about the mugger.

  She entered the winged corridor leading to the unisex washrooms, and as she turned the corner, her body turned rigid.

  August stood lounging against the wall, arms folded against his wide, muscular chest.

  Beth’s eyes widened in disbelief.

  “You!” she gasped. “What are you doing here?”

  His green eyes flashed almost mischievously. “I imagine the same thing you are,” he replied nonchalantly.

  Beth strode toward him, yanking on his arm to drag him into a bathroom stall for privacy.

  “What happened? What did you do?” she demanded, the questions spilling out of her one after the other.

  She was a c
ombination of relief and anxiety as she scanned his body for signs of the beast she and Cara had seen out on the street. She didn’t know if she should be terrified or grateful to the flippant but gorgeous man standing in front of her.

  “He won’t be robbing anyone anytime soon,” August informed her, and Beth exhaled, her face growing pale.

  “Did you…?” she trailed off, unsure if she wanted to know the answer.

  August stared at her intently, his eyes narrowing slightly. “Do you really want to know what I did?” he asked quietly, and Beth found herself slowly shaking her head.

  He saved you and Cara, she reminded herself. You should just be very thankful you’re not hurt and that your sister is safe.

  Beth turned her head upward to look at August, her blue eyes filled with gratitude.

  “Thank you for doing whatever you did,” she told him, and a slow smile formed on his face.

  They stared at each other for a long moment, and then Beth felt as though the pulsating music reverberated inside her skin and drove her closer to August, because she reached up to pull his face towards hers.

  When their mouths crashed together, it was everything she had expected. The smoldering mystery that August seemed to be was accentuated in his lips, and Beth wrapped her arms around his neck, wanting to feel his body against hers.

  Suddenly, any apprehension she had felt disappeared as his tongue caressed hers, and Beth sighed as August pushed her back against the stall door. His hands cupped her buttocks, slipping beneath the short, black skirt of her dress, his breath hot against her cheek as he pressed their bodies together.

  Beth allowed one stiletto to rest atop the closed lid of the toilet, and her hand fell across the taut muscles of August’s chest, cupping his hard erection with her other hand. Beth sighed, her fingers fumbling to release his shaft from the confines of his expensive pants. As she closed her eyes, her head falling to the side, a flash of August pouncing on the mugger flashed through her mind, and it instantly sent a wave of heat through her body.

  August’s palm met the wetness off her core, rubbing gently as his mouth latched against the tender skin of her throat. His free hand teased the ample breast atop her bodice, and Beth knew that she wanted to be taken by this man, no matter what he was.