The Princess and the Alpha: A Shifter Romance

by K. M. Carnoky

  And oddly enough, the only people who didn’t look absolutely terrified of my father were the two men that he was furious with. Preston and Lucas stood side by side, both with their hands clasped behind their back, looking like they always did, royal, confident, and ready to serve the king and queen.

  “Guilty!” my father abruptly shouted, breaking the intense silence and startling us all. “You’re both guilty as hell!”

  “We were only trying to save the kingdom from that beast of a man the princess happened to be mated to,” Preston replied seamlessly.

  “So you try to kill my daughter?!” my father screamed.

  I could his teeth elongate from across the room and Ryan pulled me behind him slightly, ready to push me out of the way should this go sideways.

  “I wasn’t going to kill Princess Adeline; I was only going to kill the rogue,”

  “You forced both my daughter and my wife to ingest poison!” my father screamed. “A fraction of a millimeter more could have been enough to kill either of them! You could’ve killed both my wife and my daughter. Your Queen and Princess!”

  “We were after the rogue,” Preston argued. “He has no place in the royal household.”

  “I don’t care about Ryan right now! I don’t care about what you intended to do, only what you have done. You harmed my family,” my father seethed, speaking through tightly clenched teeth. As he paced with quiet rage, not a single soul in that room dared to breathe. Not even me.

  “We trusted you and you hurt the people you swore on your life to protect,”

  “We did what we thought was right,”

  “Do you think your judgement is better suited for this situation than the king’s?” my father snarled.

  “No your Maj–”

  My father cut him off. “Oh, so you think your judgement is above the moon goddess’s?!”

  “No.”

  “Then you have no right to be baiting innocent men into death and because of that you are guilty of treason, attempted murder, and royal misconduct.” my father announced.

  The crowd stayed silent, I don’t even think anyone was breathing at this point. It was a heavy sentence but my father was still walking back and forth, his eyes never leaving Preston or Lucas. Nobody knew if he was going to lunge at them and murder them here in the palace publically or if it would be a private execution.

  “Orion,” my father called out, shocking us both.

  I hadn’t even realized he knew we were here, but Ryan recovered much more quickly than I did and he strode over to the scene, his handsome face blank.

  “You were the one that would come to harm if these two men should’ve gotten any further, and you soon will be king; it is your right to choose their punishment on behalf of myself and my daughter.”

  I didn’t know whether to squeal in delight that my father had basically bestowed the king title upon my mate or cry because he had given him such a heavy task to complete immediately. So I stayed silent, watching Ryan as intently as I could, but his face still remained void of emotion. The whole room fell into a deathly quiet state once more, all eyes moving over my mate, trying to see the gears turn in his mind and gauge his future action.

  After what felt like forever he finally nodded to himself and looked at Preston, the man who made my life miserable, and Lucas,the man who helped his father in a murder attempt.

  “I will not sentence either of you to death as I don’t think it would be just. You will both be exiled. At the end of this trial you will be separated and sent to the northern part of Russia where there are no werewolf packs to be found. Your brains will deteriorate from loneliness and you will gradually lose your human side until you are nothing more than the rabid wild animal you claimed I was. You will live the rest of your lives alone and you will die alone.” Ryan announced.

  Chapter 59

  “We are both so sorry Adeline,” my dad whispered softly.

  Everyone had begun slowly clearing out of the ballroom now that the entire trial had been completed. Ryan, my parents, and I had made our way to the furthest part of the castle, the kitchen, so we could be away from prying eyes as we have a more private discussion. A discussion that I have been waiting for.

  Part of me was delighted that Ryan had finally been given the title he deserved and that Preston and his awful scheming son would live the rest of their miserable lives away from any werewolves at all. They were a menace to society and didn’t deserve to be a part of it. My mate and I had actually won when no one thought we could, and by some strange turn of events the whole room filled with werewolves had sided with my rogue mate instead of the royal guard and that was nothing short of astounding.

  But my parents had still turned against me. They had held a public trial for everyone to see and they didn’t know if it would’ve been my downfall or my uprising. They didn’t believe me when I told them the truth over and over again. Plus, they had actually believed the man I had hated since childhood, a man who had tried to kill me and my mate.

  “Good,” I said back.

  My voice came out curt and rude, but I didn’t care. Yes, they were my parents, and yes they were still the king and queen for now but they deserved it.

  “We had no idea that Preston and Lucas were so awful,” my dad continued.

  “I knew,” I retorted, “but that didn’t seem to matter. What if I had lost that trial? Then you would’ve had a sociopath running the kingdom without even knowing it. Ryan and I would’ve been exiled for something that wasn’t our fault and god only knows what would’ve happened to you two once he took over the throne. Good god, you two let Preston walk around the palace like he owned the place a couple hours after you had found him attacking me and my mate!” I ranted.

  “Adeline we–”

  “No,” my mother interrupted, “She’s right Grant. You aren’t a little girl anymore; we should’ve known better and trusted your judgement. Your father and I acted out of fear and uncertainty instead of good judgement. I’m very thankful that the truth did eventually come out, and I’m sorry we put both you and your mate in such an awful position.”

  I was left opening and closing my mouth for several seconds. I was still furious, but my mother owning the mistakes she had made and genuinely being sorry had killed all of my snarky retorts. It only made me angrier that she had shut me down so quickly, but now I was left with very little to say.

  Ryan’s strong hand slid into mine and he gave it a tight squeeze. I immediately felt relief and my shoulders began to slump with relaxation.

  “Thank you for your apology,” Ryan mumbled around a mouth full of food.

  It was almost comical. My parents and I had dragged Ryan here so we could have this discussion in private, but it seemed he was the happiest in the kitchen. He had eaten more in the ten minutes we had been here than I had ever seen him eat.

  “Ryan and I have a lot to discuss,” I said, still sounding tight, but less angry.

  “Yes of course,” my mother murmured.

  She gently touched my dad’s back and began guiding him out of the kitchen, leaving me with my mate.

  Once we were alone Ryan peered up at me, still squeezing food into his mouth. I wanted to say a hundred things to him in that moment, but I couldn’t find the words at all so for a second I just stared at him, shaking my head slightly.

  Then with a suddenness that surprised us both I decided that I couldn’t be in the castle anymore, it was all too much at once and I needed some open space. Without uttering a word, I took off at a brisk walk, leaving the kitchen and within a matter of minutes I was out of the palace all together.

  I wasn’t expecting to come across a crowd of people, though I suppose it only made sense. With the amount of people who had been crammed into the ballroom it was no wonder some people stopped to chat and other were caught in heavy traffic as they tried to exit the makeshift parking lot that had been made on the lawn. Still, seeing all these people who were deciding my fate not too long ago made me even more
anxious then I had been previously. I could feel their eyes on me as I darted between them. I just needed to get away. I needed to be something other than a princess for five minutes.

  Finally, after what felt like forever, I made it to the pasture I was looking for.

  Poison lifted his head, no longer concerned with the grass he was nibbling on, and took off at a gallop towards me. He came quickly, moving faster than I had expected and I wondered if he was going to try and leap over the wooden fence. But at the last second he dug his hooves into the earth and skidded to a stop right in front of me. He extended his head over the fence and sniffed at me warily.

  “I thought he was going to trample you,” Ryan panted from behind me.

  He leaned up against the fence, warily watching my horse as he attempted to catch his breath.

  “I didn’t even notice you were following me,” I mused as I reached out to pat Poison.

  “You took off without saying anything when you were obviously very upset,” he responded, “At the very least I was going to follow you from a safe distance and make sure you were holding up okay. Then I saw this animal come racing towards you and I thought I might have to tackle you out of the way,”

  “He wouldn’t hurt me,” I murmured, gently rubbing Poison’s velvety nose. “He was probably really upset because the last time he saw me I was drugged and pulled away into the forest. He didn’t understand what was happening and got worried. His excited galloping was just an act of relief and concern,” I explained.

  “You and your horse,” Ryan teased.

  “Nearly every werewolf queen in history has loved horses. The first werewolf queen was actually human and when the king found her, she demanded that she be able to keep her old work horse. And Queen Brooklyn absolutely hated her mate and his family until she began bonding with them over horses,” I replied.

  “So horse crazy runs in the family then?”

  “Yes, it does. But it’s not such a bad thing. The night that Poison bolted was the first time I met you. And Poison was the one who carried you through the forest when we ran away together and you could barely walk,”

  Ryan gave me a lopsided smile, his blue eyes filled with softness and love.

  “It can’t be a bad thing if it brought me to you,” he whispered.

  Then he leaned in for a kiss and I was more than happy to deliver.

  Chapter 60

  For once in my life I finally felt like everything was going right. My parents had made several mistakes when it came to my mate, but they now realized that and were desperately attempting to make it right on a regular basis. The trial had only been a week ago and my mother had already given Ryan a detailed tour of the whole palace and introduced him to the most important guards. She had even gently guided him into taking an etiquette class once a week.

  It was a good call on my mother’s part and I was delighted that Ryan hadn’t been offended by the proposal. Yes, I loved him the way he was, but if he was going to be a good king he should have heightened manners. We were the face of our community now.

  My father was playing his part too. Nearly every day he took Ryan to new and different places in the palace and explained their purpose, going more in-depth than my mother had. He also let Ryan shadow him so he could understand what would be expected on a daily basis.

  I knew Ryan spent much of his days studying maps, trying to figure out which pack dominated which territory; but when he wasn’t studying maps, he was flipping through the old journals my father kept so he could understand each pack’s needs and wants.

  I still wanted to learn these things as well, but I didn’t attend Ryan’s daily sessions with my parents. He had a lot of catching up to do. His whole life had revolved around his family, then his pack. He had so much to learn and the last thing I wanted was him to feel pressured because of me. I didn’t want him to worry about impressing me, I just wanted him to learn as much as he could and spend some real quality time with my parents.

  Plus, this gave me some time to relax after the intensity of the past month. I spent a lot of my free time in the barn which soothed my soul completely. When I wasn’t in the barn I would be curled up with a good book that wasn’t about any packs or geography, it was mostly cheesy romances about cowboys and city girls.

  In addition to this I also used my extra time to tease Ryan mercilessly.

  “What are you wearing?” Ryan breathed when he came into my bedroom after a long day.

  “It’s called a kimono robe,” I murmured softly as I carefully touched up my makeup.

  Not that my makeup needed any help. My stylist had done an amazing job this morning and nearly squealed in delight when I asked from something bolder than my usual soft look. Still, I knew when I leaned over my vanity and pretended to brush the dark eye shadow into place the back of my silky robe slid up my thighs. I could see Ryan in the mirror, his eyes completely focused on the back of my body, those blue eyes moving over my bare legs with interest.

  “Do you like it?” I asked innocently, finally turning to face him.

  “You look beautiful in it. I’m just not used to you looking like this.” I could tell he was fighting hard to keep his eyes on my face.

  “Oh? Is it too much?” I questioned.

  My voice still came out in a sensual tone, but the question itself held a lot of insecurity.

  “No, not at all,” he replied.

  Though I had done all of this, the hair and the makeup and the short silk robe for him, he was making it hard for me to keep my hands off him as well. Ryan had always been this rough, unrefined man and I had been instantly attracted to him because of it. However, now he was loosening his tie from his neck and seeing him a crisp black dress pants with and expensive red dress shirt was enough to make me want him instantly. He appeared so dangerous and so classy all at once, it was almost too much to handle. It made me wet instantly.

  “Come on, take that robe off and come to bed,” Ryan said, smiling gently.

  “You want it off?” I repeated.

  “Yes I wa–”

  His words died on his lips when I untied the belt and slowly let the silky material drop to the floor. He just slowly sat down on my bed, his eyes not moving from my body.

  I had been unsure of the bra and panty set when I had purchased it. It didn’t know if the vibrant red lace would be too much, like I was trying too hard. And I didn’t know if the more modest shape of the bra would be too little. Yes, it was a lingerie set so it could hardly be considered modest, but in comparison to my other options it was almost seemed too minor to be sexy.

  But now, standing in front of him in nothing but the bra and the panties, I knew I had made the right choice. The fine lace details kept the set elegant and classy, making me feel like a goddess while the sheer fabric for the waist band and bra band made me feel tremendously erotic.

  “What do you think?” I asked, making sure I sounded playful as I slowly turned around, letting him have a peek at the back.

  Ryan didn’t reply at all and I peered over my shoulder just in time to see his hands grab at my hips. It happened so quickly I wasn’t exactly sure how, but he threw me onto the bed face down and had stood up. He didn’t say a word and neither did I. I just listened intently as he undid his belt and his pants fell to the floor. Then, I heard him shuffle through a drawer in the bedside table before I heard the crinkling and tearing of a condom wrapper.

  “Do you want me?” his voice was deeper and huskier than usual. It gave me goosebumps.

  “Yes,” I mewed, slowly tucking my knees under me so I could lift my hips off the mattress.

  “Say it,” he ordered.

  “I want you Ryan,” I whimpered.

  I felt him hook a finger underneath the sheer fabric of my panties, roughly moving it out of the way. Then, with one quick thrust he was inside me. I let out a gasp, stunned by his sudden entry as he was often so gentle and sweet with me. But when I felt his large hands grab at my hips to keep me steady I knew this was
going to be different.

  With every thrust I lost my breath and my hands clung to the sheets beneath them on their own accord. I felt my eyes roll back in pleasure often and I let out soft sounds of delight more often than I could count. And when I thought I couldn’t become anymore aroused he would mutter a curse word under his breath and my body would get chills.

  I slowly managed to raise my upper body off the mattress so I was on my hands and knees and Ryan immediately took this as an opportunity to go faster. He pulled my hips backwards to meet his hips with each thrust and the depth and the speed were almost too much for me. He had never done anything like this with me, but I didn’t want it to stop.

  My body was quickly nearing climax as my moans got louder. I could feel an intense pressure building, beyond anything I had felt before and I wanted it so badly I began moving my hips myself.

  But Ryan instantly slowed down his pace when he saw my eagerness. His thrusts became more shallow and less forceful. I let out a cry of protest, wanting my climax now, but he ignored me and kept his slow, easy pace. I stayed still on my hands and knees, panting hard as I tried to catch my breath and frustrated beyond belief.

  Then Ryan sped up again, going deeper once more.

  “Oh God,” I moaned, hardly aware that I was speaking at all. “Ryan...”

  He let out a moan at the sound of his name dripping out of my mouth.

  My breathing rate picked up again, I was panting hard, so close with so much pressure building. I wouldn’t let him slow down again. My moans and whimpers became louder. If I had been any more aware I would’ve been embarrassed, but I couldn’t find it in me to care in that moment.

  I slowly reached back, my arms already shaking, and placed my hand on top of Ryan’s on my hip while I whispered his name again. He responded by thrusting harder than ever before as his fingers dug into my hips, holding me harder.