“Orion,” I moaned in pleasure, so close.
Ryan let out a growl that sounded feral and dominating and I loved it.
Then my orgasm took over. My body and mind were filled with complete and utter ecstasy as my muscles began to tremble. My arm could no longer support me as my whole body shook and my moans filled the room. With my face pressed down into the mattress I let out multiple muffled cries as my eyes rolled back and my body continued to move. It was far more electric than anything I had experienced before and it seemed to last forever with amazing intensity.
When it finally subsided I was left exhausted and breathless. I could barely lift my head from the sheets and I struggled to lower my hips down onto the bedding because my legs were still shaking.
“Don’t tease me again,” Ryan panted.
To me it sounded more like an invitation than a threat.
Chapter 61
“No,” Ryan snapped.
“Come on,” I pleaded.
“Absolutely not,” he protested, pulling me tighter against his chest.
I had just been trying to wriggle my way out of bed so I could get ready for the day but it appears my mate was having none of it. His arm stayed cinched tightly around my waist, keeping me pressed against his bare chest and thoroughly tucked under the blankets.
As as much as I would like to claim that I was above this, that I could deny myself the warmth of his embrace and the soft blankets, I wasn’t. Being the queen could wait another few minutes. For now I just wanted to be held by my mate for a little longer so I let out a soft sigh and nuzzled my head against him.
Ryan dozed off, but I stayed awake while he began dreaming again. I took the time to quietly trace his tattoo with my fingertips. It was odd that when we first had met I had looked at his tattoo and only thought that it was a sign of his wilder side. I thought he had gotten it to be different from all of the other alphas, but that tattoo held so much meaning to him which had affected our entire relationship. The entirety of the werewolf community as well.
Though he never said it I knew that he missed his mother and his brother. True, his brother had been awful, but it was the only family he had. I think when his mother passed away and his brother had begun to really show his true evil, Ryan had lost the first half of his life. To me, it sounded like a terrible start. Hunting for food every day and only having two family members for company while every other werewolf was trying to kill you. But he had told me that there had been some good times; that his mother was a great woman and the small family had been the strongest team. I deeply wished I could give him back his mother and I could’ve taken out the evilness that surrounded his brother before he was killed.
But I couldn’t. All I could do now was try to make sure the rest of his life was filled with love and anything else he desired. And to ease the transition as my parents stepped down while we stepped up to the title as king and queen. Though we hadn’t formally been crowned yet, the process was starting and Ryan’s sentencing for Preston and Lucas had been the beginning of our rule.
I propped myself on my elbow and leaned over, lightly brushing my lips against his. It took him a second to wake up enough to respond and try to kiss me back, but I slipped out of bed before he could. I knew that once he kissed me he would hold me tightly again and I would not be strong enough to tell him I had to get up.
“Addy, come on, it’s so early,” Ryan whined, reaching for me.
“You obviously don’t even know what time it is if you think it’s early. It’s nearly lunch time and I have work to do.”
Ryan was not having it. When I turned my back to him to put on a pair of panties and jeans, he had managed to shuffle over far enough and grab my hips. With one jerk I was lying flat on my back on the bed and Ryan was peppering my face with kisses. It took all of my strength to not let out a little sound of delight, but I strategically rolled on top of him, effectively straddling him.
Ryan froze as my core pressing down on his pelvis. His eyes locked with mine and his hands slid over my hips again. My lips parted slightly when I leaned down.
And just before my lips were about to touch his I began running my fingers over the sides of his upper ribs. Suddenly, Ryan jerked beneath me and the hands that were trying to guide my hips were now throwing me off him, nearly onto the floor. I quickly scrambled to my feet, this time staying well out of reach.
“Why would you do that?” Ryan complained.
“Because you are much stronger than me. If the only way I can win is by tickling you than I’m going to do it,” I stated.
I tried to sound factual and calculated, but I couldn’t stop myself from giggling. When I had first found out that Ryan was ticklish I thought it was hilarious and the humour hadn’t died yet. It was just funny to me that such a big man was debilitated by such a ridiculous weakness.
Regardless of the fact that Ryan was deeply disgruntled with me, he did get up and get dressed shortly after my attack. We left my room and walked to the kitchen, holding hands. I ate my breakfast relatively quickly, well aware that I would have work to attend to, but Ryan was blissfully unaware and ate everything he could.
For a few minutes I marveled at the amount of food he could suck down, then reminded myself that I was essentially mated to a human vacuum. I had been hoping that Ryan would see that I was a bit jittery and finish up his meal in a timely fashion but it seemed that every time he managed to clean his plate he wanted something else as well.
Unfortunately, my task came to me before I came to it.
“Queen Adeline someone is here to see you. He claims you had an appointment with him,” my guard announced.
He barely opened the door; just enough to poke his head in so I knew said guest was behind him and probably behaving anxiously.
“Oh yes, send him in,” I agreed.
The guard obeyed, taking a step back and allowing the guest through.
Ryan’s unassuming beta stepped through the doors, his hands in his jeans pockets and his head down. I know understood why the guard was so wary to let him through. Not only was he visibly anxious and jittery, he wasn’t dressed for the occasion either. He was wearing what were probably his best clothes, but jeans and a clean tee shirt didn’t go a long way in a palace. The fact that they were too big on his slender frame didn’t help either. I thought that he would relax when his brown eyes landed on Ryan, but if anything, it made him more anxious.
“Ivan,” Ryan said, leaping to his feet.
“Queen Adeline,” Ivan whispered, bowing awkwardly towards me. He rose and bit down on his lip, then dipped down again in Ryan’s direction, “King Orion,”
“What are you doing here?” Ryan asked, striding over and wrapping the skinny man in a tight hug.
Ivan turned to me once Ryan released him, looking more uncomfortable by the second.
“Come, let’s go to my office. We have a lot to discuss.”
Chapter 62
I was holding my breath while I watched my mate. Out of the corner of my eye I saw his very stiff beta and assumed he was doing the same. This was a tremendously delicate situation and Ryan was not giving us any clues on what he was thinking.
I had known that this would come eventually either way. If we had lost the case my royal pack would be given up to Lucas. Thankfully that hadn’t happened, however, I was aware of the threat. I was not so sure that Ryan was aware though. Maybe he thought that his pack would simply be merged with the royal pack, but that was not possible. Or maybe he thought he could manage both, being king and constantly maintaining his pack. That was also impossible and I knew it, but there was a chance he didn’t.
When I first met Ivan, I hadn’t thought much of him. He had been badly beaten in the prison cells underground beside Ryan when I had gone to rescue him. He had been very afraid of me at the time, and he was certainly terrified of my father. However, I did recall thinking that he had kind eyes and that he was also not the crazed beast I imagined a rogue would be. And when I spoke wi
th him over the phone, I came to the conclusion that he was just as kind and gentle as Ryan was. It only made sense that a soft-hearted alpha would have a right hand man that matched him.
But now, as I watched him, I wondered if I had made some kind of mistake. Ivan teetered from one foot to the other while Ryan remained completely silent. He looked more anxious than I felt and I worried that he would be too soft. Other alphas could see him as weak and exploit him for that. Maybe I should’ve picked someone tougher from the pack, or maybe I should’ve let Ryan choose who he thought was best. After all, I knew no one in that pack. Someone else could’ve been much better suited and I was suddenly embarrassed, thinking I had made the wrong choice.
“You would take over my pack?” Ryan asked tightly, looking directly at Ivan and ignoring me completely.
“Yes, if that is what you wanted,” Ivan blurted out, his words coming out so fast they were almost on top of one another.
“You don’t have to make a decision right now,” I interjected. “You have a decent amount of time before you’re officially king. We can talk about all of this and you can pick whatever you feel is best,”
“No, you were right to start this; I need to consider who will be running my pack. I can’t pretend that I would be capable of running my own pack and an entire kingdom. This is just the beginning, I haven’t even gotten all of the responsibilities yet and more will come with time, like children.” Ryan sighed and ran his hands through his dark hair, looking upset, but certain all at once. “I have to give up my pack.”
I forced myself not to get hung up on the mention of a family and gently placed my hand on Ryan’s broad shoulder. “You aren’t giving it up. All of your pack members will be here, only a few kilometers away. They aren’t going away forever.”
“And you’ll have to teach the new alpha what to do. You’ll be in the packlands all the time,” Ivan pointed out.
Ryan managed a small smile and turned to look at Ivan again. “Yeah, you’re going to need a lot of training.”
After Ryan left with Ivan, I spent some time with my mother and father. I wanted to go with him to understand his pack better and be there to support him, but I also felt like he needed this time away from anything royal, to just be with his beta again and I needed to be with the most stable people in my life.
It was an odd occasion, instead of being tense and formal like they usually were, my mother was lounging across the leather couch in our private quarters. What was worse was the fact that she was wearing sweatpants that were covered in dried on paint and my father who still wore his suit was looking at her ever so lovingly.
“You did well, initiating the thought process with your mate like that. I’m proud of you for recognizing how hard this transition would be on him,” my mother mused, looking at the ceiling.
“I think he knew it was coming. And I’m proud of him for going along so well with it. I can’t imagine that it would be easy to leave a pack you built yourself behind,” I replied.
“It’s not. It feels like the biggest betrayal to yourself and that pack,” my mother whispered, “but it gets better. You spend some of your days painting your future home your favorite colours.” A lazy smile danced on her face as she traced a paint spot on her thigh. “And as you progress you realized that you built something great, you made a fantastic foundation and it’s now someone’s job to build the walls, or a roof. You start to move on and build other things for yourself instead, like a family.”
I had never heard my mother talk about her life like that, or her pack. I knew she had been proud of her pack and she too had to struggle to become a respected alpha, and when I looked at my father I knew the words she was saying were true. He had seen her claw and climb from a barely accepted alpha with an omega mate to a queen in a short span of time, yet he still looked at her with love and admiration when she wore her tattered sweat pants and was free of makeup.
“It won’t be easy,” my dad warned softly when he noticed that I had a small grin on my face.
“No, it won’t be, but I think Ryan and I are tough enough to handle anything at this point.”
Chapter 63
“It’s hard to believe that this was mine,” Ryan whispered to me softly. “It’s even hard to believe that this is the same place at all,”
Seven months had passed since we had been officially crowned king and queen and Ryan had given up the alpha rights to Ivan. It was the first time since Ryan had stepped down that we had returned to his pack, he had been too upset, too busy, or too anxious to want to come back here since he had become king. But now the time had come and I smiled up at him adoringly.
I know that this whole transition had been hard on him, but I didn’t think I had ever been so attracted to him. Since he had been staying at the palace he had started having regular, healthy meals which caused him to gain weight and grow his muscles. His eyes glowed with softness and excitement instead of concern and wariness. He was wearing a simple sport jacket over a white tee shirt and jeans, which was a massive step up from his old faded clothing. He was turning into the strong, healthy man he was always supposed to be.
But he wasn’t the only thing that had shaped up quite nicely since then.
His pack had never been terrible, but it had been deeply underfunded. Now that the royal family was paying Ivan to take care of the pack and alliances with other, more established packs, had been made the lands were making great progress. A couple more houses were being built while at the same time a small playground was being installed in the centre of the packlands.
Houses had received a fresh layer of paint or new siding all together. The tiny school house was being expanded so it could educate all the children who now played in the street instead of being hidden away in fear. A new grocery store had opened up and a small training compound was being stocked so the pack could better equip its warriors to defend from attacks. Some wolves had even planted small gardens in their front yards.
“King Orion!” Ivan called out, jogging towards us, “I’m sorry I had no idea you were coming today.” He panted once he reached us.
“I know. I just wanted to pop in and see how everything was going,” Ryan replied with a small smile.
“Yes, yes of course,” Ivan said enthusiastically. “Come on, let’s go to my house and talk for a while.”
We both followed Ivan for a short while, but Ryan strayed briefly, moving towards his old house before he realized that we were moving in a different direction. He gave me a confused looked which I immediately understood. Alphas always lived in the best house on the packlands and though Ryan’s old house was no palace, it was still the biggest house from what I could tell. Regardless, I took his hand, gave it a reassuring squeeze and followed Ivan into his quaint home.
There I met his small, unintimidating mate who had large brown eyes and dark hair, and their small quirky cat. I was offered a drink by which they meant an alcoholic beverage and not tea which took me by surprise but I quietly sipped my hard iced tea and let the men discuss things.
I knew letting this pack go was hard for Ryan so even though this pack was being heavily funded, I stayed quiet when they talked about budgets and financial debts. They then carried on to other softer topics like who had found their mate, who was having a baby, and which young wolf was off to college in the fall. And with every word Ryan began to melt, relaxing little by little.
Finally, after three hours and four hard iced teas Ryan stood up, signalling he was ready to leave and I followed suit.
“Can I ask you something, Ivan?” Ryan murmured, his voice becoming almost shy.
“Yes, of course,”
“Why didn’t you move into my house? It is the house of the alpha after all,” Ryan hinted.
Ivan grinned, but also appeared a little reluctant and awkward at the same time. “Well, I love my house, it’s become my home. And I was also hoping you would come visit from time to time. I wanted you to have a place to stay, if you ever felt inclined, that i
s. I know you’re busy.”
Ryan beamed broadly and pulled his friend into a tight hug, then eagerly grabbed my hand and dismissed us. I just followed him, loving the fact that I was seeing him this giddy all over again as he pulled me from Ivan’s house to his own.
“What are you thinking?” I asked softly when we had settled into the couch in his old living room. I leaned my head against his shoulder and wrapped my arms around his waist.
“That Ivan has done really great things with this place.”
“You,” I corrected instantly, “You have done great things with this place. You stood up in front of the whole community and told them what you have done and why these wolves deserved better. Without that Ivan would have nothing to mould. This was just as much your doing as his.”
“You think so? I kind of feel like I just gave it up, left it in the dust,” he confessed.
“You did what you had to and because of that your pack is prospering,” I murmured, “You gave this pack opportunities they never had and I know they won’t forget that.”
Ryan looked down at me with complete adoration, those eyes that I had always seen as unpredictable were now a symbol of safety and comfort to me. This man had held my hand through the worst of times and now it felt like we had conquered the world together.
“What do you say we watch some Toy Story?” he suggested, his lips pressed against my hair. “You know, for old time’s sake,”
“I think that’s a wonderful idea,” I whispered back, placing a kiss on his lips.
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The Princess and the Alpha: A Shifter Romance Page 24