Mated to the Alpha Queen (Book 12 of the Regal Eclipse Pack Series)

Chapter 4

September

Kyra stared out the window of the car, watching the scenery fly by. Ajax had taken her to Hocking Hills for the weekend. He'd rented a cabin and they'd spent it exploring the trails, waterfalls, rock formations and caves. Then they'd spent the night in bed making love. 

She'd enjoyed every moment of it, enjoyed every moment with him. But now it was back to reality and the one thing that was looming in front of her. She needed to tell Ajax the truth about herself. She needed to tell him what she was and what she was destined to be. She wanted to complete the bond with him, and the only way to do that would be for her to tell him everything. 

He knew some things. He knew she was from Pennsylvania, and an only child, but that she came from a large family. He knew her family owned a business and that was why she was going to school for business management. He knew her family had money. But he didn't know much else. She'd wanted to tell him, but then she would have to go into detail about what she was and she was nervous about doing so. 

He had no idea that she was a werewolf, that she truly was his soulmate. He had no idea that she lived in a pack and that her grandmother was the Alpha of that pack, or that one day her father would be the Alpha, and that eventually she would be the Alpha. He didn't know that she was a Princess and one day would be the Queen of all werewolves.

Kyra knew she was playing a dangerous game. She'd fallen in love with him, and he had the power to crush her. If he decided he didn't want that life, he would walk away, and break her heart. She knew that, and still, she'd held out. 

They'd been together a month now, and Kyra knew her time to tell him was running out. She thought about marking him every time they had sex. Eventually, the need to do so would consume her. She didn't have much choice.

She also hadn't told anyone at home that she'd found her mate. She'd kept it to herself, knowing that her family would hound her about telling him too. She sighed. She knew she had to. She'd just been putting it off because she was afraid of losing him, or rejection. They did everything together, and the thought of him not being there with her terrified her. The thought of him just walking away from what was between them made her nauseous. 

"Are you okay?" Ajax was driving, and she briefly considered telling him right then. But no, probably not a good idea. She already knew he more than likely wasn't going to believe her, and she'd have to prove it to him. She should have done so this weekend, when they'd been alone, but she hadn't wanted to ruin their trip. 

"Just thinking." She smiled at him, looking at his profile. He was watching traffic as they were getting close to Columbus. 

"Did you have fun this weekend?" he asked, a smile touching his lips.

"Yes. We should do it again some time," she said. "It's so beautiful out there."

"We can," he agreed. "I enjoyed spending time alone with you away from campus."

If you don't dump me when you find out what I am. The thought sobered her, and she sighed softly. She had to tell him soon. She really did.

He reached over and lightly touched her cheek. "I love you, Kyra."

She looked at him and smiled. "I love you too, Ajax." And she did too. She'd fallen hard for him, which was all the more reason for her to tell him. If he wanted out, he was already going to shatter her. 

So far, they hadn't talked about anything long term, which wasn't surprising. Ajax was human after all, and probably not thinking about things like that yet, or if he was, he hadn't brought them up. She knew he would finish out his classes here at OSU. She knew if he accepted her as his mate, they could work the business side together. Like her father and her mother did, though they did some liaison work as well. But her father mostly just did work for Remington Enterprises. He and Dominic, who was mated to Kyra's aunt, Natalia, did most of the business. 

She glanced over at Ajax, imagining him in a suit. He'd look good in it. Not as good as he looked naked, but good enough. He always looked good. She wanted to straddle him now and pull him up inside of her. She was definitely mating him again tonight before they went to sleep. She spent most nights at his dorm, since his roommate was almost always gone. Occasionally he slept in hers, but not often. "When we get back, I want you, Ajax."

"What do you want, Kyra?" He smirked at her. 

"You, buried inside of me," she whispered. 

"Well, we're almost there, then I can give you what you want," he said with a smile. 

Out of nowhere, a truck swerved into their lane, clipping their car, and causing Ajax to swerve into the lane next to him and underneath the trailer of another semi that was driving along beside them.

Metal crunched against metal, and everything went dark for a moment. Kyra screamed as she felt the sharp impact of something going through her abdomen. Everything happened so fast, she didn't have time to process it all. Movement came to a halt, and she sat there, realizing that something was protruding out of her, and she grabbed a hold of it and yanked it free. Her body began to heal immediately, and the pain began to disappear. She sat there, staring ahead as she tried to figure out what had happened.

She turned her head to Ajax and her vision narrowed, black spots appearing, and her head swimming. She was vaguely aware of someone screaming, and suddenly she found herself thrust to the back of her mind as the screaming stopped. She'd been the one screaming, she realized.

'We have to get out of here,' Seraphina said, kicking out the door with all the power she had. She grabbed Kyra's bag and managed to squeeze out of the crushed car. She took off running off the highway, and into the brush. They were much too close to Columbus for Sera's liking. She could vaguely hear someone yelling at her, but Seraphina ignored the voice and continued to run.

'We have to go back,' Kyra sobbed. 'We can't leave him there like that.'

'We don't have a choice, Kyra,' Seraphina growled. She pulled the bag over her head as she ran and shifted into her black and gray wolf. 'Mate is dead,' she whispered.

Kyra sobbed as they continued to run for quite some time. She was vaguely aware of her surroundings and too emotional to take back control. Sera was hurting too but for the moment, the instinct to run and hide were what was driving her. She knew the secret had to be kept. For them to be found at the scene of that wreck covered with blood and not a scratch on her would raise suspicions. She couldn't be found. They would probably know she'd been there. She knew she'd been seen, and her bag with her clothes and toiletries was still in the trunk, but as long as she got away, that's all that mattered. It was why Sera had grabbed her small bag. 

Finally, her wolf slowed down, coming to a stop in a heavily wooded area, many miles away from the scene of the accident. She found a place to rest. Kyra had no idea where they were, nor did she care. They would need to sleep for a while in order for them both to recover from the extensive healing that they'd needed. Sleep meant peace, and a bit of relief from the crushing pain of seeing her mate dead, and the bond that had been so cruelly broken. She hurt horribly, like her heart had been ripped out of her chest and crushed into a million pieces.

Sera settled down and closed her eyes, and the two of them fell in a deep dreamless sleep, the adrenaline giving way to exhaustion from both the run and the healing process.