The Alpha King's Lost Mate

Ch. 2

Seven

I was too afraid to say a single word as the king carried me up the winding flight of stairs.

Whatever he had said to Madam Olympia, I must have misheard him, muffled in his grasp. I couldn't be anyone's mate. And I certainly wasn't the Alpha King's.

I wanted him to put me down so badly. I knew I must be hurting his arms, given how heavy I was. Madam Olympia had put me on a strict diet since I was twelve, scolding me for gaining too much weight. And if Madam Olympia said it, then it must have been true. She would never lead me wrong.

King Ambrose finally stopped in front of the last door in the North hallway. The suite had been built specifically for visits by members of the Royal Pack. It had multiple bedrooms and a large common room for all the Royal Members to converse in. I had never been inside it before. I was far too low a rank to ever be allowed to even clean it.

I hadn't realized that I was full-on crying on the king's shoulder until my tears rolled down his chest.

"Hey, shhh, it's okay, little one. You're okay. Please stop crying," he whispered against the crown of my head.

The king was right. I needed to stop crying. I was sure crying would only get me punished worse. It probably made him angry.

I tried pushing myself out of the king's arms and onto the floor where I could bare my neck for him again, showing him just how sorry I truly was.

The king didn't let me go, pressing me further into his chest as he made his way to one of the bedrooms within the suit, no doubt wanting to punish me there.

He finally set me down on a small, wooden table. The surface of it was freezing compared to the feeling of his body against mine. "I'll just be a moment, stay here please."

Where else would I go? Disobeying a direct order from the king himself was a death sentence.

Only after his footsteps faded away did I allow myself to look up and glance around the room. If I was going to die, I wanted to at least see one last beautiful thing.

The room itself was huge, bigger than any of the other bedrooms that I had ever cleaned before. It had tall, white ceilings with pictures in delicate, gold frames hanging around the room, showcasing people I had never seen before. The large bed in the centre of the room was covered in plush, red sheets with more pillows than I could even count.

At least I would get to die in a place so beautiful.

Hearing the king's footsteps come back, I dropped my head down and stretched out my neck as a show of submission and respect. I would rather have dropped to my hands and knees on the ground, but the king had given me strict instructions not to move, and I didn't wish to anger him more than I already had.

His footsteps faltered only for a second when he re-entered the room.

"You don't need to bow to me, Little One," he sighed.

Yeah right, I laughed in my head. And make my death even more painful?

A second later his hands were on me again, one drawing light circles on my leg where my dress had ridden up, and the other cupping my cheek. I did my best not to flinch away from his touch, knowing that it would only anger him.

"I won't hurt you," King Ambrose said, clearly hearing my rapidly beating heart. "You don't have to be afraid of me."

I tried to relax in his hold, but the hand on my leg slowly crept up higher, grazing over some of my bruises as he went.

"You're allowed to look at me," he said. "You don't need to keep looking at the ground."

I didn't say a word. I wasn't going to break any more rules tonight and risk my punishment being worse. I simply nodded but made no move to look at him.