The Alpha King's Lost Mate

Ch. 5

Seven

I lay perfectly still on the bed, listening for any sound or movement in the dark bedroom.

The bed dipped on my left as the king lay down next to me, his sweet scent wrapping around me. I sucked in a shaky breath, willing my heart to slow down and stop beating so fast.

I counted each breath in my head, just waiting for whatever was going to happen next. One breath, two breaths. Nothing.

Was the king truly being honest about just wanting to sleep? He didn't wish to punish me for not pleasing him?

All he'd done tonight was put poison in my wounds and give me the oddest commands. I mean, asking me to call him by his first name and not to punish myself? None of this made any sort of sense to me.

I waited for two more breaths before I silently moved off the king's bed. I was more than ready to go back to the servant's quarters to my own cot for a few hours before I had to make breakfast.

But as soon as my feet touched the cold, stone floor, the king's voice bounced off the walls.

"Where do you think you're going, Little One?" he demanded.

"T-To sleep," I squeaked out. "Like you said, I was going to go back to my cot and sleep."

"Oh, Little Mate," the king chuckled. "That's not at all what I meant. You'll be sleeping in this room tonight."

My whole body froze. The king wanted me to sleep in this room tonight? The same room as him?

"In here, Your Hig–Ambrose?" I quickly corrected myself.

"Yes," he answered in an instant. "In here with me."

I wished that it wasn't so dark in here so that I could make out the king's face and see if he was joking.

"Okay," I replied softly. I had so many questions I wanted to ask him, but I knew that it wasn't my place to ever question the king's decisions. Whatever he said was law.

Choosing not to say another word, I continued to move as silently and quietly as I could away from the king's bed. In his fit of rage from earlier, he had destroyed almost everything else in the bedroom besides the bed.

And of course, I couldn't sleep in the same bed as the king! I wasn't foolish enough to think that.

Instead, I opted for the least broken of the two chairs lying next to each other across the room. I moved the torn pieces of cushion away, getting feathers everywhere in the process.

"What are you doing?"

I didn't notice the King get up from bed, but he was now standing directly behind me.

I jerked my head back to look at him, craning my neck.

"I'm sorry." The words fell from my lips right away. "You said that I was to spend the night in here with you, so I was just making a small spot to curl up to sleep."

It was only after the words left my lips that I realized just how dumb I was being. I didn't even think to ask the King if I was allowed to move things around to make a bed. I'd been an awful servant today; Madam Olympia would surely punish me greatly for everything.

The King's eyes bore into me with hot intensity.

"I did say that you were sleeping in here tonight, little one." His voice was deep and rich. "So why are you gathering ripped-up cushions to make a bed?"

Was I missing something? Was this like the game Gamma Thomas played with us servants where he would give us an order and wait around for us to mess up on the smallest thing?