The Alpha King's Slave (Book 2 Of The Regal Eclipse Pack Series)

Chapter 28

The next several days passed in similar fashion with Charlotte taking meals in the dining hall, helping the cook make pies, daily outings with Ragnar and afternoon tea with Brianna and Penny.

She never saw Caleb except at meals. He never was at the bath house in the evenings when she went. Apparently he wasn't interested in her becoming his companion or his concubine.

The loss of her family and previous life still loomed over Charlotte, and some days were worse than others. She was glad for the distractions. Some days, they were the only thing keeping her out of the deep dark pit of depression.

Caleb had been avoiding Charlotte as much as possible though he couldn't stop thinking about her. He was very much aware of her at each meal, and could barely keep his eyes off of her. Storm refused to speak to him.

He hadn't been to her room to watch her sleep either, hoping that would help, but Caleb had to admit he was fighting a losing battle. The need to claim his mate was so strong he could barely concentrate, and he knew he was going to have to give in and do something.

"How is Charlotte today?" he asked Ragnar when the man returned from his daily outing with her

Ragnar glared at him. "Why don't you go ask her how she is?"

"I asked you." Why did he have to be difficult?

"She's your slave. Have you humped her yet?" Ragnar sat down in the chair in front of Caleb's desk.

Caleb glared at him. "Why do you care if I hump her?"

"Because then maybe you both would be a bit happier." Ragnar folded his hands in front of him.

"Is she unhappy?" Caleb focused solely on that.

"She's lost everything, been forced to become a slave to a man who ignores her and she's living with strangers. What do you think?" Ragnar raised an eyebrow at him. "She is trying to adapt, but it's not easy for her. She needs friends. She needs someone to care about her."

Caleb sighed. He didn't want to be her friend. He couldn't be her friend. And he definitely couldn't afford to care about her. It would be too much. He wanted to ask Ragnar's advice. The wolf had been on this earth more than twice as long as he had but asking advice would mean telling Ragnar that Charlotte was his mate and he already knew that Ragnar would agree with Storm. "And yet you're recommending that I hump her."

"Little humping never hurt anyone." Ragnar stood and left the office.

Caleb sighed. He knew Charlotte's schedule quite well. Perhaps he should seek her out.

After the evening meal, Caleb went up to his room. He waited until Charlotte went down to the bath house, then went into her room. She kept it neat, he noticed. Everything was in its place. He saw the book over on the window seat and sat down to read.

A little while later, he heard her open the door to the closet and sat the book down. She walked into the bedroom, closing the door behind her. Her hair was up, and she reached up to pull the pins out of it letting the blond curls tumble around her shoulders.

She was wearing a light blue satin dressing gown that he knew matched her eyes, and he watched her place the night gown she'd brought from the closet on the bed, then begin to undo her robe, sliding it off of her shoulders.

Caleb wanted to continue to watch her disrobe but decided she might be a bit less angry if he alerted her to his presence before she dropped the dressing gown and cleared his throat.

Charlotte jumped and turned around, yanking the dressing gown back around her shoulders. "Alpha! What are you doing here?"

He smirked at her. "Watching you undress."