Mated To The Alpha King

Castle Sweet Castle

I wake to the shaking of the car. We are still on the road in...what looks like the middle of nowhere. Damn, how far is the castle? Almost as if reading my thoughts, Ryder speaks up. "We'll be there in about an hour."

It's dark outside and we fly past the forest. The quiet hum of the car calms me, but the palpable and awkward tension in the car makes me extremely uncomfortable. That being said, I pull out my phone and headphones and quickly plug them into my ears.

I scroll through my music until I see Golden by Ruth B. I press play and the melody immediately fills my ears. I lean back in the seat and stare out the window at my dark surroundings. I get lost in a trance and absentmindedly start softly singing along to the song.

I hum along to the other songs that come on until they eventually lull me to sleep.

---

There's a light shaking on my shoulder and I feel my earbuds being taken out of my ears. "Jade, we're here." I groan and shut my eyes tighter. I hear a deep chuckle and feel myself being lifted from the seat.

Sparks explode all through my body and I snuggle into the chest, feeling safe in the arms. My wolf sighs in contentment and purrs softly in my head. My eyes get heavier and I fall asleep to the rhythm of the person walking.

---

The next time I wake, I am engulfed in warm fabric. I sigh and roll over, snuggling deeper into the softest bed ever. My serenity completely fades as something around my waist pulls me into something hard.

My head snaps up immediately and I see Ryder lying beside me. His arm is wrapped around my waist and I'm pulled close to his side.

Everything hits me...I'm not home. I'm at the Castle. Ryder Mathews is my mate. My mate is the Alpha King. I stare at Ryder as he sleeps, thinking of how just yesterday I was home and not on a whole other path.

He looks younger when he sleeps. I know he's only 24, but he acts and looks so much older when he's awake. His lips are parted into a pout and his silky black hair sweeps into his eyes. His jaw isn't clenched together and his eyes aren't hardened. He looks his age, not like the cruel Alpha King he is said to be.

For a reason not completely known to me, I lift my hand and gently sweep the hair from his eyes. Sparks shoot through my fingers and down my arm, making me gasp softly and pull my fingers away. Ryder stirs, pulling me closer to him, and burying his face into my neck. He relaxes when he realizes I'm in his arms and his breathing evens out again.

I sigh softly and let him hold me. I breathe in his scent and it calms my nerves. Why can't I hate him? I ask myself. I hear Jasmine chuckle in my mind. 'He's our mate, Jade. It's basically impossible to hate your mate,' she says. I sigh in defeat knowing she is right.

I gently sit up and slowly pull myself from his iron grip on my waist. Ryder growls lowly in his sleep, so I quickly put the pillow I had used in my place. I finally breathe when he relaxes into the bed. I scoot out of the extremely large bed. Seriously, this thing is like a mile long. It's going to take me 20 minutes to find the exit.

Once free from the tangle of sheets and pillows, I place my feet on the cool, hardwood floors. I walk quietly through the, also large, room. The walls are off-white and the floor is a beautiful dark wood. There are three doors, so I take a chance and open one. It is a huge bathroom. It's literally the size of my room at home, if not bigger. Sadness pangs in my chest when I think of home. I wonder if Jason has thrown my going away party yet. I smile at my little joke as I close the door back.

I turn and open the other door and it's an enormous walk-in closet. I see half of the clothes are male, I'm hopefully assuming Ryder's.  Surprisingly, the other half is filled with women's clothing. I grab a beautiful silver dress and look at the tag. It's my size and...$469?!