Dark Alpha: A Fated Mates Novel

25: WARM AND SEDUCTIVE

~VANNIE~
Maeve let her come to the gates under the condition that she wear a cloak. Vannie did, even though she thought it was useless. The Inlanders would find her out immediately she came in. Some of them already knew her scent.

But it turned out they didn't notice her, after all. The smell of destruction and disappointment was everywhere, and the Inlanders didn't seem in the mood to socialize.

Crom hadn't told her she needed to socialize with the Inlanders or gain their trust, and she wasn't planning to, but the thought of physical exertion was exciting. She hadn't been able to do anything other than mix herbs in the apothecary, and even though her wolf was dormant, her body still wanted to move.

Luckily, Maeve understood her need, and didn't say anything once Vannie began to lift the metal casks that fell from the Inland walls.

Many minutes of digging and burying later, Vannie's bones were screaming for respite. She lifted a shard of metal that had to have weighed a ton, took three steps and paused, feeling her whole body clench under its weight. The pain was welcome, so she walked the remaining steps to the disposals, her body swaying under its weight. She dropped her cask and began to walk back to the debris site when a big hand grabbed her arm.

She flinched and slowly turned to see the face of a Keeper, whose ruddy cheeks were already paling as he realized who he was holding.

"Your Majesty, what are you doing here?" He stuttered, immediately freeing her from his hold when he confirmed it was her.
She ignored him and turned back to the debris site, knowing that she wouldn't be allowed to do anymore work now.

"Your Majesty—" Ears caught the words and began to mutter. The bastard, he did it on purpose, "the King would kill me if he knew you were here."

"Tell the King that I was following his orders." By now, everyone knew she was present. Maeve came to stay at her side protectively. "He wanted every Inlander to be here for the clean-up this morning, didn't he?"

Everyone had stopped working to stare at her by now, but she'd take it over the infernal bowing they did all the time when they were near.

But apparently, that was hasty thinking, because they fell to their knees to pay obeisance in the next moment. She asked them to stand up, and at least, they didn't hesitate to obey.

"Good day," she called, now thoroughly regretting her life choices. She didn't have some awesome Luna speech to rivet them with, and even though they didn't look like they were expecting it, she still felt a little inadequate. Luckily, before any of this travesty could go any further, a hush fell over the crowd.

She felt him before he came into the site.
"The King is here," a Keeper announced, quite unnecessarily, too, because if she could feel the Alpha without a wolf, so could everyone else.

Everyone was on their knees in the blink of an eye (including Maeve) and Vannie was about to kneel, too, before a large hand stilled her movement.

It was the second time she was being touched without her permission today, but unlike the Keeper's touch, this one didn't make her flinch. Quite the opposite, actually. She wanted to lean into it, to take strength from it.

She looked up, up, to find Sinclair's dark eyes. He wasn't furious, she saw, so she relaxed. Then wondered why she'd been worried about his wrath in the first place. She had every right to be here.

"Why are you here, my Queen?" he asked, tone gentle. "Do you not want to rest?"

She shook her head, loath to admit that he'd put her at ease with the mere sound of his voice. Truth be told, she liked how he could be rough with every other person, but melted for her like a stick of butter before a flame.

"Hello," she said instead of answering his question, aware of the Inlands eyes all over her business, but unable to worry. As the days went by and the mate bond got stronger, it became harder and harder to keep her head around him. To ignore how truly beautiful he was.

His raw physicality was startling somedays. In another time, she'd been wondering how she managed to get paired with someone that looked like this.

"Hello," he answered, the side of his mouth tugging up, and snagging her gaze. Ah, yes. That was all her eyes seemed to see nowadays—that enticing curve of his lips. He hadn't made a move to kiss her since their bound day, and that was good. Very good. Exactly what she wanted.

"Do you wish to remain here?" he asked, getting closer to block her view from the rest of the Inlanders, and theirs from her. His voice was a soft growl when he muttered against her hair. "They're watching us, angel."

She snapped out of the haze, hurrying away from the cocoon of his person. "Yes. Yes, I want to stay here."

One sharp nod later, he seemed to have communicated with the Inlanders through the link, because they got off their knees and dispersed rapidly like someone had put as flame to their bottoms. "Let me help you with the casks. Tell me the one you want carried, and I'll lift it for you."

She frowned, the rest of this unwanted lust fizzling away on a cloud of smoke. "You're trying to manage me, Your Majesty."

He growled at her and apparently, there were still lingering wolves around them, because they jumped and fled at the sound. He pushed her to him and snarled into her ear. "I told you not to call me that around our people."

She met his eyes. "I hate to say this, Your Majesty, but you'll tell me to do a lot of things I won't give a f*ck about."

A smirk broke out of his face the same moment a collective gasp came from behind. Sigh. The Inlanders were a bunch of gossips and eavesdroppers.

He must have realized the same thing, because he said (casual as you may,) "My Keepers would be like to meet with you, if that's not a problem. If you want to get out of here, we could leave... now."