The Prince's Mate

Chapter 5

I knew right away that he was my mate. I didn't have to smell him or feel his hands on my body to know. Hell, I didn't have to make eye contact with him. Just seeing him stretch out his strong body in a suit was enough to stir my dormant wolf.

His black hair was combed back, off his forehead and amber eyes floated around the crowd of girls. He was tall, but not absurdly so. He was probably half a foot taller than me, shorter than my own alpha, but he still radiated with power. He had broad shoulders, large arms, and strong legs, but he moved with ease and swagger. This man had definitely been raised to be a prince and nothing else, but that didn't stop my heart from pounding madly in my chest.

The prince took longer to find me than I had to find him. It took him almost a full minute after he got out of his car to even sense that I was there. But once he did he still struggled to find me. He blatantly ignored his mother who began trying to get his attention as he searched the crowd. He flicked his gaze over the row of girls closest to him, then continued on backwards, growing closer to me and my heart began to beat even harder.

"You." He said softly when those stunning eyes landed on me.

"Me?" I whispered back, though it was clear who he meant.

"Come here." He ordered.

I obeyed like a well trained animal. I was so set on him that as I weaved through my pack members I didn't hear the words they were saying to each other and me.

"This is her?" the queen demanded, running her intense eyes over my body in disgust. I wanted to wrap a blanket around myself to hide from her view and her judgement, but I couldn't do that so I just focused my attention on the man before me.

"Yes." The prince whispered breathily.

"Very well." The queen's hand locked around my upper arm and she began pulling me away from the prince. I panicked slightly, but I knew better than to fight the queen. I just stared at my newly found mate and wished he would do something. "You finish your business here, I will have her transported back to the palace with me." the queen stated.

I snapped back to reality for a split second, thinking of my father and my sister. "I can't just leave." I said, but it didn't seem like my voice was even heard, because the queen continued to pull me away from the prince and no one did anything to stop her.

The mate stared at me for a little while longer as his mother pulled me away, but he also seemed to snap back into himself. In a second it seemed like he hadn't ever found me. He turned away from me and started talking to my pack, announcing new laws that were soon to be in place.

I was forced into a car not long after. For how small the queen was she was surprisingly strong. Her grip on my arm was unyielding as she yanked me towards the small SUV and she didn't hesitate to shove me inside the car the instant the door was open. She was much less of a proper woman than I had expected and I had to basically pick myself up off the floor of the vehicle. Once I had righted myself and was carefully seated on the luxurious leather the door opposite to me was yanked open and the unsmiling queen gingerly sat herself down beside me.

"What is going on?" I blurted, beyond stunned. In fact, part of me feared I was going into shock.

"What do you think, child? I'm taking you back to the palace." The queen answered bitterly. She plucked imaginary dust off her gorgeous gown.

"B-but, no, you can't." I protested. My confused mind finally began to engage. I was in a car, leaving my home with a cruel queen so I could live with a mate I hadn't even officially met.

"Oh? And who is going to stop me?" The queen challenged.

"Please, my father doesn't even know where I am. He'll be upset."

The queen scoffed as a man slithered into the front seat. She absently waved at him and the man strapped on his seat belt before starting the car and driving.

"Stop." I ordered as strongly as I could, but when the driver ignored me my power faltered, "Please stop." I begged, now yanking on the door handle, "I can't go to the palace with you."

"For the love of God!" The queen shouted and her tiny hand was yanking on my upper arm once more. "That is enough from you! You are going to the palace whether or not it is what you want. Many girls would literally murder to be in your shoes, you could at least pretend to be grateful. And don't worry about your father. I'm sure the news about you becoming a princess will travel quickly through such a tiny pack."

I hated the way she talked about me like I was a deaf child. I hated the way she talked about my pack as if it were scum she had to clean up. I hated that she could control me and no one would try to stop her. I hated knowing that the driver in the front seat of the stunning vehicle wouldn't listen to a word I uttered, if he even knew I existed.

For a long time I thought about opening the door and tossing myself out of a moving vehicle, but I constantly reminded myself that it wouldn't do me any good. If I survived I would probably be plucked back in the car and taken to the palace anyway. I worried about my father, I worried about what my absence would do to him and when I would be able to see him next. I worried about how Cass would react to my sudden disappearance.

And I wondered how the hell the prince, my mate, had allowed me to be swept away from him mere seconds after meeting him.

After a few hours of this constant thought process gave me a headache. I gave out a little sigh eventually and allowed my mind to blank. The queen sat eerily still beside me, never uttering a word or even twitching. She was so quiet I occasionally glanced over to make sure she was still breathing but otherwise kept my mind open. I told myself that I would figure everything out later, right now over thinking would do me no good.

Besides, I was certain that the prince would be reasonable enough to let me go back to my family once he saw how distressed I had become.