The Warrior King

Chapter 14

Nicola's POV

He picks me up and wraps my legs around his waist as our mouths continue to explore each other. One hand goes into my hair as the other pulls me tight against him, sparks flying through my body as his skin meets mine. I nibble on his bottom lip and he lets out a light growl then sets me back down on my feet before grabbing my hand. "Come on." He says breathlessly and we take off running.

He stops when we get to the pack house entrance and he opens it quietly as he leads me inside. Once in, he closes the doors and picks me up bridal style, jogging effortlessly up the stairs and I stifle a small laugh. I bury my face into his hard chest, enjoying the sensation of being in his arms and understanding now why being around him feels so right. We finally get to a door, which I assume leads to his personal room, and go inside. As he turns the lock behind him, I take in the simple and practically barren bedroom he brought me to.

Dark wooden furniture is scattered throughout the room with only a few items here and there that would let someone know it's occupied. A queen size bed sits in the middle with a dark grey linens and pillows and if it wasn't for his intoxicating scent that saturates the walls, I would think this is just a spare bedroom.

"Sorry, it's not much." He mumbles as he carries me over the bed and gently lays me down. We stare into each other's eyes briefly before he climbs into the bed and wraps his arms around me. He starts to trail kisses up my shoulder to my ear and I moan at the sensation of his lips against me.

"You are driving me absolutely crazy." He says into my neck and I feel him take a deep breath in, inhaling my scent.

"I've waited for you for so long." He whispers and I feel warmth spread through my body at his words. Freya purrs, finally satisfied we've found out mate, as I snuggle in closer to his body and eventually drift off to sleep.

——

We're awoken to a slight knock on the door followed by the jiggling of the handle.

"What the hell?" A voice comes in from the other side. "Since when is your door ever locked?"

Zander groans and pulls me closer to him as he nuzzles his face into the crook of my neck.

"Zander!" The voice yells and I feel him sigh against me. "Go away." I hear him grumble. The door continues to rattle and I can tell that he's not going to leave anytime soon. I start to giggle while Zander untangles himself from my body and rolls over, clearly annoyed. He stumbles to the door before unlocking it and cracking it open just enough to talk to the man on the other side. "Would you leave? What part of a locked door don't you understand?"

"No. And did I hear someone laugh from in there? I know it wasn't you, you grumpy bastard."

It takes me a second to figure out the voice but I quickly realize it's his Gamma. It makes sense that they would know who he really is and judging by their interaction right now, I'd say they're actually pretty close. I would have never guessed that when he tried to kill him the other day but I now understand our conversation in the woods more. I'm sure his Beta also knows he's the Alpha King but I wonder if those are the only people? Besides me now.

I roll over in the bed and see a piece of paper laying on his night stand that I didn't notice before. I know I shouldn't be snooping but it looks like a letter and jealously gets the best of me when I start to think of others writing to him. I grab the piece of paper and start to read it.

"Is someone else in there? I can hear movement." Rivers says and I hear him trying to open the door farther but Zander holds it firmly in place.

"Go away!" I hear my mate growl out in frustration.

"She's in here, isn't she?" I can hear the amusement in his voice and it would have made me laugh if it wasn't for the letter in my hands.

What the hell is this?

I can hear struggling at the door before heavy, stumbling footsteps are followed by a loud crash. I look up to see a thoroughly pissed off Zander, while the Gamma is sprawled out on the floor after shoving his way into the room. I cock my eyebrow at the both of them and Rivers gives me a slow smile.

"No! You're not supposed to see that!" Zander snaps, marching his way over to me and trying to grab the letter out of my hands but I yank it back out of reach. "It doesn't matter now, I've already read the whole thing." I say looking up at him. "What's this about?" I glance to the note and then back to him.

He looks at his Gamma who just gives a shrug and a look that says 'keep me out of this'.

Zander just sighs. "I can't tell you."

"Can't or won't?" I ask, starting to feel defensive. I figured there would be no more secrets now that I knew who he really was. Plus, I'm his mate, right?

"Because this doesn't have anything to do with you and it's not your place to be involved." His bites out. "And you shouldn't be snooping through things that aren't yours."

Ouch. He obviously doesn't trust me but I didn't expect him to be so harsh about it. It was just a letter and plus it wasn't like I went through his things; it was laying out on the table.

My body is tense as I set it back down and I can feel tears prick at the corner of my eyes from the sharpness in his tone. Since when did I become a crier?

"Zander, maybe she should know, I mean she is going to be the lun-"

I cut him off. "No, it's fine. He doesn't want me to know and I think that makes it clear about where my place is." I say as I pick myself up from my sitting position on his bed. I look over at my mate who looks thoroughly pissed off, but that makes two of us.

"What the hell is that supposed to mean?" He says, obviously trying to rein in his anger and failing.

"It means that I'm leaving. I didn't expect you to spill all your secrets overnight but I definitely didn't expect to be shut out like this. Don't worry, I won't tell anyone about who you are." I say as I walk by him and head towards the door, growing more hurt that he's not stopping me or trying to say anything. I definitely had different expectations on how this whole mate thing would go and Freya puts her head between her paws as I go to leave. Before I walk out, I turn around and look at them both.

"Just so you're aware though, there's going to be a blood moon in 3 months." I say and both men stare at me confused until realization crosses Zander's face.

With that I shut the door and walk down the hallway. When I get to the stairs I can hear a loud roar from the bedroom, followed by things being throw against the wall. I can tell Zander's wolf is not happy with what just happened, but I refuse to start our relationship like this. Things will have to change between the both of us if we're to make this work.