Alder’s POV
We did it, and she allowed me to take her fully. I guess it will be the beginning of a good start. I was her first, and I was amazed at her because she was another soul in Clover’s body. I knew nothing about her besides that she was challenged and rejected by her mate, but she knew that she was pure, as she told everyone in the Raven Claw Pack.
I am proud of her, which made me feel guilty that I didn’t wait for her. But I shouldn’t think about that now because I can’t do anything about it either. The least I could do was teach my future kids about this when the time comes so they will have an idea about what may come to them. It didn’t matter to me if she was no longer pure, but being the first man in her life was a grace from the moon goddess. I am not shallow, and I just appreciate her effort. I mean their effort.
Being king is not easy, and the council had been urging me to take a chosen mate to strengthen my reign. I am already strong, but I believe in them too. That’s why I waited for my mate, “Your Highness, I already told you your mate is a witch.” Joshua, one of the council said. Yeah, I was in the meeting with them. They must have felt that we had already mated. That’s why they called for a meeting.
“I already told you I felt the bond with her,” I told him.
“Your Highness, I know that we asked you to take a chosen mate instead, but you should have taken a Lycan and not a werewolf. This doesn’t make sense. We tried to make the kingdom strong, and yet you took one that doesn’t want to mark you.”
“She didn’t want to mark me because I did something that angered her. As you already know, I already marked her, so there’s nothing for you to do about it. If this meeting concerns us being mates, I want to assure you that she is really my mate.”
“What about the witch mate that I saw?” Joshua asked,
“You may have misunderstood what you saw. I know what I feel, and if you were there when she was trying to fight our bond and didn’t want to come with me, you would know that she didn’t do anything to make everything happen the way it was right now.”
“So, your mate was supposed to be a witch?” Clover said, and we all looked at her,
“You don’t need to listen to them, my love,” I said and got up to go to her. How come she was here when I left her sleeping in our bedroom? We didn’t even notice that she was already inside the conference room.
“I happened to pass by and hear you. I got curious, so I eavesdropped. I didn’t know that I was going to hear even clearer when I focused.”
“You are the queen, and you shouldn’t eavesdrop.” one of the council members said. I’m sure that he was mad that my mate brazenly admitted what she did.
“Then shut the fu** up if you know I am your queen,” she replied, and I smiled internally. I was worried about formally introducing her to the council because I knew what these old men thought. They wanted a submissive queen they thought would agree with almost everything. “Can I join this meeting or whatever you call this?” she asked, looking at me. Charles stood up, took a chair, and put it beside mine. Then she sat down, so I did, too.
“Since you are talking about me, why not say everything you wanted to say to my face?”
“It’s nothing like that, Your Highness—”
“Don’t make me shut you up; tell me what this witch thing is all about,” she said, stopping Joshua from talking.
“I had some kind of premonition about King Alder’s mate. From that premonition, his mate was a witch,” he said. I got intrigued about what she was going to say, so I let her lead our meeting.
“Because I am no witch, you are thinking what?”
“Nothing, Your Highness,” Joshua replied,
“Hypocrite,” she said, and we all looked at her, “That’s what you and the others are,” she added,
“Your Highness, I think you are too much calling us such,” Joshua replied,
“Are you not?” she asked,
“How are we, like what you said?”
“You just said that Alder’s mate should be a witch because I am not. You didn’t think anything about me?” she answered, “She must have done something to make His Highness believe that she’s his mate. She must have consulted a witch and made some potions or helped her cast a spell on his highness for him to see her as his mate.” she continued, “Isn’t that question on your mind now?” she added, raising a brow. At the same time, I noticed Lance and Charles trying to hold their laughter.
“Don’t you think it was natural for us to think that way?” Darius, one of the council asked,
“Exactly! That’s why I told you that you were a hypocrite. Because I already told you to tell me whatever you want to tell me while I am here, but you choose to act that way.”
“Your Highness, with due respect. It’s not our intention to disrespect you or anything. We are just trying to make things clear with regard to his highness mate’s problems. I hope you find it in your heart to understand our hesitation about you and everything that is happening right now. It was the entire kingdom’s well-being at stake here.” Joshua said,
“And what do you plan to do about the issue?” She asked.
“We suggest that you stop yourself from marking his highness,” Joshua said, so I growled at him. He is not in the position to say that to my mate. I had been doing everything I could just so she could mark me,, yet here she was stopping her.
“Joshua!” Both Lance and Charles exclaimed, but I stopped them from saying anything.
“I don’t see any reason for you to suggest that,” I told him.
“I told you that your mate is a witch.” He replied,
“Do you know who his mate is?” Clover asked.
“No,” he replied.
“Then how the hell did you know that she’s a witch if you didn’t know who she was?” Joshua couldn’t say anything because he didn’t know the answer to her question.
“Alright, you can’t answer that; then, who else among the council knew about Alder’s mate?” She asked again and looked around. “No one? So, do you want us to believe in everything you say that only you know about? Won’t we look stupid if we did that?”
All the council members look at each other, nodding their heads. It was as though they just realized that Joshua had been telling us about something. He was the only one who was actually aware of it.
“Are you telling me that I am lying? Are you questioning my psychic ability?” Joshua asked angrily.
“Then look at me,” she said and met Joshua’s eyes, “Tell me, who I am?”
“You are a good-for-nothing wolf that brainwashed His Highness to become queen.” He replied, and that angered Lance, Charles, and me.
“Joshua!” Darius exclaimed before I made a move. “No matter what, his highness has already marked her.”
“You are overstepping your boundaries, Joshua,” I told him in a cold and low voice. I was trying to control my anger, and so was my beast. He was furious right now, and he was ready to surface anytime.
“Hey,” Clover said as she held my hand and rubbed her thumb on my palm. She was trying to calm me, and my beast gave in. I smiled internally because she knew what to do at a time like this. “It’s fine, and I was the one who told them to tell me whatever they wanted to say to me.” She said, looking up, and there it was again. I saw it, just like when she was angry in the Raven Claw Pack Luna ceremony.
“Councilmen, you can think whatever you want to think about me. I don’t give a shit whether you accept me or not. But there’s one thing I want to be clear about. Alder is your king, and you are his subjects. Stand where you should be standing. If you don’t know anything about me, I suggest you think before you open your mouth when I’m around.” She told them to shut them up.
“Since I have said and heard enough, I will let you go to this meeting. I don’t feel like joining anymore because I find it worthless talking about something to close-minded people.” She continued before she got up and looked at Charles, asking, “Where is Mia?”
“In the kitchen,” he replied,
“I’ll go to her.”
“My love,” I stopped her and stiffened at the kind of look she gave me.
“Continue with what you need to talk about.” She said and went out. I sighed heavily before I looked at Joshua. I’m pretty sure that he was already feeling my anger.
“I stood by my belief that your mate—” he said, but I growled at him, so he stopped with wide eyes. I was furious and was already seeing red.