The Alpha King’s Human Mate

“I am no bird, and no net ensnares me; I am a free human being with an independent will.”

Charlotte Bronte

After my impromptu walk and my conversation with Alessia or Alpha Alessia as I’m sure she’d rather be called – I was out like a light.

That night, I dreamt of the same man I had a week ago. I couldn’t see his face but the large griffin tattoo that wrapped around his forearm was as prevalent as ever.

I wanted to see more of him. If I could just see his face then maybe

“Clark! Clark! Clark!”

The screeching sound of my lovely sister’s voice felt like a dose of cold water pulling me from my dream. I screwed my eyes shut and groaned into my pillow. “Just five more minutes, Lil.”

For a moment, she didn’t respond and then I suddenly felt her snatch the covers

out from under me.

I shot up in bed, trying to grab them back before I felt the morning chill on my bare skin. My human reflexes were no match for Lily, of course, and she moved back before I could snatch them from her. (1

“Did you have to take the covers?” I whined, “It’s cold.” I hugged myself to preserve what little warmth I had left and glared at Lily’s smirking face.

“Yes, I did,” she said, “It’s time to get up, Clark. The meeting is in a couple of

hours and there’s only one bathroom in the suite. I’m not going to be late just because you wanted to sleep in.”

“Fine,” I grumbled but I knew she was right.

As her words sunk in, I felt another wave of anxiety wash over me. Today was the day. It was the big meeting. I’d be stuck in a room with forty other Alpha kids, the Alpha King, and the Prince. I wasn’t even sure what I was worried about. The meeting had nothing to do with me, nob*dy would be looking at me. It’s not like they’d be asking my opinion on the pack dispute. D

Maybe you’re just worried that you’ll accidentally say something stupid and someone will rip your throat out. 4

That’s always a possibility.

“I call dibs on the shower first,” Lily called.

“Too late!” Sebastian shouted back, ducking into the bathroom before Lily could stop him.

“Seb! You better not use all the hot water!” She snarled but I could already hear the water running. O

I rubbed my eyes, still blinking away the last moments of sleep and Lily plopped onto her bed.

It was quiet for a moment and then she spoke. “Clark?”

“Hm?”

“You don’t think the Alpha King is right, do you?”

“About what?”

“About the fact that Alpha daughters only make their families proud if they’ve got some strong male wolf as their mate,” she said. I turned to look at her and there

was an emotion I didn’t see on Lily’s face very often. Insecurity. G

“No, of course not, Lily,” I said, “The Alpha King may believe what he wants but

it’s not the reality. You’re more than just who you’re mated to.”

“But he’s right, isn’t he?” she said, furrowing her eyebrows, “I mean, that’s what I’m supposed to do, right? It’s why I’m at this meeting because there’s a possibility I might be the Prince’s or the mate of some other Alpha son.”

“You didn’t have a say in coming here,” I shot back, “If it was just up to dad, I’m sure you and I wouldn’t even be here.”

She huffed. “Please, let’s be honest. If it was up to dad, you might not be here but he’d love for me to come back home with some strong future Alpha on my arm.” Her face scrunched up like the idea disgusted her. O

I wanted to tell her that wasn’t true, but if I wasn’t sure. I’d watched the kind of pressure that my parents put on Lily growing up. I had never experienced the

mate pressure” myself but she had. When Lily turned sixteen and gained the ability to recognize her mate, my dad had lined up every of-age boy in the pack for her to look at.

–

When that hadn’t turned up any results, dad and Luna Grace were thrilled. I remember them telling us over a family dinner that this was good news it meant Lily might be mated to an Alpha or even a future Alpha from another pack. A strong mate could mean a strong alliance.

So, as much as I didn’t want to admit it, Lily had a point. If she came home with an Alpha on her arm, our dad would be thrilled.

“You don’t want to end up with an Alpha?” I asked.

She looked down. “It’s not like I’m completely against the idea…but mates are supposed to be perfect for you, right? They’re your other half. Knowing me, I just don’t think my other half is going to be some strong Alpha. I don’t know, maybe I’m overthinking it. The dinner party just got the wheels turning last night and I just realized that I’m probably going to end up disappointing mom and dad.”

My heart ached. I knew that feeling all too well what it felt like to be a

–

disappointment, to never measure up to what you thought dad wanted you to be. Lily didn’t deserve to feel like that. She didn’t deserve any of this.

“Lily,” I said, and I moved from my bed to hers, “You’re not a disappointment. I don’t know what the future holds but the BS coming out of the Alpha King’s mouth last night? That’s exactly what it was. bullshit. You’re so much more than just who you’re mated to.”

–

Lily looked up at me and I could see her blue eyes wet with tears. “You think so?”

I hugged her. “Yeah, I know so. I’m your sister, I know you better than anyone. You don’t need some strong mate to make dad or anyone else proud. You’re going to great things regardless of who your mate ends up being.” (2Belongs to (N)ôvel/Drama.Org.

She laughed and hugged me closer. “God, this feels like such a rom-com moment right now,” she said, “You are literally the cheesiest person I’ve ever met, Clark. Maybe you should write motivational posters or something.”

She pulled back and her expression seemed a lot lighter. “But thanks…I guess I needed whatever motivational mojo you just pulled out of your a*s right there.” O

I rolled my eyes. “Yeah, whatever. I’m going to find my clothes for the meeting. Your wanna do my makeup? I wouldn’t want my dark circles to reflect poorly on the

pack.”

“Oh, I’m definitely doing your makeup. We don’t need you looking like a troll.”

I smiled and grabbed my suitcase. As I sorted through my clothes, I couldn’t get my mind off what Lily had said to me. All this pressure that she and every other female werewolf felt? It was real and as long as someone like the Alpha King was in power, it’d never stop. There would never be progress. 4

At least Lily could recognize that she didn’t want to be defined by her mate. What about girls like Angel? She wasn’t self-aware to realize what kind of S**ist teachings had been shoved down her throat, and why would she? When she did find her mate, he’d probably just enforce everything she’d learned.

Maybe there will be a shift in power one day and someone will change this kind of

stuff.

If I was Queen, that would be on top of my to-do list.

But I’m not, so I’ll just settle for getting the hell out of dodge the minute I graduate.

the

Lily, Sebastian, and I marched to the diplomatic meeting like we were marching to war. Esther was our guide and she was just as smiley as she’d been the first two times I’d seen her. I wondered if she could pick up on the tension in the air way I kept rubbing my sweaty palms on my green romper, how Lily kept clicking her teeth, or the stiff way Sebastian walked. 4

She must’ve sensed our nervousness but she just kept on smiling, smiling,

smiling.

“When we get there,” Sebastian said, turning to Lily and me, “It’s probably best if none of us speak unless we have to. I don’t mean to sound like an a*s, I’m just not sure how intense this whole thing’s going to be. I do know there’s going to be a lot of people there.”

“You mean the King and the Prince, right?” Lily said, “We already know that,

Sebastian.”

“Not just them. Forty other Alpha kids are going to be in that room too plus the Alphas who are actually in this pack dispute. I doubt they’re going to be a couple of happy campers. Just stick close to me, right? I’m supposed to protect you guys. I just don’t want anything bad to happen.”

I nodded. I had no plans of speaking or trying to do anything other than sitting quietly for this entire meeting. No protests here.

“Whatever,” Lily said but she didn’t argue. Her face was completely blank again, bordering on a scowl. There was no trace of the girl who had tears in her eyes just an hour before.

It felt like we’d been walking for hours but finally, Esther stopped in front of a large, ornate door.

“We’re here,” she said, and then her eyes glazed over. She was using the mind link. “Look like almost everyone is inside. You can enter now, the Alpha King is ready for you.”

Here we go.

I took a deep breath as Esther opened the door.

Little did I know my life would never be the same after this meeting. Had I known what was going to happen, maybe I would’ve played “sick” like Alessia had the night before.