The Alpha King’s Human Mate by HC Dolores
Chapter 16

“A bond between souls is ancient – older than the planet.”

Dianna Hardy

When Esther opened the door to the meeting room, every eye was on us. The first thing I saw was a gigantic conference room table, and the Alpha King was at its

head.

There was an empty chair beside him, and on the other side, there were two men. One of them was middle-aged with greying hair and the other looked like he was in

his mid-twenties.

My eyes raked over the rest of the room. Almost every other seat in the room was taken by kids of varying ages, genders, and races – some of them looked like they were my age while others looked closer to twelve and thirteen. These must’ve been the children of Alphas, the other kids invited to this meeting. It was startling to see that some of them were so young but I guess I couldn’t be surprised. The directive was for every Alpha child over the age of thirteen.

Even from the doorway, I could see stern-faced guards stationed at every room corner. They didn’t look at us, but I had no doubt they were watching us closely.

“Ah, our last guests have arrived,” the Alpha clapped his hands together, “Sebastian, Lily, Clark – please come in. You make take your seats.” He pointed to three empty seats near the end of the table and I breathed a sigh of relief. At least we weren’t seated anywhere close to the Alpha King. 2

As we approached our seats, the entire room was silent – all eyes were on us, the

last to arrive. We weren’t late, I knew that, but we were barely on time.

The tense silence and staring made the hair on the back of my n*eck stand up. You know that feeling when you walk into class ten minutes too late and the teacher is already feeling? It kind of felt like that – but amplified by ten. (3

Out of us three, I was the last to snag my seat. Sebastian sat at the very end of the table, Lily was between us, and then there was me. I nearly groaned when I saw who was sitting on the other side of me.

Ezra.

He grinned at me as I took my seat but I avoided eye contact. I didn’t want to encourage whatever sick fascination he got out of taunting the only human around.

“I believe that is the last of our guests?” the Alpha King asked Esther, who was still standing by the door.

“Yes, Your Majesty.”

“Thank you, Esther. You may leave,” he said. I noticed that the Alpha King looked

a lot more put together today than he had at the dinner party. He was wearing a similar military uniform but this one was even fancier. There was no wine glass in sight either.

“Now that we’ve all arrived,” the Alpha King said, “I believe it’s time to discuss why we’re here. I’ve called this meeting today to resolve the pack dispute between Alpha Abel from the Pacific Rocks Pack -” He paused to gesture to the middle- aged, greying man beside him, “And Alpha Liam of the Crescent Moon Pack.” This time, he looked over at the other man in his twenties.

Now that the Alpha King was getting the ball rolling, it felt like I could relax. The attention was no longer on Seb, Lily, and I’s entrance to the room.

As he spoke, I let my gaze roam over some of the other faces in the room. I didn’t recognize most of them but I did spot Aakesh and Angel a few seats down. Angel’s eyes were on the floor

no surprise there

and Aakesh faced the Alpha King like

–

a diligent student taking notes in class.

—

Unfortunately, Alessia was nowhere to be found.

Guess she decided to play ‘sick’ after all.

I looked around the room again.

Is the Prince here?

I had no idea where the thought came from but it did. The Alpha King himself had said his son would attend the meeting, but looking around, there was no Prince in sight. Granted, I had no idea what he looked like but I doubted he was the

fourteen-year-old boy squirming in his seat across from me.

Well, there is an empty seat beside the King. Guess he decided to play hooky today.

It was odd, considering that this meeting was half-orchestrated so that the guy could find his mate. But it’s not like I was complaining. The less drama, the better.

“Now, let’s get into the specifics of this dispute,” the King’s voice boomed around the room, “Alpha Abel has complained that you’re encroaching onto his territory, Alpha Liam.” Alpha Abel nodded from his spot beside the King. He looked tired. like this entire affair was exhausting him.

–

“Yes,” Alpha Abel said, and even his voice sounded tired, “My patrols have found his pack members on our land several times. We’ve asked them to politely leave but they’ve come back time and time again. This last time, one of his pack drew the blood of one of my warriors.”

There were a few murmurs around the room at that last comment. Even I knew that attacking someone from another pack was a big no-no. It was practically a declaration of war.

“I see,” the Alpha King, “Alpha Liam, what do you have to say about these

claims?”

Although he looked so much younger than Alpha Abel, there was nothing youthful or innocent about Alpha Liam. His face was hard and sharp and he looked bloodthirsty. He wasn’t even looking at me and I felt the hair on the back of my n*eck stand up.

1

“Those lands once belonged to the Crescent Moon Pack,” Alpha Liam said, “A

former Alpha gave them up to the Pacific Rocks pack hundreds of years ago. I want them back and I think I’ve made it clear. If Alpha Abel wishes to keep them, perhaps he should defend his border better.”

Whispers broke out across the room. There were a few gasps and a couple of kids

even chuckled.

“Alpha Liam,” the King boomed, “Do you really think harming another pack is an

appropriate way to reclaim your lands?”

Alpha Liam didn’t look the least bit sorry or regretful.

“Of course not, Your Majesty,” Alpha Liam said but his voice lacked any kind of sincerity, “It’s just that wolves are territorial by nature and I let some of my instincts get the best of me. I should’ve talked to Alpha Abel about reclaiming his lands.”

“Yes, you should have,” the King said, “But if anyone understands possessiveness, it’s an Alpha. To compensate Alpha Abel for his lost pack members, you’ll give two of your own to his pack. You’ll also stay off his lands. Whether they belonged to your pack hundreds of years ago or not, that’s irrelevant now.”

Alpha Liam nodded, but even across the room, I could see the rage simmering in his eyes. He was barely keeping it together, and I had a feeling he would’ve attacked Abel if this exchange wasn’t happening in front of the Alpha King.

“Good, good,” the Alpha King nodded. If he saw how unhappy Liam was, he didn’t say anything about it.

Well, that was quick.

The King’s eyes suddenly glazed over he was using the mind link.

It was quiet for a few moments and then he gestured to one of the guards. “My son has just arrived at the south entrance. Please escort him here.”

I guess the Prince will be making an appearance after all.

More whispers across the room but this time they were excited whispers. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw many of the girls fixing their hair or their clothes. I didn’t need to be a genius to figure out why.

They want to look good for the Prince in case they’re his mate. ?

The effort felt kind of fruitless to me. The prince was only going to have eyes for his mate, and one of these girls happened to be the lucky winner, it’s not like he was going to turn her away over a few loose hairs or a wrinkly shirt. But then again, I wasn’t the one throwing my hat in the ring.

“You’re not going to fix your hair?” a teasing voice to my right asked. Ezra.

Great, it’s the literal last person on the planet I feel like talking to.

I almost just ignored him, but I had a feeling Ezra would just keep bothering me until I talked.

“Should I be?” I asked flatly.

“No, of course not,” Ezra grinned, “A puny human like you has zero chance of ever being a wolf’s mate, less alone a prince.”

Before I could retaliate with something snarky, the doors to the meeting room opened and every eye turned to the entrance.

Two burly guards entered first and then I saw him.

Prince Griffin.

The first thing I noticed about him was his height. He was tall, even for a werewolf, and he must’ve been at least 6’4 or 6’5. He held himself the way that most Alphas did like he had all the confidence in the world. But there was something different about his demeanor.

You could usually only see the power that most Alphas had when they expressed it

– usually by barking orders at their pack or through physical brunt force.

But this guy?

He exuded power.

It rolled off him in waves, you could feel it in the air.

I had never seen another werewolf exhibit power like that, not even the actual Alpha King.

The second thing I noticed about him was just how beautiful he was. He had bronze skin, dark hair, and dark eyes that were trained on the Alpha King.

Even just looking at him turned my stomach into knots.

“My son!” The Alpha King said, gesturing him over, “How lovely of you to join us, Prince Griffin…only several minutes late.”

He strode across the room, not even sparing a glance at any of the Alpha kids, me included.

“I had to deal with a few rogues on the border,” he told the king, stopping just before his father. “You’re lucky I made it at all.”

“Well, all that matters is that you’re here now,” the King smiled but there was an odd tension between them. The King’s smile was forced and the prince didn’t even bother to try and fake one.

I also noticed how casually the prince was dressed too. Instead of the formal military uniform that I’d seen the King and several of the guards wear, the prince was in jeans, a dark t-shirt, and a flannel.

Well, I guess you can wear whatever you want when you’re royalty.

Suddenly, the prince’s head snapped up and his nostrils flared, like he’d caught a

scent.a

As his b*dy turned, I caught sight of his arm.

He had a griffin tattoo.

1

I let out some sort of strangled gasp and his eyes met mine, widening.

“Mate.”

Oh no. 24

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