Chapter 13: 13: Never Enough

ARIEL

His lips brush against mine, gently at first, but then his tongue pushes between them and I open my mouth compliantly.

His taste is sweet, and the pressure from his tongue pressing into mine sends waves of pleasure through my body.

His hand firmly holds the back of my head as we continue.

A soft moan escapes my lips as he pulls away, leaving only a thread of his sweet saliva.

It’s our first kiss. And it’s perfect.

The break is small, our lips apart only for a second.

When they reconnect, the tenderness has gone, now replaced with raw passion.

I hear my wolf snuffling and coming to the front of my mind.

She wants this. She wants the alpha to be with her.

Alex grips my hair, sending bolts of pleasure through my scalp.

Our kisses grow more intense and wild until I can’t handle it any longer.

I pull him down onto the bed, and we kick away the bedsheets to make room. Our legs become entwined.

My wolf howls in approval urging me on.

I roll over so I am on top of him, then I continue to kiss him, moving down his jaw, his neck, to his collarbone.

Alex’s hands roam the curve of my ribs and waist, spreading across my hips and then coming to rest on my ass.

His hands feel so good—solid and manly, but gentle at the same time.

I’ve just started playing with his shirt, sneaking a look at the abs underneath, when the door to my room opens, sending Alex and me racing for the bedsheets.

“Oh, sorry! I didn’t realize you were still here, alpha,” says the doctor.

His cheeks flush red as he looks between the both of us, and I’m sure our faces look similar.

“What is it?” Alex replies. I can hear he is trying to keep calm and make it seem as if everything is normal.

“I was going to discharge the patient, since she is healthy,” he says. “I’ll give you a few minutes.”

He closes the door quietly behind him. I look over at Alex and we both begin to laugh.

Alex clambers off the bed and holds his hand out for me.

I take it and give him a final peck on the cheek before we exit the room.

***

As soon as we get back to the pack grounds, Alex is pulled away by his mother into a planning meeting for the mating ceremony.

Alex looks back at me as if pleading with me to save him, but I catch his mother’s eye.

Her cold stare roots me to the spot.

I head back to Steve and Louisa’s, ready for some well-deserved rest and relaxation.

The next few days are a blur. All I can think about are Alex’s lips on mine.

Every day I make a tour of the palace, trying to see him, but every time we meet, Alex heads in the opposite direction before I even say a single word.

I can’t help but feel he’s avoiding me, since we haven’t talked, but Dom says his mother is just keeping him busy with mating weekend preparations.

To be honest, I don’t mind the space.

When Alex kissed me, it stirred up all kinds of emotions, and not all of them were good.

Despite my attraction to Alex, he’s not my destined mate. That’s something that I’ll never have again.

And his destined mate is gone for good too... and I know for a fact that he’s not over her.

It’s a lot to wrap my head around, and I need to talk about it with someone. I need my best friend.

I reach over to my nightstand and grab my phone.

Ariel

Hey girl

Ariel

So…something kinda big happened recently

Amy

oooohhh

Amy

this sounds juicy. tell meee

Ariel

I kissed the king

Ariel

Or he kissed me, really

Amy

ohmygoddess

Amy

no fkn way!!!

Amy

ari this is huge

Ariel

I just don’t know how I feel

Ariel

Or how he feels for that matter

Ariel

We haven’t talked since it happened

Amy

yeah I get that. you’ve both been thru A LOT

Amy

but don’t just sit around waiting for him to come to u

Amy

ur a warrior for Goddess sake

Amy

confront that elusive alpha and find out how he feels

Ariel

Yeah you’re right

Ariel

Thanks Amy, you always give the best advice

Amy

u bet ur sweet ass i do 💅

Ariel

How are things back home?

Ariel

Well, I guess it’s not home anymore for me…

Amy

natalia is still as insufferable as ever

Amy

but at least the baby is arriving soon and she can focus her craziness on that

Ariel

And Xavier?

Amy

do u rlly want to know about him?

Ariel

No, you’re right. Sorry, it just hits me unexpectedly sometimes.

Ariel

That feeling of what I’m missing. What could’ve been.

Amy

well u know i’m here for u whenever u need me

Alex’s unexpected kiss.

Xavier and Natalia’s baby.

My head is swimming and I don’t want to think about any of it.

I need a distraction.

No, I need a ~drink.~

And I know just the right guy to commiserate with…

Ariel

Hey

Ariel

Let’s get drunk tonight

Dom

ohhh are u trying to seduce me? 😏

Ariel

No dumbass 🙄

Ariel

I just need a distraction

Ariel

And I need it in the form of tequila shots

Dom

haha okay i got u covered

Dom

meet me at the white fang at 10pm

“Pour another!” I drunkenly command, as Dom lines up several shot glasses on the bar and sloppily fills them with tequila.

“Yes ma’am,” he says, giving me a salute.

“I can’t believe they just gave you the whole bottle,” I say, grabbing another shot and downing it.

“Well, being a beta has at least a few perks,” he responds, taking a shot of his own.

“You slept with the bartender, didn’t you?” I say, laughing.

“Okay fine, maybe once or twice. But that was before she got ~mated~.”

There’s a bitterness in his tone as he looks wistfully at his drink.

“What if I never find my mate, Ari? I’m going to die old and alone with no one to love!”

“Don’t be such a drama queen,” I say, almost falling off my barstool as I turn around to face him.

I continue. “At least your destined mate is still out there. I found mine and he rejected me. And he’s mated to my horrible sister.”

Dom observes me with drunken empathy.

“Yeah, you win,” he says. “You need this more than I do.” He slides the rest of the bottle over to me.

“Who knows…maybe you’ll find someone at this dumb mating weekend,” I say.

I try not to think about how Alex will be surrounded by every eligible girl in a three-hundred-mile radius.

“If not, let’s make a pact to get mated to each other when we’re forty, so we don’t die alone,” Dom says.

He gives me a sloppy smirk.

I push him off his stool and he falls to the floor in a heap.

“Dream on, Dom. I’m not ~that~ desperate.”

***

Despite the fact that the mating weekend is still two weeks away, Maria has asked me to go over security details with her.

It’s obvious that she’s just trying to keep me busy so that I’m nowhere near Alex.

I have the hangover from hell today and I’m in no mood to put up with Maria’s snide remarks and veiled insults.

Luckily, she’s largely ignoring me and chattering on with several other ladies from the pack, while I stand by like a glorified bodyguard.

“Goddess, I haven’t thrown a party like this in ages,” Maria says in an almost orgasmic manner. “I just ~love~ a festival in the springtime.”

“The last time the pack did something this big was Alex’s wedding,” says one of the other women.

“Yes, and if all goes well, we’ll have another wedding to look forward to,” Maria responds in a singsong voice.

I can’t help but roll my eyes. ~Gag me.~

“Now let’s not get distracted, ladies. Let’s talk details,” Maria says, clapping her hands.

She continues. “All the wolves attending the weekend will arrive Friday, throughout the day. That evening we’ll have a mixer where all the potential mates can get to know each other.”

~You mean all the potential mates can throw themselves at Alex.~

“Then we’ll have date activities on Saturday, like picnics in the forest, and we’ll finish the weekend off with a royal ball on Sunday,” she says excitedly, as the other women nod in approval.

“The main theme is spring with lavender and gold as the color scheme,” Maria says. “The hall will be draped in white. Lavender tablecloths with gold-painted wooden chairs. I’m sparing no expense!”

“You’ll need to have a lot of security detail if people are going to be venturing out into the forest,” I say, piping in. “That’s close to the border. It’s a guaranteed security risk.”

Maria makes a face as if she’s just smelled something funny.

“Well, I suppose it’s a good thing that we have you on duty all weekend then,” she says, pursing her lips. “I’m sure you’ll be very, very busy.”

~Yeah, and you’re just loving that.~

“All weekend?” one of the ladies asks, looking surprised. “You’re single, aren’t you? Don’t you want to participate in the festivities? There’s an eligible ~alpha~ in attendance.”

Before I can answer, Maria shoots the woman a death glare and then answers for me.

“Ariel is sworn to protect this kingdom as a pack warrior. She knows that duty comes first.”

She continues. “Besides, my son’s taste in women is far more ~refined~ than our rough-and-tumble warrior here. She’s not missing out on a thing.”

Maria’s tone is venomous and it reminds me of my own mother and the way she used to constantly degrade me, especially for wanting to be a warrior.

Just like I was never good enough for my mother, in Maria’s eyes, I’ll never be good enough for Alex.

***

When Maria finally lets me off the hook, I wander through the palace halls trying to push her words out of my mind.

Who cares what she thinks of me? The only thing that matters is how Alex and I feel about each other.

And how ~does~ he feel exactly?

I remember Amy’s advice to not wait around for Alex to come to me, but to go to him instead.

~Well, I’m already in the palace. Might as well rip off the Band-Aid.~

I make my way to Alex’s room and find the door slightly ajar. I knock, but no one answers.

“Hello? Alex, are you in here?” I ask, as I push through the heavy doors.

At first, I don’t see him, but just moments later, I see a ~whole lot~ of him.

Alex comes out of his bathroom, completely naked and toweling off his wet, tousled blond hair.

My eyes trail down his perfectly sculpted body to the large appendage between his legs.

“Oh my Goddess!” I scream, as I cover my mouth.

“Ariel!” Alex shouts, turning bright red. “What are you doing in here?”

He quickly shoves the towel in front of his crotch, but I can’t unsee what I’ve already seen.

“I…I just came by to talk about…Goddess, Alex, can you put on some clothes?” I say, trying to avoid eye contact.

He pulls on some tight black boxers that are lying on the floor and crosses the room to stand in front of me.

“You came to talk about the kiss?” he says without hesitation.

“Am I that obvious?” I ask, blushing. “I just…thought that maybe you regretted it. Because it seems like you’ve been avoiding me.”

To my surprise, Alex puts his hands on my shoulders and pulls me into an embrace.

His freshly wet skin soaks through my thin white T-shirt, and I shiver with excitement as my nipples harden.

“Of course I don’t regret it,” he says, his strong fingers massaging my back. “I’ve thought about it every moment since it happened.”

“Then why have you been so distant?” I ask.

“Because I knew when I saw you again, this would happen,” he responds.

“What would—”

Before I know what’s happening, Alex’s lips are locked with mine again, and I feel my body melting into his.

His hand shoots up my shirt and squeezes my breasts, and I moan in pleasure.

I never knew how much I wanted him to touch me like this. And now I don’t want him to stop.

We fall backward onto his bed, and he lifts my arms above my head.

My legs wrap around his waist, and I can feel the bulge forming in his boxers.

Alex pulls up my shirt and starts tenderly kissing my stomach until his mouth reaches my navel.

He speedily unbuttons my jeans, and I feel his hand slip into my pants.

His fingers caress my opening, making me gasp in pleasure.

I’ve never done anything like this before, despite how rhythmically my body is following Alex’s lead.

I then realize that my wolf is fighting to take control, forcing herself to the front of my mind.

She has a hunky unmated alpha practically naked in front of her. She’s not going to turn down the opportunity to try and mate with him.

I listen to my animal instincts and reach a hand down toward his manhood.

I slip inside his boxers and wrap a fist around him. Alex growls in appreciation and starts exploring more with his fingers.

The pressure on my sex feels so good. I want this to last forever. My wolf howls in pleasure.

His index finger curls inside me, and I know if he keeps doing this, I’ll explode.

“Oh Goddess,” I breathe as Alex picks up speed.

I cling onto him for dear life and let out a guttural moan as he brings me to climax.

My whole body shudders and contracts. Waves of pleasure crash through me again and again.

As the tide finally subsides, I manage to whisper, “That was…so good!”

“That was just a teaser,” Alex replies with a smile.

He plays with my waistband and looks me in the eye.

I can see the wolf behind his gorgeous jungle-green irises. It’s feral, animalistic…he wants me.

“Do you want to keep going?” he asks.

I keep telling myself that this is crazy. I’ve only just met him.

But I can’t deny that he’s making me excited. This feels so right.

I slowly nod.

Alex smiles before diving between my legs.