WHAT NOW?

Chapter Two

ALESSIA'S POV

All my teenage life, I'd prayed the goddess matched me with Thompson, when that didn't happen, our fathers took the initiative to wed us. Making my dreams of spending the rest of my life with Thompson come true. But it all turned into a nightmare.

"Congratulations, Alpha Crestwood!" Thompson shook hands with the white haired Alpha before us while I hugged his Luna with a radiant smile on my face.

Thompson led me into the vast and exquisitely decorated hall. His face suggests I must've done something wrong. What now?

"Could you fuckin' stop smiling?" He growled beside me. "You look like a freak."

The smiles dissolved. Upsetting him was the least we wanted, not before the gazes of all the important people in the room.

He took out two champagne flutes from the tray a steward carried around, handed me one with a brittle smile. I knew the rules. I was never to drink at any of these functions, not to mingle, neither was it lawful for me to wander off his side.

But this plaguing sandalwood was growing hard to ignore. There were more than a handful of men in the room all in sleekly tailored suits and polite smiles on their faces which made it hard to tell which of them exactly was I gravitating to.

Thompson went around the hall socializing with a few familiar faces, Beta Ferguson from the southeast Pack was his all time friend and he certainly would be the only one we'd spend most time with this evening.

"Is he here, yet?"

"The High King?" Beta Ferguson slipped a crooked smile, "He's in the VIP but I had the golden opportunity of a lifetime for a handshake."

"You're a very lucky man!" Even though Thompson's words were driven by sarcasm, I knew he meant every single word he just said.

The high king was the man my husband worshiped even more than the moon goddess.

I was invisible in the room, everyone ignored my presence in the room and Thompson never ceased to remind me Annalise was his perfect match.

The High King's second in command of the Kingdom unexpectedly left the VIP section of the hall, this knocked off Thompson's senses and he left my side, edging closer to hear the King's second in command’s speech.

This few minutes of freedom had me downing the champagne in my hand and going for the next one. When he didn't return, I emptied the second drink and held the third.

I left the corner of the hall and slipped through the back exit towards the balcony for a whiff of fresh air. A moment to feel alive and real.

The night sky looked beautiful with stars and a moon which appeared more blue like the tattoo etched on my back. I took a sip of the champagne in my hand and smiled at how wonderful it felt to be away from Thompson.

He certainly would punish me later for wandering off and drinking but, this moment was worth it all.

Someone's presence on the balcony had me swiveling around to meet the towering silhouette figure by the door. Thompson had found me.

"I'm sorry, I just came outside for some fresh air." I spluttered honestly.

But when the sandalwood filled my nostrils, I realized this man wasn't Thompson. He moved away from the lights into the dark balcony standing a few inches from me.

Who the hell?

I gulped. Blinked. Blanked. Watching him close the gap between us. I made no mistake this man before me was the High King of the kingdom. His dirty brown hair slicked back, sensuous lips curious, peered at me as though searching my soul.

"I,I–uh…"

Unsure of what to say, I chose silence with my gaze pinned on him. I trembled visibly before him as I perceptibly fought the budding heat, his cold calculating gaze rendered on me. He touched my arm in a move that surprised me, a move that fired gasp from my lungs. He instantly retrieved his hand as though he'd just come in contact with hot coal.

He felt it. The electrifying effects our contact generated.

The huge shadow man muttered a curse, his harshly attractive face hardening dangerously. He reached for my arm again, whirling me around so my face was pinned to the screen wall, his hand worked on my zipper.

What the hell was he doing?

I tried to fight him off but the bliss his touches feathered down my skin, the heat pooling and plaguing my inner thighs, transfixed my quivering body to the screen wall. The glass in my grip shattered to the floor as my zipper went down and his breath ghosted on my bare back. A moan escaped my lips.

I couldn't remember the last time I was touched this way. Thompson had ignored me as though I wasn't a woman with needs.

Thompson! My husband! Senses slammed into me, but only because this man zipped my dress back and stepped away from me. Shame was like a manacle around my neck. Disappointment brazed my heart.

"Never touch me that way ever again I am another man's wife!" I tried to sound firm but my faltering tone immensely betrayed me.

Things would've been easier if he just nodded, probably apologized and turned back out of the balcony but he didn't. Instead, he chose to close the gap again. This time, his hand gently grabbed my windpipe, holding me as softly as possible as though not to hurt me, he pulled me closer, way closer to himself, which made wrapping my arms around him and kissing him like there was no tomorrow really hard to resist.

But there was a tomorrow. A son waiting for me to return and a husband probably searching for me in the dimly lit hall. I couldn't act so shamelessly.

"You are wrong." He hoisted me effortlessly from the floor trapping me to the wall. My legs wrapped around him, 'for support', "Fuck whatever you are," He muttered darkly, "You are my mate! A mate I've waited all my life for!"

The door went open and I instantly sprang to my feet. My senses snapped back.

What the hell just happened?