The Alpha King’s Runaway Mate.Chapter 37: reflection of an open heart.Somewhere, in between King Mattel looking at her with a gravity underpinning his gaze as though Regina were something particularly remarkable; and Mattel, allowing Regina to cling to him; Regina had forgotten what it felt like.“Why am I not permitted to know?” It sounds childish and sullen, even to Regina’s own ears, but she feels so- choked up. The words come tumbling out, without her control. “Would it really be so burdensome, if I were allowed to-”Mattel’s brow furrows harshly. “Because you do not need to know.”Regina physically jerks back, as though stung. The perplexion in Mattel’s gaze grows more pronounced, as though he cannot fathom why it is that Regina’s features are twisted in such hurt. “I’ve already said,” Mattel says slowly. “That I will handle your safety.”“I’ll always be here to defend you.”But this time, it carries none of the warmth that the words had evoked the first time. Instead, Regi
The Alpha King’s Runaway Mate.Chapter 38: an animal yet not a werewolf?.The next morning, King Mattel is called into another meeting with Damian and Lionel before they’ve even had a chance to eat breakfast.As it is, Regina - pouting blearily and still ridden with sleep - insists on walking out with him until at least the main hall, before parting ways. (Here’s another thing about finding all the depths of his affections returned to him following a lifetime of being rebuked and sent away: it’s addicting, heady and exhilarating like nothing else. Regina finds herself rapidly growing attached, in a way that defies common sense and rationality.)She takes the chance to wrap her hands around Mattel’s, reveling in the small, amused smile Mattel sends her all the while, unable to do anything but smile shyly, sheepishly back.She can’t bring herself to stop testing out the boundaries of the space she’s permitted to explore, because each tentative step reveals to her that there are no suc
The Alpha King’s Runaway Mate.Chapter 39: worst depths.Jana finds Regina in the orchard by her usual tree.For a moment, Regina is almost fooled into believing that it is her dog, given that the princess comes jogging up to her in the form of a pitch black hound. Regina is once again startled into pitching backwards when the dog suddenly shifts into a woman, shrieking with laughter.She pouts.Princess Jana drops into a graceful seat in front of her with that preternatural, animalistic grace he always carries. “So jumpy,” She teases, but it’s without any malice.Regina picks at the fabric of her pants, flustered and embarrassed and a little sulky. “That’s not very polite,” She mutters, and her ears turn pink when Princess Jana, apparently, finds it uproariously funny.“You’re cute,” Jarad, sharklike.Regina barely suppresses a shiver.And then, she realizes what it must mean that the King is now out and about, rather than shut in the meeting room. “Is the meeting over?” Regina as
The Alpha King’s Runaway Mate.Chapter 40: what is love .Jana is waiting in their room when Damian, finally free of the loathsome meeting, returns.He trudges in, exhausted by the hours of convening and planning and discussing.She so hates human interaction, sometimes; as draining as it can be. (Is it such a wonder that she should have fallen irrevocably in love with a man who is not always a man?)“All done?” Jana asks, draped decadently as she is over the chaise lounge in the room. When Damian walks over, without any need for words, Jana gets up. Damian throws himself on the chair and Jana curls up around him, purring.“So,” Jana hums, nosing into Damian’s neck, stretching languidly as the other’s hand comes up to slide along her lower back. “Whom shall I devour for you?”Damian huffs a laugh. “No one, I’m afraid.”Jana mouths at Damian’s collarbone, allowing the sharp point of her fangs to scrape softly along his skin, eliciting a tiny shiver that she delights in. “Pity.”Dami
The Alpha King’s Runaway Mate.Chapter 41: orchids and readings.Mattel wakes from his sleep in the same instant way that he has a tendency towards.This means that Regina doesn’t have the time she needs to pull away and pretend she hadn’t been hovering over him, peering down at his features with curious (fascinated) abandon.Mattel opens his eyes to Regina’s face floating just inches above his, doe eyes round and glittering in the morning sunlight streaming through the curtains, seeming almost comically wide from the present angle below his nose.Heat floods Regina’s cheeks as she freezes, flustered, mouth parting and no explanation forthcoming save for incomprehensible stutters.Mattel’s lips quirk upwards, transforming the expressionless cold into something undeniably warm, creasing his features with lines that pull a helpless smile in turn from Regina’s own lips despite the blush still marring his cheeks.“May I help you?” Mattel rumbles, perfectly polite even in the early morni
The Alpha King’s Runaway Mate .Chapter 42: comfort not fear .Mattel is quiet for several minutes.“He was the fiercest, mightiest hero of the legends; swift and agile and true.” Mattel’s words, hummed low, makes Regina lean back against him. “He had slain all the most fearsome monsters there were. When I was younger, I liked to imagine that he would come to slay me, too, one day.”Regina’s eyes burn. She turns to Mattel, stricken and angry and devastated, but finds nothing but an amused little smile on his lips. Mattel kisses her briefly, and a tear slips down Regina’s cheek.“You’re not a monster,” Regina says hoarsely, fiercely. “Don’t- don’t-”Mattel hushes her. “I won’t,” he promises, carrying far more fervent devotion than he has any right to give for two people in their circumstances. “But it wasn’t a sad thing. Don’t cry, lovely,” he hums, and carefully strokes the tear from Regina’s cheek.Regina closes her eyes, trying to will the tears away.(But it’s hard, when her hea
. The Alpha King’s Runaway Mate.Chapter 43: but where to? .Mattel feels a stark possessiveness well up inside of him; this constant, ever-present desire to claim and hold and mine. (Mattel has only ever known that anything good and warm is fleeting; it’s ingrained within him a vile sort of desperation to hold onto said things, because he’s only ever seen them depart, soon after.)Helpless.That’s the way Regina makes him feel. Like he’s no longer in control of his own faculties, his senses entirely wrapped up in trying to ascertain where Regina is at all times; in trying to catalogue and take in all the mesmerising curves of her features, the light catching in her eyes, the sound she makes when her breath hitches as Mattel’s lips press against hers.Her scent, sweet and floral and not unlike what Mattel might have imagined of that elusive paradise, had he ever permitted himself to dare think of something as holy and sacred as that.Mattel, that dark and loathed and treacherous
The Alpha King’s Runaway Mate .Chapter 44: .*MATTEL* The clang of steel against steel echoed through the training grounds of the castle as King Mattel sparred with his trusted commander, Lionel. Their swords flashed in the sunlight, each strike precise and calculated as they danced across the practice yard, their movements fluid and graceful despite the weight of the weapons they wielded.As they circled each other, sweat glistening on their brow, Lionel spoke up, his voice calm and measured despite the intensity of their training."Your Majesty," he began, his eyes focused on the king's form as they exchanged blows, "we need to discuss the information Prince Damian has provided us."Mattel's brow furrowed in concentration as he parried Lionel's attack, his mind already racing ahead to the implications of the prince's warning. "Yes, I know," he replied, his voice tight with concern. "But what can we do? The kingdom is on the brink of war, and I fear we may be too late to preven