The Lost Werewolf King's Mate

ONE DAY BEFORE THE WEREWOLF QUEEN'S HEAT REACHES ITS PEAK

When we arrived at the Palace, I couldn't understand why Mathew was sitting by himself on the stairs. He should be in the palace right now mating the hell out of Elizabeth. Nothing would stop him from doing that, not even today's failed mission.

He stood up as soon as I got out of the car. I didn't like what I saw. That dark and ominous aura of his was back. His eyes were hollow and yet I could tell he was holding back a torrent of emotions just like he had done for the past three years.

"Boss, what's going on?", I ran to him without a second thought. "Where is she?"

He turned his face away from me while he tried to steady his breath. "Agatha sent her to the Gryphon kingdom. Killian has her."

Asriel and I roared. "We have to go get her! We'll fucking kill them. Why haven't you gotten the warriors ready, boss? Another man is holding your mate captive. This means war!"

He held my shoulders back and dug his claws into them. He was holding back so much pain and anger right now. I looked around us and noticed that not a single person was standing or walking close to us. He was trying to control his anger, but it was seeping out of him. I'd be able to handle it, but it would be unbearable to most.

"We can't afford a full blown war with the gryphons right now", he said through gritted teeth. "Raphael is almost here and we need everyone to fight him."

"So you're letting Killian have her?", I growled at him. "She's not just your mate, boss. She's our Queen. We need her!"

His claws dug further into my shoulder and I felt it rip through my skin. "Watch yourself, Ken", he warned me. "I am still your king."

I breathed heavily while I waited for him to continue. I wouldn't let him give up on Elizabeth. He wouldn't survive it and neither would our kingdom.

"Killian is, above all, a man of honour. I will go to the Gryphon kingdom and face him myself. I will challenge him for his throne, kill him and bring her back. I'll come back with her and more land for my kingdom."

I shook my head. This was a fucking stupid plan. We needed to go there with all our warriors and kill every gryphon we saw. For the first time ever the werewolves were actually strong enough to kill the gryphons. I saw how big and strong we were while fighting the were-bears. We would be too big for the gryphons to lift us or wrap their claws around our bodies. We would be too heavy for them to carry in the air. We would rip off their wings and heads. We could kill them.

"He's probably expecting you", I countered. "You'll find his army at the gates and by the time you've fought them to enter his kingdom, you'll be too tired to fight him in a challenge. And.." I didn't even want to say or think about this, but I had to. "What if he's already marked her? Killing him will mean killing her too."

He roared and punched the marble wall behind me. "No one will mark her but me! I would have felt it. She's mine, Kendrick!", he roared again. "She isn't marked."

I felt the deep wounds he just left in my shoulder healing and closing up. As soon as as I was healed, I walked to him.

"If you refuse to take your army with you then at least let me and Keyon come with you. We'll be your back up in case Killian isn't as honourable as you think."

"No!", he quickly responded. "I need the two of you here. Get everyone ready. I'll be back."

"Mathew", I looked at his hollow green eyes. "You don't have to do this alone. Let us help you get our Queen back. That's what we're here for."

He shook his head. "No", he insisted again. "You and Keyon know our war strategy in and out. I need you two here. I trust you."

Asriel and I wanted to rip the world apart. How could one man keep going through so much bull shit just to be with his fated mate? It should be easy. Being with your fated mate is as natural as breathing and yet time and time again it had become the hardest thing for Mathew to do.

"Okay", I agreed reluctantly. He had given me an order and every cell in my body was forcing me to comply with that order even if I didn't want to.

"Mathew", I mindlinked him because even if everyone was standing far away from us, their werewolf hearing would enable them to hear us, "are you okay? I'm not asking as your beta or as one of your subjects. I'm asking you as your friend and brother. Are you okay?"

He balled his fists and clenched his jaw.

"No", he growled lowly through the mindlink. "Something is wrong, Ken. Orion and I can't explain it. She needs me. What if...what if she's already gone feral? What if I'm too late?"

I tightened my grip around his shoulder. "She has not gone feral, Mathew! Don't lose hope."

I watched the red in his eyes increase while we spoke through mindlink. "I love her, Ken. I love her so much. I...I won't make it this time. I won't make it without her."

"You won't have to Mathew!", I tried convincing him. "Don't go into that dark place again. She wouldn't want that. She needs you right now so go get her!"

Before he could take off, I heard Prince Owen clearing his throat very loudly in the far distance.

Mathew and I both looked at him, his sister, the nymphs who were standing by the car and the twin warriors who were holding Danny. I had almost forgotten about them and the promise I made to Prince Owen and Princess Cecilia.

I took a deep breath. Now was not the time for Mathew to listen to their feeble attempt to get an alliance out of him. I knew that even in his state he had probably mindliked so many orders to get things done before he left to go get Elizabeth. Even now he was putting the kingdom before his own happiness.

"Prince Owen and Princess Cecilia have asked for five minutes of your time", I growled while looking in their direction. "They claim to have certain gifts that may make an alliance with the Nymph kingdom worthy."

"I've already ordered more warriors to go secure their boarders", he snarled with annoyance. "That's more than enough on my part. They'll be able to return to their kingdom soon enough."

"King Mathew, please!" Princess Cecilia yelled from afar. "If you could perhaps take away your aura, my brother and I could talk to you properly. We only need five minutes."

He growled at them before he slowly reeled in his aura. The air felt lighter and breathable. It no longer felt like a bolder was threatening to crush you and make your lungs explode.

"Two minutes", he growled lowly while the two siblings made their way to us.

They ran to us as soon as his aura was reeled in. The warrior's walked at a normal pace while they held Danny's arms.

"Is there anyone you're looking for?", Prince Owen asked Mathew as soon as they reached us. "If that person is hiding anywhere near trees or plants, I can talk to the trees and they'll tell me where that person is."

"How about finding Raphael?", Mathew asked with agitation. "We've been trying to find the warlock for years, but it seems he's cloacked so heavily that no one can find him unless he wants to be found."

Prince Owen started getting nervous. "I can't find someone who's cloacked. Even the trees can't see such a person."

Mathew turned his back to him and started walking away. "You're wasting my time", he growled while walking.

"Boss", I called out to him. "It hasn't been two minutes yet."

I heard him sigh and reluctantly walk back to us.

I took out my phone and showed Prince Owen a picture of Evangeline. She was definitely not cloacked. She was just good at evading our trackers.

"Tell us where this woman is before your time is up", I instructed him. "You have about a minute left by my calculations."

He studied her picture for a few seconds and then ran to the nearest tree. He whispered some unknown language to the tree and we watched a small whirlwind of leaves travel from one tree to the other while he whispered. It was subtle and had we not seen him in action, we would have just thought it was the wind picking up a few leaves.

We watched and waited while he kept whispering into the tree. Within seconds, another whirlwind of leaves came from the opposite direction and a huge smile appeared on his face.

"The trees say a witch-seer with purple eyes is being hidden in the Silver Crest pack."

Mathew and I looked at one another. That was faster than any tracker we've ever used and the information was precise.

"Ken, go to the Silver Crest pack", he ordered me. "Bring Evangeline and all the ranked members of the pack here. I want them in the cells by the time I get back."

I immediately started mindlinking warriors to get a team ready. I had just come back from fighting black were-bears, but now I had to go and capture traitors already. Asriel and I were annoyed because we were looking forward to seeing Esther and Ishmael, but we were nowhere near tired. We would just have to wrap this up quickly so we could come back home sooner.

"If your intel is true, then that's quite the impressive gift you have there", Mathew complimented the man.

"Enough for an alliance between our two kingdoms?", Prince Owen dared to ask. "Enough for the werewolves to train the nymphs, protect us until we can protect ourselves, start doing business with us and invite us to your mating balls?"

Mathew frowned at him "No", he replied coldly. "You're too ambitious, Prince Owen. Even if we find the woman we're looking for, it would still not be enough for an alliance. You would have just started repaying me and my warriors for saving your kingdom today."

Prince Owen cursed himself under his breath. He definitely needed more training as a ruler. What he was offering was nothing compared to what he wanted in return.

"I have a gift too", Princess Cecilia quickly interjected. "My gift enables me to manipulate earth metals and can be very helpful..."

"Helpful with what?", Mathew asked sarcastically.

"Uhm", the girl fidgeted with her fingers. "I don't know, but...", she said nervously.

Mathew shook his head in disappointment. "That's what I thought, Princess. Look, I will help the nymphs get their land back. Even though we're currently about to face a war, I will station warriors to guard your territory until we're sure the were-bears won't return. What I won't do is mix business with a species that is known for being lazy and neglectful. If you and your father hadn't been so careless and dismissed me, I would have found that gem ages ago. I wouldn't have lost warriors today."

The Princess looked like she was on the verge of tears. She couldn't even look at Mathew.

"Look at me Cecilia", Mathew demanded. "I had to go tell ten families that their sons, daughters, fathers, mothers, sisters and brothers weren't coming home today. I had to explain to them that all we found of them were their arms, legs and heads strewn about the sacred forest."

Then he turned his attention to Danny.

"Something tells me you're going to stick to the same nonsense you told me back at the Nymph kingdom, am I right?"

Danny stood defiantly while being held by the twin warriors. "You're going mad with power, Mathew", she spat at him. "If Elizabeth could see you now, she would gladly choose Killian over you. That's probably what she did anyways."

Before I knew it, I had her throat in my hand. I could feel my claws threatening to rip out of me and kill her right here. I didn't think she was guilty of anything, but surely this comment was uncalled for.

Mathew laughed sarcastically. "Let her go, Ken", he ordered me. "I want Keyon to interrogate her. Tell him to kill her if he needs to. She's no use to me if she doesn't talk."

"Boss!", I tried to reason with him. "Are you sure about this? She saved us when we were looking for the Kelpie kingdom and what about Liz? This will crush her."

He narrowed his eyes at me and smirked. "My mate is just like me, Ken. She demands absolute loyalty and will accept nothing less."

I watched the warriors drag Danny kicking and screaming into the cells. Those cells alone were already torturous. Mathew had different kinds of cells for light crimes, hefty crimes, torture and interrogations. The warriors were dragging her to the cells we use for torture. They were left dirty on purpose and were only cleaned when we ordered them to be cleaned. They were filled with blood, piss, vomit and shit. There wasn't a single clean spot in those cells. They were designed to drive anyone insane. Whatever Mathew thought Danny had done, she didn't deserve this.

"Mathew, are you sure about this?", I asked him as calmly as I could. "Maybe I should be the one to interrogate her. I can use the other cells. Keyon really likes her."

He scowled at me. "You're already biased because she helped you in the past, Ken. Keyon may like her, but he's good at interrogating. He'll get her to speak. Orion and I want him to be the one to do it. That's an order."

I gulped while listening to Danny's screams. I wanted to go help her, but Asriel stopped me.

"Orion senses things we don't, Kendrick", he warned me. "He says he and Mathew don't trust the girl anymore. We must obey them."

I tried my best to ignore her screams. I still trusted her.

I watched Mathew shift into Orion as he prepared to go to the Gryphon kingdom. He had fought were-bears today, ran all the way from the Nymph kingdom back to his territory and the man was still not tired. In fact, he was even willing to travel in his wolf form again even though he would have to fight Killian as soon as he arrived in the Gryphon kingdom.

"King Mathew wait!", Alexander, one of the seers in Mathew's territory came running to us. "Please wait!", he continued running while he was out of breath.

Alexander may be a very powerful seer, but he is no warrior. In fact, he has made it very clear that he will never train a day in his life because that's not what he was created for. He prefers spending his time in the library or honing his seer abilities. Whoever he ends up being mated to better be ready to protect him because he sure as hell could not protect himself.

His scrawny legs carried him until he stood a few meters before Orion. He was a slender man who could easily be blown away by the wind and next to Orion he looked like a twig.

He gulped and his dark brown eyes trembled in fear while he ran his long lanky fingers through his thick blue hair that he dyed every chance he got.

"I just received a vision", he said nervously. "This girl", he pointed at Princess Cecilia, "must go with you. She is vital to your journey."

Orion growled at Alexander while Cecilia dared to walk towards the large Alpha King wolf.

"May I...may I ride you?", she whispered nervously.

Orion shifted into Mathew in an instant. "My own mate has never even had a chance to ride my beast and yet you dare to..." He stopped talking while he tried to control his anger. "No, you may not ride me. Only Elizabeth, only the Werewolf Queen may ride the beast of the Werewolf King!"

"She didn't mean to offend you, King Mathew", Prince Owen tried saving his sister.

I smacked my hand against my head. The nymphs were just turning out to be more trouble than they were worth. Even they had to know you cannot ask a shifter to ride their beast. They must be the one to invite you to do so. It is such a sacred thing. One that is only shared with a mate and only in the rarest of circumstances, like when there's imminent danger, would it be acceptable for others to ride someone's beast. Mathew's reaction was how any other shifter would have reacted.

"I'm sorry", Princess Cecilia said in a shaky voice. "I just thought..." She trailed off.

Mathew shook his head from sheer annoyance. "We'll take the car", he snarled while an omega gave him some clothes to wear.

He got in a SUV that was quickly brought to him and Cecilia trembled while she got inside. That was going to be a long car ride.