The Kings Kitten

12 - The First Touch

"Can you not look at me so intensely?" She murmured, reeling me back into reality as I met her gaze, but she wasn't staring at me.

"You're not leaving much to the imagination." I commented.

She audibly gasped and looked me directly in the eye, bringing her arms up to cross them over her chest. "My eyes are up here, do you always think so provocatively?" She exclaimed.

I stepped over to her so that we were only a step apart from one another. "Only when it comes to you." I bit back. I liked it when we played these little games, where she would pretend like she's not aware of her attractiveness and I'd play along so I could bask in it.

My mate was a beautiful creature, that was for sure. And I liked the way I could push her buttons by saying whatever I wanted about her body.

She pressed the jumper up against my chest as though to create a barrier between us. "You're a pervert."

I too placed my hand over the garment against my chest, but with a quick pull it was out of her grasp and I tossed it on the floor, her hand landed directly on my bicep and the warmth made my breath catch momentarily in my throat. "Can I not admire your beauty?" I teased.

She was silent for a moment, probably taken off guard by my comment. "You just want to mate already." She retorted.

My eyebrows knitted together. I mean of course I wanted to mate with her, I could have done it right away if she was comfortable enough.

But this wasn't like regular mateships, I had to go at the pace she was comfortable with, and as much as I desired throwing her on that bed in this moment, I knew I couldn't unless she said so.

Mateships were powerful and the longer I resisted mine the harder it became to compose myself, this wasn't natural for us werewolves. For us essentially it was "mate now, talk later" but with Madeline I knew it had to be the other way around.

"And you don't?" I teased.

I expected her to deny it straight away, tell me she wasn't ready to and that I was dreaming. But instead she shocked me when she remained silent and her cheeks turned a bright red tinge of flustered.

"I'm just scared." She admitted. "If we mate, I'll no longer be a Falkov. I'll lose my family."

I found myself closing the gap between us as I wrapped my arms around her in a hug. I'd never considered this from her perspective. Eventually she would have to come back with me and live in my clan permanently, she wouldn't be a member here, and rightfully so her family would no longer accept her as one of their own. But it would be even harder for her to adjust to a new life in my clan, I know my people wouldn't take to having a Lioness queen all that kindly.

I hadn't given it much thought as to how this whole situation would pan out. My goal was to complete the my mateship with her, everything that comes after flew straight over my head. The inauguration, the dangers that would come with her being my soulmate. A family.

I wasn't entirely sure whether Madeline would even be able to bear any of my children, but I didn't want to think about that right now.

But why would she want to stay here? Where she was the black sheep of her family, where her family don't respect her and she has no future, where she'd always be in everyone else's shadow.

"They don't respect you, princess. With me you'd be happy. You'd have your own family." I whispered.

I was hoping this would help her feel better, but I wasn't sure whether it did when she remained silent. Madeline was clearly thinking about it, about this entire situation and how much her life would change due to the bond.