Plot Twist

Chapter 16

"I imagined I would be the one who had to seek you out," His smooth accented voice broke me from my train of thought, "And yet...here you are. You found me." He took a step closer to me, shortening the already small distance between our bodies.

Why is he looking at me like that?

It's that...that look!

It's the look Fake-dad gives fake-mom.

It's like I'm the cure for cancer and the last piece of chocolate cake.

Nobody has looked at me like that before.

The air in the room felt thick, and the familiar urge to lessen tense situations welled up in me. "Well, what can I say? That's just how I roll," I replied, rubbing the back of my neck awkwardly.

Oh, geez, did I really just use the phrase, 'that's how I roll' out loud? I sound like I just time traveled from the year 2007 over here.

"So it seems," the intense look in his green eyes deepened.

He's so pretty.

*Sigh*

I. Am. Thoroughly. Fucked.

"Your Majesty! My King! Sire!"

The next part happened quite fast. One second, the doors to the meeting room were swung open violently and the next, I was pushed back as a muscular frame shielded me. Harry-Not-Styles stood in front of me, facing the doorway like it was a threat.

"Your Majesty, I don't mean to interrupt your meeting, but our guests were getting anxious about their sister. They said she was taken to meet you," A high-pitched voice spoke, "Once again, no disrespect, My King, I apologize."

I stood on my tiptoes to peer over Harry-Not-Styles' shoulder to see who was talking. Standing in the entrance of the room was a guy who looked to be in about his late twenties with a gangly form, muddy brown hair that hung in his face and a sharp nose. The expression on his face was one of terror - like a deer caught in headlights.

Ten bucks says this guy pees his pants right now.

Also, can we take a moment to just absorb the fact that Mason literally just stepped in front of my body to shield me from danger. I mean, I know it's one of those 'mate protection' instincts or whatever, but just - woah.

I'm not even kidding, this guy is seriously starting to fuck with my emotions a little bit.

"Alfie," Mason/Harry's voice came out in a slight growl, like he was containing himself, "What have I told you about barging into my meetings knocking? It makes my wolf think you're a threat, and trust me, right now, you really don't want my wolf to consider you a danger. Tell the siblings we will be in shortly to deal with them."

I felt like facepalming a little bit.

In all the, you know, 'finding out you have a mate who looks exactly like Harry Styles' business, I had kinda forgotten about Skylar and Jackson. But with Alfie's reminder, I felt like reality was sinking in. What was going to happen now? I mean, not even ten minutes ago, I was mate-free. I was prepared to walk in, plead my case to the Alpha King - cry, if I had to - and prevent Ryder from taking my fake-sister away from Jackson and I. And now - now, I had a mate. The already messy situation was only about to get more complicated. I could feel a headache coming on from all the serious, borderline-angsty thinking I'd been doing.

And, is it just me, or is Mason a bit of a hardass?

Also, did he say 'we'? As in 'we' - me and him - would be dealing with my siblings and the whole, 'Skylar vs. Ryder' situation? Because, in that case, I am most definitely, one-hundred percent throwing Ryder into the dungeon.

"Yes, Your Majesty, I apologize for my rude manners. It most certainly won't happen again, and I would never ever wish to give the impression that I was a threat," Alfie bowed his head low, "I will go tell the siblings at once." With that, he scurried out of the meeting room, the doors closing behind him.

Now that Alfie was gone and my head finally felt a little bit clearer about everything, I decided to address Harry-Not-Styles. It was a lot easier to think about handling Skylar's problem first then it was to think about having to sort through my feelings and my own, well, situation. Bottom-line, mate or not, the whole reason we were here at the palace was to deal with Ryder and now that things had changed, I could see a trip to the dungeon in his near future. 

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AN: Okay, so I'm aware of how long it's been and I'm really sorry. My life has been kind of hectic lately, and not only has it been hard to make writing a priority, I've also had a case of writer's block with this chapter. I wanted Mason to be portrayed a different way - not like your typical half-brain Alpha mate - and probably rewrote this chapter fifty times. That being said, next chapter will not be this long of a wait. I'm going to try and get it out within the next week or so. 

That being said, what do you guys think? I'm not entirely happy with this chapter, and I'd love some feedback. Thoughts on Mason? Cal's reaction? Was this chapter confusing? There were points in writing where I felt like I was being confusing. So, tell me what you think! 

Also, Thank you all for the amount of support you've given me! We're almost at 10K reads! I can't believe that! I love you all and sincerely cannot believe how patient you've been with me. 

Love, 

ChattyCupcake