The King & the Stable Boy

BONUS: Forgotten Blocker

Tears welled up in my eyes and I threw my arms around her, squeezing her tightly, her hands gently patting my back.

"I'll send you a pigeon tomorrow at sunset. If all is well, then leave a blank note. If you're in trouble, leave it empty and send it back to me."

I was about to thank her when a pounding was heard on her door. I refused to move, watching as she checked the door, opening it as wide as she usually does, with me just out of sight.

I saw a face I recognized all too well. Ramos.

"Look I mean you no harm, but can I please speak to him?" Ramos asks.

She turns to look at me and I nod.

She lets him in, latching the door back up behind him and glares at him threateningly.

"Noah, he's a mess." Ramos says. "He's ready to tear this entire island apart looking for you."

"And the Queen?"

"She's been silent. No one apart from Roman and I know other than the royals. Grant was told they were looking for a violent escapee from the prisons and needed the kings command to capture him."

"Ramos why are you here?" I question.

"You're one of my best friends and I'd hate to see you hurt. If the king does as his ancestors and rejects and hangs you, I'll be the first to help you escape, but there's still a possibility that you both will be happy with one another. I can't in good conscience see you run from that without ever really knowing."

I purse my lips and nod. It's time I go back.

I bid Samara goodbye for what hopefully isn't the last time and head back with Ramos.

He leads me in through the gardens right by the queen's wing and we enter. I see Ramos looking off blankly and know he's mind linking his brother.

"The king's in his study."

I nod, heading over that way. I pause at the start of the hallway, knowing he'll be able to scent me. Taking a deep breath, I take that step walking towards his study. I'm just about to knock when the door is thrown open and I'm face to face with a more stable minded William.

I expected him to yell or slap me but I was surprised when I was instead grabbed firmly by the wrist and pulled into the study, the door locking behind me.

I went to speak but he held up a hand and pointed towards a chair.

"Sit." It wasn't a request it was a command.

I do as told and look at him expectantly.

"I'd ask why you hid for so long, but that would be a question routed in ignorance. You're a male wolf shifter. Of course you hid. So instead I'm going to ask you how."

"Double dosage of scent blocker."

He nods.

"Next question. If the law didn't bind you away to this bond, would you have shown yourself?" I hesitate but nod in reply. "Good."

He pulls me up by the collar and slams his lips to mine, shocking me. That wasn't enough for him as he grabbed my ass through my trousers biting on my bottom lip, taking advantage of my gasps to deepen the kiss. My hands found his hair with ease, and I kissed him back.

He picks me up, causing me to straddle his hips. He growls into the kiss, and I can feel us coming down, him sitting in a chair, my legs draped on either side of his lap.

I soon pulled away for breath and he kisses down my neck, licking where his mark should be before nibbling the area. I could feel his fangs scraping the area, and my heart began to beat irregularly. He wanted to mark me, right here and now.

"Mine." he growls out, pulling me closer.

Chandler was practically having a field day in my mind right now, doing laps over an imaginative hill.

"Can I mark you, love?" he asks.

I shake my head, trying to push away from him.

This is all insane.

I got up and tried to leave the room, forgetting that the door was locked, and I was spun around and pressed against the mahogany frame before I could unlock it.

"Please, stop running from me." he said.

I looked in his eyes and saw the pain held there.

"What do you want from this?" I whisper.

"Everything. I want you by my side for the rest of my life. If you'll let me."

This was far from what I'd expected.

"I know it's scary, and there's a lot of uncertainty for you, but laws are meant to be broken. They can be changed. I won't let some stupid set of codes keep us apart. I promise you that I intend to have you rule by my side, not be some dirty secret in the shadows as you watch me parade around the kingdom with some damsel on my arm and children that should be raised by you."

"What if I don't want this?" I ask. "Would you let me go?"

He purses his lips.

"I won't lie to you. I couldn't. I'm selfish, I'd keep you here, even if you grew to hate me, because the simple thought of seeing you with anyone else makes me sick to my stomach. I'd try to win you over until my dying breath."

"What if a few years passed and I still couldn't be happy with you?"

He took in a deep breath.

"I-I, I guess I'd have to let you go because even if it hurts me for you to be with someone else, I'd let you because I'd want you to be happy, and by then, I'd know that it wasn't with me."

He took a step back from me, unlocking the door, and turned away, as if waiting for the sounds of the door slamming shut. He was prepared for a rejection, he'd opened the way for one.

I locked the door again and walked up to him, slamming my lips to his. He kissed me back and we both pull away, smiling at one another.