Page 21 of Mated to the Crown
“What do you shift to?” I ask, slapping my hand over my mouth. He laughs and pulls me against him again.
“Be patient, Princess. Anyway, the line used to be strong hundreds of years ago. Soon it started to bear children that couldn’t shift. There was a lot of inner turmoil, trying to figure out why it was happening. Was the line contaminated? So they started reaching out to other families to see if they were experiencing the same thing. Most of them were. Shiftersinnately have fated mates but as the lines started to decline so did the chance of getting a mate. Soon it became political marriages in the hope that it would strengthen the chance of producing a shifter heir.” He stops and I realize I am holding my breath as I process the information he is telling me. His hand begins to play with my hair once more.
“So what happened? Are you a shifter?” I ask breathlessly.
He nods, his chin rubbing against my head as he does.
“I am. Nobody else in my immediate family is. My grandmother was also, which is why we were so close. My brother isn’t. My father isn’t. My mother isn’t although that is a whole other story.” He goes quiet and I focus on the beating of his heart. All of this information doesn’t scare me like it should. Him changing into some sort of monster, no not monster. An animal. It should be terrifying, but instead I feel a thread inside that feels like it’s growing the more we are together. The thread that has pulled me out of my shell and made me want to lean into this fantasy a little more.
“So what do you change into?” I whisper and he laughs again, shaking my body as he does.
“I told you to be patient.” He smacks my ass playfully before leaning forward so I have to sit up and away from him. He leans toward me and his blue eyes are an icy blue. He gives me a soft kiss before pulling his shirt up and over his head. I lean back, taking in his body as he throws the shirt to the side. His strong arms are bulging with muscles. His chest is toned and leads down to his abs, each defined that leads down to the V heading beneath the waistband of his pants.
My eyes trail back up to his broad shoulders and he turns to me, showing me his tattoo. It was partially finished, the top of it fades into the lower half, disappearing against his skin. It was a dark blue, intricate design swirling around his arm. He reaches out toward me, his fingertips slipping under my shirt. I lookedup at him, confused at what was going on but giving him a nod to continue.
He pulls my shirt up over my head, leaving me just in a black bra. His eyes trail down my body and he stops, reaching out and turning me slightly. His hand traces across my shoulder and I frown.
“What?” I ask, tipping my arm up until I see what he is looking at. A similar tattoo sprawls across the top of my shoulder, the same design as his but a lighter blue. It seems to sparkle and pulse unlike his. “Malik?”
“Remember how I told you that shifters have mates?” His hand lands on my tattoo and my mind goes blank. Mates? How did I get a tattoo and not remember? It didn’t hurt or feel rough to the touch like others I had seen or heard about. Some of the servants had tattoos and would tell me about the pain when it was administered. It consisted of dipping needles into ink and then pressed into the layers of the skin.
“Are you saying I’m your mate?” I whisper.
He pulls his hand from my shoulder, cupping my face in his hands. A smile spreads on his face, his blue eyes meeting mine.
“Yes, Princess.”
I don’t know why but I jerk back. There is no fucking way. Everything suddenly crashes from my fantasy I had playing in my head. He was a shifter? I was his mate? He brought me here to tell me that? I pull away from him, my head feeling light headed as I stand up. I see him reach out to me but I hold my hand out.
“I need a minute.” I snap.
An incessant pain climbs its way up my spine to my head and I need some air. Everything is too closed in. It is too dark. It is too noisy. I need something. I make my way outside, stomping off into the woods. I shut out any noises behind me and justwalk. My heartbeat is pounding in my ears, I can feel my body shaking with each step I take and a sweat breaks out on my skin and suddenly it is too hot despite being outside in only a bra. I look down at my body, ready to feel vulnerable until I fall down to my knees.
Hands touch my shoulders, a voice talks to me but I can’t make out the words. Pressure pushes my shoulders down and I lean my face against the cool grass. A hand strokes up and down my back but I can’t contain the spiral I am in. It is too much, too fast. I am a servant. I am nobody. I am… mated to a Prince. I am a mate?
“Please breathe, baby.” The voice cuts through and I let out a soft breath, finally feeling a sense of control over this panic attack. I close my eyes, inhale through my nose and count to 5 before blowing out the air through my mouth. I continue breathing, Malik kneels next to me as his hand rubs my back. I quiet the voices in my mind, singling out the most important thing. The Goddess chose me.
I slowly move up, holding my head as I lean back into a kneel. I keep my eyes forward, focusing on the trees in front of me. The sun was starting to go down, the night was creeping up and the forest looked eerie with the emerging shadows. I don’t know what to say to him. I don’t know what the rest of the night would entail, let alone the rest of our future. He moves in my peripheral vision and I let out a breath. He soon is in front of me, no smile or smirk on his face.
“Good girl. Breathe.” His voice is soft and I try to quell the rampant emotions still in my stomach. His praise helps more than he knows.
“Why did this happen?” My own voice is quiet, filled with raw emotion. This time he does smile.
“The Goddess chose us, for some reason or another.” His hand gently traces my chin. “Are you okay?”
“I don’t know, honestly. It’s a lot.”
“You are handling this amazing. I didn’t want to tell you and scare you off, but look how strong you are.” My breath catches in my throat and I nod.
“You really think so?”
He moves his hands to my elbows, helping me to stand before pulling me against his chest.
“Yes. You are so strong.” He rumbles. I wrap my arms around him and bury my face into his chest. My stomach grumbles, ruining the sincerity of the moment but he just lets out a little laugh. “Let’s go eat. I’ll try to answer any questions you have but honestly this is kind of new to me too.”
MALIK
She took the news better than I thought she would, despite the panic attack she had. She made it through though and now was sitting at the small table in the kitchen, watching me as I move around effortlessly. While I was used to being fed and catered to, honestly I liked cooking.
