Mated to the Alpha: Sold to the King

Lorelei POV

In the end, Kaelen had been right.

He had spent the better part of the last hour proving exactly what a beast he could be in bed, and judging by the look in his eyes, he still didn’t seem completely satisfied.

Yet, just for my sake, he had forced himself to stop before carrying me into the bathroom and gently washing us both off.

Now, I lay beneath the heavy sheets of his bed, my entire body aching as I watched him pull on a pair of dark pants before climbing back onto the mattress and settling beside me.

"How are you feeling?" he asked, his voice low and filled with genuine concern.

I slowly turned my head and shot him a hard, murderous glare.

"Don’t look at me like that," he immediately said, his deep voice surprisingly gentle. "I warned you. I told you I wasn’t ready to do this yet, but you wouldn’t listen."

His expression softened as he reached over to brush a strand of hair away from my face. "But don’t worry. I’ll have the healer prepare something for the pain."

Knowing deep down that this was partly my fault, I didn’t bother arguing with him. Instead, I released a long, dramatic sigh, only for Kaelen to immediately wrap his massive arms around me and pull me against his chest.

He buried his face against the side of my neck, idly nibbling at a sensitive spot that made me instinctively squirm.

It was still early afternoon, with the sun shining brightly outside, yet here I was with the supposedly formidable Alpha King clinging to me like an oversized, needy baby.

"Don’t you have work?" I couldn’t help asking, my hand absently roaming over the hard, warm planes of his bare back, but Kaelen suddenly went still.

He lifted his head and pulled back just enough to look at me, his amber eyes narrowing as he studied my face.

"You don’t want me here?" he asked, his voice suddenly laced with suspicion.

My eyes widened, and I quickly shook my head. "Of course I want you here. I just..." I hesitated for a moment, my fingers continuing to trace slowly along the line of his spine before I added, "For the past few days, Darius kept telling me you were really busy whenever I asked about you. You’re the Alpha King, Kaelen. I don’t want you neglecting your duties because of me."

His hardened expression immediately softened, a hint of guilt crossing his features.

"Darius was just saying that," he muttered, his gaze dropping for a moment. "The truth is, I was too consumed by guilt to face you. I figured burying myself in work would be the best distraction."

I continued running my fingers gently down his back, tilting my head as a small smile tugged at my lips. "And how did that work out for you?" I asked, barely managing to hide the teasing note in my voice.

"Terribly," he admitted without even a second of hesitation. "You were literally the only thing I could think about. It was like you’d cast some kind of spell on me or something."

With that confession, he buried his face right back into the crook of my neck, causing a soft, involuntary chuckle to escape my lips.

Honestly, it felt ridiculously good knowing I wasn’t the only one who had been going crazy these past few days. And as that thought crossed my mind, my hand subconsciously drifted upward, finding the small teardrop pendant resting against my collarbone, the same one I had put back on immediately after stepping out of the bath.

"Why do you keep wearing that?" Kaelen suddenly murmured against my skin, his warm breath fanning over my collarbone.

My fingers paused around the smooth glass pendant as I looked down at it, my tone remaining completely casual. "It’s a gift."

The second those words left my mouth, Kaelen’s arm tightened around my waist.

"From who?"

"A man," I replied smoothly.

I barely got the last word out before Kaelen shot upright, sitting rigidly on the bed with his amber eyes blazing.

Seeing that expression, I couldn’t hold it in any longer. I burst out laughing right in his face, and the more his expression darkened into a lethal scowl, the harder I laughed.

"Goodness," I finally managed to gasp once my laughter began to die down, wiping the corner of my eye. "You’re so predictable when you’re jealous."

His face immediately twisted into an offended frown as though I had just deeply insulted him. He let out a stiff scoff and crossed his arms over his broad chest, clearly determined to look completely unbothered.

"I’m not jealous. I’m just curious... and, honestly, a little offended. I mean, look at it. It looks cheap. I would’ve gotten you something way better."

"Right," I muttered under my breath, fighting the urge to roll my eyes at his wounded pride.

Apparently, my complete lack of concern only made him more determined to get an answer, because Kaelen straightened and leaned slightly closer, his expression losing the playful edge.

"No, seriously. Which guy gave it to you? Do I know him?"

Why did that sound suspiciously like a threat?

I stared up at him, watching that dangerous, brooding look slowly sharpen in his eyes as I wondered what he would actually do if I gave him the name of some imaginary man. Would he send his guards after him? And if they found him... what then?

Knowing Kaelen, killing him wasn’t exactly out of the question.

I was honestly tempted to make up a random name just to see how far I could push him, but judging by how seriously he was taking this, I decided it probably wasn’t worth causing an international crisis over a tiny piece of jewelry.

With a defeated sigh, I raised both hands in surrender.

"It’s a joke. Princess Nala gave it to me."

When he still didn’t look completely convinced, his suspicious gaze lingering on the glass teardrop around my neck, I added, "You can ask her yourself if you don’t believe me."

His hardened expression immediately cracked, the tension in his shoulders finally easing as his muscles relaxed. He leaned back down over me until his forehead rested against mine.

"Of course I believe you," he murmured, without even the slightest hint of shame. "And I was wrong. The necklace is actually really beautiful. I should probably thank her myself."

"Yeah, you really should," I muttered, playing along with his shameless lie as I gently stroked the back of his neck.

For a moment, the room fell quiet, the warmth between us settling into something almost peaceful. But as my fingers idly traced the smooth edges of the pendant resting against my skin, a sudden heaviness settled in my chest, making the air in my lungs feel strangely thin and causing my breath to catch.

"Kaelen..." I called softly, my voice barely above a whisper.

He answered with a low, contented hum, pressing a gentle kiss against my collarbone.

I swallowed hard, trying to clear the sudden lump in my throat before finally asking the question that had been silently clawing at the back of my mind.

"Do you believe in prophecies?"

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