CHAPTER 1

“Dammit!” I say almost in a whisper and I see Olivia staring at me a little bit confused.

“Em, what is going on? Suddenly you look like someone killed your dog.” and she smiles at me.

I take a deep breath and try to control my emotions. I knew I may find my mate today but I thought or better said I hoped that this is not going to happen today. Somewhere in the future, so I could have time to make a plan about what I am going to do when I meet him.

You see, I am the Alpha King’s daughter. I am the heir of his throne. Olivia is fifteen minutes younger so all this magnificent shit, called responsibility for our people's safety, is on my shoulders. I should rejoice finding my mate today, but I can’t. I just stare at him from the balcony of the ballroom while I am waiting for my father to introduce me to our guests.

“Shit, shit, shit!” I say and turn around almost bursting in tears.

“Em, you are scaring me” Oliva says and in the next second Ian, my future Gamma, shows up.

“What the hell is going on here?” and he lifts my chin and frowns almost in an instant.

“I don’t know. She was happy and we were ready to go down the stairs because dad minlinked us, when she turned around and hid here acting like this.” Olivia explains to him.

“Emily” at the same moment Zena, my wolf, starts too. “He is our mate. You should try at least , maybe he is not the way people talk about him.”

“Just look at him, Zena!” I told her. “He is fucking kissing a she-wolf at my birthday party!”

“Maybe if you didn’t suppress your scent and let him feel our bond he would stop!” Zena says and I can hear her pain. Our mate is holding another woman in his arms, dancing with her and kissing her like a shameless jerk in front of everyone. At least he should show respect and control his dick in front of my guests.

“Em!” Olivia interrupts us and covering her mouth with her hands she exclaims. “Oh my goddess, he is here?” making Ian look at me in horror. I mean , I know he hoped for us to be mates. He is my best friend , but it looks like he is not my mate. And I am happy for that because I only love him as a brother.

“Who is he?” he asks me and stares at all the unmated Alphas that came here today.

“Jacob Richards” I tell them and force myself to compose myself. I am the fucking future Queen of the werewolves. I am a royal and a Lycan. I am the most powerful creature in this world after my father and I am not going to freak out because of a manwhore!

“Are you kidding me, Emily?” Ian asks and I am sure that in two minutes he will drag Jacob Richards outside and kick his ass, but I am not going to let him do it. No. This is not me. I get it. I had a shock for the last five minutes but not anymore.

“That’s it.” Olivia says. “I am calling dad here!”

“No, Olivia. This is my business.” I tell her and stop her because she is already on her way to find dad.

“Are you kidding me? He must punish this manwhore. How dare he act this way! Even if he wasn’t your mate, the way he is acting now shows the lack of respect for our family!!!!”

Well he is known for his rebellious spirit so why the hell is Olivia so shocked? Is not the first time he is acting this way at a meeting.

“Will you accept him?” Ian asks me.

And this is what I am asking myself too.

“Accept him , please. The bond mate will be able to change him.” Zena says and begs me to go to him.

“This is beyond me” I tell Olivia and Ian, and look again down to the ballroom, just to see Jacob groping that woman's ass. It hurts like hell, but I am strong. If not me then who could be able to resist this fucking bond mate?

I stare at him and curse him in my heart. From all the unmated men in this world I am mated with Jacob Richards. Dammit!

“That’s it!” Olivia says and points her finger in my direction.

“I mindlinked dad and he is on his way here. And regarding that jerk. I am dragging him here and I am forcing him to accept your rejection.”

“But I don’t want to reject him!” Zena says pissed off. “I’ve been waiting for him for eighteen years and now you want to reject him just like that? Maybe he will come around.”

“And maybe he will break my heart.” I told her. “Or he will use me only to become the king of the werewolves.” and the simple thought of being used by my mate is giving me a headache.

“What is going on here?” I can hear my dad’s voice.

“She found her mate, dad!”

“Olivia!” I growl at my sister. “ This is my problem!” and now I am pissed off.

Dad looks at her and then at me and he is doing what he knows the best. He is taking my hand in his hand and pulls me in a fatherly hug.

“I bet you are not happy with the choice the goddess made for you.” he tells me and caresses my head.

“And how could she?” Olivia starts again and this time I lean back and look at her. I use my Alpha command on her. She may be my sister , but I am the future queen and she will show me respect. THIS IS MY FUCKING BOND MATE! It is my problem, not hers!

“Shut up, Olivia!” I told her.

“ Yes, I am not pleased but you know what? Is not like I am going to jump in his arms directly. I am responsible for everyone in this world. So many werewolves depend on my actions and I am not going to fuck up. It must be a reason for him being chosen to be my mate. The goddess never mistakes.” and I see my dad smiling at me.

“I am mated with Jacob Richards, father” I say directly, without even breathing and his face goes blank in the next second and looks in Jacob’s direction.

“Oh my goddess….” he whispers with a broken voice.

“All this time I protected you from people like him. This is why I made you hide your scent and your wolf so that no one would recognize you as my daughter during our meetings with the other Alphas. The power that comes with you is so damn tempting, but this man is not good for you, sweetie. Even his father threatened him to take his Alpha position, for acting like a scoundrel but he continued to act like a jerk.” dad says and I can feel how furious and scared at the same time he is.

“What are you going to do, Emily?” Ian asks me and comes closer. “You can’t accept someone like him just like that.”

Does everyone think that I don’t know that?

Just looking at Jacob right now makes me sick.

“Maybe you should continue to hide the bond with him, just the way you are doing it now.” Olivia suddenly tells me.

“I mean, if he doesn’t know who you are he won’t come to you.”

Yeah, that should work for now but what about later? I am going to ignore the bond forever, knowing who my mate is? Even if I choose a mate in the future, at some point I will need to face Jacob and reject him. So what’s the point of hiding the bond from him? Not the bond is my problem, but the fact that he will be the future Alpha King and he is not worthy to be one!

I turn my gaze from Jacob and look at Olivia, then at Ian and in the end at my father.

“He is the Alpha the goddess chose for our people, father. Who am I to contradict her?” I ask and look again in Jacobs direction. He is dancing with another woman and he is whoring around again. This man is death to me.

“What are you telling me?” dad asks. “If you want I am bringing him here and forcing him to accept your rejection. You know that he can’t oppose my command. Actually you can do that by yourself. What is stopping you?”

“Nothing stops me, father” and I compose myself and straightened my dress, pinch my cheeks so that I could have a little bit of color on my face.

“Actually I am not going to reject him. At least not now.”

“So you are accepting him?” Ian asks me in shock. He knows what I hate the most in this world. People like Jacob Richards.

“No. That's also a big no.” and as soon as I said that I lifted a wall that was going to block Zena to contact Jacob’s wolf and start to get down the stairs.

That’s the beauty of being a Lycan. I can act like a human if I want and fool everyone around me. I can hide my bond mate from everyone. My power is unlimited. In this world only the Alpha’s King family is this way. Tonight I will be the Alpha’s King daughter and nothing more. The bond mate is for another day.

So what stops me right now? Nothing. If Jacob Richards is not good for me, I will find that inner strength to reject him. But what if he is what I need? Why would the Moon Goddess pair us together if there is not something more in the middle?

So with this thought in my mind, hiding our bond, I'm meddling through the crowd but not before I tell my closest people.

“I will test him. If I find him valuable I'll give him the world, but if this bond is a mix-up, no matter what it costs me, no matter what I suffer, I will reject him.”

“That’s more like it!” Olivia says as she runs on the stairs to catch up with me.

Dad is staring at me a little bit stressed, but before he could ask for more details Ian takes the lead.

“And how are you going to test him?”

Yeah… that’s the problem. They'll squeeze my neck when they find out my plan.

“That’s not even a plan, Emily!” Zena growls at me, but I ignore her. She is affected by the bond mate and she can’t think clearly.

“Em, Ian asked you something,” Olivia tells me, so I stop for a second and looking behind me I tell her, dad and Ian.

“I will suppress my powers, make him think that I am a human and let him feel the bond with me. If he accepts me, as a weak human I am his forever. If he rejects me, he is going to lose the biggest prize a werewolf could dream of. “

“That’s bullshit!” Ian says. “You are a Lycan, how to act like a human? I am not letting you go alone to Paxon Pack!”

I turn around and continue my way to the ballroom floor and without a second thought I ask him.

“Who said I am going alone? You are coming with me!”