The Lost Werewolf King's Mate

Mathew's POV

Orion caught a whiff of Elizabeth's scent, but it disappeared almost as soon as we got it. We kept running in the direction where we caught her scent last, but there was nothing. It was almost like she disappeared into thin air.

I sprinted throughout almost half of my territory looking for her. I ran for hours, but found nothing. It was too late to go searching for her in the rest of my territory or other packs. She was probably gone by now.

I had to accept that she was cloacked.

Orion stopped in the middle of a forest in my territory and a roar ripped out of him. It was filled with so much anger and longing for her. It shook the trees and travelled through my entire territory. We couldn't accept this. This couldn't be happening again.

I found myself walking back to the palace naked in my human form. I was covered in dirt and leaves and had no idea how they got there or when I shifted back and made my way back to the palace.

I went straight to the Luna Suite. I needed to engulf myself in her scent. I needed to touch something she had touched. I needed to roll around in it. That cold and dark feeling was threatening to return. I needed her here.

I burst into the suite and found a bunch of people already inside. Agatha, Luciene, Ken, Keyon, Esther, Danny and Audrey were sitting in the sitting living room and had made themselves at home. They had even made themselves food. Elizabeth hadn't even gotten a chance to see the newly decorated living room. I arranged for the place to be fully furnished today while she was in the library. I was going to surprise her and ask if she liked it.

I ignored them all and marched to the bedroom. I grabbed the chemise she wore last night and bundled it up to my nose. I inhaled as deeply as I could and felt both Orion and I relax a bit. This wasn't enough though. I needed more.

I rummaged through the dirty laundry basket and found the thong she wore last night. I held it up to my nose and thought of how my cock rested between her ass cheecks last night. She was moaning while I pressed myself further against her and licked and sucked on her mark spot. I should have mated her. I should have said to hell with this curse and marked and mated her.

"Phoenix won't let them stay away, Mathew", Orion tried to reassure me. "They'll be back."

I growled at him. He had no idea what was waiting for us. He left me to deal with that cold and darkness alone last time. He doesn't know that I spent every single day wanting to claw my heart out because I couldn't bear the pain of being without her. He doesn't know how suffocating life is without her. That's what was awaiting us - a cold and suffocating darkness and because I'm the King I had to bear it for everyone's sake.

I kept inhaling the scent on her chemise and underwear.

"Fuck!", I muttered to myself, "I should have mated her."

I reluctantly got up from the bed and took a shower. I needed to find a way to bring her back and this time I'd be damned if it took me another three years.

I got dressed and decided to leave the suite. Agatha was obviously the one who cloacked her. I had to find another witch as strong as Agatha to find her. I'd probably need to go to another kingdom.

"And where do you think you're going?"

I turned my back and found Agatha looking at me with a raised brow.

I growled at her. "You know where I'm going, Agatha. I'm not letting another three years go by without her. Do any of you know what that's like?"

They all avoided looking at me, except for Agatha who dared to look at me defiantly.

"Do you even care how much pain I'm in everytime she's not by my side? Seconds feel like hours. Hours feel like days. I need her. She's mine!"

Audrey bit her lip nervously while fidgeting with her fingers. Danny clung onto Keyon like he was a lifeline and Esther crawled further into Ken's lap.

They all had someone and yet they were okay with me being alone.

"Boss", Kendrick managed to look me in the eye, "She didn't just leave you. She left me and Keyon as well. We won't let her stay away, boss. Agatha may have cloacked her, but we already have trackers on her trail."

Agatha snapped her eyes at Ken and growled at him. "I know Lizzie means a great deal to you all, but I did what I had to do."

She stood up and walked to me. "If she's not back in two days, I will remove my cloack and give you her location. I give you my word, King Alden."

I was struggling to control my breathing. I was furious with her, but I reluctantly shook her hand. I knew she would keep her word.

"Now please sit down", she instructed. "Luciene here says he wasn't done talking to you."

Luciene was now dressed in khaki chinos, formal shoes and a dark green polo shirt that made his green eyes stand out. He was completely healed from the earlier injuries I had inflicted on him and didn't look like someone who just woke up from a three year long coma.

I took a deep breath. "What else did you need to tell me, Uncle Luce?"

He looked around at everyone else nervously before he spoke. "Elizabeth is in heat, Mathew."

I tried to contain my rage, but I had to let it out somehow. She was in heat and nowhere close to me. I felt my claws ripping out of me and piercing through my fists.

They all gasped at the scene while my claws retracted and the holes that my claws had pierced through my hands healed.

If I attempted to open my mouth and speak to him, I would rip out his throat with my teeth so I decided to remain quiet as I waited for him to continue.

"If a normal she-wolf isn't mated and marked or rejected within three months of meeting her fated mate, she will go into heat", he continued."Her body will release pheromones that make it impossible for her and her mate not to complete the mating process. A similar thing happens to the Werewolf Queen, except the process takes three years."

I looked down and shook my head. Of course something like this would happen to Elizabeth and I. A manic and sadistic laugh that I've never heard ripped out of me. I couldn't stop it. This was the fucking icing on the cake. In three days she and I would have met precisely three days ago and she was nowhere to be found. To make things even worse, she and I couldn't mate or mark each other so chances are she'll end up going feral.

I kept laughing and watched my body shaking. I couldn't stop it. How could two people be this unfortunate.

"Nathaniel!" he shouted at me. "Nathaniel get a grip and pull yourself together!" He had his hands around my shoulders and was shaking me.

"I think I've finally snapped, Uncle Luce", I mocked him through my hysterical laughter. "Let me guess. It gets worse, doesn't it?"

He pursed his lips and looked like someone who was about to deliver terrible news. I fucking knew it.

"Nathaniel, I'm so sorry", he muttered almost to himself.

I kept laughing. "It's okay. I should be used to this by now."

"The Werewolf Queen is meant to be a ruler even if...", he clenched his fists, "even if she doesn't rule by your side."

My laughter stopped the second he said that. I found myself pinning him against the wall with my claws lodged in his neck. Blood was gushing out of him while he struggled to breathe over the blood that filled up in his throat.

I heard Ken and Keyon running to come and try and stop me, but I pushed my aura down on them so hard that they fell to their knees.

I got my claws out of his neck and he fell to the ground, trying to stop the blood while struggling to breathe. He would heal in a few seconds, but he needed to feel an ounce of my suffering. That feeling that he was experiencing right now of gasping for air, but not quite getting it, was nothing compared to what I went through and what I was going through right this very moment.

I bent down all the way to the ground and growled in his ear. "Be careful what you say next, Uncle Luce", I warned him. "Elizabeth is mine. She is the Werewolf Queen and will ONLY rule by my side."

He shook his head as he got up and coughed through his injuries. " That's not necessarily true, Nathaniel. If the Werewolf Queen goes into heat while she's close to a strong unmated Alpha or a strong unmated King in another kingdom or any other strong unmated ruler for that matter, the pheromones released by her body will make them want to mate and mark her."

I punched the wall behind him while he stood still inches away from my fist. I punched it repeatedly until my hand started bleeding.

Once I stopped, he gathered his strength and continued talking. "They'll only want to mark or mate her if they're already attracted to her. If not, they'll be unaffected by her heat."

I gritted my teeth. So she's already in heat and I have no idea where she is?"

A dark silence hung in the room while I looked at all of them.

"Her heat reaches its peak in exactly three years, but it's definitely already started", Luciene's hands couldn't stop trembling. "I could tell just by looking at the two of you. Even if you didn't know all these things, I'm sure on a primal level you and your beast have sensed an urgent need in her to be marked and mated."

I punched the wall again without answering him. Orion and I have felt it. Her emotions have been all over the place and even Orion agreed with me that the main reason why Elizabeth and Phoenix were feeling so insecure about Megan was because they needed us to mate them into oblivion.

I turned my head to Agatha. Surely after hearing all this she would tell me where Elizabeth is. I could lose her to another man or she could go feral. This was anyone's worst nightmare.

"King Alden, I can't tell you where she is", she retorted before I could say anything. "We are dealing with the most unholy and strongest curse I've ever encountered. I can't risk it. I gave you my word. If she's not back in two days, I will tell you where she is."

"Until then", Audrey stood up nervously, "there are two kelpies on their way to the Black Claw pack. In the vision my Order of Seers had, they said they would only speak to you."

"I can send Ken and Keyon."

She shook her head. "They'll only speak to you. I don't know what they're bringing, but whatever it is, it's really important."

She looked scared of me and yet mustered the courage to come hold my hand. "Mathew, I know it's unfair of us to keep expecting you to protect the magical realm while you can't even be with your mate. What you and Elizabeth are going through is very unfair, but we still need you. You need to come to the Black Claw pack."

I tore my hand out of hers. Jonathan would tear my whole kingdom apart if he found his mate holding my mate.

"Fine", I growled at her.

*********************************************

Elizabeth's POV

I was running in wolf form while Mike followed behind in the car.

Phoenix and I were furious. This couldn't be happening again. This was unfair.

Every time our paws hit the ground, we could feel the earth shaking. I wanted to burn everything to the ground. Phoenix and I both did. It took everything in me not to let my flames run wild. I could feel how frustrated and angry Phoenix was. At times her anger would overtake me and I'd even black out for a few seconds only to find her still running while Mike struggled to keep up behind us in the car.

"Liz, calm down!", Mike shouted at me through our mindlink.

I didn't answer him. I needed to be far away from him. I needed to be away from everything and everyone. I couldn't believe how angry I was. I was fuming. I needed to be alone or I'd end up hurting someone.

His large brown wolf, Desert, was suddenly pouncing right next to us. Desert had grown bigger over the years. When Mike and I first met, he was the size of a normal Beta wolf. However, as the years progressed, even Mike was surprised to see that Desert was as big and as strong as a typical Alpha wolf. Neither one of us could understand why or how that happened, but since finding out he's a royal Gamma, it all made sense now.

Within a few hours, Mike and I were at the borders of the Gryphon kingdom. My future with Mathew lay in Killian's hands. If he refused to help us, we had nowhere else to turn to.

The guards didn't bother asking us to shift back into our human form. They could probably recognise our scents from the last time were were here.

They let us right in and we ran until we reached the palace. Killian looked like he had been waiting for us. His guards probably told him we have arrived.

He stood infront of his castle with two women to his side. One was holding men's clothing and the other was holding women's clothing. He looked quite dashing in formal navy blue pants, black leather shoes and a white shirt that wasn't buttoned all the way up, revealing glimpses of his muscular chest. His red hair was slicked back and his red beard was freshly shaven and trimmed. Even I had to admit the man looked amazing and was probably more attractive than most other men.

Mike and I shifted infront of Killian and the two women. The way Killian looked at me reminded me of how a predator looks at his prey. I immediately covered my breasts and private area.

His blue eyes kept trailing up down my body while he licked his lips. They were filled with nothing but lust and desire and proof of his desire was there for everybody to see as the bulge in his pants grew.

The two women started walking up to Mike and I, but he stopped the woman who was carrying a red dress and grabbed it from her.

He walked up to me, slammed my waist against him and and titled my face up to him. He bent down until he was so close that I could feel his hot breath on my lips. A low growl left his chest as he closed his eyes and inhaled my scent so deeply that I thought he'd never exhale again.

When he opened his eyes, his light blue eyes were so dark and filled with lust that I was afraid Taranis had taken over. "You smell like you're ready to be marked and mated, Star Fire", he whispered against my lips.