The Prince’s Unwilling mate

Chapter 63

Ayla 63 “Everyb*dy, Tim and I are expecting” Kate blurts out the second the last one of us is seated. Just as it always is with the Hemming family everyone gets up in a rush to hug and tease the parents-to-be. I love my family and I love how close-knit we are. When I think back on it, being able to have my own family like this. A loving mate, pups who love us and each other. Had a big part to play in the fantasy of me wanting to meet my mate. Slowly I am beginning to realize that David was not the right mate for me. I still wonder why the Mo o nG oddess made that mistake, to begin with. But he cares more about status than he does about a happy family. I used to wonder if he always was like that, or if just started during Alpha training. Lately, I stopped thinking about that, because it doesn’t matter Griffin isn’t like that. He is set to be a King, not just an Alpha. Yet here he is in jeans and a T-shirt. Congratulating my sister with her pregnancy proudly telling her about his gift. “Really, I get to train with Mike Woods? I swear Ayla if you don’t keep this one I will wh oop your as s” Kate states half mockingly and half serious. Griffin beams at her words because to him the approval of my family means the most to him. Again confirming that I might not be ready yet, but I will be ready. Probably even within the six months, Griffin has given me. “Don’t worry I plan to keep him for as long as he will have me. One day I will be your Queen though and wh op ping my as s 0.00 Ayla 63 then would be treason” I can’t help but to tease back. Griffin walks back to me and pulls me close to him. “Darling, I am never letting you go, Darling, you are like a dream come true” He murmurs in my ear. All there is left for me to do is to lean into him smiling. Because this man is a dream come true for me too. I just lost that dream somewhere and was too tired to look for it.. We spent the rest of the afternoon chatting, to the point where Kate forgot to start dinner. I caused

her to break down in tears. Mom and Grandma were sure it was just her being. hormonal from being pregnant. Of course, Kate said that wasn’t the problem. She just wanted to do something special for the first time her family was here. We all suggested getting some take-out but it only seemed to upset her more. Until Griffin asked if he could take us all out to dinner. To congratulate the happy couple. As a sign, he was welcomed into the family. Our slightly hormonal mother-to-be accepted this after giving it some thought. We found a place that had a good all-you-can-eat spareribs. deal. It was not on background so human owned and operated. We laughed at the waiter’s confused faces when they noticed how much we could actually eat. We were sure to leave them a big tip though, for the effort. By the time we get back to our room in the pack house, I notice Griffin is a little tense. “Can we talk for a second, Darling?’ He asks me the second the door closes. 22.15 Mouchen I nod, I wonder what he has to tell me, but the fear I used to feel when he would say something like that is gone. I trust him now, the all-consuming fear that he will find out I am not good enough is gone. Not because I feel I am good enough. Because I know HE feels that I am good enough. He has seen. all my flaws and all my fears. And as cliché as it sounds he loves me because of them, not despite them. “You know how your Cousin could wait to become an Alpha until he raised his family?” He suddenly asks and I think I know. where this is coming from:. Queen Isabella had already told me I would only have a few months to get used to living in the castle before becoming the Queen. At the time I had been a little disappointed Griffin didn’t tell me upfront. But I trusted he would tell me in his own time. So I just nod, not wanting to disturb him. Something was holding him back from telling me, and whatever it was he was ready now. “I have been hesitant to tell you yet because I didn’t want to complicate things between us further. But I have trust in us. and our relationship now. I know you won’t run to the hills not even when I tell you hard things like this?” He tells me looking at his hands. So that was the reason, he was scared it would be too much, too soon for me. So I still don’t

interrupt him. I just take his hand in mine hoping to reassure him a little. And it seems to work he gives me a gentle smile before continuing his story. “Don’t get me wrong, I want it all a family with you, I want to build a future with you. More than anything in this world. The thing is we would have to build that future while being the King and Queen we would not have a lot of time between 44016 Ayla 1 completing the mating process and taking over the throne” He finally told me the truth, the thing that was scaring him. “I know, Griff, that is why I have been doing training with your mother online. She is teaching me everything I need to know about becoming a queen. I still want to take it a little slower than a normal mate would. But I do love you, and I do see a future ahead of us” I say before k*ssing him, hoping my l*ps can reassure him with more than words. He leaned into the k*ss pulling me onto his lap, deepening the k*ss. It doesn’t take us long before we fall into the passion. We end up making love again, again his teeth brush over the place in my collarbone where I know his name will be soon. I had started fantasizing and dreaming about what the mark would look like. But what Griffin was doing to me now was better than all my fantasy combined. So I let myself get carried away on the waves of passion.. Queen Isabella had told me she wakes up at 8 AM every morning, so I set my alarm. It meant I only had a few hours of sleep. Hopefully, it will be worth it in the end. What Griffin had told me yesterday made me think. And it made me reconsider some things. I knew the exact reason he told me about having to become a Queen so soon was because he did not want me to overthink things. And I didn’t really know how he would feel about this. For once I was going to do what I felt was right though. Queen Isabella texted me back that she was able to take a call now. With that I sl*pped out of the bedroom, leaving a still-soundly sleeping Griffin behind. To keep something a secret from him deliberately for the first and hopefully, last time since I told him I was giving him a chance. If anyone would have told me I would set an alarm Ayla 63

11 and het out of bed early after falling asleep at 3 AM. Just to discuss something with my mother-in- law I would have laughed in their faces. Now I was nervous if Queen Isabella would support me in this. After all, I would be asking her to lie to her son. All while putting a white lot of trust in me. Ayla 64