Page 78 of Rogue Alpha Prince
“Can you feel your mate, Rogue Alpha Prince?” Ella looks straight into my eyes for the first time since knowing who I am.
Well, I won’t give her the satisfaction of pointing out my age, with the fact that I’m not mature enough for true mates—or whatever they believe is happening when you don’t feel a thing.
“I don’t need to,” I say, pulling closer to my wife, “I already have everything I’ve ever wanted.”
Iroughly kiss Ash in the spot where her true mate’s mark should be—I can feel her whole body heating up under my touch.
Ella laughs lightly, again—true princess—and turns everyone's attention back to the ‘mango pair’.
Thanks to the gods.
“So, aren’t you always hungry with this mango smell?”
“No, it’s subtle, more like a beacon than a real thing.”
Everyone with the mate bonds, I assume, nods their heads.
“Why do you eat with your left hand, your Highness?” Ella asks me after a while, when most of the plates are almost empty.
I swear I can still smell her fear, but it doesn’t stop her from ruffling my feathers. I can see why she’s friends with Ash.
I pull my right hand up from under the table, so she can see my wife holding my hand with hers, our fingers interlocked.
Ash blushes, and I chuckle at her. I’m sure she forgot she’s holding it until I brought it to everyone's attention just now. She’s embarrassed, and I love it.
“What is the Rogue King like?” Ella suddenly asks about my father, probably to save Asher. The whole table goes silent, waiting for her answer.
Except for the Alpha King. He doesn’t wait. He tries to calm himself down and not meddle. I look at him with a knowing smile, and he just shakes his head with resignation. I guess you have to have some patience when you make yourself twenty heirs—or however many kids are here—and don’t make them all kill each other at some point; like my father and all his predecessors did.
I’m starting to understand this sweet Royal Rogue tradition a little bit.
“He is… joyful. Just like my Rogue Alpha Prince here, but thirty years older.”
I look back at Asher. My Beta always tells me I laugh too much, but he’s a grumpy bastard, and it’s the first time anyone has called us joyful, for sure.
“Thirty years? Aren’t you the oldest?” Alpha King asks me, probably being too occupied last time, with securing the alliance, to notice how much older my dad really is.
“Yes, and yes. But to bear a child to the Rogue King, you must pass a test. It took some time to find anyone willing to try, and I’m already older than he was then, so it’s nothing uncommon.”
Asher looks at me, surprised and maybe even scared. She doesn’t know that’s what the hunt in the forest was for. I knew I shouldn’t have done that without any explanation, but it was so exhilaratingly fun for me that I couldn’t stop myself.
“Oooooh, are you getting prepared to pass it, too?” Ella asks Asher with unhealthy excitement, oblivious to her reaction.
“Oh, she already did—breaking my wolf’s jaw with her bare human hands in the process.”
I notice Asher’s mom gives Ash a puzzled look, but I don’t have time to dwell on it.
Asher ignores my comment, probably furious at me just from the mere memory of the situation, and stands up. I instantly regret that I didn’t slide my hand between her thighs under the table, while I still had a chance to make this dinner more exciting—get her all wet and bothered for me.
“If you excuse me, Your Highness, I will take Ella for that alone time now. To the balcony.” She nods and bows like a princess, definitely mocking me.
But I love it when she’s bratty like that, so as always, I pretend I don’t catch that and nod my permission. I’m tired of Ella’s constant questions anyway.
They both go to the bar first and then disappear behind one of the white curtains in the middle.
I feel my mother-in-law’s gaze on me, but when I look back at her, she conveniently looks down at her bitten lemon pie.
She knows something about Ash. Something I don’t.
