Gamma Kailen Steele
I woke up snuggled into Hunter’s bare chest, my arm was draped over his waist. Yawning, I sat up on my elbow to look up at him. I winced at the pain in my torso from the movement, but the pain quickly subsided. It’s hard to believe that I almost died a few days ago. I never should have gone back to that pack.
Hunter was softly snoring, so I knew he was still asleep. I couldn’t help but smile at the man sleeping beside me. I could see the bite that Aurora gave him before we left. It was turning into a scar. It was red and raised.
When we mark our mates, the mark is our bite mark. No two are alike and it’s a unique mark to let all the other wolves know that this wolf has been taken. Usually the mark would be located where the neck meets the collar, but the bite I gave him was a little further down his collar bone.
I reached up and touched my fingertips to the scar. The tingles were stronger, and Hunter let out a groan as I gently ran my fingers along his collarbone.
Hunter rolled into me, wrapping his other arm around me, holding me to his chest. I moved my arm, so I was lying down on the bed again. I hissed out from the pain, and Hunter immediately opened his eyes.
“Beautiful, are you okay? I’m not hurting you, am I?” He rushed out, his voice still thick with sleep.
“It’s still sore, but I’m okay. Just the movement, and no, you aren’t hurting me.” I answered him. I snuggled into him and he rested his head against mine.
“Hunter?” I whispered. I was nervous, but I needed to tell him. I love him and I want this. I want us. But I need him to know the whole truth.
“Kailen, I know. You don’t have to explain anything. I’m not going anywhere.”
“What?” I hissed out from the pain of moving away from him so that I could look at his face. He was staring down at me.
“I know that you can’t have kids, and I’m not worried about that. As long as I have you, nothing else matters.” He said, kissing my forehead.
“It’s not just about giving you an heir. Do you realize what you would be giving up? Your family has had a ruler for almost 200 years and your family line will end with you. Are you willing to give up your family’s legacy? To hand off the throne to someone else?” I asked him with tears in my eyes.
I should have known better than to get involved with him, to fall in love with someone with so many responsibilities. I could never ask him to give up his whole life, but I have no idea how I’d live without him.
He instantly sat up and I knew that he was leaving. I knew he wouldn’t be able to give up his entire life for me. And as much as it hurt, I understood, and I tried to be strong.
He surprised me by leaning over and pulling out his tablet. He sat up against the headboard, unlocking the screen.
“Pick a country.” He turned to look down at me. I hissed and groaned as I sat up to lean against the headboard beside him.
“What?” I stuttered out, trying to get comfortable.
“Pick a country.” He asked again.
“Hunter, I don’t understand. Are you sending me away?” I asked him, confused. He stopped what he was typing and looked at me, confused.
“What? No, why would I ever send you away?” He answered. And I shrugged.
“I don’t know. You didn’t answer me. When you got up, I thought you were leaving.” I must sound so pathetic, and I was internally scolding myself for being so needy. I knew what this was when it started.
“Baby, I’m coming with you, silly. I would never send you away. And I don’t care about the throne or family legacies. If the council doesn’t accept our relationship, I’ll step down and Greyson can take the throne. You can be his gamma and I’ll just train.” He told me and I was stunned that he had this all planned out.
“You’ve been thinking about this a lot.” I sighed out. He wrapped an arm around my shoulder and I rested my head on his shoulder.
“I’ve been planning this for the last four years.” He told me, kissing my temple.
“And what about the media? They are going to rip us both apart,” I told him.
“Let them. People are always going to talk. There’s nothing we can do about that,” he answered.
“But what if the people don’t like me?” I whispered. I was scared of being in the spotlight. It was hard when I became gamma and there was a lot of talk, interviews and parties, but it eventually stopped. Being Queen would mean that I would always be in the spotlight, talked about and judged for doing everyday things.
“You can’t make everyone happy. So just focus on making me happy and I’ll focus on making you happy. I almost lost you and I’m never letting you go. You are officially stuck with me,” he said.
“But Kailen, what’s really bothering you? Does all this hesitation have to do with your ex-mate?” His voice turned serious, and it surprised me that he was bringing Owen up.
“Hunter, how I’m feeling has nothing to do with Owen. I just don’t want you to start resenting me because I couldn’t give you a child or because of something the media said. They are going to dig up my case. They are going to say that it was my fault, or that it was a lie. That I’m just some stupid omega, sleeping her way to the top. She rejected her Alpha mate so she could con the future king into marking her.” I was rumbling on and on.
Hunter had finally heard enough and crushed his lips to mine. I couldn’t move because of my torso and he couldn’t climb on top of me. So, with our necks turned at a weird angle, he kissed me until I needed oxygen.
He pulled away, and we were both breathless. I could feel the tingles on my lips and tongue and heat was pooling in my core. I knew I was wet, and I knew that Hunter was hard, but I knew I wouldn’t be able to enjoy anything more sexual with the amount of pain that I was still in.
“That was mean.” I breathed out.
“Yeah,” he groaned. I leaned my head on his shoulder and he snuggled me into him with the arm that was still wrapped around my shoulders.
“Beautiful, I want you. All the other bullshit, we can figure it out together,” he said. I reached up and, with my hand on his cheek, I turned his head so that he could look at me. I could feel the tingles start to build under my palm.
“I want you, Baby.” I told him and his face lit up.
“What are you saying?” He rushed out.
“I’m saying, let’s go to the lake for the weekend and spend some time together. Hopefully, I’m all healed up by then.” I smiled at him.
He turned my body into his and lifted me on to his lap so I was straddling him. I was hissing and panting through the pain of the movement, gripping his shoulders.
“Shit, I’m so sorry, Babe.” He told me, concerned. He rested his lips on my forehead until the pain settled.
“It’s okay baby, I’m excited too.” I breathed out.
“Is it terrible that I don’t want to wait?” He asked me, while leaning in, kissing my neck. I let out a soft moan, wrapping my arms around his neck.
“So mean, Baby.” I moaned out. I could feel how hard he was. It was digging into my thigh and I really wish I was healed.
“Maybe this will motivate you to stay in bed and to heal.” He mumbled into my neck.
“If I stay in bed all by myself, I’m afraid I’ll just end up playing with myself.” I whispered into his ear before I took his earlobe in my mouth. He let out a groan and bucked his hips.
“Now, who’s the mean one?” His voice came out husky with lust.
“You started it. Don’t think I’m any less turned on than you are.” I kissed his cheek, and he sighed.
“You haven’t been waiting for years for this day and you just have to be hurt. It’s just my stupid luck.” He pouted and I let out a giggle, followed by hisses.
“Don’t make me laugh. It hurts.” I groaned out, wrapping my arms around my torso. His phone chimed on the bedside table, and Hunter let out a sigh.
“Do you feel up to coming to breakfast with dad? I told him yesterday that I’d meet with him and he asked for you to join us.” He asked me, and I nodded.
“Of course, I need to head to class after,” I told him.
“No, you need to get better so I can rip your clothes off and sink my teeth into you.” He purred, and I crushed my lips to his, wrapping my arms around his neck again. I stopped caring about the pain in my body. I wanted him. He slid his hand under my shirt and up my bare skin, causing goosebumps to erupt all over my body, and I shivered at the sensation.
Hunter’s phone chimed again, pulling us out of our moment. We were both panting, and we both wanted more. Hunter leaned over and was about to reach for his phone until he noticed his palm had some blood on it.
“Babe, you’re bleeding.” He looked back at me and I groaned. I stood up from the bed and turned around so the Hunter could inspect my back. I was not going back to the hospital unless there was a chance I could bleed to death.
“It looks like a few of your stitches are ripped out. Let’s get you in the shower and then I’ll bandage it up. Okay?” He explained, and I nodded.
“Go get the shower started, I’m just going to text dad back. Let him know that we are on our way.” He told me. And I headed to the bathroom to have a shower. I turned on the water and started to get undressed while I waited for the water to warm up. It was hard to get the sweatshirt over my head, but I managed to get it off. The blood had soaked through. I reached behind me and touched the wound with a wince. I pulled my hand back to inspect it and noticed that there wasn’t much blood. It must have happened last night in my sleep. I kicked off the sweatpants and stepped into the hot shower. I felt so much better after standing in the water.
I was all done by the time Hunter walked into the bathroom. It was weird for him to miss the opportunity to shower with me. He looked worried when he looked at me.
“What’s wrong?”