The Alpha King’s Runaway Mate.Chapter 12: fear, as time passed .Regina checks the book collection again, this time with the revelation that it had been King Mattel who’d put these books here; that these books are his, and that he’d curated a particular selection to place in Regina’s room.She had already noticed before, when they were brought in, that the twenty something books were of every varied genre. She realizes now, it might be because Mattel did not know what kinds of books Regina liked - that he’d been considerate enough to think of this, and then to include a wide variety of genres.Regina picks one of the books up, peering closely at the binding, the page edges and even going as far as to flick through the book carefully, looking for signs of wear.All the books are in impeccable condition, but upon closer inspection, he can see that all of the books have, in fact, been read at least once; and that some even show subtle signs of having been read several times, such as

The Alpha King’s Runaway Mate.Chapter 14: because the people fear him? .The two of them take a small, compact carriage into town, manned only by their driver. Typical protocol would dictate at least a few guards, but Mattel had said that having more guards with them would only alert their presence even more, and so the two of them would head in largely unattended.Upon their arrival, King Mattel flips the large hood on his heavy cloak, such that it nearly conceals the entirety of his face.Regina, startled, cannot help but to inquire, “Why are you wearing a hood, King Mattel?.”She can see the line of King’s Mattel’s lips, quirking into an unamused smile from underneath the hood’s edge.“My face is quite well known around these parts,” is all the explanation he gives, before exiting the carriage.He pauses, however, to help Regina down with surprising gentleness, and Regina can’t stop staring at the massive hood that conceals most of his face. What does it mean, that he must wea

The Alpha King’s Runaway Mate.Chapter 16: unsavory glint .Shit.His bodyguard, Lionel is going to be very upset if he actually returns in a body bag.Mattel Darius looks up, just in time to see the unsavory glint of the moonlight off a descending blade, and grits his teeth--“Alpha!”Mattel’s eyes snap wide.As does the bandit’s, as he and the four remaining men around him freeze momentarily in shock.The pounding of hooves confirms to Mattel Darius that, yes, he hadn’t simply been hallucinating, and it is indeed the omega, Regina, riding back with a fire in her gaze that Mattel hasn’t ever seen before in those pretty doe eyes.But she doesn’t stop.Instead, she plows her horse right into the circle of bandits, and barrels straight into the one in particular that had been holding a blade to Mattel’s throat.And like the foolish, witless, naive - lovely - idiot that she is, Regina disembarks the horse and stumbles to her feet right beside Mattel. Right in the middle of four armed b

The Alpha King’s Runaway Mate .Chapter 18: moving forward .“Courage is not the absence of fear, they say. Rather, it is that which fears, but will walk through the darkest of it anyway.”Mattel taps an idle rhythm against the skin of Regina’s neck, beating in time with Regina’s pounding heart.“I guess I should hold some belief to your claim of me being your mate because a king’s Luna must possess a dragonheart, to be so brave as to walk through fear untouched.”Regina breathes.******NEXT DAY**Regina awakens to a room that is not her own.In the light of day - sunlight streaming through wide-open windows, bathing the entire floor in a warm glow - it’s almost unrecognizable.The entire room is submerged in the ghoulish, inky blackness of earlier - every inch of the four walls, the entirety of the floor, is bathed in that gruesome pitch darkness, gaping and incomprehensibly terrifying.Slowly, still caught in between consciousness and that hazy world of dreams, she sits up, the s

The Alpha King’s Runaway Mate.Chapter 20: same old-same old .She’s been sold off like a particularly undesirable cattle by her only relative, to the man they only whisper about cautiously in the safety of their own homes, as the nightmare specter in human form.She has had to leave everything - her home, her belongings, and the only family she has ever known and loved - for unfamiliar lands, in what she had long thought would be a terrifying lair fit for a monster.She has been waylaid by frightening bandits, nearly lost her life, and then witnessed other men lose theirs, in a display of the most terrifying power she has ever laid eyes upon.Regina finds that she can’t quite express any of this, and instead, clings to Mattel’s gloved hand with a desperation that likely makes little sense to the Alpha.Mattel, rather than face that heavy, searching gaze, looks instead at the pile of packages beside them, feeling his heart lift with every familiar item he sees in their midst.When M