Chapter 17


    17-The Cunning Alpha King


    As soon as he said yes to staying in the room for the night, I noticed his eyes shining.


    “So! Why did you hide the truth from your mother?” Zane jumped into the bed before me and sat with


    his back leaning on the pillow and his legs stretched out.


    “I didn’t want her to get excited for no reason. I wanted to first get epted and then tell her,” I lied


    once again to him. No way would I tell him the truth.


    “Ah! So I ruined your happily ever after?” He grabbed the pillow and got on his stomach, the pillow


    under his chin. I was finally unpacking my bag now that I had somebody in the room with me.


    “The one who gets peer pressured into humiliating his friend, his mate, in front of others isn’t someone I


    want to be with either,” I said without a hint of sorrow in my voice.


    “Ah! I see,” Zane said, “so you want someone who can keep you safe and protect you in front of


    others?” I nodded without turning around to face him.


    “Hm! Does he have to be your mate?” He asked, and I paused for a moment, my hand in the air as I


    was about to hang my dress in the closet.


    “I mean, when are you going to reject him then?” He changed the subject soon when he noticed how


    silent I had be. I don’t know why he asked me that, but my best guess would be that he was


    suggesting I start a rtionship with someone who isn’t even my mate.


    “I am not going to reject any of my mates. I have decided nothing yet.” It slipped into my mouth, and I


    regretted saying it the very next moment.


    “Any of your mates? Wait a minute, do you have more than one mate?” I heard the enthusiasm in his


    voice. I didn’t turn around, but I heard him jump out of the bed and follow me to the closet.


    “I mean; people get a second chance mate. So maybe I will get a second mate soon.” I made it up in


    my head, but he was an alpha king. He knew the rules better than me.


    “That only happens when you reject your first mate. You can never have two mates at a time,” Zane


    grabbed the dress out of my hands to keep me from getting distracted and de- manded I talk to him.


    “Oh! I didn’t know that,” I answered and frowned to my- self. Why the hell do I have three mates then?


    “Beatrice! Who else is your mate?” He wasn’t letting it go. He came in front of me and bent over to look


    me in the eye.


    “I have only had one mate so far. I am just a wolfless crea- ture. Why would I have three mates?” The


    more I talked, the more I made mistakes.


    “Three? That’s an odd number to give as an example,” he scoffed as he shook his head at me.


    “Tell me, why did Maddox leave?” The moment he said his name, my body shuddered visibly, and he


    noticed it.


    “Ah! Don’t tell me—– wait! He stole your medicine and then you were found passed out on the floor.


    What hap- pened? What did your wolf sense?” He was quick enough to do the math because there


    were only two times when I didn’t take my meds and my wolf woke up.


    “Nothing happened. I have only had one mate so far.” I looked him in the eye confidently and lied.


    Telling him any- thing about me would be a huge mistake.


    Têxt ? N?velDrama.Org.


    “Okay! I will call Maddox and ask him myself then.” Zane grabbed his phone and walked away from me


    to dial his brother’s number. My heart pounded louder at the mention of my mate, who ran away the


    second he felt the mate bond with me.


    I was now nervously watching Zane talk to his brother and probably ask him about us. If Maddox were


    not an idiot, he would not have told his brother anything.


    “Ahh! But she said otherwise,” Zane spoke loudly once the truth got exposed to him, “Don’t worry, I


    won’t tell anyone.” His smile faded. Maybe because Maddox sounded angry at the fact that I was his


    mate.


    “See ya,” he hung up and shoved the phone in his pocket, looking at me with a weird look in his eyes.


    “I knew it.” He narrowed his eyes at my face and smirked.


    “I did—n’t know if he would want me to tell you that. Please don’t tell anyone else, especially my mom,”


    my confi- dence broke instantly. I could no longer lie to him about my mates.


    “Three mates! Who else is your mate?” Zane walked my way and only stopped when my back hit the


    wall.


    “Nobody! That’s it. I have only two mates.” I was shaking at this point. The way he was staring at me


    with a big smile across his lips was just why I didn’t want anybody to know anything about my wolf.


    “Come on! I know you are not the smartest cookie. You identally exposed yourself. Now tell me,


    who is your third mate?” I bet he had no clue it could be another one of his brothers. And I intended to


    keep it a secret.


    “If you don’t tell me now, I’ll call your mom and tell her about your mates,” he smirked as he locked his


    gaze on me.


    “We—II,” I gulped with difficulty, “It’s not like I didn’t take the medicine. So go ahead, tell her how your


    brother stole my meds.” The look on his face when I turned the game on him. was watchable. He


    nodded with a fake smirk, forcing himself to look unbothered.


    “Right! You are not that dumb. But I will find out who is your third mate, and when I do, Beatrice! I wi—,”


    he paused just when a knock on the door interrupted us.


    “Beatrice! If you are scared tonight, I can— I can stay in your room, but I will not sleep in the same bed


    as you,” Helel voiced sternly from the other side, but Zane’s eyes widened in acknowledgment. He


    gasped as he pointed at me and then at the door. I knew he had figured it all out.