Ch. my mate gambled me away to the lycan King 14 my mate gambled me away to the lycan King 14

Chapter 14 

The wolfsbane kept me in bed for two weeks. 

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The night of the coronation, Alaric moved his personal healers into my house. Then he moved himself in. 

The most feared man in North America canceled every meeting. He postponed a summit with three Alpha Kings. He sat beside my bed and read me terrible romance novels in a flat voice until I laughed so hard my 

stitches hurt. 

He tried to cook for me. The first soup was so salty I nearly choked. The second time, he burned his finger 

on the pot. 

When he brought me the bowl, there was a bandage on his finger. It was pink. It had a cartoon princess on 

I stared at it. “Where did you get that?” 

He cleared his throat and wouldn’t look at me. “Bought a new box. Old habits.” 

My heart cracked wide open. 

“I can feed myself, you know,” I said, reaching for the spoon. 

He pulled it back. “Don’t move.” His eyes were fierce, but his hands were so gentle. “You’ve been strong for everyone for a very long time, Lyra. You don’t have to be strong with me.” 

On the morning the healers cleared me, sunlight poured through the tall windows. Fresh snow covered the pines outside. The bandages came off my shoulder, leaving four thin pink scars. 

“I like them,” I said, studying them in the mirror. “They remind me I won.” 

Alaric came up behind me. In the mirror, I watched him reach into his jacket and take out a small black 

velvet box. 

My breath stopped. 

He turned me around gently. Then the Lycan King, the most powerful wolf in the country, got down on one knee in my bedroom. 

He opened the box. 

A ring sat inside, a silver band set with a pale moonstone surrounded by tiny diamonds. And tucked into the lid was an old, faded photograph. 

11:29 Wed, Oct 21 

<Chapter 14 

with chocolate all over her face. And in the background, half hidden behind a tree, a skinny boy with bandages all over his leg, watching her like she’d hung the moon. 

“My uncle took it,” Alaric said. “I stole it from him. It’s the only picture I have of the day I fell in love.” 

Tears ran down my face. 

47 

“I need to tell you something,” he said. “When Kane posted that funeral photo in the chat, the whole pack saw a girl to laugh at.” His voice softened. “I saw the girl from the woods. I knew you in one second, Lyra. Because your eyes never changed. Not in twelve years. You’ve always looked at the world like you’re ready to fight it for someone.” 

He took my scarred hand in his. 

“So I’m asking. Not as a King. As the boy you saved.” His voice cracked. “Be my mate. Be my Queen. Take my name, my crown, my whole kingdom. Take the ice cream. Everything I have has always been yours.” 

I laughed and cried at the same time. 

Then I dropped to my knees in front of him so we were eye to eye, and I put my hand in his without a 

second of hesitation. 

“Yes,” I said. “Yes, yes, a thousand times yes.” 

He slid the ring onto my finger, and then, finally, after twelve years of waiting, the Lycan King kissed me. 

Outside, every wolf in Silver Creek began to howl. 

Three months later, the pack chat lit up one last time. 

It was a photo of the two of us under the Blood Moon, my crown on my head, his hand on my waist. 

The caption was mine: 

[To everyone who bet against me: thanks for the down payment on the wedding.] 

-THE END-