The Alpha King’s Human Mate

The Alpha King’s Human Mate

Bonus Chapter – Aria & Sebastian (12) Bonus Chapter – Aria & Sebastian (12)

“You could fill three lifetimes with the things people say about you when you’re not there.”

Stewart Stafford

Aria woke with a jolt to someone stroking her hair. For half-a-second, her sleep-addled brain thought she was back in

Liam’s domain, stuck in her bunk bed or his bedroom

Her anxiety spiked — but only for a moment until she realized she wasn’t with Liam anymore, but her mate. The

comforting scent enveloping her was Sebastian as was the soft touch to her hairContent (C) Nôv/elDra/ma.Org.

“Are you okay? I didn’t mean to startle you.” He must’ve realized she was awake because his hand stilled in her hair, and

Aria had to bite back a whimper. She liked his touch

She shifted to look at him, rubbing the sleepiness of her eyes. “No, it’s alright. I didn’t mean to actually fall asleep, but I

guess I was more tired than I thought from the trip.”

Sebastian, who was sitting on the edge of the bed and still dressed in the same clothes, gave her a cheeky grin. “Oh, I

have no complaints

You did fall asleep in my bed, after all.”

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What? Aria shot up like a wire. “Wait, this is your room?”

She glanced at her surroundings, and berated herself for not realizing it before she’d passed out. The room was all dark,

neutral colors but the personal touches were undeniably Sebastian: several family photos of him with both his sisters, a

photo of his parents, and a couple of unwashed t-shirts scattered on the floor

As if that wasn’t enough confirmation, the room reeked of him. Not in an unpleasant way — more like a wanting-to-rollaround-in-his-sheetsforever kind of way

She flushed. She hadn’t meant to end up in his bedroom, but after rushing out of Clark’s room, she’d just followed the

comforting scent to…here

Sebastian must’ve seen the red decorating her face because he said, “Hey, there’s no need to be embarrassed. Finding

you up here, wrapped in my sheets, was like waking up on Christmas morning. You looked beautiful.”

Her cheeks became redder, and she couldn’t bring herself to look at him as she asked, “Do you think I could have some water? My throat is feeling a little dry.” It wasn’t true, but it was the first thing she could think of to change the subject

“Of course,” Sebastian said, and then he stood up, “There’s still some

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pack members mingling downstairs with my parents, so I’ll get it for you.” He shot her another smile before stepping out

of the room, leaving the door cracked

She waited until his footsteps echoed into the soft noise of voices downstairs before she grabbed the pillow — his pillow — and inhaled deeply

Her eyes fluttered shut

He smelled so good

She could live in these sheets, in this bed

“T can’t believe our future Alpha has a mate now.”

Aria’s eyes popped open at the unfamiliar, tinkling female voice she could hear coming from down the hall. She didn’t

recognize it, and she hadn’t seen anyone on the second floor — but maybe one of the guests had wandered up?

“Yeah, and did you see her?” A second female voice joined in, just as distant as the first

Did they know she was also upstairs? She didn’t think so, not if they were all the way down the hall

“Yeah, more like a mouse than a future Luna,” the first girl replied, her voice mocking. “You know what I heard?”

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“What?”

Aria’s stomach clenched. She knew she could’ve gotten up and walked out of the bedroom to alert them of her presence

anytime she wanted, but she didn’t. She curled further under the covers, and strained her ears to listen to what they had

to say about her

“T heard,” it was the first girl’s voice, and she could hear the smirk. “She came from weird traditionalist pack all the way

down in Texas, and Sebastian pulled her out of Alpha Liam’s cult.”

“No way! Really?”

“Yeah, apparently, she’s all traumatized and shit. That’s why she was hiding behind Sebastian downstairs, and wouldn’t

talk to anyone.”

Aria flinched. So this is what Sebastian’s pack thought of her, how they saw her. She knew she was pathetic, but to hear

strangers talk about it so openly..

“Poor Sebastian,” the second girl’s was syrupy with faux-pity. “He’s been waiting so long for his mate and our future

Luna, and then he gets stuck with someone who probably flinches at shadows.”

“Yeah, something tells me he’ll be more of a caregiver and less of a mate,” she sighed, “Oh, well. He’s stuck with her now. Nothing he can do to change it.” That was the last thing they said before they moved on to gossiping about another

member of their pack

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Underneath the covers, Aria felt paralyzed

It felt like her worst fear come to life

Since leaving Liam’s pack and meeting Sebastian, Aria had spent many nights, laying awake and agonizing over the fact

that she didn’t deserve a mate, let alone one as good as Sebastian

And though he’d denied it, the girls gossiping in the hallway only proved that others saw how undeserving she was too

They’re right. Sebastian takes care of me, makes sure I’m okay, soothes my anxieties, and does all of it without complaint

He’s the most patient man I’ve ever met, and what have I ever done for him? Ignore him and express my doubts?

He’s been the best mate there is, and all I’ve ever done is be an ungrateful burden. Those girls are right. He might as well

be my caretaker

And although she knew Sebastian didn’t see it that way, some part of her wondered if, deep down, he felt that way. Some

part of him – even a small part — had to be tired of constantly being patient, of constantly looking after her. And if he wasn’t, she was sure he would be

“Here’s your water,” Sebastian’s voice suddenly cut through her spiral as he swung the door open, and strode up to the

bed, a full glass of water in his hands. “Sorry it took me so long. I got roped into a conversation with one of the Elders who wanted my opinion on border

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disputes. It was absolutely riveting, if you can imagine.” He sat down on the edge, sitting the glass on the nightstand

Aria grabbed the glass of water and drank greedily to hide the fact that she couldn’t even force a smile

All she could hear was those girls’ words circling in her brain, of Sebastian being stuck as her caretaker for the rest of his

life

Her heart pounded furiously

He’d probably never complain, but how long until he began to resent her? Began to resent that he gave her everything,

and she had nothing to offer him?

Well…there was one thing she could offer him

As suddenly as the thought came, she didn’t hesitate

She plunked the glass back on the nightstand so fast that water sloshed over the sides, closed the distance between her

and Sebastian, and pressed her l*ps to his

The feeling was almost indescribable

Her l*ps molded to his like they were meant to, and her entire b*dy tingled with something warm and pleasant until the

feeling settled in her lower belly

Sebastian was frozen for a moment, and then, he started to k*ss her

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back

His mouth moved slowly against hers, letting her set the pace

She pressed into him until she was practically on his lap, and his hands found their way to her waist to steady her

She waited for his hands to wander lower, but when they didn’t, she took one of hers — which had been wrapped

around his n*eck — and started to trail it lower

First, over his collarbone and chest until her palm clasped over the bulge in his pants. Just as she began fiddling for the

zipper, he stilled

At once, Sebastian pulled away from the k*ss with furrowed eyebrows

“What are you doing?”

She flushed. “Well, I was going to…you know, take care of you.” The air was beginning to fill with tension, but her fingers

remained in place, gripping the zipper of his jeans

The furrow of his brow deepened. “Take care of me?”

“Yes,” she said, and she was pretty sure her entire face had turned beet red. She wasn’t entirely sure why he was

questioning her or why he was so upset. Wasn’t this how these things went? Had she done something wrong?

“Tm sorry if I did it wrong,” she apologized, “Should I have just skipped

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the k*ssing and just gone straight for…you know? I’m not very experienced with it and I know most men don’t like it, I just

thought it would be nice.”

Realization struck him, and Sebastian suddenly look disturbed by her apology. He stood up in a flash, turning away from

her, and her hands fell uselessly beside her

Something tight began to settle in her chest. She’d been trying to show Sebastian that she did have something to offer

him, and instead, she’d only upset him. She still wasn’t entirely sure what she’d done wrong — only that it must’ve been

something big

And she hated that he’d removed himself from her. She hated every inch of the physical distance between them

She tried to explain herself one more time. “If you just tell me what I did wrong, I promise I’ll be better at it next time.

Sometimes Liam had to tell me -”

“Tam not Liam.”

He was shaking, just barely, and his voice was colder than she’d ever heard it. He whipped around to face her, that same

disturbed look on his face. “Is that…is that what that was?” He ran his hand through his hair again. “Did I do something?

Did I make you think you had to do that to…please me?” He looked sick even saying it

“What? No,” Aria protested, “It’s just, you’ve been so good to me. All

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you do is take care of me, and…” She struggled to find the words. “I wanted to show you that I was more than just a

burden, that I had something to offer you too.”

Sebastian’s face softened, and he slowly approached the bed, taking her hands in his. Her b*dy visibly calmed at his

touch

“Is that what you think?” he said gently, “That you’re a burden to me? That’s not —”

“No, you can say it’s not true,” Aria cut him off, “But I know it is. You may not see it yet, but I do and so does everyone

else.”

His face pulled into a frown. “Hold on. What do you mean by ‘everyone

else’?”

Aria froze. She hadn’t even meant for it to come out, but in the heat of the moment, it had. “I just meant that I’m sure

everyone else feels the same way. They think you’re stuck taking care of me for the rest of my life because I’m all

traumatized.”

Something dark flashed through his eyes. “Who told you that?” “Nob*dy —”

“No,” he cut her off, his voice firm but not loud. “Who said that to you?”

Aria could tell by the tone of his voice that he wasn’t going to let up

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until she explained herself, so eventually, she admitted, “When you were downstairs getting water for me, I heard a

couple of girls talking in the hall. I didn’t see them and I don’t know who they are, but they were saying how traumatized

I was, and how you’re stuck as my caregiver now that we’re mates.” She could see him getting visibly upset the longer

she talked, so she added, “I don’t want them to get in trouble. I don’t think they knew I was listening in, and they were

just speaking the truth.” |?

Sebastian’s eyes narrowed. “You can let me worry about these girls, but in the meantime, you need to know something.” He squeezed her hands

“You are not a burden to me, Aria. You say you have nothing to offer me, but every moment with you…you make me so

happy. It’s not a chore to spend time or take care of you — if anything, it makes me feel good. Knowing that I make you

feel safe and like you can rely on me..

that’s all I could ever want from you.” 2)

He leaned down to k*ss her forehead, and then leaned back, his face just inches from her. “So, I don’t want you to ever

feel like you have to offer up your b*dy or please me physically — I never want things those out of obligation, and

certainly not in a way that’s reminiscent of how you were taken advantage of before. When we decide to be physical, it’ll

be because we both want it and feel comfortable and ready.”

“And what if I don’t know when I’ll be ready for it?” Aria asked, although even voicing the question made her heart

pound with anxiety

“Wouldn’t it upset you to have it wait?”

Sebastian only smiled softly. “I don’t think you understand, mate. I’d

happily wait decades for you.”

And she could tell, from the look in his eyes, he meant it