His Fated Mate

“Nate!” he called out as he moved toward the private bedchamber of the royal wolf. “Are you almost done?”

Jason rapped lightly on the door and then walked in. He gasped at what he saw and exclaimed. “Your Royal Highness!”

Nate was not dressed up at all, and his room was a mess. Clothes were littered on the bed and the floor, and other items peeped out of the drawers, an indicator to the ones with a sight that they were messed up as well.

He shuddered as he took in the sight of the room. He knew Kate was going to grumble the ears of the other servants out when she was done with cleaning the room.

“This room is a mess, my prince. What have you been up to?”

Nate chuckled and waved a hand at him to show his amusement and to tell him that he was being ridiculous. “What happened to calling me Nate?”

A smile lifted the corners of Jason’s mouth as he sighed and plopped up on the bed beside his best friend and the alpha of his pack.

He had grown up with Nate, and they had been best friends together, and when Nate’s parents died, and he became the alpha of the pack, Jason had also become part of the royal workers by being made the royal bodyguard to the prince and the right-hand man.

He loved his work, and he was good at what he did. Moreover, he loved Nate and would stop at nothing to ensure he was protected.

Jason snorted. “Are you not feeling like going there anyway?” he asked Nate, secretly hoping he would say no.

Nate shot up straight in bed and stared at his best friend of many years. “Are you serious? I need to destress, please. I have been attending to royal duties for months, and I am about to blow up due to the stress. My head is banging like it is about to explode.”

Jason hid a chuckle as Nate went on and on about his struggles. He was disappointed that he still insisted on going out as he had planned.

He sighed, his brain going out, and he quickly made a mental assessment of how he could ensure security in an area as wide as that.

He hoped the soldier he had sent out would come back early. He frowned as he looked outside, noting the bright glare of the sun.

Tim should have been back by now, he wondered to himself.

Nate continued, a grave sigh released from his mouth as he looked at Jason with pitiful eyes. “I can’t begin to imagine how many years of this I have before me. It seems too boring for my taste. Looking back at when my father was alive, I can now understand why he always yelled at me to sit with him in the study when he was working. I believe it was for a time like this.”

Jason smiled at him and patted him on the back as he shifted closer to him, grateful for the privacy of the bedroom, the only place he was allowed to be openly affectionate like he was with Nate.

Once they were outside, he had no choice but to switch to the professional bodyguard mode.

“You will be fine, Nate. I know that,” he reassured him. “I’m sure you are doing good for an inexperienced and untrained monarch.”

Nate roared with laughter and threw a pillow at him, picking another one and whacking him with it on the head.

“You bastard!” Nate screeched, wheezing with laughter. “I knew you were laughing at me.”

“I dare not, my prince,” Jason replied, chuckling.

Nate snorted. “Oh, keep your professed sense of loyalty to yourself.”

Jason smirked, pretending to be annoyed. “Now, you are being mean. You know I am loyal to you.”

Nate smiled, nodding his head. “I know, my dear.” He laughed as Jason’s eyes widened and narrowed at the pet name. He had used it intentionally and had been expecting that reaction.

He cracked up into laughter as his hand went up and landed on Jason’s shoulder, patting him as he had done for him earlier.

“I know without a doubt that you are the most loyal person to me in the pack, and I was only pulling your legs with the words I said earlier,” he smiled. “If there is anyone in the pack I am sure of who wouldn’t betray me, it is you.”

Jason nodded and smiled. “Good.”

Nate laughed and pushed him. “You are too serious at times. Come on, loosen up and learn to have fun when life throws it at you, buddy.”

Jason denied that. “I have fun.”

Nate snorted. “Yeah, you do. By standing behind me while your eyes track everything that walks about as your hands itch to whip out your sword and cut down any pesky thing that comes near me.”

Jason chuckled. “Sounds funny when you put it like that.”

“Sounds true. Ask the other guards in your army to confirm.”

Jason frowned. He would be damned before he sat down with the men in his army and started asking them questions about his personality and what he looked like on the field.

Someone knocked on the door, and Jason sat alert, his hand going to the hilt of the sword tied around his waist.

Nate looked at him and rolled his eyes, slumping into the bed.

“Who is that?” Jason asked through the door.

A soft feminine voice replied to him. “It’s Nira, my lord. I want to tell you that Tim is back and would like to see you.”

“Tell him to wait. I will be out shortly.”

Jason turned to Nate. “Get dressed. We have to leave in an hour to still have the advantage of the day with us by the time we come back. I will tell the men to prepare the horses, and I will also tell a maid to be here to tidy up this mess.”

Nate nodded, an amused smile on his face as Jason spoke. “Okay.”

Jason gave him a strange look, snorted, and moved out of the room.

Tim bowed as Jason walked toward him. Jason stopped in front of him, and he rapped out the observations he had made about the assignment he was given.

“The carnival was just about to start by the time I left. The field is wide, and we will have to be careful with the prince as a lot of lowlifes might be present there as well. I am certain people from other packs and species would be there.”

Jason nodded at the report. It sounded exactly like what he had feared as well and had only sent him to the field to confirm.

He shuddered at the image of Nate being hurt while they were out there. He couldn’t vouch for the integrity of the people who would be present at that place, as he was certain they wouldn’t all be werewolves.

Humans, witches, and other species could be present as well. He shuddered as he thought of how challenging it was going to be to protect Nate in an environment like that and avoid causing a ruckus.

It would be better if it had to protect Nate against werewolves alone. There, he had no reason to fear any discovery of the race and shift as he liked and tear any miscreant into shreds.

He frowned, wishing Nate didn’t insist on taking a vacation for himself.

He turned back to Tim. “How many soldiers do you think we need to move with? I don’t want to draw too much attention to us.”

Tim nodded. “I think ten is okay. We don’t have to stay with the prince and can strategically place ourselves at different angles while we blend in with the crowd and keep an eye on everything. You alone can stay with the prince, my lord, and if there is any trouble, the rest of us will join to help.”

Nate nodded, pleased with the plan. “Good. You can go. Get the rest of the soldiers informed, and you all should be ready to move in an hour.”

Nate’s eyes widened, laughing as he took in the sight of the performers. He stared at the contortionist on the floor, moving with an agile and flexible grace, and missed the days he was free to roam about the lands with no worries of subjects to return to on his mind.

He could go for weeks and not look back after telling his parents he would only spend a week, knowing he could always come back and apologize, and they would welcome him home even though his father always made a point of showing his displeasure anytime he had the chance to do so.

He looked at Jason, hoping to share the excitement he felt with him, and scowled at the rigid posture of his friend.

They were in a public place, and Jason had switched off from the friendly mode to the bodyguard mode.

His observant eyes, which hardly missed anything, scanned the park as he stood beside Nate, knowing the clan was at stake if something happened to him.

Nate knew Jason had never been a man of many words, but he still missed days when Jason tried to talk more and laugh for his sake, and he missed the warm look in his eyes as they had bantered in the morning.

He sighed and turned back to watching the performers, occasionally glancing at Jason to see if he was having fun, but Jason was as stiff as a rock and wouldn’t even acknowledge the fun that was going on.

His eyes moved around, scanning everyone as threats instead of the performers, artists, and guests they all were while monitoring the movement of his men.

Without craning his neck, Nate could tell the positions of the rest of the guards if he wanted to just by watching the movement of Jason’s eyes, even though he was subtle with the act.

A thrill ran through him when a fortune teller moved toward them. Jason scowled and growled, his hand going to the hilt of his sword.

The woman shrank back in horror, stopping in her tracks, her eyes widening as she looked between the two men.

Nate looked at Jason, shaking his head at him and placing his hand on the hand Jason had upon the sword.

Jason bowed and dropped his hand, still giving the woman a scornful look.

Assured there was no more danger to her, she moved forward and bowed to them.

“My lords, would you like to have your stars read?”

Jason snorted. “As if someone can be sure of what the future holds. Get lost, woman,” he barked at her.

It was obvious she wanted to beg for money, and he hated that she wanted to use dubious means to get it. He would have appreciated it if she had asked directly instead of making bogus claims.

Nate laughed. “Yes, we will.”

Jason turned to Nate, a quizzical look in his eyes. Nate’s eyes twinkled back at him. “Let’s try it, buddy. I don’t see any harm there. Remember, I told you to have fun earlier.”

Jason scoffed and turned his face away.

She smiled. “Can I have your palm?” she smiled as she looked back at Nate. “You will be a powerful ruler.”

Jason snorted at her safe guess. He knew she was a thief. Anyone could see Nate was a ruler by the way he was dressed and how he stood behind him.

She looked at Jason, and with a nudge from Nate, he offered her his palm.

“I see a bright future for you as well, my lord. Your fate is to have a royal mate.”

Jason snapped his hand away from the woman’s grasp, snorting at her ridiculous claims.

How was he to have a royal mate when he was not a royal?