Talia reached out and touched her forehead.
'Can you hear me?'
'Loud and clear.'
'How did this happen?' She shook her head.
'I marked you and gave you my essence. Now we belong together.'
Talia scratched her head. 'Am I like…your slave or something?'
Cedric sat back up from his semi-reclined position and reached around her body with his large forearms.
"No," he spoke vocally. "You belong to me in the same way that I belong to you. It's very mutual."
Talia nodded, hoping she hadn't gotten in over her head.
Once the water got a bit chilly, they rose and dressed. It was nearly dinner time and she had to get Devin ready to eat with the rest of the adults.
Leaving Talia to go take care of Devin, Cedric made his way out towards the garden area. Cecil had been here, pouting the entire afternoon.
He found Cecil sitting at the gazebo table in the garden by the fountain.
"So you're finally back." Cecil threw over his shoulder.
"I had to make sure my Alpha woman was satisfied."
"Indeed." Cecil scoffed.
"You think she would leave me alone if I didn't make her happy? Didn't you hear? That woman threatened me with a whip." Cedric responded with a slight smirk.
The fact that Talia was a shy and gentle virgin was something he would hide as his very precious secret for now.
He would slowly make her fully his, but at the moment, he needed to continue to make her look as if she was the rough and carnal woman she had portrayed in front of Cecil.
It was a good protection façade for her…for now.
"So what are your plans?" Cecil asked, his shoulders stiff.
This was not a casual question. It was not uncommon for beaten Alphas to leave the pack and wander alone as packless lone wolves.
"I've been thinking about what you said." Cedric ruminated. "I agree with you that Devin needs to return to the pack so he can learn how to be a werewolf. At this time, all he knows how to do is turn into a wolf pup."
Cecil nodded. "When will you be returning to Faria?"
"When you leave, I will return with you."
"What of your estate here in New Orleans?" He gestured the gardens.
"My people here will take care of final details and follow us afterwards."
"And Talia?" Cecil's voice was stilted and strange.
"She will of course, come with me. I need to show the Countess of Cerulea her new estate in Faria."
"Countess? Wouldn't she be Queen, since you are now King?" He turned to face his brother, eyes defeated.
Cedric turned to Cecil with a confidence that was calm and self-assured. It reflected within his eyes in such a way that showed without a shadow of a doubt who the real Alpha werewolf actually was.
"I am not going to usurp your role, Cecil. I have too much to do and I cannot do what needs to be done if I'm stuck inside the palace doing legislative paper work."
Cecil gritted his teeth.
His younger brother was telling him that the throne was something that he had been allowed to occupy all these years through the graces of the real Alpha who had simply not been ready to take over quite yet.
"I want you to continue to rule Faria. You're doing a good job and our people are benefiting from your ministration. But—"
Cedric's eyes grew hard. "Talia is not yours to meddle with. As long as we understand each other, we can continue to carry on as usual."
"So you marked her."
"I do what my mate asks of me." Cedric smiled.
"What about Evelyn?"
"What about her? I didn't mark her, if that is what you are asking."
"No. I don't care about that, but if you toss Evelyn from her position as your future mate, there will be chaos in the courts." Cecil's eyes were filled with concern.
"Cecil." Cedric threw him a sobering gaze. "Do I look like someone who can be brow-beaten or blackmailed into doing something against my will?"
Cecil sighed and shook his head.
"The reason why Evelyn is still my fiancée is because when you wrote the decree, I had already left Faria and did not have time to challenge it."
He glared at Cecil. "I have not addressed the fact that you did it without consulting me. That will be a conversation for another day."
"For tonight, I want you to rescind the royal decree making Talia your Consort."
"Even if I do, you still won't be able to make her yours. You must still honor that engagement decree." Cecil insisted.
"I have marked her, Cecil."
"But you promised me one year."
"All that means is that I will get married immediately after that one year is up with my real fiancée, Talia Fabian."
Cecil gave Cedric a steady gaze. It was going to have to be good enough for now.
As the sun dropped below the horizon in a warm red haze, the scent of night jasmine began to diffuse through the air.
With the drop in temperature, the cicadas came out and loudly began to rub their legs. Along with the cicadas also came mosquitoes the size of roaches, and roaches the size of small rodents. The rodents, of course, were the size of small pigs.
It was time to retire indoors.
Just in time, one of the menservants came out to announce that dinner was waiting to be served.
"Shall we, Your Majesty?" Cedric called out, announcing to everyone around that although he had kicked Cecil's butt into the pool earlier that day, the man was still King.
The Farian Kingship was not the only thing that was established that night.
All doubts about Talia's position in the hierarchy of the royal wolf pack completely disappeared as soon as she walked into the dining room, carrying the little Lord Devin on her hip.
At the junction of her neck and shoulder was a fresh bite mark surrounded by several red kiss marks. It was glaringly visible, but no one looked at it...at least not directly.
It was clearly apparent that she had been royalty-kissed and claimed by the Alpha of the pack.
For Talia, it was not an attempt to show off the fact that she and Cedric had just made love that afternoon, although it seemed as if that was the message she was sending out.
She simply needed to air out the bite mark so it would not get infected, and a high neckline kept rubbing up against the wound, irritating it further.
All those who had been privy to the show of dominance at the pool knew who her mate was.
Everyone else who hadn't seen Cedric take down Cecil naturally assumed it was the King of Faria who had marked Talia.
Regardless of who had marked and mated with her, in the space of one afternoon, Talia had become the Royal Alpha female of the Wolven Kingdom of Faria.