The Alpha King’s Human Mate

The Alpha King's Human Mate

Bonus Chapter - Clark & Griffin (1) Bonus Chapter: Clark & Griffin (1)

"Love is not in the ring. Love is in the heart."

Michael Bassey Johnson

1 Year following Clark's rescue from Alpha Liam

"God, I forgot how good the California sun feels," I said as I exited the private jet, my arms spread wide to soak up as much sunshine as I could. "It's January, and it's still sixty degrees."

A large, tanned arm looped around my bare waist. "I love any environment where I get to see you in as few layers as possible." One of his fingers tugged at the tanktop and pair of shorts I had on the first time I'd gotten to wear them in months

Unfortunately, Canada's winters were not as forgiving as California

I turned and craned my neck up to meet Griffin's eyes. "If you really want to see me in as few layers as possible, maybe we should find a nude beach to go to."

Griffin's eyes darkened. "Sure," he said, "As long as you don't mind me clawing out the eyes of anyone who looks at your body."

I rolled my eyes, a teasing smile on my face. "You're so jealous. I was

Bonus Chapter - Clark & Griffin (1)

just joking." You'd think - after nearly a year and a half together - Griffin's protective nature would've softened

It hadn't

At least most people at home knew not to step on his toes. Here, amongst humans who had no idea he was a werewolf or that I was his mate, I wasn't so sure

"It's a good thing you were joking," he said, leaning down to kiss me softly. "Because I wasn't." With that comment, he pulled out his cell phone and dialed the number for a private car

I sighed

Here's to hoping the trip to my mother's house went off without a hitch

"Clark! Sweetheart, it's so good to see you." The scent of my mother's familiar perfume enveloped me. She squeezed me tightly, and I returned the hug without hesitation

"Honey, you're going to squeeze the life right out of her," said Steve, who shook Griffin's hand firmly

"Sorry," mom chuckled, finally releasing me. "You look so good, Clark." Her hands combed through my frizzy curls. They mirrored hers,

Bonus Chapter - Clark & Griffin (1)

although I could see that her roots had started turning gray

Once she was satisfied that I was all in one piece, she hugged Griffin, who had to crane down to reach her. "Thank you for bringing my daughter to me," she told him, "I'm so glad you guys finally found the time to visit. It's been so long." My stomach knotted as I thought of the last time I'd seen my mother and Steve - at my coronation, only minutes before Ezra drugged me

As if he could sense the direction of my thoughts, Griffin rubbed soothing circles on my back. He didn't like talking about Liam or Ezra - it made him too angry-but he was never afraid to comfort me when I thought of my imprisonment "Of course," Griffin said smoothly

My mom exhaled, a bright smile on her face. "Well, why don't you guys come in and get settled? Steve will show you where to drop those bags off, Griffin." Our only luggage two designer duffels with enough clothes for two or three days were slung effortlessly over Griffin's shoulder

We entered the small home, and Griffin followed Steve while I settled into one of the kitchen table chairs. "Would you like something to eat or drink?" Mom asked, and she was already reaching for the refrigerator handle

"We had catered food on the plane," I replied, "But I wouldn't mind a

Bonus Chapter - Clark & Griffin (1)

drink."

She nodded. "We've got water, Diet Coke, orange juice, lemonade, and greens?"

"Greens?"

She rolled her eyes. "It's all Steve's doing. Now that we're getting older, he's on a health kick. He's convinced we need to be drinking our greens

Twice a day."

"Water is fine. Griffin will probably have the same once Steve is done talking his ear off."

She nodded, and though her back was turned, I smiled

Two years ago, my mother had been nothing but a ghost - someone who'd abandoned me to chase her own high

And now..

Now she was drinking greens. Twice a day

"So, give me the update," she said, sliding the glass of water over the

wood table. "How's the family?" I raised an eyebrow. "You really want to know?"

"Your father and I have our issues," she said, "But I want to know about your life, and he's part of it."

Bonus Chapter - Clark & Griffin (1)

"Well, there's not that much to tell," I shrugged, "Dad and Grace are doing just fine...or, at least, I think they are. Those two play it so close to the vest that it's hard to tell sometimes." And since I hadn't been home in over a year, I only received my family updates via phone calls and text messages

"Lily's preoccupied with her mate," I continued, "From what I know, her and Alessia are really happy. I think they're considering kids, maybe in the next couple of years."

Her eyes brightened. "Oh, I'm so happy for her. And Sebastian?"

"He's got his mate too," I said, "Honestly, I think we were all a little unsure how things would turn out with Aria, but they've really warmed up to each other. She's come out of her shell in the past few months, and she's..." I paused, looking for the right word. "She's good for him, I think." Sebastian had initially been hesitant talking to me about Aria, afraid that she'd remind me of the darkest point in my life, but I'd put that fear to rest quickly

Sebastian's Aria was a completely different Aria than the one I'd met in that dungeonUpstodatee from Novel(D)ra/m/a.O(r)g

Mom nodded just as Griffin and Steve turned the corner. Griffin's eyes were glued to his phone as he pulled out the chair next to me

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"Everything okay?" I asked

He didn't look up at me, his fingers typing furiously. "Yeah."

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"There's not a crisis at the castle, is there?" "No." I waited for him to elaborate, but he didn't

It was unusual for Griffin to be so distracted by his phone - especially because his advisors usually just mind-linked him - but it was even more unusual for him to keep me in the dark

Maybe he just doesn't want to say anything in front of mom and Steve. I'm sure he'll tell me later

With a sigh, he pocketed his phone and directed his attention to my mom

"Here's some water, honey," she said, and placed an ice cold cup in front of him. "Let me know if I can get you anything else."

He smiled at her. "No, thank you. This is great." It was nice to see him like this without the stern mask that he often had to wear as the Alpha King

Here, I could just be Clark, and he could just be the boyfriend I'd brought home to my mom

Is boyfriend the right word? It feels inadequate, and I guess we're already married by werewolf standards

Steve quickly engaged Griffin in a conversation about cars while mom

Bonus Chapter - Clark & Griffin (1)

gave me the latest gossip on all her co-workers

I woke to a rapping noise on the window, which turned out to only be rain pattering against the sill

I let out a relieved sigh, glancing at the clock, which read: 3:05am

I hadn't realized how noisy the guest bedroom at mom's house would be. I turned to Griffin's side to see if the rain had woken him up too, only for my heart to drop

Griffin was nowhere in sight, only crumpled sheets where he'd been a few hours ago

Maybe he got up to go use the bathroom

I settled back into bed, only for one, two, five, ten minutes to go by and no sign of my mate

Okay, I'm going to check on him

I'd already tossed off the sheets and pulled on a pair of slippers before I'd even decided to get up

Fortunately, mom's house was fairly small, so there weren't a lot of places for him to be. The bathroom was my first stop, but to my surprise, that was empty

Bonus Chapter - Clark &; Griffin (1)

Planning your weekend reading? Ensure you're on 00005s.org for uninterrupted enjoyment. The next chapter is just a click away, exclusively available on our site. Happy reading! I checked the living room next

No Griffin

The kitchen also showed no sign of my mate

I stood near the kitchen counter, scratching my head in confusion when

I caught movement by the back door

I squinted

What the hell?

Griffin was standing on the back patio, in the rain, his phone pressed to his ear. His back was turned to me, so I could only make out his pajama pants and his rain jacket pulled over his head

What phone call could he possibly need to take at this hour?

As quietly as I could, I tip-toed toward the screen back door till I heard

his low voice filter in

"Of course I need you," he murmured into the phone, just barely loud enough for me to make out what he was saying. "You're all I can think

about right now. You're occupying every single thought I have."

My heart plummeted to my stomach, and I could only stand, frozen, as

I processed his words

Surely he didn't mean what that sounded like..

Bonus Chapter - Clark &; Griffin (1)

"What I need is to see you right now," he growled, "Whatever you need to get here, I'll make it happen." There was a pause and then, "No, of course Clark doesn't know about this. And as long as you're discreet."

My entire body went cold and numb. Someone could have reached inside my chest and pulled out my heart, and I'm not sure I would've felt it

Hell, I was pretty sure someone had

Because, standing in the darkened kitchen of my mother's house, I was pretty sure I'd just heard my mate cheating on me

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