My Not Yet Mate

Chapter 129

My Tortured Mate Chapter 8

Sterling (one year later)

He was standing in front of the mirror, trying over and over again to tie his tie. Odanya laughed from across the room before coming over to help him. Her fingers effortlessly knotted his tie before stepping back. Her eyes narrowed on his cufflinks. He looked down and groaned. She spun on her heel and stormed away from him, slamming the door behind her.

How could he have been so stupid as to put these on without looking at them first? The beautiful onyx dragons had been created by Anastasia as a present that she had given him on his and Odanya’s anniversary to distract him from his queen. He ripped them out of his suit holes and Magdon breathed fire out on them, melting them down.

He walked over to the small trash can and tossed them inside before going to his dresser to get the sapphire crescent moons. He hooked them into the suit and left the room in search of his mate. They had been in such a good place and now that was all ruined because of a stupid decoration.

He strolled down the stairs, ignoring the servants rushing around with trays of hors d’oeuvres, glasses of wine, cocktails and tumblers full of scotch, whiskey and vodka. He got down to the huge, extravagantly decorated ballroom. He scanned the room until he found his beautiful mate chatting amicably with Lonna and a few other queens, whose names escaped him. He strolled over, smiled at the small group of women and put his arm around Odanya’s shoulders.

“If you would excuse us, ladies, I would love to speak to our queen alone for a moment.”

Odanya put a smile on her face and let Sterling steer her away from the other women. He took her out onto one of the many balconies the ballroom offered as a lover’s escape from the world. The

curtains hanging from the balcony above were tied back to reveal a full moon and half a million stars. She pulled away as soon as they were hidden. She spun on him angrily.

“What the fuck do you want?,” she hissed.

“I want you to hear me out. It was unintentional of me to pick up those specific cufflinks.”

“You’re lying,” she hissed. “You love her that’s why you chose those fucking cufflinks. Stop lying to me.”

He reached for her and she stepped back out of his reach. “Baby, please, I’ll do anything to show you it was an accident.”

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The door opened and Lukas rushed out. “Dad, how cou-”

His words were cut off when Odanya grabbed him and threw him off the balcony. Sterling leaped over after his son, breathing fire out to slow his descent. His small wings came out, flapping desperately to stop him. Sterling grabbed his son and shot back up to land on the balcony. He knelt in front of his son, running his hands over his small body. Lukas shoved his hands away.

“Get off of me! How could you invite him here?”

“Who, Lukas?”

He pulled the curtains open and pointed at Luis, his beta and his gamma who was standing behind the other two shifting his weight and his eyes. Text property © Nôvel(D)ra/ma.Org.

“Lukas, this is a celebration for every member of the royal families. Maybe you will find your mate-”

He stopped talking when his son narrowed his eyes on him. “I don’t have a mate.”

Sterling groaned and pressed his fingers into his eyes. “Lukas, we have talked about this. You have a mate. You just have to find her.”

Lukas put his hands in his pockets and looked up at his father. “Then why do I feel dead inside.”

He walked back into the ballroom, leaving Sterling standing outside in shock. He cursed silently before going back out to the ballroom himself. He searched the room again for Odanya, promising himself that he would speak more in–depth with his son about everything. He found her standing across the room and started making his way towards her when Lotus‘ gamma stepped in his way,

“May I have a moment of your time, Your Majesty?”

His gaze lingered on his mate. “Can it wait?”

“I’m afraid that it can’t, Sire,”

My Tortured Mate Chapter 8

Sterling sighed. “Fine, fine. Let’s go.”

He gestured to the side of the hall and they slowly made their way to the refreshment table along the furthest wall. Sterling served them both a glass of punch before turning back to the room.

“If we could hurry this along. I do have something important to handle.”

“Sire, I wanted to inform you that maybe some of your kings aren’t as loyal to you as you think they are.”

Shock flew through Sterling’s body. “Excuse me?”

He swirled his punch around in his cup as sweat beaded on his skin. “Sire, King-”

He stopped to watch his mate twirl around the room in the Lotus‘ beta’s arms. He pursued his lips and hurried after the pair. He angrily kept pace with them and tried repeatedly to take her away from the beta. What the hell was going on? He watched for a few more minutes as Lonna struggled to get away from the beta to go back to her mate.

Luis moved to their side, smiling and easily took Lonna from Moyel. Preston said something to the king as his face started growing red with anger and his body grew more and more tense. Sterling put his cup down and walked over to the obviously feuding group. He smiled at Lonna and held his hand out to her.

“Lonna, would you like to dance? You are looking extra ravishing tonight and it would be my honor to have you on my arm at least once.”

Everyone froze and she reached out to take his hand after glancing nervously at Luis. Sterling led her away and she kept a foot of distance between them as he put one hand on her waist and took hers in his other hand. He smiled down at her.

“So, tell me, Lonna, do you and Preston have children? I saw how you were with the infant. You should be a mother,” he told her.

“Lily,” she murmured.

“Excuse me?”

She met his eyes. “Her name is Lily.” She pulled away to curtsy low to him and lowered her head. “Thank you for the dance. It’s been an honor, Your Majesty.”

He watched her go back over to the three men who had been watching them closely. He turned back to go to Odanya. Something was going on and he needed to find out what very quickly. The mate pair were trying to warn him about something and he would be foolish. He wrapped an arm around Odanya’s waist and pulled her close to his side. He opened their link.

‘I know you’re angry at me but I need you to do something for me.‘

Her jaw clenched a little and the little muscle there pulsed. He lifted her hand to his mouth and kissed it. Also, after the ball, I want to go through our home and gather everything that belonged to or was brought by Anastasia.‘ His eyes moved to Lukas who was surrounded by a lot of the young royal daughters. ‘Except Lukas. You can destroy it all. I don’t want it or need it.‘

She sighed and started to relax. ‘What is it? I will do my best.‘

‘I need you to get Lonna alone and see what the hell is going on at Lotus.‘

‘What makes you think something is going on there?‘

‘She said is not was. Her name is Lily!‘

‘Who’s Lily?‘

“The infant we thought was Lukas‘ mate and Preston said that there were kings not loyal to me. They will find it suspicious if I seek them out but you….. you will be overlooked. You were always so kind to the queens and right now, you’re the only one that can do this.”

She smiled at him and kissed him softly. ‘Consider it done.‘

She hurried away from him to the center of the room. She clapped her hands together and everyone fell silent.

“Ladies, if you would be so kind as to join. I have a little game for us. Say goodbye to your mates and follow me.”