The Prince's Fated Mate: M/M Alpha/Omega Paranormal Werewolf Romance (Norvargen Wolves Book 1) (11 page)

Will beamed as he responded, “Okay.”

“It’s honestly nice talking to someone normal. Someone not fussed about the way I act, the way I speak, or that I’m to become Alpha in the future. Someone with no expectations.”

Will felt a bit guilty at that. He most definitely had expectations of James, both as his fated mate and as someone royal from the Den. But now he knew better, now he was understanding the real side of James, and he wanted to draw closer to that.

“Do you feel pressured?” asked Will, daring to ask now only because James had asked them to be comfortable with each other.

James laughed tiredly. “In a way. I’m proud to be the First Son of the Norvargen wolves, and I’ll proudly lead them in the future. That’s not something I ever question, no. I just wish I … ” he drifted off, looking tense and worried.

“You wish what?” Will probed. If James wanted him to stop, he would, but he was willing to take the risk. James was struggling to answer, and Will guessed, “Are you unhappy?”

“Unhappy? No, I wouldn’t dare say I’m unhappy. I’ve had a good life, haven’t I? Fed and pampered from young, given the very best of everything from everyone.”

“But everyone expects the very best from you in return,” Will suggested softly.
 

James froze, and slowly turned to look at him. “You’re quite perceptive, Master Translator.”

Will smiled. “It’s not hard to see. You’re expected to follow the Alpha everywhere, while your siblings are allowed to rest and relax in leisure.”

“They have their own worries,” said James, and then he sighed. “But of course, the duties of a First Son would surpass theirs. I don’t hate them for that, I hope you don’t misunderstand. I don’t blame them for anything either, nor do I blame Father or Mother for how they raised me. If I’m to be a good Alpha, there’s a lot for me to learn and practice, after all.”

“I understand. And I do think you’re entitled to feel the way you truly do.”

James tilted his head at him. “Entitled to feel the way I do?”

“You keep trying to make light of your own troubles by saying that you don’t deserve to be unhappy, or making it clear that you don’t blame anyone for anything. It just sounds like you’re trying to restrain yourself from being honest.”

“But I
am
being honest,” insisted James.
 

Will gave a noncommittal sound in response, and nodded as way of surrendering.

“You don’t think I’m being honest?”

“Well, I guess I could be reading too much into things. You know yourself best, after all.”

The prince laughed. “I’m another character from one of your storybooks for you to analyse, am I?”

“Sorry if I’m being rude,” said Will, realising how presumptive he was being.

“No, it’s fine,” said James airily, waving his hand in the air. “You’re not being rude at all. You’re being — how should I describe it … interesting? A good honest conversation where somebody isn’t afraid to tell me what they really think about me — ah, I haven’t had that in a long time. A very long time. You’ve given me a lot to think about, I have to admit.”

“I have?” said Will, surprised.

“In a manner of speaking, yes.” James hummed a little to himself. “Now let’s get back to your book. I could use a little bedtime story.”

“In that case, I should come read it to you after your tea,” said Will. After dinner, they normally rested for a while, and then followed that up with tea and supper. Will and the servants usually didn’t bother with the tea, but the prince and the advisors religiously followed their routine.
 

James laughed. “Unfortunately, Advisor Berin and Advisor Keanes normally won’t let me escape one of their boring talks after tea. Read me a happy one, won’t you?”

“This one isn’t very happy,” said Will, nodding at the page he was on.

“Don’t all children stories have happy endings?”

“Not always. Some are rather morbid. This one’s about a queen that goes insane by her own doing.”

“How so?”

“Well, to put it short, she’s a gossipmonger herself, and she spreads rumours about everyone else. Eventually she turns mad, thinking that everyone was doing the same to her, that they were spreading the same kind of lies against her. She points the finger at everybody, blaming them for everything, and that begins the downfall of her reign.”

James quirked an amused smile at that. “Morbid indeed. A story with a lesson, is that what this is? Don’t spread rumours unless you’re willing to take it yourself?”

“Maybe,” said Will, smiling back. “It’s up to you to decide what the moral is.”

Before he could continue, one of his manservants came up to the Prince, saying something in a hushed voice. Turning back to Will, he said apologetically, “I’m being called away by Advisor Berin.”

Will nodded. “All right.”

James smiled. “Sleep early after supper and tea and get ready for the long run tomorrow. We’re nearing the border already. Thank you for your company, Will. I’m glad we’re friends now.”

Friends!
Will screamed inside his head, feeling a bubbling sensation erupting from his chest.
He thinks of me as a friend now! Well, that’s a decent upgrade, at least. He likes me enough to call me a friend, and that’s a rather large leap from the nobody I was a few weeks ago.

But the larger issue still haunted him at the back of his mind. How was he going to make James recognise him as a fated mate?

*

Advisor Berin, a slightly portly old man who was surprisingly swift despite the extraneous fat on his belly, gave Will no grief. In fact, he gave Will nothing at all. The two advisors ignored Will for the most part, and only James and the servants gave Will the time of the day. That changed the night before they were due to arrive at Elkpaw Village, the closest village to the border.

Will was waiting by the banks of a creek that the travelling company had camped by. He stood a little further along where the others were resting at, waiting for James to join him, as he knew he would. He sat on the driest part of the ground he could find, careful to not let much mud soak into his trousers, and watched the water currents flow by, entertaining himself by counting the number of fish that came up to surface. He spied a minnow, following its frantic movements, easily trackable by its bright red and yellow scales that were glinting faintly in the dimming sunlight.
 

He had his bag in his hands, fetched from the large pile the servants gathered all bags in. While staring at the fish, he reached in blindly and pulled out the nearest book.

He opened it, flipped through a few pages, and scrunched up his face.
 

“What is this?” he murmured, confused. It was a strange book with many drawings of different plants inside. Since when did he have a book like this? He looked back into the bag, and saw that he had accidentally retrieved the wrong bag — his was a simple off-white bag, and so were many, many of the others in the pile. None of his clothes were in here, replaced instead with a jumble of jars and odd, fat books.

He stood up, sighing, and went to back to the pile to return the bag. He found his real one tucked underneath an enormous brown bag, and in the midst of tugging it out, he felt someone join his side.

Will looked up and much to his disdain, saw Advisor Keanes glaring at him.
 

“Yes?” he said, in as polite a tone as he could muster.
 

“Don’t think we don’t see what you’re doing,” said the advisor in a warning tone, pulling in his robes around his body tighter. While Will, the servants, and even James opted for light, thin clothing to cover themselves when camping at night, the advisors still chose to wear their heavy, elegant robes with long sleeves that draped over their arms out in the woods at night.

“Who is we and what am I doing?” asked Will, in an even tone. On the inside, he was already bubbling over with annoyance, but he thought back to how Ma always handled irate, rude customers, by treating them with a cool, polite demeanour.

“
We
is everybody, and what you are doing is most inappropriate. You and James, sneaking off every night — I thought as much of you, even though the First Son is naïve enough to not see your true intention.”

“We’re not sneaking anywhere,” said Will calmly. “We’re in full view of the camp, aren’t we? You can hardly say we’re
sneaking
anywhere when we’re so easily found. And if you could explain what sort of intention you think I have, I would appreciate that, because I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

Advisor Keanes sneered at him. “An unbonded omega spending time with an alpha male — it doesn’t take a counsellor to the Alpha to guess what’s going on. Of course a hapless country boy like you would hope to have a chance with the First Son, but don’t get carried away with your self-indulgence. Prince James is already engaged.”

“I know that,” said Will, testily, clenching his fist inside his pocket. “I may not have been educated in the Den, but I’m not stupid.”

“What is going on here?” James strode in between the two, looking back and forth warily. “Advisor Keanes, what were you saying to Master William?”

Advisor Keanes looked like he was weighing his words before he spoke. “Nothing of importance, First Son,” he said at last. “Only warning him to remember that you are the First Son, and he ought to treat you with the appropriate respect. It is considered most inappropriate for an unbonded omega to be fraternising so regularly with you —”

“I will be the one to worry about whether I’m respected or not,” said James sharply.

Advisor Keanes bowed his head and said sycophanticly. “As you wish. I am merely here to serve and protect the best interests of you and the pack.”

James sighed, and turned to Will to quickly roll his eyes. Will swallowed down a giggle.
 

“I understand, Advisor. And I thank you for your service. Now, if you would please refrain from giving Master William any more grief.”

“I understand, First Son. I’ll see you for supper and tea later.” Before leaving, the advisor sneaked an unpleasant glare at Will, and went back to the camping circle.

“What did he say to you?” asked James, once they were left alone.

Will debated the merit of being honest — perhaps the most irritating part about what Advisor Keanes just said was that it wasn’t exactly untrue. Will
was
hoping he could make James fall in love with him, that they could fulfil their destiny as fated mates. He did have his own intentions, after all.

“He was just being an ass,” said Will at last.

They started making their way down to the creek Will had been sitting by.

James guffawed. “He was giving you a hard time about being an omega, was he?”

Will nodded. It was true enough.

The prince sighed, and ran his hand through his thick, wavy brown hair. “I thought as much. I’m ashamed to even say this, but a lot of my father’s advisors have some outdated notions of what an omega male is like and what they ought to do. The older ones are worse about it.”

“Advisor Keanes isn’t particularly old,” Will pointed out.

“True, he is the youngest of them all. He’s only about, oh, twenty years my elder. But I suppose his years serving in the army reinforced his old-fashioned mentality — those warrior wolves aren’t exactly at the forefront of societal change. But then again, he ought to know better. He’s very smart, that man. Always surprising Father with his knowledge on various matters. He’s savvy when it comes to politics, he knows how to handle discussions with our allies, and he has a few surprising tricks up his sleeve. He was a herbalist before he joined the army, if you can imagine that. He brings with him a whole stack of books on herbs and plants everywhere we go.”

So that’s whose bag I accidentally took
. Will looked to his right, staring at the camp and spotting Advisor Keanes dismissing one of the servants with a forceful flick of his hands.
It’s a good thing he didn’t notice I took his bag — he’d probably give me another earful just for that.

“So he thinks me a weak, stupid, and unfit for almost anything except being a bondsmate.” Will sighed.

James shook his head. “He may be one of the traditionalists, but not to that extent, I’d say. He certainly wouldn’t see my bondsmate that way.”

Will’s heart rate accelerated at that. Did James just call him his bondsmate?

“I mean,” James went on, not noticing Will’s strange reaction. “Prince Dashel, when I’ve bonded with him.”

Will deflated. “Oh.”

Of course he meant Prince Dashel, not me
, he berated himself.
Don’t get carried away. He doesn’t even remotely see you as a potential mate, much less a fated mate.

“Do you miss him?” he asked tentatively.

“Do I miss Prince Dashel? Well, I suppose I do, in a manner of speaking,” said James, sounding a little perplexed.

“You
suppose
you do?” Will couldn’t help but latch on to that. Advisor Keanes may have been a pain in the ass, but he did remind Will of something very important: the Prince was engaged, and Will didn’t have much time left if he ever hoped to win his fated mate over.
 

“Well, that’s an odd question, isn’t it? I’m going to see him again soon, and I’ve only been away from him for a couple of weeks. There’s hardly been any time to miss him.”

“Why would it be odd? I already miss my family and my friends back in Hemslock.”
 

You do love him, don’t you?
he wanted to ask, but maybe that would be too direct.

James looked down at his engagement ring, twisting it around his finger as he deeply considered Will’s words. “I don’t know if I miss him,” he said, frowning.

“How long have you two been courting?”

“Courting? Well, we’ve been engaged for nearly six months now.”

“And before that?”

“There’s nothing before that.” James wrinkled his nose. “Will, you do know that this is an arranged marriage, don’t you?”

“Is it?” said Will, shocked.