"Well, well," Gabriel said, as we appeared. "We weren't expecting to see you two before tomorrow night."
The king just pushed Gabriel's head forward as he walked past him, making the other hybrid chuckle.He sure did like to joke around, I thought, as I walked closer. I tried taking a seat very far from them, but then I heard the king clear his throat, and when I turned to look at him, he waved me closer. I sighed and then walked past Gabriel and over to him. He sat down before pulling me down on his lap.
"I am not eating like this," I told him.
"You are."
I shook my head and tried pulling away.
"Let me just sit beside you then."
He shook his head this time, really wanting me to eat like this. I could see Gabriel just trying to suppress his laughter, while Ace didn't really say anything. He didn't even seem that hungry, his plate barely having anything on it.
"I will only eat if I have a chair to sit on," I told him and crossed my arms.
This, he did not like to hear, and he narrowed his eyes. He probably wasn't used to someone demanding anything from him, but I was not like everyone else. I didn't have much to lose, and as his mate, I knew, or at least begged, that it was true, he couldn't hurt me in any way, because when you found your mate, they became your world. It meant any harm that happened to them, would also cause the other one pain. So, they would always protect each other, with everything they had in them.
I wasn't exactly sure, that it was true, since, well, I had never had a mate before, but when the king finally pushed the other chair beside him a little away from the table, it was clear he was letting me have it my way. I smiled a little and then went to sit down in the chair beside him. I could see the shocked look on both the two other hybrids, as I sat down. Clearly, they were surprised that the king had allowed me to sit beside him, but it wasn't that much better, I realized. As I finally was sitting in my own chair, he just grabbed the armrest and pulled me as close as I could get. Our shoulders were pretty much touching.
"Lovely," I said sarcastically.
No one said anything, as we started to eat, though the king's eyes were always on me, and if he thought I wasn't eating enough, he made sure my plate would be filled with more food.
"I am going to explode, if we continue like this," I told him, and held my hand out towards the filled plate.
I had been close to actually finishing what was left, and now it was like I was starting all over.
"You need it, so eat up."
"What? Do I look starved?" I asked.
"Yes," he said honestly.
I opened my mouth to somehow argue about that, but I realized it was kind of hard to argue about when he had seen how I had lived and how I had devoured breakfast this morning.
"Bit of advice, sweetheart," Gabriel said before the king interrupted him.
"Don't call her that," he said.
That made Gabriel chuckle, and he glanced over at Ace, who just shook his head at him. He really was trying to push the king, and Gabriel knew he could get away with it, or maybe he was trying to figure out how much he could get away with. Gabriel turned back to me after a little while, and I watched him, waiting for him to give me that advice, I had not asked for.
"Better to just do as he says. Makes it so much easier."
"I never liked easy," I told him, making him laugh.
"I like you, little half-blood," he said.
It was clear the king didn't like Gabriel saying that either, and the displeased growl that just came from him, made Gabriel smile smugly.
"Now, I am full," Gabriel said and quickly got up. "Ace."
Ace didn't even protest or anything, he just stood up as Gabriel said, and followed him out. I bet Ace would rather spend time with him than with a grumpy king because his friend had been overly nice towards someone, whom the king considered his. I was once again left alone with the king.
What would happen now?
Chapter 19
-Dominic-