The Gold Queen (Prequel)
The Gold Queen – Chapter 16

***Sofia***

I’ve been avoiding Mateo for a week now, afraid if I got too close I would give in to my urges. Whenever we had to train, I would keep him busy with endless tasks and training regimes for his little soldiers. During class, I rarely spoke, while at dinner, I didn’t speak to him at all. Every night was spent in the safety of my room, where no one could see the tears I spilled for him.

To make matters worse, Julian’s visits were now a daily occurrence, where he claimed he wanted to get acquainted with the affairs of our Kingdom. He would spend many afternoons with father locked in his office.

My father didn’t like him much, but it appeared he tolerated him just the same. My mother, on the other hand, was absolutely thrilled at the thought of having Julian as my husband and her future son-in-law.

The snake had charmed the hell out of her, behaving like a perfect gentleman in her presence. He would bring me flowers on his visits and always made sure to bring a gift for my mother. It didn’t help that the bastard was well educated too, currently attending University to earn his degree in business.

I had kept the birthday incident a secret, not wanting to worry my parents. I knew If they knew, they would never allow this wedding to take place, even if it meant starting a war. And that’s exactly what I needed to avoid.

In front of my family, he was charming, funny, and absolutely the perfect fiancé. But I knew better. I knew behind that perfect smile and those beautiful hazel eyes lurked a monster waiting patiently to surface.

“Dreaming about your Prince?” My mother teases.

“W-what?” I ask, her voice bringing me back to the library where were both sitting to do some reading.

She points to my hand. “You’ve been staring at your ring for a while,” she chuckles. “Thinking about the wedding?”

I look at the ring, forcing a smile. “Yeah… I just can’t believe it’s only 2 months away.”

My voice trails off at the end, my mother’s face softening.

“I know you had your heart set on replaceing your mate,” she says. “But I’m proud of you… It takes a true Queen to set aside her dreams for her people and I have no doubt in my mind you’ll be great…” she says quietly, placing her hand over mine. “And who knows? Maybe you’ll be even learn to love Julian. He’s not so bad if you give him a chance,” she adds with a chuckle, tucking away her book and getting up.

Yeah, that’s highly unlikely.

“Just give him a chance,” my mother says as she turns to leave. “He might surprise you.”

My smile falls the moment she leaves and I stare at the stupid ring, watching how the light glistens off the large stone.

I don’t know how much time lapses before I hear footsteps approach. My heart sinks when I look up to replace Satan himself standing in front of me, looking amused by my scowling face.

“What are you doing here?” I snap, practically trembling in my seat.

Julian roars with laughter. “It’s like watching a chihuahua get mad,” he chuckles, plopping down on the couch beside me, his fingers reaching over to caress my cheek. He leans forward, his next words making the hairs on the back of my neck stand up. “You smell exquisite,” he whispers in my ear.

I try to inch away but he wraps his arms around my waist, pulling me onto his lap. My arms go up to his chest to push him away and he laughs again.

“How long are you going to reject me, Sofia?” He asks with a grin. “You’ll have to give in eventually if I’m to put a pup in your belly,” he adds, placing his palm on my abdomen.

“You can have my body when we’re married,” I snarl, yanking his arm off my stomach. “But until then, your hand should suffice.”

His grins deepens. “I wonder…. Would you tell that mutt to use his hand… or would you let him use you?” He asks, biting his lips playfully.

The b***d drains from my face and my heart begins beating uncontrollably.

He doesn’t know, there’s no way!

“W-what? What did you-“

“Judging by the look on your face, my suspicions are correct… you like that mutt,” he smirks, leaning in a bit closer. “Or better yet, he’s your mate,” he murmurs in my ear. “Either way, I’ll kill him if he so much as touches you-“

“No!” I reply almost too quickly, Julian jumping back at little at the sharpness of my voice. “I mean, no he’s not my mate. He’s-“

The faint scent of raspberries and pine fills the air, a scent I had grown to love ever since I’d met the wolf who filled my tummy with butterflies. He was close.

Behind the door, Solana whispers. He’s behind the door…Be careful, please!

Now’s my chance, I think. Now’s my chance to fix this entire ordeal once and for all.

What do you mean? My wolf asks anxiously. What are you-

“He’s a pawn,” I shrug, quickly composing myself. “No one of importance. My father is forcing me to be nice to him,” I scoff.

“And why is that?” Julian asks, feigning interest on this new topic.

“Simple,” I say, snuggling up to Julian, much to his surprise and delight. “He’s hoping that in doing Alpha Manuel the favor of training Mateo, he’ll get on his good graces and allow Emiliano to join our armed forces. Having a healer in the Royal army would be a huge power move against our rival kingdoms.”

Julian smirks. “So this entire arrangement…”

“Is just a ploy,” I smile, cupping Julian’s face. “We’re just using Mateo’s training as way to get what we want out of that powerful family.” I position myself so I’m straddling Julian and I feel the bulge in his jeans grow. “I’ve been pretending to be his friend to get close to him and the twins.” I press my lips against his mouth, moaning slightly. “He means nothing to me.”

Solana howls in agony. No! What are you doing!? He heard every word!

Exactly, I mumble back. He’ll think I’m using him and he’ll stay away so I can’t hurt him anymore.

Julian’s body relaxes against mine and he deepens the k**s, his tongue exploring my mouth.

I k**s him back, moaning to make this encounter that much more believable, until the incredible smell of my mate fades away. I blink my eyes hard to keep the tears at bay, tucking away the pain in my heart. My lips are swollen by the time I pull away.

“My my, Princess. You surprise me,” Julian says, wiping his mouth. “Didn’t know you could be so cruel.”

“You don’t know me at all,” I mutter back, climbing off his lap.

“I guess not,” Julian says, running his fingers through his hair and sighing. “But I look forward to replaceing out more.”

He k****s my cheek, adjusting his jeans before getting up and disappearing down the hall.

I can hear my heart pounding against my ears and I rush to my bedroom, locking the door behind me and leaning against it. A small sob gets caught in throat, making it difficult to breathe. It feels Ike the walls are closing in on me and no matter how hard I gasp, the air doesn’t seem to satisfy my lungs.

Finally, I let a scream before sliding down to the floor and pulling my knees to my chest as I sob.

***Mateo***

“He means nothing to me…”

It feels as though my heart was calcifying as those words replay in my head.

So I meant nothing to her? I scoff. That k**s… That incredible k**s that electrified every cell in my body… that made me feel things I’d never felt before, that had been replaying in my head all week since it happened….was all a LIE. Goddess I’m such an i***t! I knew she was just a stuck up princess but I still fell for her anyways…Goddess, as much as I hate to admit it, I fell hard.

f**k her, Luis growled.

You liked her too…

He says nothing, confirming my suspicions. The princess had us wrapped around her pretty little finger. But that was all over now.

I had to move on. She was getting married in a few months after all and I had to stop thinking about her. Marching to down to the nearest land line, I make a call the only friend I knew had my back.

“Hey mano, what’s good?” Gabriel chirps into the phone.

“I need Renata’s number,” I reply.

“Damn, you finally grew some balls,” he chuckles. “You got a pen?”

I write the number and quickly dial it, afraid if I waited any longer, I would lose my courage. My hand trembles a little as I wait for someone to pick up on the other end and when a sexy voice answers the phone, I swear my heart skips a beat.

“Bueno?” Renata calls in to the receiver. “Con quien hablo? {Hello, who am I speaking to?}”

“Hey, Renata, i-it’s Mateo,” I respond, stumbling through my words. “C-como estas? {How are you?}”

“Oh! Hi, Mateo. It’s been a while. I’m good!” she giggles. “What’s up?”

“I-I was wondering if maybe… I don’t know… you’d like to go out to a movie.. With me?”

There is silence on the other end and I check the phone to make sure she didn’t hang up.

“Hmmm, I don’t know…” she hums. “Will you leave me all alone like you did last time?”

Oh right… I had forgotten about that…

“Sorry, I had an emergency,” I mutter.

“Right…” she teases. “Will you be having an emergency again?”

“No, I promise,” I laugh nervously. “Just you, me, and a movie.”

“Anything else?” She laughs, her voice going up an octave near the end.

My brain seems to malfunction because it literally goes blank.

She giggles again. “How does tomorrow sound? I’m free all day?”

I nod but realize she can’t see me and reply with a pathetic yes. Hanging up the phone, Luis bursts into laughter.

Dude you’re pathetic, he chuckles.

—-

I keep myself busy for the remainder of the day, avoiding Sofia and her family by working out at the training grounds. When dinner time comes around, I slip into my seat across the princess, averting my gaze from straying to her and keeping my focus on the food in front of me.

“You’re awfully quiet tonight,” the King teases, cutting into his food. “Very odd..”

I force a smile, knowing I could not disrespect him despite how he planned to take advantage of my family. He was King after all.

“I guess I’m just nervous,” I shrug.

“Of?” The King inquires.

“I have a date tomorrow..”

Suddenly, I hear a glass shatter and we all look see Sofia blushing bright red as she sheepishly attempts to pick up the broken glass.

“Sorry,” she mumbles as Cassandra hurries to clean up after her. “Clumsy me..”

I try hard not to roll my eyes when the the King speaks again.

“A date, “he muses. “Who’s the lucky girl?”

“Her name is Renata,” I say, picking at my food. “S-she’s the most beautiful girl I’ve ever laid eyes on” I add, stealing a glance at the Princess. She stares coldly at her food. “I’ve had a crush on her for years and finally got the courage to ask her out. “

“Is she a human?” the Queen inquires.

“She is.”

“Well, be very careful, son,” the king advices. “Have a good time, but not too good,” he winks.

We eat our meal in peace until the King and Queen excuse themselves. I get up to leave too, and as I pass the princess, she reaches out to hold my arm back.

“Are you really going on a date?”