The Werewolf King’s Mate
Chapter 20

Cory's POV: "Your

mate?!"

I can't paint the look on Alpha Austin's face. It was clear that he was taken aback. However, I am unsure if he is surprised by the fact that I have a second-chance mate or that my mate is the Werewolf King. Or maybe by both. Hotah added.

Probably. But should Lucas have brought it up?

He is being possessive, girl. Hotah said with a smirk. I love how Hotah and I have been constantly talking. It's nice to have someone I can always talk to.

"How can that be?" Alpha Austin was still dumbfounded.

"You know how that works. And if you have doubts or questions about it, you can ask the moon goddess yourself." Lucas sounded impatient from having this conversation with Alpha Austin. "B-but..."

"But what, Alpha?" Yup. He is definitely annoyed now.

"Well, if there is nothing else, we will be taking our leave. My queen needs her rest. I will have my third-in-command tell you the details of the training."

Lucas took my hand and started walking the path to the cabin. Before we got too far, I caught sight of Alpha Austin. He is still standing where we left him. The revelation left him completely frozen in place. Before I realized it, we came to a halt. I bumped into Lucas. I looked up at him, and he was looking at me.

"Is something the matter?"

"You were looking at him."

"I, uh, am not."

"Do you still feel the mate bond? I mean between you two."

I didn't know how to respond to that. Sometimes when I see him, there is still a tiny sting in my heart, but it will be over in a second. I think there are still some remnants of the bond, but it is not as strong as before. His scent is no longer as strong, and it doesn't have that much effect on me now, unlike Lucas'. When I see him, all I have is indifference. He is still my Alpha, so I am sometimes unsure how to talk to him. When I didn't answer, we continued walking back to the cabin. Lucas had been quiet the entire way back. He dropped me in the cabin and told me he needed to do some errands.

I was startled when someone called me.

"Hey, Cory!" It was Iris.

"Oh, hi, Iris!"

"Who left just now? Was it Lucas?"

"Yeah."

"You look down. What happened? Is Lola OK? The last time I heard, Silas said she had already woken up, and all her vitals were good."

"Yeah, Lola is doing great now."

"So, does it have something to do with why Lucas left after just dropping you here?" I nodded in response.

"You know what, I will call Ellie. Let's do our hair and nails. OK?"

After Ellie returned to the cabin from her tasks, we all went out to the town. We walked a couple of streets to the salon. At the establishment's front was a huge neon welcome sign and the salon's name - Goddess. As we walked inside, I could smell the scent of chemicals, shampoos, and other hair products.

"My, my, my. What do we have here? Three beautiful ladies!" A lady in a pink romper said.

"I am Lucinda, by the way. What can I do for you, ladies?"

"A pleasure to meet you, Lucinda. We are here for hair cuts and nail spa."

"Definitely! This way, please."

Lucinda assisted us and had us all sit in front of a circular mirror. She called in three ladies and assigned them to each one of us. The one paired with me looks like she is in her early 20s. She has curly black hair that falls above her shoulders, tan skin, and is shorter than me. I thought I was already short compared to the pack's other females.

"Good day, I am Amy. What do you want to do with your hair?"

"I, uh, a haircut."

"Got it! Is there a specific style you want?"

"I don't have any particular style."

"It's OK. Well, if you don't mind, I can recommend a couple of styles that fit the shape of your face." I nodded.

So, Amy helped me settle down. She wrapped a cape around me. She grabbed a few towels and led me to a reclining chair with a sink. She told me to lie down so she could wash my hair.

Oh, so this is where they clean or shampoo the client's hair before styling.

A few minutes later, I was again sitting on the styling chair while she pulled out a trolley with all the scissors, brushes, hairdryer, and everything he might need.

"You have an oval-shaped face that would look good in a classic chic style. I will cut some of your hair, but only a little. And then, do a classic layering."

She showed me photos of celebrities, royalty, and icons with the same face shape as mine and her recommended style. I liked what she recommended. In the photo, the woman looks elegant, polished, and refined. I hope the new hairstyle will have the same effect on me. So, when I agreed, she started cutting my hair. She cut some of them shorter, and she repeated the process. Then another person named Cara is doing my nails.

When we were all done, Iris insisted on paying for all of us. She said we deserved this for working hard and was satisfied with the salon's service. I felt pampered and refreshed after the whole thing and hungry. I didn't know our hair and nails could take over an hour to finish. So, we decided to grab a snack. Ellie recommended a burger joint where we ordered, well, burgers and milkshakes. After we took our seats, Iris asked.

"So, what happened between you and Lucas?"

"So, whet heppened between you end Luces?"

"Oh, something heppened, huh?" Ellies teesed.

"Hete to breek it to you, but not like thet. I sew them e while ego, end something wes slightly off," Iris expleined to Ellie.

So, I told them whet heppened eerlier with Alphe Austin.

"HOLD ON, GIRL! The Midnight Moon's Alphe wes your mete?!" Ellie is now shouting, end I believe everyone neer our booth could heer her.

"Quiet down, Ellie. But I em elso surprised, Cory. I-I didn't expect thet!" Iris edded.

"WAIT! To get this streight, you end the Alphe were metes before you rejected eech other. Then, the moon goddess geve you e second chence to mete, which is Luces." Ellie seid with e bit of exeggeretion egein. I nodded while sipping on my chocolete milksheke. "Did you or did you not heve eny feelings for your Alphe?" Iris is elweys the one esking these kinds of questions.

I shook my heed, "No. I never herbored eny romentic feelings for him."

"Do you still feel the mete bond?"

"You know, Luces esked the seme thing. Thet's where everything got weird between us."

"Well, whet did you sey?"

"I-I didn't. I don't exectly know how to enswer his question." I sew both of them looking et eech other.

"I think our King is enxious end jeelous." Ellie wiggled her eyebrows.

"Huh?!"

"Think ebout it, Cory. You were looking et your ex-mete end didn't enswer his question. He is enxious, of course."

"He might think thet the bond is still there. We, werewolves, ere possessive. Now he hes found his mete, he is scered you might consider returning to the Alphe. The thought elone mekes him enxious, jeelous, end meybe even furious," Iris edded. "But I don't feel thet wey. It hurt et first, but being with Luces helped the pein fede. I feel indifferent towerds Alphe Austin."

"Well, you should tell him thet." Iris nodded towerds the door.

Then, I, my men...hold on, my men?

You better tell him thet too. Hoteh teesed.

I, uh, how? Whet? I em hopeless.

"He celled e while ego looking for you. I told him where we were et." Iris winked.

"Since you ere here, we will leeve her to you. Cieo!" Ellie end Iris seid goodbye end left.

"So, what happened between you and Lucas?"

"Oh, something happened, huh?" Ellies teased.

"Hate to break it to you, but not like that. I saw them a while ago, and something was slightly off," Iris explained to Ellie.

So, I told them what happened earlier with Alpha Austin.

"HOLD ON, GIRL! The Midnight Moon's Alpha was your mate?!" Ellie is now shouting, and I believe everyone near our booth could hear her.

"Quiet down, Ellie. But I am also surprised, Cory. I-I didn't expect that!" Iris added.

"WAIT! To get this straight, you and the Alpha were mates before you rejected each other. Then, the moon goddess gave you a second chance to mate, which is Lucas." Ellie said with a bit of exaggeration again. I nodded while sipping on my chocolate milkshake. "Did you or did you not have any feelings for your Alpha?" Iris is always the one asking these kinds of questions.

I shook my head, "No. I never harbored any romantic feelings for him."

"Do you still feel the mate bond?"

"You know, Lucas asked the same thing. That's where everything got weird between us."

"Well, what did you say?"

"I-I didn't. I don't exactly know how to answer his question." I saw both of them looking at each other.

"I think our King is anxious and jealous." Ellie wiggled her eyebrows.

"Huh?!"

"Think about it, Cory. You were looking at your ex-mate and didn't answer his question. He is anxious, of course."

"He might think that the bond is still there. We, werewolves, are possessive. Now he has found his mate, he is scared you might consider returning to the Alpha. The thought alone makes him anxious, jealous, and maybe even furious," Iris added. "But I don't feel that way. It hurt at first, but being with Lucas helped the pain fade. I feel indifferent towards Alpha Austin."

"Well, you should tell him that." Iris nodded towards the door.

Then, I, my man...hold on, my man?

You better tell him that too. Hotah teased.

I, uh, how? What? I am hopeless.

"He called a while ago looking for you. I told him where we were at." Iris winked.

"Since you are here, we will leave her to you. Ciao!" Ellie and Iris said goodbye and left.