The Alpha King's Second Chance

JASPER

Before arriving in the human kingdom, I sent my guards to scope it out. I wasn’t worried, but I had to make sure it was safe. Now, my guard runs back and reports that King Oscar lives in a pretty quiet town and that he saw a maid washing what he assumed was the princess’s dress in a river.

I’ve heard about the princess. They say she is the most beautiful woman in this kingdom—and that she is a wolf. I hope she’s my mate so I don’t have to keep looking. I’m already twenty-four.

“The maid looked better than the princess, though,” my guard continues as we drive toward the kingdom. “She had curves in all the right places.”

With that, we park outside the King Oscar’s mansion. Many people surround the home, probably wanting to see us.

As we exit the car, my guard mind-links me, “The girl in the yellow is the princess, and the one in the blue is her maid. They are the girls I saw by the river.”

Nodding, I begin to walk toward the king, but then my wolf catches a delicious scent, and I turn my head to the right. I take a deep breath and make eye contact with the girl in the blue dress.

“Mate,” grumbles Rafe, my wolf~. “I don’t want her, Jasper. A maid can’t be a princess.” ~After a beat, he adds,~ “She does look good for a fuck, though. I bet her wolf would let us fuck her.” ~

“Calm down, Rafe. We won’t take her as our mate. She’s beautiful, though, better-looking than the princess. Maybe we can get the princess to come home with us and bring the maid too.”

I look away from the girl and come to a stop in front of King Oscar. He smells human, but his two sons and the maid are clearly wolves.

It’s odd that his daughter isn’t a wolf. It seems Ezra was misinformed.

“Prince Jasper,” the king says, shaking my hand.

“King Oscar,” I reply, taking it.

“Let me introduce you to my children,” he says, and his sons and the maid step forward.

As the king wraps his arm around the girl’s shoulder, my guard says, “The maid.”

Gasps sound all around us. The air seems frozen for a second before King Oscar says, in a no-nonsense tone, “This is my daughter, Princess Freya. I’m not sure why you thought she was a maid.” He points to each of his sons. “These are Prince Nicholas and Prince Lance, my sons.”

I smell my guard’s fear. He’s obviously nervous because he gave me the wrong information and embarrassed us in front of the king and my mate. Granted, he doesn’t know she is my mate, but still…I looked down on her because of his misinformation.

My guard clears his throat. “My apologies, sir. I saw her washing this woman’s dress in the river earlier.”

King Oscar side-eyes his daughter. She juts out her chin, but the rest of her body stills. I sense a little bit of fear as her dad scrutinizes her.

“You shouldn’t have been spying on us,” she whispers angrily, quiet enough that only her dad, brothers, my guards, and I can hear her.

Princess Freya’s brothers turn their heads toward her, but she ignores them. The king smirks.

“Feisty,” Rafe comments, and I have a feeling we have no idea just how feisty she is.

***

After that little misunderstanding, the king invites us into his house, but the princess refuses to even look at me. I’m shown to my room and told to rest and freshen up before dinner, but all I can think is that I have to find my mate and talk to her.

As soon as I come out of my room, I see the girl who was following my mate. She gives me a poor attempt at a bow and says, “Prince Jasper—”

I interrupt, “Where is Princess Freya?”

The girl scoffs quietly, but I hear it and scowl. “She’s with her dad,” she replies. “Would you like for me to show you around?”

Ignoring her, I take a sniff and let my nose lead me to my mate. In a hallway not far from my room, I hear voices.

“How many times have I told you to act like a princess even when you are not home? A princess does not wash her friend’s clothes. Why were you washing her dress anyway? She is a big girl; she can wash her own dress.”

“Dad, it wasn’t like that. I spilled some coffee on her dress and had to get it off. It wouldn’t have been a problem if someone didn’t send their guards to spy on us. You know that’s what he did, Dad. He sent his guard here to spy on us. Just like he is spying on us right now…” She pauses and adds, with attitude, “You should come out of hiding—I can smell you.”

The king sounds appalled. “Freya, have some manners.”

I go around a corner and see the princess fuming. I smirk and turn toward the king. “It’s fine, King Oscar. She is right—I did send my guards here earlier. It wasn’t to spy on you; I just had to make sure it was safe for me. You know how it’s unsafe for my kind in certain areas.”

The king nods, but my mate looks pissed. “Well, since we’ve gotten that out the way, I will be leaving, Dad,” she says.

Before Princess Freya can go, I grab her arm. Sparks spread from my fingers up my arm, and my mate’s gasp tells me she feels it too.

I remove my hand and clear my throat. “My apologies. King Oscar, may I talk to your daughter alone?”

I can tell the princess wants to say no, but her dad beats her to it. “Of course, Prince Jasper,” he answers.

Princess Freya just rolls her eyes as her dad walks away from us, but once he is out of hearing range, she turns on me. “What do you want?” Gone is the sweet, innocent voice she used with her father. In its place is venom.

I chuckle as she gives me a death glare. “You. I want you,” I say.

She scoffs, then laughs. “You have got to be kidding me. I could tell by the way you looked at me earlier that you didn’t want me. You’re only backtracking now because you found out that I’m not a maid.”

She isn’t wrong. I didn’t want her when I thought she was a maid. But I can’t let her know that. “It wasn’t like that. I…”

Princess Freya puts her hand up. “Cut the crap. It was like that—there’s no need to lie to me. I bet your wolf was even thinking the same thing… Ha! Look at your face—I’m right, aren’t I?”

I’m speechless. Stunned. I’ve never been talked to like this by anyone except for my brother.

Princess Freya is so upfront. Most girls would line up to get a chance with me, but my mate doesn’t care about my title at all. Still, her next words catch me off guard.

“Just go ahead and reject me.”

I grab her wrist and pull her body close to mine. My body comes to life with her so close to me. “No. I will not reject you, and you will not reject me. We are meant to be together.”

Princess Freya tries to get out of my grip, but I don’t let go. “You didn’t want me before. There is no reason to want me now,” she replies.

I bring my face close to hers but stop before our lips touch. She freezes, and I know I’m affecting her just as much as she is affecting me.

“There will be no rejection,” I insist, leaning even closer. “I’m sure by the end of the week, we will accept each other.”

Just as I start to pucker, we hear footsteps coming toward us. The princess shakes her head and pulls away from me, but I can tell she would’ve let me kiss her. I wonder how her full lips taste.

Princess Freya is standing a foot away from me by the time her friend appears, saying, “Um, I hope I’m not interrupting anything. I wanted to see if Prince Jasper was available.”

My mate steps even further away from me. “Yes, he is, Penelope.” Then she turns around and walks away, leaving me with the maid.

Penelope draws closer to me. “She’s stuck up,” she says once we’re alone. “You won’t be able to get in her pants, but you could get in mine.”

I’m taken aback. This girl acted shy and innocent in front of Princess Freya, but the words she speaks now show her true colors. The princess may think she’s a friend, but she’s not.

“Excuse me?” I ask as Rafe pushes out our aura.

The girl suddenly seems nervous, though she probably doesn’t know why. “Um, I was just saying… If you need to release some of that stress, then I can help you while you’re here,” she stammers.

Penelope puts her hand up to try and touch me, but I step away from her. “I won’t be needing your services,” I say.