Her Unwanted Mate On The Throne

#Chapter 16 Simple words

Doris barely left her room while William was in meetings all week with the Eldon rulers. He came to

their room later, sometimes drunk from socializing or so exhausted that he barely kissed his baby

goodnight before he passed out.

She tried to ignore the ache inside her that longed for him. She tried to remember that he was busy—of

course he was busy. He was a king and he had better things to do than spend all of his time with them.

Or at least some of his time with them.

Still, she knew her baby missed him as much as she did. Sometimes when she couldn’t quiet him

down, Doris wondered if it was because he wanted to be held by his father.

Or perhaps she was a failure at everything.

Her nights and days blurred together, she rarely got sleep and when she did —it was pure bliss.

It was a rare morning when she woke up and found William was still sound asleep next to her. She

carefully slid out of bed and fed Alec as quietly as she could. The last thing she wanted was for him to

wake and run out of here to his next meeting.

Alec fell right back asleep after he was fed. She sighed at his peaceful face and dressed for the day in

a simple cream day dress.

Doris almost flinched when she felt William’s arms wrap around her from behind. She hadn’t heard the

bed creak or his steps tap across the wooded floors when he approached her. His scent filled her up

and made her lean back against his strong chest just to linger in the moment.

His lips pressed against her neck and made her shiver. Doris closed her eyes as his mouth moved up

to her temple. She didn’t dare breathe too loud in fear it might ruin the moment for them both.

“I wanted to spend the day with Alec.” He said against her ear. Doris felt her heart stop in her chest at

his words as the disappointment flooded in.

She turned in his grasp and looked up at him. “Just with Alec? I could go down to the kitchens and get

a picnic for us—“

“I wanted some alone time with him since I haven’t seen him all week. Perhaps tonight we can have a

dinner together as a family.” William kissed her head before he pulled away. °

Doris wrapped her arms around herself just to get back a bit of warmth as she watched William

disappear into the bathroom. The distance between them thickened daily and she didn’t know how to

close it.

“Give him some space. He will come around when he misses you.”

Cordelia said quietly. Doris went and kissed her baby before she left the room. '

“He doesn’t even want me around for his days off. He hasn’t touched me since I gave birth—perhaps

he just isn’t attracted to me anymore.” Doris said inside her mind to Cordelia. She passed a tall mirror

and stared at herself.

What was wrong? Had she changed and didn’t even realize it? Perhaps he just wasn’t attracted to

mothers and he was done with that part of their relationship. Or maybe it was her body he was bored

of.

“I feel as if I’m waiting for him to tell me he doesn’t want to get married. He used to be all over me to

the point where I couldn’t walk in a room without his hands on me. Now he barely looks at me.”

“When wolves are mated, the first few months are hard to keep hands to themselves but that does

pass. He’s busy now and has a lot more on his plate than he’s used to.” Cordelia said gently.

Doris couldn’t shake the feeling that he would do exactly as she always feared he would.

He would replace her once he grew tired of her. Once he found her used up and old news. Doris

always felt that it would happen, that was why she fought her feelings for him for so long. She refused

to be the next maid that was casted to the side because the man got tired.

Had she walked down that path like a fool? He swore to her every night that he would never leave her

and how much he loved her—perhaps that changed. She knew what she agreed to the moment he first

kissed her. She knew he could change his mind faster than the weather. He was quite famous for doing

just that when it came to women.

“Perhaps there is something more that we don’t know of yet. He might be dealing with something that

he can’t take his mind off of and he’s worried you will ask about it.”

Doris frowned and continued herwalk down the long, empty halls. Her steps echoed off the walls and

sounded so lonely to her ears. “That makes it sound like he’s cheating or thinking about it.” Doris

mumbled. “Oh no, I would sniff it out on him ifhe was cheating and then I would let you unleash

whatever rage you have on him. It’s not that, it’s something else.”

“Tf we are to be married, I wish he wouldn’t carry the burdens on his own. He should feel free to talk

about them to me even if he thinks it will worry me. I would rather know than be left in the dark.”

Cordelia said nothing and Doris was once again left alone with her thoughts. She followed the halls to

the outside and let a brisk of wind blow through her hair. It left her in shivers.

As she passed through the side of the palace towards the gardens, she stopped short when she heard

voices. “is ridiculous to think of. I don’t know how long this will take.” The man muttered. Doris moved

slowly to peer around the corner and see the rulers of Eldon and their guards around them as they sat

in the garden.

‘We knew from his reputation that he was strong willed. Just look at all he did to get this crown.” She

replied and scoffed. “We need to find his weakness and poke at it until he comes undone. He's still new

to this, we can only hope he won’t know what we’re doing.”

“I’m not so sure about that. He’s guarded on all fronts—he barely lets us see into his kingdom

business. If we can somehow get him to trust us...” Doris felt her heart speed up. How could they talk

so openly about William like this?

“I determine that his patience will last until the end of the month for us. By then, he will see that his

people haven’t warmed up to him as much as he wanted and we can only offer our... advice.”

The woman laughed and shook her head. “This won’t be easy, but it will be worth it.”

Doris backed away from the wall when she heard the rulers get up. She hurried back inside the palace

before they could see her.

She may not have heard the full conversation, but she heard enough. They were after William’s crown.