Chapter 77 - Don't listen to the gossip ...

Samantha

The mate bond was so strange. It made me feel things. Things I wasn’t sure I would ever feel. Our family had been shunned for so long, that I almost suggested to my parents that we move. I knew they wouldn’t go for it, that was why I never did. If we left, we would have to explain to a new pack what my ancestors did. I knew my parents wouldn’t be able to face the disgrace.

Now that I was the mate of the king, it changed everything. Our fortunes had been restored. My parents were so happy to see all their things moved back into the house, and I was happy to see all the staff back at work. I knew how badly our misfortune affected their lives. It made me wonder if the queen understood how much her choice affected the lives of so many people. Innocent people that weren’t part of what my ancestors decided.

I shook my head to get the thoughts out of my mind. Things were changing, and I had to change with them. At least, our staff were back and had jobs. I checked in with each of them to make sure they had been well taken care of while they were away. It saddened me to see the relief in their faces to be back. Things weren’t just tough on us, but on them as well.

I helped where I could get things back in order and now that we were rich again, we could finally fix up our home. My mother wasn’t sure where to start and my father’s first priority was to network with the nobles again, which meant all the arrangements fell to me. I had to arrange for painters and contractors to come and fix whatever needed fixing.

I didn’t mind doing it since it meant more work for other people. By the time I went to bed, it felt as if I hadn’t seen Adam in weeks. There was just so much to do and take care of! As I closed my eyes, I wondered how I was going to handle being queen if running my household was so tough! How did you run an entire kingdom?!

In the morning, I made sure everyone knew what they had to do before leaving for my daily visit to Adam. If he wasn’t the king, he would come to my home every day. Sadly, circumstances forced us to do things the wrong way around.

“He will never mate her!” I recognized the voice in the crowd instantly! Amelia Forsythe-Smith. The daughter of the head of the council, who thought it was her birthright to marry the king. She had always looked down on my family! “Just look at that dress! It’s so last season!” Amelia laughed with her friends and I ignored them. Just because we had money now, didn’t mean I had to spend every damn scent!

What if we fell out of the queen’s favour again?! I would love to see Amelia falling flat on her face! I took a deep breath as the huge gates came into view and I walked through to meet Adam on the other side. He was excitedly talking about some event he wanted me to attend, but I couldn’t help but think about what Amelia said.

“Samantha, is something bothering you? Have I done something wrong? You don’t have to come if you don’t want to.” Adam’s voice echoed through my thoughts and I felt my cheeks turn bright red instantly.

“No, I’m sorry!” I quickly apologized, then sighed deeply. “I’m sorry, Adam. I would love to join you. It’s just that …” I hesitated for a moment. “I’m not sure if people would want me there. You might have restored our family’s name and fortune, but that hasn’t changed the way people look at us.” I sighed deeply for a second time. I didn’t want to burden him with my family’s troubles, but he had to know what he was getting himself into. “I’m afraid if you keep seeing me, people will eventually turn on you.” There I said it.

I finally admitted to my worst fear. The people in our pack weren’t all happy about the fact that he was courting me. I didn’t know if he knew this fact, and it was time that I told him. I took a deep breath and jumped in the deep end, explaining what the people were saying about us. I could see the anger grow in his eyes, but I had to tell him. If he insisted on going ahead with this … With us, he had to know what the people were saying.

“I don’t want the people to turn on their king because of me.” I finished feeling the tears sting the back of my eyes. It would be the best thing for the kingdom if the king mated his destined mate. Everyone knew that much, but people weren’t happy about the fact that his destined mate was a traitor.

He might have restored everything to the way it was, but that didn’t fix what people thought of us. The damage was done, and I wasn’t sure if it could be fixed with money or even a royal pardon. I suddenly understood why the queen didn’t look happy about the fact that I was his mate. It could ruin them and I didn’t want to be the cause of the royal family coming to a fall.

“I don’t care what people are saying, Samantha. I’m furious that they don’t trust my decisions, but I don’t care whether they approve or not. The moon goddess chose you to be my mate, and that should be enough for them.” His anger disappeared the instant he took my hands in his and looked into my eyes. “I don’t want you to listen to people. I will take care of it. You just come and see me every day, please.” He looked sad at the thought that I might stop coming to see him. I touched his cheek.