The Alpha King (19 page)

"Are those Maltipompions?" he asked, his voice filled with awe and wonder.

Someone chuckled and Tal turned in their direction.

"Yes, Your Highness. We provide only the purest bred of Maltipompions on the entire planet," the store owner stated with pride.

Tal tilted his head to the side slightly at the sound of the man's lisp.

With a gasp and his eyes widening, he covered his mouth in shock. "You're a vampire?" he questioned, amazed a vampire would be living on Tumaro.

Doralian vampires and Tumaron shifters hated each other. To find a Doralian living on Tumaro, free, happy, proud, and owning a business, a very lucrative business, counted as more than just a shocking, it practically equated as a fucking miracle.

"Yes, Your Highness," the vampire said with a grin. "You sound just like my mates did when I first met them."

Tal opened his mouth to apologize only to watch in amazement when two very large, very attractive Tumaron men walked from out of the back of the store and towards them. While Blaze definitely had to be the most attractive man Tal had ever seen in his life, he could freely admit the two men were definitely tied for second.

"Just be sure you are only admiring aesthetics, love,"
Blaze's voice sounded in his head.

Tal grimaced slightly. He kept forgetting about the stupid mental link he had with his mate.

"We Tumarons are very, very possessive and can be very jealous, I'd hate to have to leave my meeting just to come over and kill three businessmen."

Distracted for a moment, Tal noticed Buck seemed to be talking with the three store owners about something very important, if their rapid-fire words and big, wild hand gestures were anything to go by.

Tal sent Blaze an image of himself rolling his eyes before he replied.
"How far does this whole mental link thing extend? I mean can you be on an entirely different planet and still hear my thoughts? Not that it's a bad thing, but I'll tell you what, sometimes it might be nice to keep some shit to myself, like how hot I find another guy, even if he's not as hot as you and my dick doesn't get hard over him whatsoever,"
he quickly reassured his very large, very possessive, Alpha mate.

Blaze chuckled before he responded.
"It gets fainter the farther apart we are from each other. But the closer we get to each other, the clearer and more distinct it becomes as well. Now, I do believe I should devote my entire attention to this meeting before I sign away the palace or something. Do have fun, Tal,"
Blaze said.

Tal laughed underneath his breath. It always tickled him how Blaze could go from a sexy, playful, lustful Dom who could also be all sweet words and snuggling and caresses—Tal could almost guarantee that at night when Blaze thought he slept, his big, strong mate gently rubbed his stomach and talked to their unborn children—to a formal, cold, indifferent, almost snobbish Alpha King in five seconds flat. Tal found it quite an amazing feat. Not one he wanted to accomplish at all, but it amazed him that his mate could do it and do it so well.

Buck and the store owners headed back towards Tal and he shook himself out of his mental musings before he smiled and prepared himself for whatever scheme Buck had hatched up.

"Your Highness, the Beta Prince has informed us you would like to purchase a Maltipompion. We would be happy to assist you," the smaller of the two Tumarons said grinning.

Tal quickly catalogued his features. He stood about five feet eleven inches tall, had short brown hair, gold eyes, and while broad shouldered, he didn't appear as wide as some of the other Tumarons Tal had come in contact with. Tal wondered if maybe he might be a half breed Tumaron and thought of the children growing inside of him. Looking over at the tallest of the three, Tal glanced back and forth between the two men. He sensed one had mixed blood, some instinct within him assured him, but he couldn't tell which one. The tallest man seemed to be all Tumaron, but almost too Tumaron. While it wouldn't be a problem with Blaze or anyone else within the kingdom, Tal compared the men to his own children, the ones he currently carried and the ones he would carry in the future. He wondered if the half-breed status, and falling in love with a half-breed, was the reason the men owned a pet store.

Tal's chest tightened and his head swam from panic, he forced his mind past the thoughts of babies, children, and how the hell he could be pregnant while trying to learn how to be an Alpha Queen, and focused on the sight of the pets before him. Maltipompions were a hybrid breed of animal crafted by the GPA after the humans had been rescued. A mix of maltese, pomeranians, poodles and lions, the Maltipompion was a tiny animal with a huge mane of fur that fluffed around its face. Everyone wanted one, especially a purebred, and Tal couldn't get over seeing an entire display cage of the beautiful animals.

He noticed one of the creatures in the corner, his fur a beautiful mixture of brown, gold and white and Tal felt instantly drawn to him. He ignored the chattering of the men behind him when they asked him which animal he wanted and stepped closer to the glass. Raising a hand, he watched in astonishment as the beautiful, lonely creature opened its eyes and looked at him before walking over to the window to lick at the hand he'd placed there.

"Have you come to take me home?"
the creature asked.

Tal gasped in shock. How could he have forgotten he could speak to animals? How many other creatures had he ignored or brushed aside because he'd forgotten he could hear them?

"Would you like to come home with me?"
he asked.

The tiny fur ball stood up on its back paws and began to whine.

"Very much so. The other pets don't like me very much I'm afraid. I think it's because I don't really play all that much."

Without another thought, Tal gestured to the shop owners and indicated which one he wanted to purchase. He smiled when the tiny pet panted happily and hopped around on two legs as if dancing for Tal's amusement. He chuckled and unconsciously placed a hand on his flat belly.

I wonder if my children will like to dance and have fun.

Blaze's chuckle sounded seconds before the man's arms wrapped around Tal from behind and he placed a kiss on the back of Tal's head.

"Our children will be the happiest children in the entire galaxy. They will dance and laugh and have fun, because they will have you for a daddy," Blaze murmured in his ear before releasing him and stepping back.

Taking a deep breath of happiness, Tal turned with a smile. "Thank you," he whispered. Pulling back, Tal cocked his head to the side and placed one hand on his hip. "What are you doing here? I thought you had meetings all day."

"Well, my Queen. Imagine my surprise when I was told that you were in the pet shop looking to purchase a Maltipompion," Blaze stated with a raised eyebrow.

Tal wanted to nibble on his lower lip, but stopped himself, uncertain if he had overstepped. This nervousness only lasted a second, and then he remembered that although he hated the name of his title, he loved the power it gave him. The fucking Alpha Queen could buy a pet if he wanted to. With a grin, he walked over to the counter where his new pet was loaded into a green carrier with the seal of Tumaro upon it.

"Yes, I have decided to purchase a pet for our unborn children. I thought it would be fun, don't you, Alpha King?" he queried with a smirk.

Blaze inhaled sharply. Tal enjoyed what it did to the other man when he called him by his full title. He began pointing out items he wanted to buy for his new pet and Blaze walked up to settle behind him, placing one hand at the small of Tal's back.

"I think it's a perfect idea, mate. And when you are finished here, we shall see as much of the kingdom as we can before we head back to the palace for dinner," Blaze stated.

Tal detected his underlying tone of sex and arousal. He wondered if the other Tumarons could smell Blaze's excitement as well as he could. He didn't think he'd ever have been able to say he could do that, but he seemed to be able to smell Blaze's body heating up, a musky, almost heady smell of man, sweat, and sex. It made him ache. It made him want to throw caution to the wind, rip the clothes off of his hunky king, and mount him right there in the store, in front of everyone.

He groaned underneath his breath his shaft hardened in response to the smell of his mate's skin and Blaze chuckled. Tal had never had such an acute sense of smell before mating with Blaze… before getting pregnant with five wolf shifter babies. He turned to glare at the other man before accepting the carrier being handed to him from the shop owner. At that point, he realized he didn't even know the man's name.

"I'm sorry. We weren't formally introduced," he apologized, realizing he'd ignored protocol.

The three men smiled at each other before turning back to answer him.

The vampire held out his hand and answered first, "I am Christienson Markoff. Everyone calls me Chris or CM."

Tal shook his hand before turning to the shorter of the two Tumarons.

"I'm Ralph Jorgolowsin. Everyone calls me RJ," he stated.

Tal shook his hand, aware of Blaze's low growl when the other man seemed to hold onto the embrace a little longer than necessary. Tal turned to the tallest of the three men. The tall, broad Tumaron man, with short black hair, and whose eyes glowed a beautiful amber color. The tall man grinned and Tal blushed slightly at the sexy and sinful action as the Tumaron stepped forward and bowed low. He cleared his throat when Blaze stepped closer to him and tried to control his wayward thoughts. He didn't think he would ever be attracted to anyone else other than his mate, ever again in his life, and for the most part that was true. It wasn't so much that he was looking at this man with lust or desire, but when he smiled, Tal felt a definite… something.

"I'm Stiving Hoyler. You can call me Sty or Styve, I get both. And in case you were wondering, I'm half Tumaron and half Namprincian," he explained and Tal felt awareness and clarity wash over his mind. Well that explained it all perfectly. With a giggle at being so obvious, he shook Stiving's hand and stepped away.

"It was a pleasure to meet all three of you. Thank you so much for assisting me with finding…" He realized he didn't even know his new pet's name.

Lifting the carrier slightly he looked inside and decided to ask the animal for himself.

"What is your name little one?"
he questioned him.

"Farthing,"
the animal responded.

Tal grinned. What a cute name.

Lifting his eyes back to the men behind the counter, he finished his sentence, "…Farthing. I am truly happy to make him an addition to our family and to have a new 'baby' of sorts before our own children come along."

With what he hoped was a regal nod, Tal gave a friendly wave and said goodbye, turning towards the door to leave. Blaze said his own goodbyes and Buck picked up the large velvet lined box of items that looked much like the box he'd kept aboard his shuttle before it'd crashed and followed them out to the hover carriage.

Tal smiled down at Blaze when the larger man helped him up into the vehicle before climbing up behind him. Buck followed him in shortly thereafter, taking the carrier from Tal and placing it on the seat next to him.

"So… what's next?" Tal asked excitedly, glad to finally be able to see the planet he now helped to rule, but more than that, happy to be spending time with his mate.

He refused to examine the feelings of peace and extreme happiness that flooded his being whenever the other man came near, choosing to attribute it to being mated and expecting children. His emotions weren't involved at all… they couldn't be… because he hadn't even known Blaze that long and they weren't in one of the stupid romance novels Tal read.

He completely discounted what his mother and father told him about mating, even after he'd overheard conversations between others about mated couples falling in love quickly. Tal wasn't like other people. He didn't fall in love just because some chemical in his body and brain told him to, just because 'fate' or 'the One' decided he and Blaze were made for each other.

If he fell in love with Blaze it would be because he knew the other man, because they knew each other. Fate and mating be damned. He wasn't in love with his mate, he was in… infatuation. Yeah, all the peace and happiness, the contentment, had to be about infatuation.

With a determined huff of frustration, he turned his attention to the windows and watched as the landscape of Tumaro drifted past. He and Blaze waved to the people they passed on the streets. Some were walking. Some stood in front of their businesses and as they traveled into the residential areas, some hung out with their neighbors in front of their homes, kids playing out in the yards or with their own pets, and at one point they even saw a group of Tumaron teenagers, who were obviously in a band, practicing on their roof. Tal smiled at the people he now felt responsible for in some way. He smiled as he saw them going about their daily lives and living their regular routines. He grinned at those who waved at him frantically. He waved at those who seemed almost too shy to wave to him. He inhaled the fresh air that seemed to surround him and seep into his pores and he lifted his face to the sun that seemed to infiltrate his essence.

Blaze took out his communicator and began to discuss matters of the kingdom with Percy and Tal looked over at Buck in sympathy. The Beta Prince's eyes filled with anguish and longing and Tal felt sorry for him. He wished he could do something to help Buck and Percy find their way to each other, but with Buck clinging to his secret so tightly, Tal feared a mating between the two of them would either never happen, or be forced upon them by tragedy.