ONE ON ONE

TRISTAN

I was annoyed with this whole process. I was ready for it to be over. I sat here and they sent woman after woman to talk to me. Some of them were entertaining but some of them were not. I closed my eyes and took a deep breath. Kimberly seemed like a good match. She was sexy but she talked too much. She was experienced in bed, which was always a bonus. But she was nineteen and she had already been with seven different men. I kept trying to think of the perks of having her but every time I thought of something good, something negative followed right behind it. I could only hope that I was done for the day. I met with fifteen girls and Kimberly was the only one that seemed appealing. What type of daughters were these people raising?

"Is that the last of them?" I asked looking over at my guard.

Before he could respond the door opened and a young woman walked in. She was petite in size but that wasn't a problem for me. She looked up at me and I smirked. She had gray hair which I found strange. Was she sick or something? She was wearing a red dress that brushed the floor as she walked towards me. Her aquamarine eyes looked everywhere but at me. I placed my hand on my chin and leaned back in my chair. This was going to be interesting. She took her seat in front of me and I stared down at her from my throne.

"Are you the last of them?"

She nodded her head slowly. I cursed under my breath and rolled my eyes. "I don't want to have to guess what you're saying. I'm pretty sure that you have a voice, so I suggest you use it." The last thing that I wanted to do was meet with another mute. I loved when my women were seen and not heard but I needed to know that I could communicate with her at least.

"I'm sorry, my king. Yes, I am the last of the women."

Her voice was soft and gentle. The words slipped past her pretty lips with ease. I could feel my wolf becoming excited.

EDEN

I was beyond nervous. I could feel my body trembling. Being this close to the king was unreal. I never thought that something like this would happen to me. I looked around the room and it surprised me that it was only me and him. I guess his guard stepped out to give us some privacy. I was happy because I didn't know what he was going to ask me. What if it was something personal? I didn't want anyone to know private things about me.

He cleared his throat and I looked up quickly. The last thing that I wanted to do was disrespect him.

"It seems that your attention is somewhere else. Do you care to enlighten me?"

I shook my head slowly, "oh... no, I'm sorry. My attention is completely yours."

He sat back on his throne and smiled. "I'm glad to hear that. So, let's start with your name and where you are from."

"My name is Eden Daughtler and I'm from Spring Village. It's not too far away from here. I grew up there with mom and my sister."

"Okay Eden, how old are you?"

I gasped a little when he said my name. His voice was so sexy and deep. He was a king in every sense of the word. There was no mistaking who was more dominant between the two of us.

"I am eighteen years old. I just turned eighteen four days ago."

"Well, in that case, happy birthday," he chuckled.

"Thank you," I whispered.

"So, why is your hair gray? Or are you lying about how old you are?"

I looked up at him in shock. "No, my king. My hair is this color because it's just the way that I was born. Sometimes it appears grey but sometimes it appears black. But then there are days where it's a mix of them both. My mother has the same hair, but her grey is more prominent."

"Hm, interesting. Do you have a wolf or are you human?"

I looked down at my hands nervously, "human."

"I want you to look at me."

As soon as those words left his lips, I looked up at him. I wasn't trying to be disobedient or break eye contact with him. I was nervous and I was ready to leave.

"Why do you feel that you would make a good queen for me? I have a wolf and you don't. How does that make us compatible?"

I held my head up high. "I have many talents that I could offer the kingdom and you. I sew, cook, clean, the list goes on."

"It sounds like you would be a perfect maid. What can you offer me as a king?"

I closed my eyes trying to think of a good answer to his question. The only thing that I could think about was my little sister. I didn't care to be his queen, so the question wasn't important to me. But I knew that I had to tell him what he wanted to hear. As much as I wanted to sound sexy and confident, I wasn't.

I looked up at him once again. "I'm not sure, my king. I'm not sure what you desire so I wouldn't be able to answer that question. If you tell me what you want that will help me to answer your question."

He smiled placing his hand on his chin. "I want a strong child. I want a wife that is obedient but strong. I desire to breed you and you know that. So, is that something that you are willing to offer? Are you willing to give yourself to me so that I can have an heir to my throne?"

I wanted to say no but I swallowed the words quickly. "Whatever you desire will be yours. You are my king and I would answer to you. I would meet every need and request that you need me to. I will be by your side and provide you with the strength that you need. That would be my duty as your queen, am I right?" Despite the disgust that I felt, my mother's words kept replaying in my head. I needed to please him and telling him what he wanted to hear seemed to be working.

"Have you ever been with a man before?"

The question took me off guard. I wasn't expecting him to ask me that. Should I be honest or should I lie? Would he want a woman that was experienced? Would my virginity cause him to look at me as a burden? I didn't know what to say. I had come this far and I didn't want to mess anything up.

"Eden, I don't like to repeat myself. Answer the question and don't hesitate."

I could feel my heart racing as I stared at him. "No, I have never been with a man before."

He stared at me in shock. "Has a man ever touched you?"

I licked my lips trying to stop myself from coming undone. These questions were very personal and embarrassing. Not only that, I felt like I was failing. I could hear the aggravation in his voice. He was irritated that I was a virgin. I knew that it was going to be like this. I was so upset with myself because I knew that I should've lied.

"What do you mean by that?"

He raised an eyebrow, "has a man ever touched your body sexually? Have you ever been pleasured by a man before in any way?"

"No...no, I...I've never been touched by a man."

He sighed loudly, "well what have you done?"

"I apologize, my king. But I haven't...I haven't. I've never been touched by a man before. I've never touched a man before. I've never kissed a man before. I apologize for my lack of experience. I've never seen a man naked and I have never shown my body to a man."

He rubbed his head slowly, "do you know how sex works?"

"I know only what I've thought about. So, I'm sorry but the sexual relationship between us would be new for me."

"So, you've never touched yourself? You've never tried to experiment?" I could feel his anger from where I was sitting. It made me almost afraid to answer.

"No," I whispered. I...I'm sorry."

He took a deep breath, "let's move on. Tell me more about yourself. What do you enjoy doing?"

"I like reading books, cooking, and taking walks outside. I'm very adventurous and I love learning new things. I'm easy to get along with. What do you like doing for fun?" I covered my mouth quickly after the question slipped out. I didn't know if I was supposed to ask him questions.

He smiled, "this is the first time today that someone asked me something. Well, I like going for runs, working out, learning new things, and wrestling with my brother. I'm not easy to get along with but I'm a fair king."

"Do you enjoy being king or is it something that was forced on you?" I was eager to learn more about him. Besides, it took the attention off me.

"I was forced to be king, but I trained for this my whole life. It's not something that I cry about. My father is dead and it is time for me to take care of my family. I have to ensure that I have a strong heir that will be able to take over things once I'm gone."

"I understand," I smiled looking down at my hands.

"What about you? Why are you here? You don't strike me as the type of woman that wants to be bred. You're still a virgin so that tells me enough. You don't want to be here, you're here for a reason."

"No, that's not true."

He laughed, "you flatter me, Eden. Do you really want to have my child?"

"Well, I would love to get to know more about you. I don't mind having children but I'm not ready to jump into something so suddenly. I'm only eighteen years old and we have our whole lives ahead of us."

"Maybe that is what it is like where you live but not here. It is something that happens very quickly. We start trying to conceive early because of the stress that this title brings. I don't want to die without a successor."

"Which is understandable, and I respect that."

"So, why are you here? I want the truth this time." He sat up slowly waiting for me to respond.

"My family is poor, and we have been suffering for a long time. My mother tells me that it's time that I start bringing income into the household. I would love to help her and so I thought that maybe I could provide a better life for my family here. If you don't choose me as your queen, I'll understand. My lack of experience can be frustrating for you. But I would love to work in the castle for you. I wouldn't let you down, I promise. I want to be able to take care of my little sister."

He laughed, "you amaze me, Eden. You're supposed to be telling me why you're a great fit to be my queen. But instead, you are asking for a job as a maid in my castle. Hmm, you're very interesting. You must really despise the thought of having my child, huh? You would rather work as my maid than allow me to breed you?"

"No, that's not what I was saying at all. I don't."

He held up his hand to silence me, "your intentions are clear. You are dismissed. Your time is up anyway, and I have a meeting that I have to attend. My guards will take you to your bedroom."

I stood up slowly and walked over to the doors slowly. The guard was standing there waiting for me. I glanced back at Tristian one more time before walking out of the room. I totally blew it and now my mother was going to kill me. I insulted the king, and I didn't mean to. Ugh, all I wanted to do was go and crawl under a rock.