King Arlen Miller's POV
Present Day​
"Our sources tell me there has been an increase in witch activity throughout the covens in Georgia and Alabama." My consort Jason Coltrane informed me in our daily meeting.

"Any word on the Banker family or Lombardo?" I asked, staring off into space.
"Nothing on the Bankers. Desdemona has not been seen and Sophia is still in the wind." After what I did to Desdemona's face several months ago, any woman would be in hiding. But that's the price you pay when you withhold vital information.
I faced backlash over what I did to Desdemona when several coven leaders reached out to me to voice their displeasure. Once they learned the reason why, all but one felt I was more than justified. The one witch who felt I was too harsh is just an obstinate fool who complains solely to complain.
Months ago when I tracked Luca Lombardo to the swamps of Georgia and summoned the Witch Ruler, Desdemona Banker, for help she f*****g lied right to my face about who Luca really is. Me and the Starr brothers lost precious time when Luca and the wolf with him could have been stopped sooner. Her actions warranted a dire consequence.
"Your majesty, what are your thoughts?" Jason asked me.
"For now, we monitor and wait until we know for certain that these witches are forming an army."

Jason nodded in agreement. He is a quiet but strong man with dark black hair and bright blue eyes. A consort rules in the event a king is unable to rule. I had my eye on Jason for over a year for this role, knowing whoever I elected consort would need to be discreet and rule with authority and fairness. I elected Jason just before I had to deal with the Luca Lombardo situation and based on the wonderful job he did with just days notice months ago, I knew I had made the right choice.
"Jason, I'm going to go for my daily walk. Link me if you need anything." I got up to walk the forest by my home and gather my thoughts.
I've been the King of the Fairies in the United States for the last twenty years. I took over after my father passed away when I was sixteen. As much as I love being a King, it's sadly a bit of a curse. I am 36 years old with no mate and have long stopped looking.
Before she passed away, my mother begged me to settle down and take a chosen mate. For years I obliged her by dating and getting to know fae women, but not one of them met my expectations. Time and again I've been told my expectations are too high, but they have to be. I have thousands of subjects under my rule across fifty states spanning tens of thousands of miles. I need a strong and fearless Queen.

To get some release and to avoid complications that taking a fae woman to my bed can bring, I sleep with human women on occasion. Though due to my responsibilities, I haven't been with a woman in about three years now.
As much as I wanted to find the mate the Fairy Goddess chose for me, I think my mate may have passed away years ago and do not even bother looking now.
A few years ago, I was lying in bed one night trying to get some sleep when I felt a sharp and stabbing pain through my chest. It was brief but, in that moment, I felt sadness and despair like nothing I knew before that made me weep throughout the night. I casually asked a couple of people what it felt like when their mates passed away and they told me it was just like that, though much more pronounced since they were with their mates, or the mate passed away in front of them. I've long considered that my fated mate may already be gone.
But something in my heart told me to still have hope. If my mate survived whatever happened to her, eventually I will find her.
As I continued on my walk, I saw a lady fae and immediately cringed when I realized who it was. Kelli DeMaio has been trying to get me to make her the Queen for years and misses no opportunity to try and sleep with me. I have let her down both gently and with abrasiveness several times in the past.
"King Arlen, how are you?" Kelli said to me with literal hearts in her eyes. The running outfit she wore was absolutely inappropriate and left nothing about her body to the imagination. And this woman wants to be my Queen!
"I'm just on my walk, if you'll excuse me." I tried to dismiss her but of course Kelli got closer to me. She batted her eyes with fake eyelashes that were too large for her face seductively. It took everything I had in me not to laugh at her. Kelli is a couple of years younger than me and looks utterly ridiculous.
"King Arlen, we have both been unmated for far too long. I really feel a connection with you and want to explore it!" She attempted to put her hand on my arm and I instinctively jerked it back.
"Let's get some things straight right now. I will not just take any woman as my Queen! My guards talk about your many bedroom talents which I must say, sound quite impressive. However I'm looking for much more than that!"
Kelli actually scoffed at me. "So I like to f**k!! It's the 21st century King Arlen, no woman is going to be a virgin especially at our ages!!"
"I'm not expecting a virgin, but my future queen really needs to not to be so wanton and reckless! She will have thousands of women looking to her for guidance and direction!!" I snarled at her. I was expecting Kelli to run off crying but if anything, she looked amused. That didn't sit well with me.
"Furthermore, there is another matter we must discuss. Quite a few ladies have come to me and Jason over the last several months and have not only told us how rude and obnoxious you are to them, but that you have flirted with their mates!!" Kelli's eyes widened in rage.
"They're lying! I can't help that all their mates want me!" She huffed at me and crossed her arms like a child.
"The only reason I haven't banished you out of my kingdom yet is because none of these men have reciprocated your advances! But consider this your one and final warning, Ms. DeMaio!! I will not have you jeopardize bonds and put these men and women in harms way. You may have a pretty face, but your heart is anything but! You just don't have what it takes to be my Queen. Do not ever bring this up to me again!" I hope I got through to this woman.
King Arlen, Amos Rainwater skyped you and said it's urgent.
On my way.
"I have to go." I tried to get around her, but then Kelli did something completely disturbing. She took her shirt off in front of me exposing her breasts. Disgust rose in my throat. What I just said to Kelli completely went over her head.
"You don't know what you're missing out on!" She sneered at me then went running off into the forest without putting her shirt back on. I stared after her in utter shock and eventually made my way back to my home where Jason was waiting. He took one look at me and shook his head.
"Another Kelli run-in?" He laughed.
"She is getting more brazen, but I think I made it clear I'm not interested in her. Kelli is to be banished if we get anymore complaints about her flirting with mated men!!" I muttered before I got on my laptop.
"Amos dear friend, how are you?" I greeted. I have much respect for the Alpha of Fire Moon. I consider him one of my closest friends.
"I'm well, King Arlen. Gemma is expecting again." He smiled brightly at me. Amos's mate came a little later in his life and as happy as I am for him, I'm a little envious.
"Congratulations! Fire Moon is certainly growing!" I smiled at him.
"I wish this was all I was calling about, but I had a visit from the Demon Prince this morning." Amos told me.
"Balthazar!?" I said, stunned. Amos nodded.
"He didn't stay long but warned me that Luca Lombardo visited him and tried to recruit the Demons into a war on you. Balthazar came to warn me because Luca has put not just you and Julian DeBuys in his crosshairs, but me. Balthazar informed me Luca told him he has many witch covens who are willing to battle with him. So he told Luca to p**s off and he wasn't helping either him or us." Amos confirmed.
"Balthazar won't risk going up against the witches. Demons don't fare well with them. Though he really has helped us out at the same time. I guess we're going to have to consider a preventive attack." I said, different scenarios running through my head. The witches need to learn they cannot mess with my kind!
"I have to get off here but wanted to make you aware of this situation, Arlen. I'll let you know if I hear anything else." Amos told me.
"You have been most helpful Amos. Let me know if you ever need anything." Amos logged off and Jason looked at me.
"You only declared war on the Banker and Lombardo family. I bet whoever Luca has recruited doesn't know that." Jason speculated.
"And you better believe that Desdemona isn't going to do anything to correct the oversight. An increase in witch power is not going to go unnoticed by their own Ruler. Which Coven has there been the most activity in?" I asked Jason.
"Our sources informed me they're seeing the most out of the Whisper Moon Coven of Tacoma, Washington." Jason told me.
"That's not too far away!" Damn it! We are secluded on Lake Crescent about two hours east. An attack can happen at a moment's notice!
"We need to learn if there are any other covens in this state and fast." I told Jason.
"Way ahead of you, boss." Jason smiled and brought out a folder. "There are two more in the lower south end of the state."
"They may join forces with Whisper Moon. Desdemona is smart. She's going to see if these Covens can take us on first. I guarantee it. That's why she's preparing her better-known Covens in the South. She's saving her best for last." We spent the next few minutes reviewing the folder to learn about these covens.
Jason suddenly looked up. "King Arlen, we need to go out to the main gate. There is an issue with the delivery person."
We went outside to the boundary where I noticed a delivery truck from Lorenzo's Delivery Service sitting parked just outside the guard gate. Immediately I sensed it wasn't our usual delivery person, Grimes. Jason and I often joked we could smell the cigar and beer from Grimes truck miles before he made the delivery.
Lorenzo didn't inform us there was a new driver!! I linked Jason. Lorenzo knows the rules. I will have to remind him of them later.
I saw a young woman get out of the truck and immediately, there was a light around her. I felt heat in the center of my chest. She's breathtakingly beautiful and all of about five feet tall, with wavy red hair and bluish-green eyes that stared at me and Jason in trepidation.
"She's my mate." I whispered to Jason who looked at me in shock. She was perfect, but there was one problem.
Goddess Aine, you have given me a human mate!?
Trust in your bond and in me, Arlen Miller. The little human is what Queens are made of.