The Forbidden Mate

Alex

Everything is out in the open now. There is no need for secrets. I have requested that my grandfather and aunt join us in my father’s office. As alpha it is my office now. I want to explain to them before anyone else what has happened and request their support for what I am going to do next. Thankfully neither of them were hurt during the attack. Carl’s wolves had tried to find my grandfather, he had been one of their targets, but he had managed to evade them.

Katy, Euan, Lily and Joseph are also present. Daniel wounds are being tended to by our healers. Katy is sitting close to me holding my hand. Neither of us can bear to be apart from each other just yet.

Euan has his arm around Lily. I feel sorry for the girl. It seems that she had no idea what a monster her father was and had just found out that he had killed her mother. I was disappointed in my father, in his pride and his weakness, but I knew he would never have done something as evil as killing his own mate.

“What are your plans now?” my grandfather asks me.

“I have called a pack meeting for this evening. I am going to speak to the pack as their new alpha and explain what has gone on here today” I tell him.

“And then?” he asks.

“I will introduce Katy as their Luna and their queen. I will announce that we will stand shoulder to shoulder with the Royal Pack against the Black Moon Pack as we have done for centuries. The days of staying neutral while other packs fight is over.”

“Good” he says, “but be prepared for some of the pack members to oppose this change of course, to want to stick to your father’s policy of neutrality.”

“Yes, I am aware, but by his actions Lucius has made it clear that neutrality will not be an option in this coming conflict.”

Joseph steps in and says “We will finally have a chance to defeat him with your pack aligned with ours. He has been picking off our allies over the last few months. Many of the packs are afraid to stand against him, but with our packs united this will give them the confidence they need to join us. It still won’t be easy to end this war but we have the best chance yet to defeat him.”

I nod in agreement.

…….

The pack have assembled in the main hall of the pack house. They stand together whispering to each other, spreading rumours about what they think occurred here today. It is important that I tell them the truth about what happened and why.

“Silence” I shout. I wait until everyone has stopped speaking before I begin.

“As you must all know by now, today our pack was attacked, and many brave wolves have been killed including my father, your Alpha, and the Gamma. What you may not know is that this attack was orchestrated by our very own Beta, Carl. He recruited some of our own warriors and used them to try and take over the pack. Carl was a spy, loyal not to us but to the Alpha of the Black Moon Pack.

We have defeated him, and all of his accomplices are either dead or imprisoned in our dungeon for interrogation. Only my brother and one of our former warriors Ben escaped, but they are being hunted down now. There will be no mercy for any of these traitors I promise you.

I have with me Commander Joseph of the Royal pack who helped us defeat the traitors today. Without his and his warriors help many more lives would have been lost.

The time for being neutral in this conflict has passed. Lucius does not care about our neutrality, he has proved that by sending his spy to infiltrate this pack. Our reluctance to fight did not stop him from attacking us. If we are to prevent future attacks, then we need to return to our old alliance with the Royal Pack.”

I pause I can hear muttering among my pack members.

One of them shouts out, pointing at Lily “What is she doing here. She is the traitor’s daughter she should be in the dungeon.”

I hear murmurs of agreement from some of the audience. I am about to speak in Lily’s defence when Euan beats me to it.

“Lily has suffered as much as anyone in this pack at her father’s hands. He killed her mother when she became suspicious that he was a traitor and a spy. Lily was beaten by him for refusing to be forcibly mated to Jordan. At the same time, she has proven her own loyalty to the pack by secretly passing information about his plans to me. She deserves your respect, for the risks she took to provide me with vital intelligence about her father, and….” He pauses “for being my mate.”

I look at him with surprise. I had guessed that there was something between them, but I hadn’t realised that she was his mate, or that she had been his spy in Carl’s household. It all began to make sense. I wanted to support them, so I say.

“There will be few among us who is not related to one of the traitors. My own brother helped Carl kill our father. This isn’t the time to start attacking each other, this is the time for us to work together to bring those traitors who managed to escape to justice, and to oppose Lucius and the Black Moon Pack.”

The pack growl with approval.

“I have other important news” I continue. I have found my mate, Katy” I say, beckoning to her to come forward. I put my arm around her shoulder and lean in to nuzzle her neck. I want my pack to see our bond. To know how important she is to me.

Sarah then stands up and cries “An Omega, you are seriously expecting us to accept an Omega as our Luna? She will bring disgrace upon our pack. She will weaken us in the eyes of other packs. We cannot have someone like her as our Luna.”

“It should not matter what rank of wolf my mate is, if the moon goddess had chosen an Omega as my mate, then I and everyone else should respect and accept that. However, Katy is not an Omega. She has spent the last seventeen years concealed in our pack pretending to be an Omega. She was hidden here by my aunt to protect her true identity, and to keep her safe from her enemies.

My mate is Princess Katherina. The sole surviving heir to the Werewolf throne, and your future queen” I announce.

There is shocked silence from the pack. At this moment Joseph steps forward and says,

“I and the rest of the Royal Pack have been searching for our queen for seventeen years. Now that we have found her and have the support of your pack again, we will be able to defeat Lucius. We will restore our queen to her rightful place and the other loyal packs will rally round her.”

“But we are in great danger just by having her here” Sarah objects.

“No, we are not” I tell her. “While she is here the Royal Pack warriors will be here to protect her. Without their help, many more wolves would have died today, and we might have failed to defeat the traitors. Carl didn’t attack us because Katy was here. Their attack had been planned long before they knew of her existence. They attacked us because Lucius is slowly trying to take over as many packs as he can.

Many of the smaller packs have been destroyed by his army or forced to form an alliance with the Black Moon Pack. His plan was to do the same to us, because although we are not a small pack, we are isolated. He knows that we have abandoned our old alliances with other packs, and that when he strikes, there will be no one to come to our aid. The only way we can survive is to choose the Royal’s side and fight Lucius.”

I can see most of the crowd nodding their head in agreement. Sarah’s argument hasn’t swayed them.

“I present to you your Luna and your queen” I tell them.

All of the pack, even Sarah, bow their heads in respect to Katy. I am pleased my wolf would have taken over if they hadn’t shown her the respect that is her right.

“I will mark Katy today, and our mating ceremony will be arranged for five days’ time” I say.

I watch Katy turn and look at me in surprise. I haven’t discussed it with her, but we have waited too long to be formally mated, I won’t wait any longer. My wolf agrees he wants his mate to be ours as soon as possible.

“I have also decided who will be the pack’s new Beta and Gamma. Euan will take on the role of Beta, and Jane will be our new Gamma.” Appointing Jane is a surprise to a lot of the pack, my father would never have appointed a shewolf as a ranking wolf, but she is one of our strongest warriors, and has proven herself able and loyal, there is no better candidate for the role.

I nod to the pack, to show that our meeting is over, and I take Katy’s hand and lead her out of the room. It feels like a lifetime since we were last alone together, and I long to take her in my arms.