Chapter Two: Christophe

"My liege," Lloyd, my butler, says as he enters my study, "The king and queen have requested a visit from you in the throne room."

"What do you think they want?"

"I'm scared they'll offer a royal ball once more," he replies.

I sigh and rub my temples. Lucas, my wolf, has been pacing and howling for weeks, and it's giving me a headache.

"I'll be right there," I say tentatively as I rise from my seat.

As we reach the throne room, I make a mental note to go to the pack grounds later.

"Your Majesties," Lloyd said as he bowed.

Lloyd left, but not before bowing once more in response to Mère's dismissive gesture.

Père exclaims, "Christophe, son!" as he stands up to hug me.

"Your Mère has been hysterical all day, try not to upset her," he says quietly as he walks away.

"Christophe," Mère begins.

Oh oh, I think I see where this is going.

"Christophe, the pack needs a Luna and the kingdom needs a queen. Are you sure we shouldn't revisit the idea of a ball?" she begs.

Not again

"Mère, I don't need anyone; we've already talked about it. The pack is in good shape, and the kingdom has yet to fall."

True, the pack was powerful, and the realm was beautiful; all a girl would have to do was spend money and sit in my arms looking attractive.

However, there are some things that only a queen and/or luna can perform, that you can't" Père explained. "A luna can be a mother figure for the pack, and a queen can be a voice of reason in the judgments you make for the kingdom."

'She is right,' says Lucas

great. My wolf, too, has turned against me.

"Plus, I'd like to have grandkids before I die, " Père adds.

They've figured out my weak spot. I've always enjoyed being around children and have always wanted to have my own.

'I enjoy children, but I more enjoy the process of creating them,' Lucas says, panting.

Lucas, you filthy scumbag.

'Don't act as if you don't like it' he snaps.

I let out a sigh.

"Fine, you may throw a ba--" I was cut off by Mère's squeal.

"Thank you! Oh my god, there is so much to prepare. We're gonna make it a masked ball, you know, to shake things up. Oh and the invitations, the food, the transportation. I have to go, bye!" she exclaims as she runs away ecstatically.

"Père," I say, massaging my temples for the hundredth time today, "Lucas has been giving me the worst headache lately."

"Well, that could imply your mate is close by, and Lucas is eager; I need to locate your Mère before she locks herself in a toilet," Père pats my shoulder as he walks away.

I chuckle as I exit the building and make my way to the elevator. When I go to the elevator, I straighten my tie and press the button for the castle's lowest floor, the pack grounds.

Emely, a maid and a close friend, is on the elevator when it abruptly stops.

Waving at her, I say, "Hey, Em."

She responds with a curtsy, "Hey, Chris-- I mean your majesty."

"You don't have to do that," I say, laughing as I place my hand on her shoulder, making her blush.

Emely and I had been childhood friends, and after her parents died in a car accident, we took her in as our own. When I turned 19 years old a few weeks ago, everyone assumed we'd be mated. She also admitted to liking me, which made things awkward when we weren't mated, but we remained close friends nevertheless. We've even slept together a few times.

She begins, "So, I heard there's going to be a ball."

"Did you get a message from Mère?" I ask, knowing the response already.

"I did. She seems happier than she did when you were of age "She laughs, trailing off.

"Speaking of which, have you found your mate yet?" I enquire.

"No, I'm just 18," she says.

"Oh, yeah,"

Before the elevator doors open and the elevator's automated voice announces that we've arrived at the maids' floor, we wait in silence for a few moments. She walks out the door after saying goodbye

The elevator door opens again, signalling that I've arrived to pack grounds. I straighten my tie and walk out, only to be tackled by Jesse Morgan, my Beta and best friend, almost immediately.

"What the fuck?" As I hit the ground, I exclaim, all the wind knocked out of me.

"Sorry, I thought you were Xavier. During training, the scumbag nearly shattered my jaw "He apologizes and offers to help me up off the floor.

"Speaking of Xavier," I continue, dusting myself off. "I need to speak with both of you."

"Good luck finding him; I've looked everywhere!" he exclaims, his hands raised in the air to emphasize his point.

"Have you looked around the training grounds?" I ask.

He strokes an imagined beard and adds, "Huh, that's the one spot I haven't looked."

I slap him upside the head and say, "Of course, you didn't, you dumb fuck."

Jesse, Xavier Black, and I have been friends since preschool, and they are the first to notice when something is wrong with me. When I became Alpha of the Graelite pack, I dubbed them Beta and Gamma right away. We didn't see Xavier as much after he mated with Claire because he was practically always with her.

It used to irritate me that he was always with her until Père gave me 'the talk.' He went on and on about how, for generations, werewolves were brought together by the Moon Goddess's mate bond, which allowed each wolf to discover their other half and claim them by biting the space between their neck and shoulder.

He explained that a wolf only has one mate in their lifetime, but Alphas may be given another if their mate dies or they reject their mate. If you reject your mate, you will live a short, slow, and painful life, and if you forcefully mark your mate, their blood will poison you and kill you, while they die of blood loss. Wolves recover 95 times faster than humans, however, if they are forcedly marked, their wounds will not heal at all. It will keep bleeding till you die.

I recall more of what Père told me about the mate bond as we walk to the training grounds. Even the tiniest things, such as a compliment from an unmated wolf, might make a mate jealous or possessive. Because the mate bond intensifies our emotions by 1000, our eyes may get darker or brighter depending on our emotions; this could also indicate that our wolf is attempting to take over.

The mate connection also allows us to communicate with our mate, but not through the mind link that every pack has, but rather through a mind link that is only between the two of you, and unlike the other members of the pack, who have to be within a 249m radius for it to work, this link can be used from anywhere on the planet. Your mate also has a unique scent that only you can detect from 15 blocks away.

I abruptly come to a halt, acknowledging that this could happen at the ball and that I may fall head over heels for someone who doesn't know how to rule a pack or a kingdom.

"Hey, dude, what's wrong?" The sound of Jesse's voice draws me back to reality.

I jog to catch up and answer, "Oh, uh, nothing."

"There's something wrong, and I'm going to figure out what it is," he says glaring at me.

We witness different ranks performing various tasks when we enter the training area.

Sarah, my Head Warrior and occasional fuckbuddy, could be seen giving our soldiers orders while winking at me as I walked by.

I can see Claire, my Head Hunter, Healer, and Xavier's mate, use a bow and arrow to shoot holograms of moving animals.

When we eventually go to the sparring area, we find Xavier ripping up a punching bag in anger.

"My liege," Lloyd, my butler, says as he enters my study, "The king and queen have requested a visit from you in the throne room."

"What do you think they want?"

"I'm scared they'll offer a royal ball once more," he replies.

I sigh and rub my temples. Lucas, my wolf, has been pacing and howling for weeks, and it's giving me a headache.

"I'll be right there," I say tentatively as I rise from my seat.

As we reach the throne room, I make a mental note to go to the pack grounds later.

"Your Majesties," Lloyd said as he bowed.

Lloyd left, but not before bowing once more in response to Mère's dismissive gesture.

Père exclaims, "Christophe, son!" as he stands up to hug me.

"Your Mère has been hysterical all day, try not to upset her," he says quietly as he walks away.

"Christophe," Mère begins.

Oh oh, I think I see where this is going.

"Christophe, the pack needs a Luna and the kingdom needs a queen. Are you sure we shouldn't revisit the idea of a ball?" she begs.

Not again

"Mère, I don't need anyone; we've already talked about it. The pack is in good shape, and the kingdom has yet to fall."

True, the pack was powerful, and the realm was beautiful; all a girl would have to do was spend money and sit in my arms looking attractive.

However, there are some things that only a queen and/or luna can perform, that you can't" Père explained. "A luna can be a Mère figure for the pack, and a queen can be a voice of reason in the judgments you make for the kingdom."

'She is right,' says Lucas

great. My wolf, too, has turned against me.

"Plus, I'd like to have grandkids before I die, " Père adds.

They've figured out my weak spot. I've always enjoyed being around children and have always wanted to have my own.

'I enjoy children, but I more enjoy the process of creating them,' Lucas says, panting.

Lucas, you filthy scumbag.

'Don't act as if you don't like it' he snaps.

I let out a sigh.

"Fine, you may throw a ba--" I was cut off by Mère's squeal.

"Thank you! Oh my god, there is so much to prepare. We're gonna make it a masked ball, you know, to shake things up. Oh and the invitations, the food, the transportation. I have to go, bye!" she exclaims as she runs away ecstatically.

"Père," I say, massaging my temples for the hundredth time today, "Lucas has been giving me the worst headache lately."

"Well, that could imply your mate is close by, and Lucas is eager; I need to locate your Mère before she locks herself in a toilet," Père pats my shoulder as he walks away.

I chuckle as I exit the building and make my way to the elevator. When I go to the elevator, I straighten my tie and press the button for the castle's lowest floor, the pack grounds.

Emely, a maid and a close friend, is on the elevator when it abruptly stops.

Waving at her, I say, "Hey, Em."

She responds with a curtsy, "Hey, Chris-- I mean your majesty."

"You don't have to do that," I say, laughing as I place my hand on her shoulder, making her blush.

Emely and I had been childhood friends, and after her parents died in a car accident, we took her in as our own. When I turned 19 years old a few weeks ago, everyone assumed we'd be mated. She also admitted to liking me, which made things awkward when we weren't mated, but we remained close friends nevertheless. We've even slept together a few times.

She begins, "So, I heard there's going to be a ball."

"Did you get a message from Mère?" I ask, knowing the response already.

"I did. She seems happier than she did when you were of age "She laughs, trailing off.

"Speaking of which, have you found your mate yet?" I enquire.

"No, I'm just 18," she says.

"Oh, yeah,"

Before the elevator doors open and the elevator's automated voice announces that we've arrived at the maids' floor, we wait in silence for a few Mèreents. She walks out the door after saying goodbye

The elevator door opens again, signalling that I've arrived to pack grounds. I straighten my tie and walk out, only to be tackled by Jesse Morgan, my Beta and best friend, almost immediately.

"What the fuck?" As I hit the ground, I exclaim, all the wind knocked out of me.

"Sorry, I thought you were Xavier. During training, the scumbag nearly shattered my jaw "He apologizes and offers to help me up off the floor.

"Speaking of Xavier," I continue, dusting myself off. "I need to speak with both of you."

"Good luck finding him; I've looked everywhere!" he exclaims, his hands raised in the air to emphasize his point.

"Have you looked around the training grounds?" I'm curious.

He strokes an imagined beard and adds, "Huh, that's the one spot I haven't looked."

I slap him upside the head and say, "Of course, you didn't, you dumb fuck."

Jesse, Xavier, and I have been friends since preschool, and they are the first to notice when something is wrong with me. When I became Alpha of the Graelite pack, I dubbed them Beta and Gamma right away. We didn't see Xavier as much after he mated with Claire because he was practically always with her.

It used to irritate me that he was always with her until Père gave me 'the talk.' He went on and on about how, for generations, werewolves were brought together by the Moon Goddess's mate bond, which allowed each wolf to discover their other half and claim them by biting the space between their neck and shoulder.

He explained that a wolf only has one mate in their lifetime, but Alphas may be given another if their mate dies or they reject their mate. If you reject your mate, you will live a short, slow, and painful life, and if you forcefully mark your mate, their blood will poison you and kill you, while they die of blood loss. Wolves recover 95 times faster than humans, however, if they are forcedly marked, their wounds will not heal at all. It will keep bleeding till you die.

I recall more of what Père told me about the mate bond as we walk to the training grounds. Even the tiniest things, such as a compliment from an unmated wolf, might make a mate jealous or possessive. Because the mate bond intensifies our emotions by 1000, our eyes may get darker or brighter depending on our emotions; this could also indicate that our wolf is attempting to take over.

The mate connection also allows us to communicate with our mate, but not through the mind link that every pack has, but rather through a mind link that is only between the two of you, and unlike the other members of the pack, who have to be within a 249m radius for it to work, this link can be used from anywhere on the planet. Your mate also has a unique scent that only you can detect from 15 blocks away.

I abruptly come to a halt, acknowledging that this could happen at the ball and that I may fall head over heels for someone who doesn't know how to rule a pack or a kingdom.

"Hey, dude, what's wrong?" The sound of Jesse's voice draws me back to reality.

I jog to catch up and answer, "Oh, uh, nothing."

"There's something wrong, and I'm going to figure out what it is," he says glaring at me.

We witness different ranks performing various tasks when we enter the training area.

Sarah, my Head Warrior and occasional fuckbuddy, could be seen giving our soldiers orders while winking at me as I walked by.

I can see Claire, my Head Hunter, Healer, and Xavier's mate, use a bow and arrow to shoot holograms of moving animals.

When we eventually go to the sparring area, we find Xavier ripping up a punching bag in anger.