The Alpha Princess Selection

Charlotte’s POV It was never a good thing when my father called me to his office. The most common reasons would be that I had done something to get myself in trouble or that I had forgotten to do something which would result in me being in trouble. Fear was the only emotion I was feeling as I stood outside of the door to my father’s office. I was in trouble I was sure of it but all I didn’t know was what I had done to get myself into trouble. ‘You aren’t in trouble.’ My wolf said into my mind. ‘We have been laying low since that incident remember?’ I cringed slightly as the memory of the tantrum I threw at the Alpha trials slipped into my mind. I am my father’s only child but because I am a female I can’t inherit the title from him. Ordinarily, my father would wait for me to find my mate and give him the title but my father has been wanting to retire from his position for the longest time so he decided to hold trials within our pack and the winner from those trials would be named Alpha. Even though I had known for a long time that I wouldn’t be allowed to participate in the trials, I still felt really upset and overlooked so I threw a tantrum which effectively embarrassed my father in front of all the guests he had invited to watch the trials. He had never been one to raise his voice at me in public but I guess I had gotten on his nerves that day and he blew up on me in front of everyone. I am sure that I won’t be getting over that anytime soon. ‘We still haven’t been punished for that so maybe he has been holding a grudge all this time and we are getting our punishment now.’ I said in my head as a response to my wolf. ‘Father wouldn’t do that to us.’ ‘Do you want to bet?’ I asked her. We both knew my father knew how to hold grudges even though he had never held them against us before. ‘Why did you even insist on arguing that day? We’ve known for a while that we aren’t going to get the title.’ ‘I thought father would have changed his mind because of how hard we’ve been working.’ My wolf replied. ‘It’s a bit archaic that only the males inherit the title don’t you think?’ ‘I-’ I began to reply to her but I was cut off by my father’s voice from inside his office. “Are you planning on standing outside of my office all day?” He asked out loud. I shook my head even though he couldn’t see me. I smoothed down my shirt and ran my hands lightly through my hair before I took a deep breath and opened the door. “Father.” I greeted him as soon as he came into view. “And Beta Steven,” I said smiling as I turned to face my father’s Beta. “It’s always nice to see you, Charlie.” Beta Steven said. I could tell from his tone that his words were slightly insincere. Beta Steven didn’t like me much especially because I had been a thorn in his side ever since I could talk. Whenever my father didn’t want to deal with my shenanigans he would transfer all of the stress I had caused him onto Beta Steven which resulted in his feelings about me not being the most positive. He cared about me but only when I wasn’t making his work more difficult. “Likewise,” I replied using the very same tone he had used. He squinted his eyes slightly and I smiled as I knew that he had caught the teasing tone of my words. From the corner of my eyes I saw my father look between Beta Steven and I curiously as if he couldn’t get a grasp of the atmosphere between us before he let out a breath of air that had me turning to face him fully. “Charlie why don’t you have a seat?” My father said as he pointed to the couch that was on his left. “Is this going to be a long conversation?” I asked. “Do you have somewhere to be?” My father countered. “Eddie and-” “I guess you have no plans then.” He said. I scowled but made no other objection to my father and moved into the seat that he had pointed at. He had always been very clear about his dislike for the close relationship between me and Eddie so I wasn’t surprised to hear him dismiss the plans I had made with my best friend. I sat down and made myself comfortable by stretching out my feet in front of me. I looked around the office curiously and noted that he had put up a new picture of our small family on the wall directly behind his office chair. This picture was the same one we had taken on the night of his birthday celebration 3 months ago. I smiled as I remembered it being taken. “Can’t you sit like a lady?” Beta Steven asked condescendingly taking me out of my thoughts.  “How is a lady supposed to sit?” I asked him playfully but pulled my legs together and sat up straighter in my chair. “Cross your legs or something.” He replied frustrated. He turned to look at my father. “It’s not too late to send someone else to represent our pack.” “What are you talking about?” I asked excitedly. “Am I going on a trip?” I looked at Beta Steven but he just turned to look at my father so I did the same. I saw my father reach over to take my hand in his. “Charlie there is something important I need you to do for the pack.” He said to me. I tilted my head curiously but didn’t make a move to talk so he continued. “The Royal family are looking for a mate for the prince and they’ve asked for the packs to send their eligible high-ranking daughters to the palace so that the prince can pick his bride.” “Pick a mate?” I asked. “Why doesn’t he just wait for his fate mate?” “Royals rarely ever mate with their fate mates because there is a belief that they make you weaker.” Beta Steven explained. I squinted my eyes at that flawed logic. Mates could only make you stronger and not weaker so it didn’t make sense why the royal family would opt for a chosen mate instead of looking for their fate mate but then again that was none of my business, in fact my father hadn’t explained yet what this had to do with me. “What does this have to do with me?” I asked him trying to pull my hand out of his but he seemed to hold onto my hand tighter. It seemed like he was trying to hold onto me so that I couldn’t blow up at him. My father gave me a sad smile. “You are the one who is going to be sent from our pack.” My eyes widened and I looked toward Beta Steven but he held up his hands as if he wanted no part in this. I shook my head at my father, “Does mom know about this?” I asked him. My mom had always emphasised the importance of me fate mates especially when I swore to her that I would marry Tom Holland so I knew she would not be happy about my arrangement. My father dropped the hand that he had been holding and looked at me with brown eyes that were similar to my own. “She doesn’t agree but knows its for the greater good.” “Greater good for who?” I asked as I stood up from my chair. “The pack.” My father answered simply. “Father!” I shouted at the top of my voice. “Charlotte!” My father said matching my tone which had me stumbling backwards in shock. “This pack has provided you with everything you could ask for so now it is time for you to pay it all back.” He said. I shook my head as the tears started falling from my eyes. “That’s not fair, I didn’t ask for any of it.” I took a deep breath before I continued. “I want to only mate with my fate mate no one else.” “Life’s not fair Charlotte.” My father said in a calmer tone that had an undertone of sadness. “I’ve given up my whole life for this pack and for you and sadly now things have gone out of my control. You mating with the Alpha Prince is the last resort to save the pack.” He looked into my eyes. “We’ve run out of money and we can’t fund the pack anymore. We need money and our best chance at getting it is for you to mate the Alpha Prince, so please Charlotte...” I couldn’t respond to him so I just put my hands over my mouth to try and mute my cries of frustration. Arguing with my father was like arguing with a brick wall. It was always his way or the highway and I knew that even if I tried I wouldn’t get anywhere. He had already made up his mind and there was nothing I could do to change it. Beta Steven got up from his chair and came over to my side. He put his hands around me to try and console me. We normally didn’t get along but I can’t lie and say that he wasn’t always supportive of me especially when me and my father butted heads. “We all have to make sacrifices at some point or another.” My father said to me before he walked passed me and out of his office. At the sight of his retreating back my cries became louder. I was crying for myself and my unfortunate situation but more importantly I was crying for the mate I would never get to experience life with.