Choosing Her Lycan Mate

Chapter 6

Amelia’s POV

The following morning I hear back from Ambrosia.

So Selene? She agree that Laurel mighta overstepped and taken things a bit far. She shouldn’t have turned on the match makin’ pheromones like that before Izzy was actually ready for a mate, Ambrosia tells me. But Selene also thinks the timing was ideal considering that there were so many high ranked Lycans all in one place without any mate. So now Selene thinks this will be a good time for Izzy and that it’s gonna be ‘fun’. As for all the disappointed gents, she says we can help them find other mates once Izzy done making up her own mind and reject them.”

“Well, that’s good at least!” I reply.

So with Tara’s help, I send out invitations to all four suitors who are allowed to bring one officer each to a private luncheon in a small family dining room within the palace. In the meantime I discuss the plan that I think best with Izzy, who was happy to have some reasonable plan in place that should be considered more or less fair to everyone.

I should not have been surprised, but all four suitors were already assembled in the dining room when we arrived. And naturally, they all wished to sit next to Izzy for this event. But we had already pre determined to have Leo to one side of Izzy, while I sat on the other. So then they all scrambled to have the best spots directly across from her, while the ‘losers’ then attempted to get the spots nearest to her. Their officers obviously had to take the least desirable spots at the round table, if any such spots existed.

Queen Luna Tara took the last available spot. She was there to prevent any present wolves from harming anyone else, since she was the most powerful of the wolves present at the summit, and she could easily whisk Izzy away in a heartbeat if things got out of hand. Or order the bachelor Lycans to stand down. After the shenanigans of last evening, they realized that the Belgian Queen Luna was not one to be underestimated!

“So, after consulting with the Moon Goddess, my Lycan Ambrosia and I have been given authority to help all of you whom will end up disappointed when Izzy makes her selection,” I tell them as we dig into our appetizer course. “So you will all have a mate when everything is said and done. Anyone who wishes to give up their claim to Izzy at any time has only to tell me so, and then Selene will tell me who your mate is, and where she will be found.”

Nobody seemed ready to give up that easily, though.

“How will Princess Isabelle make up her mind?” Stephan of Montreal inquires.

“Together we have come up with a three part plan to…” I begin, but none of the assembled wolves were interested in listening to me talk.

“You claim that you and Isabelle have come up with this so called ‘plan’ together,” Lycan King Douglas of Scotland gripes before I start to outline the plan. “If that is so, then let the lass speak for herself!”

“I agree!” Prince Elias seconds.

“I, too, believe we should hear this plan from the Princess’s own sweet lips,” Stephan charmingly croons at Izzy.

“Is he just going to be allowed to use his charm on the princess like that?” Theodor explodes, and the others agree. “Behavior like that should disqualify the smarmy git!”

“No worries,” Tara pipes up. “I’ve got a charm blocker over this entire room. None of you will be able to charm anyone in here as long as I remain in the room!”

“Thank you, Tara,” I say with a nod at her. She winks back at me.

“I will be having each of you sign a contract regarding your behavior during the courtship,” Leo tells them as he digs through his briefcase and pulls out a file, then hands out a copy of the contract that each of them will be expected to sign.

“As you can see,” Leo continues, going over the highlights of the contract. “Each of you will be expected to show respect to my sister-in-law, and not use any Lycan abilities against her. There will be no unapproved touching or mating without her consent. All time spent with Isabelle during the first two phases of the courtship will be chaperoned at all times. Any coercion to make Isabelle do anything against her will shall hereby disqualify that Lycan from further courtship with said princess. And so on and so forth. I expect you all to read this in its entirety before you sign. Ignorance of its contents will not be an excuse for any poor behavior on your part.”

There was quite a lot of grumbling regarding the contract from certain parties, but they all agreed that there was nothing truly objectionable in its contents. And they were relieved to know that their rivals would not have any chance to impregnate THEIR mate before they might have the opportunity to do so themselves.

After the main entree had been eaten, we gave the floor to Izzy, to explain the plan fully.

“So, what we’ve decided to do is have each of you spend one week in our home in the Emerald Kingdom to start off with,” Isabelle starts off shyly, but quickly becomes more confident as her suitors listen attentively. “During that week we will get to know each other on a personal level. The second part of the courtship is that I will come spend 3 weeks in each of your countries to get to know everything about your home, your country, and the wolves who live there, and get to know you in your private lives. If I still haven’t decided by the end of my stay with each of you, we will come up with a sort of elimination round until only the best wolf for me remains.”

“Any questions?” Leo asks at the end of Izzy’s explanation.

“Who goes first?” They all ask at once. It was almost deafening!

“Well, we have a sign up sheet for that,” I explain, which they are all eager to see and select their dates. “But in order to sign up, you must draw a straw. The shortest straw selects first!”

Tara is practically mugged in their eagerness to grab a straw from her, as she had offered to help with this. Douglas draws the shortest straw, followed by Stephan, Elias, and Theodor. However, Stephan decides to take the last week, believing that will give him an advantage over the other wolves. And Douglas is angry that he hadn’t thought of that, and had taken the very first week available.

“No worries, gentlemen, Izzy is unlikely to make up her mind during the first part of the courtship,” I remind them. “You will all be given a fair chance!”

“For the second phase of the courtship, Izzy will visit each of you based on your respective ages,” Leo informs them. “Oldest to youngest. That means Stephan will be first, followed by Douglas, Elias, and Theodor last. If Isabelle has not decided on her mate by the end of the second phase, we will come up with an elimination game until one suitor remains.”

“This all sounds very convoluted,” Stephan complains. “Love is supposed to be easy and fun! Not a long drawn out process ending in a game of chance.”

Most of Izzy’s suitors seem to agree with that sentiment.

“Does anyone have a better plan, then?” Tara asks them seriously. Everyone looks around the room at each other in silence. “No? Alright then, it’s time for dessert!”