The Disgraced Daughter & Her Sigma Mate

Chapter 1: The Little Wolf's Potential

She rushed to the open field, hoping she wasn’t too late. This was the fourth time she missed mandatory morning drills with the Beta of Marsh Haven wolf pack.

“Oh, please! Please!” she whispered in a hushed voice.

When she stumbled to a stop at the large vacant field, she immediately erupted in dread. Panic began to set in.

“You’ve missed drills again,” a voice sounded from behind her.

Royce turned around to see her sister standing there with a few of her followers, hands to hips and a scrutinizing expression on her perfectly round face.

“Persephone!” Royce couldn’t find the right words to greet her adopted sister. She knew that no positive greeting could stop the lecture she was about to receive.

“Caulder!”

The domineering voice of Beta Noland cut through the interaction between Persephone and Royce like a knife through butter.

Without hesitation, Royce turned to face her superior and the harsh talking-to that she knew was coming along with his approach.

‘Here we go,’ Royce said to herself. She took a deep breath and waited for Beta Noland to tear into her.

“Late again,” he said. “I’d like to know what your father thinks about this. It’s the fourth time this week and the sixth in the last month. I thought we were past this.”

“I…know, so did I, sir; I didn’t intend to-”

“What’s your excuse then? And it better be a good one.”

Royce knew that no excuse would be suitable enough for him, especially the excuse that she had.

Her first alarm clock was why she was late the first time that calendar month. Deciding not to take the risk of it happening again, Royce replaced it. It was only this week that the new one began to malfunction. That was her excuse all this week. She never told the Beta that excuse again after the first time.

“There is no excuse, Beta Noland, sir.”

“You’re damn right there isn’t. Excuses only serve to get you killed, Caulder. Being careless and unaware of time management only gets you to that end even quicker.”

With her head bowed in submission, Royce agreed. “Yes, sir.”

Silence ensued after her response, but Royce was sure that the beta wasn’t done yet. She dared not lift her head before he told her to. She had made that mistake once before, and it only made things worse.

The sudden crunch of the morning grass signaled his approach toward her. Royce still didn’t move. Beta Noland’s earthy scent tingled Royce’s nostrils. She held in the sneeze, threatening to release as he bent his head to her ear.

“You’re casting a bad shadow over your alpha, Caulder. He expects great things from you, and you’ve been disappointing him almost the whole way. Something’s gotta change. And change soon. Do you want to be a letdown? To the alpha?”

“No, sir,” Royce said in a hushed voice.

“Do you want to be a letdown to your pack?”

“No…no, sir.”

“I need that to be said louder and with more authority.”

“N-no! No, beta, Noland, sir!” Royce mustered up the gumption to say.

“And what about your father?” he asked the last part, pausing for a second before he continued. His voice was hardly above a whisper as he said this.

Royce knew without clarification that Beta Noland was talking about her adopted father, and disappointing him, her biological father, was the last thing that she ever wanted to do.

At the very mention of her father, Royce could always feel the threat of tears arising. The idea of being a disappointment to him, however…the thought itself was heartbreaking to consider.

“That…is the absolute last thing I want, sir.”

“Then tighten up, Caulder. Your name is that of greatness. Your actions prove otherwise.”

“Sir, I-”

“Your father was my mentor, Royce Caulder. I feel like I owe him more than my life for what he has taught me. Had it been anyone else, you’d have been down in the basement for punishment. One more screw up, Caulder…and I will do what I should have done a long time ago.”

“Y-yes sir…” the words fluttered off of her tongue as Beta Noland dismissively walked away from her. There was nothing else to be said at this point. Not where the Beta was concerned anyway. Persephone, was a different problem entirely.

Royce reluctantly lifted her head and turned around to see that Persephone and her entourage were standing there the entire time.

“He’s right, ya know.”

Royce knew that the beta was right. She didn’t need anyone reminding her of that but she also wasn’t going to say that to her older sister either.

“You’ve been screwing up a lot lately,” said Persephone as she approached Royce, “What is going on with you?”

Royce didn’t have a good answer for the question that she asked. “I…I don’t know, I just-”

“It was that alarm of yours again…wasn’t it?” she asked.

“I wouldn’t dare tell Beta Noland that,” said Royce in a hushed mutter.

“You were right not to,” replied Persephone. Silence followed but only for a few seconds before the young alpha daughter continued on to reprimand Royce. “Royce this is starting to become a dangerous habit. You’re setting a bad example as a member of the Preston household. You know how important our name is and you are casting an unattractive shadow over it with your antics. We cannot afford that. Mom and dad, cannot afford that.”

“I know, I know…I’m s-”

“Then act like it!” Persephone interrupted. “No apologies. Just progress.” She then glanced at her crew and gestured for them to leave. “Oh, and dad has summoned you.” Persephone took one last look at Royce. “I imagine he’s not happy about the news of your absence this morning. Then again, maybe he won’t be too harsh. He always did spoil you,” she said and then sauntered off with her crew not far behind.

“What a loser,” Royce heard one of her friends say. “....A burden to Marsh Haven….her dad is probably turning in his grave.”

This wasn’t new, hearing such insults; Royce had been hearing these silent whispers for over a decade at that point. Still, it was painful to hear.

Growing in the shadow of Persephone Preston would have been hard for anyone else but not for Royce. She enjoyed being in the shadows, away from everyone else. Mainly because there was just too much speculation behind her past; everyone knew that Royce was not the Alpha Calin’s biological daughter; Persephone made sure of it with her snide remarks about how her father took her in. Her mother, Luna Kareen, was worse.

Royce was never truly sure where she stood where Kareen Preston was concerned. There was just something about the she-wolf that was bitter and snide toward Royce. Though, she tried to hide through unreaching smiles, and passive aggressive remarks veiled with acts of concerns.

She hoped and prayed that Luna Kareen wasn’t there when she arrived to speak with her father.

Royce made her way across the field and quickly headed to Calin Preston’s office.

There was a room at the top floor of the packhouse where alpha’s were usually stationed throughout the day. Alpha Calin, however, was hardly ever stationary. The great wolf was always popping up in odd areas of Marsh Haven to observe and see how he could make things better for his people. He was hardly ever in his office.

This time, however, he was.

Royce stood at his door and lifted her hand to knock when she quickly hesitated. She was too nervous to go in.

“No need to stand out there,” A high-pitched and melodic voice greeted Royce from the other side of the door.

Hearing the voice of the luna made Royce’s heart nearly jump out of her chest. This meeting was going to be far worse than she first realized. Luna Kareen could be a harsh woman when it came to such matters as the family name. And though Royce did not carry the family name she still lived under it.

Reluctantly, pushed the large handle that would open the alpha’s door. There he was, Alpha Calin Preston, sitting at his desk, and then there was Luna Kareen sitting on his desk.

“Alpha,” Royce bowed. “Luna.”

“Royce,” smiled the Alpha. There was something disappointing in that smile, though and that only made the already slender, and lanky young she-wolf feel even smaller than she already was.

She had already known that this meeting was not going to be a good one; it was about her increasingly lax attendance record. It didn’t help that she was actually not excelling as well as she could have in classes.

With her being so small, and thin, eighteen-year-old Royce could hardly keep up with the others, though she was told by the Beta and a few others that she had potential.

Potential wasn’t good enough, however. How could it be? If she never reached it? And Royce, Royce simply didn’t know how to.

“Come in, Royce,” said Alpha Calin. “Close the door. We need to talk.”

“Yes,” said the Luna as Royce obediently closed the door behind her. Kareen crossed her legs and watched Royce closely. “It seems we have a lot to discuss, little wolf.”