The King's mate

The path to a new future

Melania's POV

I kept running and hiding out in the woods, and it has been days since I left my pack and kept running to where I do not know Goddess alone know where she is leading me. Our journey was not easy, but Sapphire taught me much about hunting and living in the wild. Whenever we got to a stream, it reminded me of my dream. I heard Sapphire laugh in my head, and I knew she saw the images of my dream in my head. "What is so funny, Sapphire," I asked, but all I got out of her was ", You'll see", so I just left it there and tried to survive until we got where we had to be. I took baths in streams keeping myself as clean as I could and slept on the ground, but I was tired, and I felt dirty and hungry. Although we ate enough, I missed human food.  I always stayed in my wolf form while we were in the wilderness as I did not want to be caught off guard by rogues or other pack wolves. Although Sapphire led me very safely and made sure we never crossed pack lands.

Just then, we came to an old town in the middle of the forest, and I shift back to my human form for the first time since we ran away from my pack. Standing at the edge of the woods, I can feel the wind on my naked skin. Well, this is nice. I have no clothes with me, what now?  "Who are you, and what are you doing on my land, Rogue!" I hear an angry voice behind me. I stood still. An older man came walking to me, looking me up and down. I try hiding as much of me as I can. "Are you one of them? Are you the one that took ..." but before he could go on, his eyes went big, and he bows? "Your Highness, I am so sorry I did not recognize you."  He gave me his shirt to cover me.  "Your Highness? Why would he call me that" I thought as I went to a nearby tree to put on the shirt that looked like a dress on my small frame? "Because little one, your eyes look like ice, and your hair has turned the colour of moon rays. You are the queen of the werewolves, and we only can have one mate that is strong enough to handle us, the king of werewolves," Sapphire explain to me. "I do not want a mate, Sapphire! I want freedom," I told her angrily. "We will see. You can not change your destiny," she said softly, trying to calm me down. "Yeah, well, just watch me" is all I said, but she just sighed and kept quiet. I turned around slowly, walking to the little stream nearby, and I was shocked at what I saw. Staring back at me was a beautiful young woman with ice blue eyes and silver hair with blue tints in it like moon rays. "Wow, what happened to me?" I asked in wonder. "We are not ordinary creatures, little one. I am an ancient soul." And there is a legend about us that I will tell you one day when you are ready for it and when you stop getting mad at me whenever I mention the word mate," she answered. 

 "Please do not call me that," I told the old man as I turned back to face him again. "I am just a rogue who ran away from my pack because they wanted to kill me. Please call me by my name Melania Collins" I extend my hand to greet him, but he falls on his knees and says in a trembling voice, “No, your Highness, I can never belittle you like that the King will kill me" He looked at me in disbelieve and asked "Your pack wanted to kill you, your Highness? Are they stupid? Surely the King will find out and kill all of them!" I look at him in dismay but said nothing. This damn King and Queen Thing are already getting on my nerves, and I just heard about it like five minutes ago.

I have heard of this so-called king of werewolves. I know he is a tough and ruthless leader and has no mercy for weaklings or traitors. "Is this ruthless King our mate Sapphire?" "Yes, he is, but he is hard and ruthless for a reason, dear. He needs us to become who he is supposed to be," Sapphire answered me with a soft voice. “What if he rejects us as his mate?" I asked, but I am afraid to hear the answer. "Then we will die at his hand most probably" “Yet we are on our way to him? What if he kills us?" “We have to try, Melanie. It is our destiny", Sapphire answers me. "Our destiny, my ass," I said to her. "We can make our own destiny!" She just kept quiet and repeated nothing about the king. "We will have to go to the Kingdom first before we do anything else. The kingdom and the werewolf world needs us" I did not understand any of this. Why would the kingdom with the most powerful wolf in the world need me? Apathetic runaway that could not even stand up for me. "Stop it! You are not pathetic, you are special, and sometimes one needs to know when to run away and when one needs to stand up and fight. You are just clever, and you protected you and me through all those years of torture, which takes courage. I will always admire you for it, little one, so you know how many times I just wanted to tell you everything will be okay, but I could not come forward and let them detect me. I wanted to heal you so bad." Sapphire told me. I think about what she said, and for the first time, I did not feel pathetic or like a loser or worthless. She was right. It took a lot of courage to take the abuse to protect the lives of myself and Sapphire.

"Your highness, can I offer you some hospitality before you go to the kingdom? You look tired and hungry" the old man interrupted my conversation with Sapphire. "What is your name? My name is Kyle Warren, your Highness" I gave up trying to convince him to call me by my name. "Thank you, Kyle. I will gladly take you up on your offer," I said and followed him to his packhouse. I was tired and hungry, and I need to rest and think about what I was getting myself into now.

“Go to the kingdom" I was not so sure I want to go there, but I can not disobey the Goddess; Sapphire will not let me. "Trust me, little one, trust the Goddess. She would not have made us special for our mate if she thought he would kill us," I sighed. Well, if I die, I die at least a free wolf, I thought. Then the image of the man standing in the castle window came into my head. Was that the King? And was he looking at the new me? Was that why it seemed like he was looking through me, staring at someone behind me? NO!!! I need to stop this, and I need to stop thinking about that dream. He was in a castle, though, I thought to myself.

Ethan's POV

My mother is an elder. She and the other elders have been gathering a whole day, and I was not invited to their meeting, but I know what it was all about, my so-called mate. The special she-wolf my mother can not stop talking about. I am grumpy and do not feel good. I am tired and hungry most of the time my mother smiles and says that I am feeling her, what she's feeling. BS!!! How can I feel what she feels if I have not even met her, and I will reject and most probably kill her if she is real! I have no time for weakness, and if she is my weakness, I will kill her. "She will be your strength, not your weakness",, I hear my mum says. Damn mind link! "Oh, and how can a weak she-wolf be my strength? I will always have to look out for her and make sure someone does not hurt her, like dad with your mother. It got him killed!" My mother starts crying, and I feel bad, Ido does not blame her for my father's death, but I blame myself for not being there when he needed me the most. My father and the few pack members were left at home to run stuff and defend our territory while I was fighting rogues on our southern border. The rogues on the southern border were a distraction, and I should have known it! My father and the others were attacked by my evil uncle, the worst of all the rogues, he wanted to take my mother, and my father fought till his last breath to save my mother. My uncle Maximus ran away when he heard us returning, but I was too late to save my father.

 "I am sorry mom, you know I do not blame you for any of what happened, but if dad could focus his mind on the fight and did not have any distraction, maybe he would have won, I know you tried to help, but my uncle is strong as he has the same blood as us—Royal blood. I do not want to end up as dad did. Who would look after you then? You are all I have left, mom, you and the kingdom." I apologized and tried to explain to my mom at the same time.

" I am an elder, my son. I never was the queen like your mate is she is extraordinary and just as strong as you, she will need training when she gets here, and that was what the other elders and I were discussing," My mum said, walking away.

"I do not have a mate, Mother", but she just smiled and blew me a kiss as she walks away. I am so frustrated, and I feel on edge all day. I keep thinking of the dream I had about the beautiful goddess I saw in the forest while I was standing staring out my window. She appeared out of nowhere, just standing there staring at me with eyes so blue it looked like ice, but her hair was amazing. It was silver with a tint of blue in it, and it mesmerized me. I saw her looking at me, but I was unsure if she was looking at me or my body and felt ashamed of my past with women. "It was just a dream",, I scold myself for thinking about it again. I think my mother and Hunter's talk about my so-called special mate that was messing with my mind. "HAHAHA" I heard Hunter laugh at me. "This is not funny Hunter, we have a business to take care of, and I do not need this distraction. You and my mother is going to make me lose my concentration, and then I will be pissed." I was angry with my wolf.  I need to concentrate on the rogue attacks that were happening all over, taking overpacks, kidnapping daughters, wives, or even sons of Alpha's and trying to get them to submit to the Rogue's giving their pack's and land to the rogue. Somehow I think my uncle is behind all of this, and he is getting ready for a war with me and my soldiers. I let my men train a lot more. Some of the Alpha's was able to vent off the rogues, and some we went to help save their family member that was captured and used are a bargaining tool. Still, some of the smaller packs have fallen, and I need all my attention to protect the Kingdom and the Alphas around the kingdom. I had no time to think about a she-wolf. Not even if she looked like the goddess of my dream. I can not afford a weakness, especially now.