The Fae King's Darling

Warrior Pack

Willa’s POV

Once we were in the portal it was eerily quiet. People in front of us kept silent as we walked through the silver path. Looking off the path there was nothing but darkness, a void. No sound, no wind, utterly silent. One would think that the quiet would calm someone’s nerves, bring peace to your mind but this was not as expected. My hand tightened around Ivy’s as we continued to walk though the path. 

As if night suddenly turned into day, the light was shown above us. Squinting my eyes and looking to the sky I immediately saw differences from Earth and this world. The sky was blue but a hint of purple. There were not one but two suns that lit the sky, one larger than the other, one could argue that the smallest was a dwarf sun. 

Being captivated by the glorious sight I saw a shadow had engulfed us over our heads, looking up it came to the view that it was an actual dragon that had flown over. My head bent back in awe watching the large red scaled lizard flap its gigantic wings around us. The breeze was warm as it continued to fly onward as we looked out over the mountain we were on. 

The portal led us to the side of a mountain, a cliff separated us from the large farm land and communities below. There were no cars to be found and many people were taking to horse and carriage. “There are no cars here?” I questioned Mom as she led me to the carriage. 

“No, we want to keep the land pure, unlike humans that spoil the Earth. This has been maintained to keep it like a Garden of Eden. We do have electricity though, the windmills and several dams keep us a little civilized,” she chuckled as Carlos opened the cabin door for me.

Carlos held out his hand to lead me up to the carriage but was stopped abruptly by Violet. “Just shove her in there, she’s fine!” She giggled as Alexo shook his head and Carlos gave her a glare. “Come on now Carlos, you have all day tomorrow to try and bewitch her, now go on with you and your posse!” Violet, the ever so romantic girl. I laughed and waved Carlos goodbye as he set his lips in a pout. Violet continued to push me to the other side of the carriage and I sat still. 

We were all sharing the carriage, Alexo, Violet and her parents. The carriage took off with a jolt and I opened up the curtained carriage as we continued down the mountain. There were different castles scattered across the land. One could see the Moon Kingdom, as Alexo pointed out, home to the future queen, Sadie and her mate, Seth. They were waiting for Sadie’s training to be completed before they took the throne, thus she still ran the Warrior Pack with Seth as their Luna. We would be traveling there, just beside the Moon Kingdom. 

Over to the East was the Fae or Sun Kingdom. There were different types of Fae as Alexo pointed out. There were pixies, who were very small and a bit of a handful, no pun intended since they fit in the size of your hand. When they spoke they sounded like little bells tinkling in your ear. Then there were the fairies, a bit bigger than the pixies, they stood 12 inches in length and had the ability to shrink and grow their size. They could only stay in their grown form for so long until they revert back to their smaller selves. Sprites were the keepers of the land, they helped the flowers grow all over Bergarian but were considered to be controlled by the Fae King. There were forest, water, garden and dark sprites and several sub-cultured sprites that were too rare to mention, as Alexo put it. 

The Sun Kingdom was a vast contrast to the Moon Kingdom, everything was brighter and it looked like the suns favored the kingdom. The flora was brighter, the water was cleaner, overall it looked as if it were a heaven on Earth, I mean Bergarian. “You mentioned, Fae King. What is a Fae then?”  Alexo and the other wolves stiffened at the mention of the word. Instead of Alexo, River spoke. 

“The Faes are tricky creatures, as any type of fae or faerie. However, Faes are more like us, part human with a hint of something else,” he shook his head. “They walk and talk like a human but they still hold onto the fairy inside of them. They are much more powerful than all the other, smaller cultures of themselves, they are said to have evolved over time and not actually created by any god. These are all rumors of course,” he smiled. Listening intently I put my hands on my face and my elbows on my knees to encourage him to finish the story. 

Everyone laughed at my twinkling eyes as I started to pout. “Fine, fine. I forget the child in you, Willa.” Satisfied with my efforts I sat back to listen more. 

“Besides what I have told you there isn’t much more to tell. They are private, they don’t go around blabbing their history to us shifters, vampires or demons. Even the king himself hasn’t left his palace in over 300 years.”

“That has got to be brutally boring, and 300 hundred years?” Alexo nodded. 

“Yeah, supernaturals don’t age past 30 and we continue to live unless something kills us. The oldest supernatural I’ve heard of was 3000 years old.” My mouth dropped. How wonderful to live that long, to see your great, great, great and maybe a few more great grandchildren grow up with their husbands and wives. Humans really got the short end of the stick. 

“Violet, I’m going to be old and grey and you are going to still look beautiful, no fair!” Violet chuckled but didn’t laugh as happily as I did. “What’s wrong?”

“There will be one day that you won’t be here anymore,” she said with sadness in her eyes. I hugged her tightly and kissed her cheek. The thought of them not telling me what they were was out the window. Violet really did care about me and knowing she would be this upset after I was gone was proof of that. 

“Don’t cry, dear Violet or you will start to wilt,” I spoke in an American Southern voice. 

“Pray to Selene she has a mate, there is rumor that more humans are becoming mates of our kind,” mom interjected. A wicked smile played on her lips, I wonder if she knew more than she was led to believe. I squinted my eyes, giving her the, ‘do you know something? Look.’ Patting my hand she then looked back out the window as the conversation never happened. 

“Anyway, before I was interrupted,” River coughed for attention. Violet sat up and nuzzled into Alexo’s neck in which River rolled his eyes. “The Fae King actually did leave the castle during the brief rogue war 3 months ago and is rumored to be coming by tomorrow for the peace treaty signing after both Alexo and Violet’s mating ceremony.” Violet’s eyes grew large and a large, unnatural looking smile was plastered to her face. 

My eardrum just about exploded as Violet howled inside the carriage. Everyone was covering their ears and I finally had to stick my  head out the window. The horses were yipping and neighing and several warriors on horses were looking in confusion. I laughed and giggled as we continued to roll down the cemented path towards the Warrior Pack. 

Only a few hours later we arrived at the pack territory. Again papers were assessed that looked like passports and with a quick push of a gate we had entered into another territory. We had passed by several areas that had gates, and some that had none at all. Wolves tended to keep their land in line but there were other shifters besides wolves. Panthers, lions and even dragons littered across the area. 

“Welcome cousin!” I heard a deep laugh come from the door of the massive mansion. It was made of white brick with large columns and a small girl that stood beside the beast of a man. He was adorned in tattoos and piercings while the girl next to him was just my size. Petite as Mom would say. Her stomach was large, looking to pop with a baby at any given moment. 

“Alpha Seth, look at you now!” River came in contact with the other large alpha. Alpha Seth easily towered over River and I thought River was the tallest I had ever met. The girl beside him patted Alpha Seth on the shoulder and waddled to us. 

“Welcome to the Warrior Pack, Violet, you look just like your photos your mother sent! You look just as radiant!” Violet blushed severely and bowed to the short statured woman and muttered a thank you. “Hello, you must be Violet’s best friend/sister?” She smiled warmly at me. We were easily the same height and I no longer felt short around these wolves. 

“Yes, I am. My name is Willa, it's a pleasure to meet you and thank you for allowing me to be here,” I tried to say politely. 

“Oh, none of that, my name is Sadie and you can call me as such.” 

“T-thank you.” Sadie gave me a knowing smile and led us into the house to our rooms.

We were led to our rooms as the day was about to be completed. I wasn’t sure what to say, were they really suns or did they call them something else here? Shaking my head I opened the door to my room. It was just the size I liked, small, quaint and a little charm. It was bigger than my bedroom at home but still had the beautiful finishes I liked so much. It was so girly. I loved all the girly things since I was not able to indulge in it as I grew up. Running and pouncing onto the comforter I let out a little squeal of excitement as I rolled around. 

“Enjoying yourself?” I heard from the door. Carlos stood there, leaning on the doorway smirking in my direction.  

“Of course, I’m on my very first vacation, why wouldn’t I?” I straightened myself from the bed and regaly went to my suitcase to unpack. I didn’t bring much, that is what they preferred. New clothes were being made so we matched the surrounding areas. Honestly, excited to see what we would wear. Violet mentioned everything made of elven silk, strong, sturdy, soft and waterproof. 

“You need to let your little wall down, doll. It isn’t a good look on you.” Carlos came by me and flicked my hair as he looked out the window. My window looked out to the East where the Sun Kingdom should be. My interest in the fae was growing and was hoping to check out the pack library tomorrow. 

“I’m doing just fine, no wall here. Now, I think you need to leave. It isn’t appropriate for you to be in my bedroom, people would talk.” I walked to the door to show him out, but he didn’t move. I kept pointing to the door and he chuckled as he walked by me with his hands in his pockets. 

“You are something else, you know that?” Carlos was now standing in the hall, every bit of my body was wanting to slam the door in his face. I didn’t like the fact he slept with a ton of women and then expected me to forgive and forget and let him be my date. If he had truly cared for me at all during his time in high school with me he wouldn’t have done it. Then again, maybe there was no bond to be held and now he is just growing fond of me because of a bond growing that I can’t even feel. Who wants to fall in love because of a bond anyway? It should be of my own choosing and nothing more. 

“I’ll show you a good time tomorrow, doll. Trust me. I’ll sweep you off your feet and maybe by the end of the night you will feel it too.” 

“Feel what?” I rolled my eyes. 

“My growing love for you,” his finger was coming up to touch my face when Violet burst through her bedroom door on the adjacent hallway.

“Willa!! Come quick! They have creme brulee downstairs!!” Violet grabbed my arm and pulled me down the stairs, leaving Carlos in the dust. 

Laughing all the way down and seeing the large dining room. There were hundreds of wolves in this mansion, all were getting their food in a buffet style fashion. Several women and men were serving the plates and the smell finally reached my nose. “Wow, that smells amazing,” I whispered to Violet. Several heads perked up from the dining room table, on the far side of the room. Not wanting to look over, Violet led me to the buffet and piled the food on for me. Laughing, I had to remind her I don’t eat as much as everyone else.

Sitting down with a large plate of dinner and the famous creme brulee, I was about to take my first bite when three males sat down across from us. Violet nudged me to say something, so I said the first thing that came to mind. “Hi?” 

The men chuckled and one leaned over the table. He was tan like Carlos, his curly unruly hair was highlighted with golden blonde whisps. His eyes were a brown earthy color and he was tall. Even sitting down her over towered me. 

“I hear you are new here,” he leaned in for a smell. I didn’t move and looked at him confusingly. “You smell fantastic.” Violet choked on her food and quickly wiped her mouth holding back a laugh. 

“Is that supposed to be some wolfy pick up line? Because it just isn’t working for me,” I go to my fork and stick a large piece of steak and put it in my mouth. The boys beside him were smirking. 

“Ah ha, no, not a pick up line. It’s just that me and the guys here noticed your smell. It is unique.” Violet’s eyes went large and looked over to her mother for help. I kept my eyes peeled for this guy in the middle. 

“Listen here, if you dare say anything about being my mate or some crazy supernatural crap like that I’ll stick this fork in your wolf’s eye, pull it out and make you eat it.” I stuck my fork into an opposing blueberry and put it in my mouth, letting the juice dribble on the side. 

“Damn,” the two other boys said in unison. The wolf in the middle smirked. 

“Hi, I’m Alanzo.”