The Lycan King's Mate

Chapter One

Chapter One

Seraphina lay beside Colton staring blankly at the ceiling. The deed was done. They were mated. It didn’t matter that she had no love for him nor he for her. Political alliances were more important than her feelings so she had been told by the elders and her father.

That fact was as a cold comfort right now as her heart broke within her. Beside her, Colton stirred and she sensed him rolling over, his green eyes staring at her. She made no move to look at him and instead tried to steady her breathing. It was no use. As she inhaled, her breath quivered betraying her emotional state.

Despite trying to hold it in, a stray tear trailed down her cheek. The covers rustled beside her and then she felt his finger move across her face catching the droplet in between his fingers and wiping it away.

“I’m sorry, Sera.” Colton’s voice was deep yet gentle. “It doesn’t matter.”She answered him sobbing more, still staring at the ceiling. What he was apologizing for she was unsure.

The situation was as beyond his control as it was beyond hers. She swallowed hard trying desperately to hold in the dam threatening to burst forth. “It couldn’t be helped.”

“No, it couldn’t,”he agreed silently sighing. His arm slipped around her waist and drew her closer to him. She let her cheek rest against his muscular chest, too spent to protest any more. The steady beat of his heart was oddly comforting.

“I wish I could have given you more time to get to know me, to love me, but the Council of Elders wanted our union sealed immediately.”

“That's where you're wrong, I would never have loved you. I loved someone else.” Seraphina’s voice croaked as she said it unsure of why she said it though her heart cried in protest. The good of the pack won out over that tender organ; the fact she loved another— Kroner —a good point.

Closing her eyes, scenes from the day before flashed through her mind….

************

She’d just returned from her run with Kroner where they’d flirted and played about in the cool shaded woods that surrounded her home. Kroner Had been her bestie since they were four and recently the friendship had grown into something more.

Kroner had told her that he would ask her father for permission to become her mate and she’d been thrilled at the idea. Many of her friends were already mated and, as her eighteenth birthday approached, she was becoming thrilled, eager to taste the joy of bonding with another, but her father had held off her choosing a partner.

Unknown to her, she’d thought he was waiting for her to find someone who suited her. Now she realized she has been wrong. Now she acknowledged that was never the case.

While her father loved her beyond anything, he was first and foremost the Alpha of the pack and had to put the well-being of the pack ahead of everything else.

Her older brother and sisters had mated with packs to the north,west and south. With the Silver Moon Pack at their back, it was to the east that an alliance was needed. When Colton became the new Alpha of that territory, the Council of Elders determined that a union between the packs was needed to ensure continued stability. And her Father being the Alpha of the pack could not reject the Council of Elders.

That day, as she was returning, laughing at something Kroner had said, Greg, her father’s Beta, had greeted her at the door. “Seraphina, you’re needed in the assembly room of the Elders.”

Something in Greg's tone of voice told her that all was not well. With a wave to her friend, she followed Greg curious as to what could possibly require her presence in the Chambers, she had never been there before.

The assembly room was used on occasion for general pack meetings, but usually her father and the council of Elders dealt with all important issues there, very important issues that is. As she pushed the door open, a wave of emotions seized her; excitement, worry, curiosity and above all, fear. She puzzled over the strange mixture of moods while scanning to see who was presently in the room.

In the far corner, the Members of the Council appeared pleased as they conversed with another group of older persons, all of whom were strangers to her whom she assumed were…Elders of some sort.

Her father, near the middle of the room, had a serious expression on his face and was talking to a man who looked to be in his late-twenties. She hadn’t seen him before, so rather than approaching her father, she took her time to study this new….face.

The man was taller than her father and every other person present, at least six foot six, and he was built powerfully. His shoulders were broad and his muscles rippled beneath his shirt as he gestured to make his point. Silver hair topped a pleasing face, with high cheek bone and a straightened jaw.

Obviously sensing her inspection of him, he glanced towards the door and his green eyes locked on hers briefly. There was a hard edge about him, a strong presence that made her feel as if she were pinned in place by a tsunami. Quickly he studied her from head to foot before his gaze returned to her face. She felt herself flush under his gaze.

As he flashed a brief smile at her, she thought she caught a glimpse of softness and tenderness in his eyes, but it was quickly gone and he returned his full attention to her father. She sulked. For some reason his apparent dismissal of her made her sad. She wanted his eyes on her, wanted him to notice her again.

Her father glanced her way and sighed, before ended his discussion with the stranger. He strode towards her with a scowl on his face. “Seraphina, you’ve been out running again, I see.” Her reflection in a nearby mirror showed her long black hair was messy and a faint sheen of sweat gave her pale white skin a wet look. Noting a smudge of dirt on her nose, she scrubbed it off embarrassed. Did the stranger see her like this?

Turning towards her father, she gave a rather embarrassed smile aimed at cajoling him out of his mood.“It was too today to stay indoors.”

“But what did I tell you? It isn’t safe to be out alone in wolf form. It’s hunting season and even though our property is posted, the Silver Moon Pack don’t always heed—”

“I was with Kroner Father and we didn’t go near the edge of the property. We aren’t fools, you know.” Seraphina reminded her father.

“Ah...Kroner...”Her father frowned, and then sighed again making her heart beat in trepidation.

“Seraphina, we have something to tell you. As you might know, the pack to the east, Blood moon pack that is has a new Alpha. His name is Colton.” He nodded towards the man standing across the room and Seraphina shot him a glance again before smiling back at her father’s news.

“He’s come this far up? Interesting” She wondered why she was being summoned.

The politics between the packs had never been of concern to her. Her father didn’t involve her in any of the council meetings, yet clearly, she could only assume that the Elders in the corner talking to the Council of Elders of her pack must be representatives from the eastern group.

“Yes, Colton is here to see me...and you.” “Me?” Seraphina asked bedazzled, she couldn’t contain her surprise and a strange feeling began to develop within her.

“Yes, you. You see It has been decided by the Elders that with a new Alpha in charge of the east, a fresh alliance should be created. Colton is willing. He will be mated to you and our packs will continue to live in peace.”

“Mated? To who? To me?” She knew her mouth was hanging open in shock. Darting a glance across the room, she saw Kolton staring at her blandly, his hands seated on his laps. If her expression offended him, he didn’t show it. She looked at her father, blinking to hold back the tears that threatened to fall.

“But... What about Kroner?”

“I’m aware you’ve had your eye on him, but this is for the good of the pack. We need strong alliances so that we can guard against the Silver Moon pack's threat. And an allied pack allow access between in which we have to roam.

”He stopped speaking and placed a comforting hand on her shoulder.“I know this is a surprise, but don’t worry. Colton is a good man. He’ll make you a fine mate.”

Her father assured her. It sounded like a death note in a subtle manner.

Her throat had suddenly gone dry and she clenched her fists her sides.

Was this how her sister had felt when she had found out she’d been betrothed to a male from the north? At the time, Elise had only been eleven and had been more excited about the new festivals than concerned about her sister’s feelings.

Finding her voice, she began to protest.

“But that’s the old way of thinking! Alliances aren’t needed anymore. We’ve gone beyond pack wars, and as for the Silver Moon Pack's threat, most don’t even know we exist!”

She cried In desperation, she began to toss out facts and opinions to counter the sentence that had been delivered to her.

“ This Pack had coexisted peacefully because of the long-standing tradition of alliances. Unions between packs join us together and ensure respect of our territories.”

Her father kept his tone even, but she sensed he didn’t enjoy having to explain this to her. He was from the old tradition, as were many in her pack, and they expected her unquestioning obedience. This was silly, this was her life. Was she supposed to through everything out of the window?

As the youngest in the family, she’d been treated more leniently than the others; less had been expected of her. Now she could hear the lecture, she should have paid more attention to the pack’s politics, taking an interest in what was going on for if she had, she would already know these things.

Her Father continued to speak. “And Silver Moon pack's threat is still real. Not so much that they know we exist, but that they continually try to encroach on our territories. We need to be united and stand firm against selling our land to them.”

She opened her mouth to protest again, but her father’s stern look had her shutting up, leaving those heavy necessary words unspoken. It was useless to protest anyways.

The Council of Elders had come to a decision and the Alpha had concurred with their decision. To go against the Ruling of the pack would result in being cast out.

She’d lived her whole life in a pack. The concept of being alone was unthinkable, yet the idea of mating with a total stranger was also repulsive.

“When?”She managed to say one word. “Tonight. There is no use in waiting. Kane and his council are here. A dinner is being prepared and the rest of the pack is being notified. We’ll conduct the ceremony as the moon rises.”

The sentence, her Life's sentence has been passed.