The Broken Mates

Chapter 6.

Chapter 6.

“Firstly, I must apologise to you. Unfortunately, Fredrick is indisposed again this morning. However, I am here to take you both to Kronborg Castle. I know a lot about the history of Holga Danske, so I can give you quite a bit of information. However, I am unable to access the ‘Alpha Vaults’. Fredrick will get that to you as soon as he is able. I promise,” Hendrick offers his winning smile at Alisha and Rebecca.

“Is he kidding us? The tit avoider, Crown Prince Dickhead, is standing you up again! f*****g disgrace. If he wasn’t going to be here to give you the information you came for he should never have invited you. What a total arsehole that man is, ” Becca mind linked to Alisha, disgust turning to anger once more.

Remembering that she is better than the anger that sometimes consumes her, Becca took a deep inhale of breath, to fight the fire of rage that was bubbling in her mind. She hated this side of her new personality, the lack of control she now had over things annoying her. The fact that she is always on the verge of an outburst of rage only further angers her, because more than anything else, she just wants to be well again. Back to the kind, patient, loving, and mischievous self she once was.

Alisha politely thanked Hendrick, but she was even wondering what was going on with Fredrick. When she and Asher entertain international dignitaries, she is always present. Doing what she promised. If there is any reason she cannot attend a meeting, she takes the time to offer her apologies personally, to their guest. It is just basic etiquette. But then Alisha remembered the strong friendship between Asher’s parents, Chloe and Zander, and Fredrick’s parents. Maybe because Chloe, the King's Mother, and Zander, the King’s Father, are so close to Queen Margi and King Sven, Fredrick feels the normal rules of civility are not required in this situation. Alisha is trying not to judge, and to recommend that Becca refrain from her harsh comments, but the truth is, she kind of agrees with her sister-in-law. This behaviour from Fredrick is more than a little bit strange.

“Today we will do the ‘normal’ human tour of the castle, then tomorrow evening, when it is closed to the public, we will go into the werewolf vaults. I can show you most of them, but as I mentioned, not the Alpha or royal vaults. I don’t have the rank to open them,” Henrick continued, again with his winning smile, and Becca was certain he had used it to lure many a female to his bed.

If Becca had to guess, she would say that where Fredrick was the tit avoider, Henrick was every tit he could get his hands on, but avoiding commitment, worshiper out of the pair. She knew that look and had seen it on the face of many a single werewolf. Not everyone was as committed to saving themselves for their mates as her family had been. Even her father had a few indiscretions before meeting her mother. The fallout from that had been more than a little devastating for members of their pack, and the cautionary tale they had told when Phoenix, Asher, Hamish and herself had become hormonal teenagers had given each of them a healthy regard for the mate bond. It had worked out for Phoenix and Asher, but for her, there was some regret in saving herself for her fated mate, after he turned out to be a narcissistic, world-dominating wannabe dictator, and rapist. She often wondered if she should have had her ‘fun’ growing up, and a part of her regretted not taking what had been on offer during those younger years. Now, she is anti-men and pro plastic rabbit vibrator. Granted yesterday, she would have happily replaced Rabbit with a crown prince. He had been the first man to catch her eye and make her lose all sense of herself, along with her resolve to remain single and be the crazy aunt to her many nieces and nephews, with a hoard of domestic dogs for companionship. She would have said crazy cat lady, but Becca knew cats and dogs don’t mix, and given the latter were just domesticated small wolves, that idea was the one to change, for a more harmonious life. But after Fredrick’s harsh comment and look of disgust, she would rather pleasure herself with a pineapple than give him a chance, so she went back to plan A. The cool aunt. Who was always covered in dog fur, and she would get the pups into mischief and drive their parents nuts. Especially Asher.

“I will pick you up in an hour if that is okay. I first need to finish off some of the pack accounts,” Henrick flashed his trademark smile again, as Alisha gave him her polite response of that being no problem.

As soon as Henrick left the chalet, Alisha turned to Becca.

“I can feel your anger coming off you in waves. We have an hour. Let’s shift and let Maggie out for a run. It always helps calm the pair of you down,” Alisha's suggestion was more like an order.

Becca nodded her head, knowing that her friend was right, a good run would help keep her negative emotions in check.

“How was Hope when you called her this morning?” Becca asked, of her baby niece, as the pair of them began to remove their clothes, preparing to head outside and shift.

“She was great. Looked happy babbling away at your mam. Although I did see a ring of Nutella around her mouth,” Alisha laughed.

“You know, we were not allowed to have sweet things anytime we wanted. She would always make us wait, and they were a reward if we were good that day. But oh no, not now. Now, all her grandpups have to do is blink their eyes at her in a small pleading way and she grabs every sweet thing known to man and woman and lets them have them all,” Becca half complains and half laughs.

“I also spotted at least three brand new toys,” Alisha laughed.

“Good luck with her not becoming a spoilt child,” Becca giggled.

“I know. With Chloe and Zander, there is no hope. Plus… You are just as bad. At least Phoenix knows where to draw the line, being a parent,” Alisha gave Becca a side-eye.

“What, I will be her favourite aunt, I am quite determined. Well, second favourite, Iesha has that badge of honour,” Becca smiled, talking of Alisha’s younger sister.

“Iesha is fast becoming a moody teenager at the moment,” Alisha sighed, shaking her head slightly.

“We all were once upon a time,” Becca reassured her friend, knowing Alisha was struggling with her sister growing up and becoming independent.

They stepped out onto the large porch and instantly they began to shift. The Helsingør pack members who were going about their business, all stopped to look at the sight. The huge pure white wolf of Mia stood next to the slightly smaller light purple with silver strands underneath, wolf of Maggie. They had heard the rumours about the pure white wolf, one that was almost identical to Holga Dansk’s wolf, and the strange colouring of a pure bread UK royal wolf, but to see them in their magnificence was something to behold. Some of the Danish pack members literally gasped at just how beautiful both wolves were.

Mia and Maggie took off running around the pack lands. They stopped periodically to take in the new scents before Maggie began to sniff furiously at the ground, and then the air, before sniffing the ground once more.

“Mags, what are you doing?” Becca asked.

“This scent, it is adorable, I love it. I wonder if it belongs to someone,” Maggie almost hums in response as her snout is low to the ground and she sniffs, moving forward, following the scent towards the rear of the largest house they have found.

“Pine…” Maggie states.

“No s**t Sherlock, we are surrounded by pine trees. They are literally everywhere!” Becca states, wondering if her wolf has finally lost her last marble.

“Hemlock. Yes, that is it, pine and hemlock with just a hint of vanilla leaf. It is a winning combination,” Maggie continued unphased.

“Will you pack that in, this is Crown Prince, Tit Avoider’s chalet,” Becca argued, not wanting the prince to come out and find her wolf salivating at the mouth because of the scent around his building.

“Yeah, I noticed the nice scent from him yesterday but didn’t get a good sniff to find all the components. He smells as good as he looks,” Maggie stated.

“Shame he isn’t our second chance mate!” The wolf continued, sighing sadly. But then she began rolling in the grass, covering herself in the scent, her four paws up in the air, and her tongue lolloped out of her mouth to the side.

“No, it’s not. He is an arrogant arsehole!” Becca grumbled.

“With a fine-smelling arsehole,” Maggie giggled slightly, still covering herself in the scent she found so delicious.

“What! That is just wrong on so many levels!” Becca complained.

“And stop rolling around the grass. I don’t have time to shower when I get back. Seriously, what has gotten into you!”

“Hey, I am a wolf. What can I tell you? We are into butt-smelling, and covering ourselves in scents we like! Get over it!” Maggie defended herself.

“Come on, let's get out of here, you freak of a wolf,” Becca commanded.

As Alisha and Becca arrived back at their chalet, they shifted and walked back into the house, getting back into their clothes.

“What was up with Maggie, she was rolling around all over the place?” Alisha asked.

“I have no clue. Seriously, I think she is a sandwich short of a picnic at the moment!” Becca said, shaking her head at the weird antics of her wolf.

“Well, she seemed very enamoured by that scent she picked up. The one that led directly to Fredrick's place,” Alisha grinned, giving Becca a knowing look.

“Yeah, well, he is nothing to us, and I don’t care how hot he is, or how good he smells, he is still an arrogant, tit-avoiding arsehole, dickhead, who avoids his duty. Trust me, those facts about him far outweigh anything else,” Becca grumbled.

“Right, come on, let’s not talk about HIM anymore for the rest of the day, and go find out about your ancestor,” Becca declared, determined not to think of Crown Prince Fredrick any more than she already had been because, try as she might, she found herself fantasising about him, most of the previous night, and that more than a little bit annoying for her.