Althena

44. Princess of Darkburn

The day I get introduced as the princess, sneaks up on me. I can't believe I've been here for 20 days already. So much has changed. I love having a grandma. The queen seems decent. At times, my dad seems like he wants to be part of my life. Other times, he avoids me and doesn't say anything. Clayton seems nice. Part of me wants to go back to Crystal Falls. Back to my coffee shop. But here we are. I miss my mom.

Mike and I fly to the palace district and go into the Dark Palace. Security is tight today. Usually I have 5 or 6 guards on me. There have to be 80 here now. Mary guides Mike and I to my dressing room.

The girls make me fancier than I've ever been in my life. Everything is perfect and fancy. Then they put sashes over me. They have medals and gold charms on them.

"You seem so nervous." One of the girls smiles.

"This is a lot. I'm not even sure I want to do this."

Mike takes my hand. "It's your rightful spot, babygirl. This is you. But if you want to go back home, I'm sure we can sneak out the back door."

I take a deep breath. "I'm going to stay. For my mom. She always called me princess. I get it now."

"Thank you. I'm not sure how I would have gotten you past all the guards here today."

I kiss his hand and smile. I love him so much.

The girl smiles. "There are no words from you today. You do not say anything. I will guide you to where you need to be. Others will be talking, not you. Don't say anything."

"Ok."

"Everything is being broadcast all over the city. So, there will be cameras in the room. And really dressed up old men."

I laugh and Mike nods. "They always have to say words."

"You're getting up there quickly, love."

He kisses my head and chuckles. "Ouch. But I can make a speech if I need to."

I laugh, and the girl shakes her head. "It's not needed." That makes me laugh harder. "We're ready. Stand up. Hold your head high." They adjust my dress and stuff.

"Let's go get that title."

We get outside some big double doors and Mike goes in.

"They'll signal once everyone is seated."

"Back straight. Head held high. You're walking straight to the throne. Then you sit on it."

A girl stands to each side of me. Then 2 are behind us. They guide me through the double doors. Everyone stands up and claps. I try to glance around. Some news people are here. Quite a few Alphas and Lunas. My dad and the Queen are standing in the front row. Clayton is beside them. The 3 of them are in full royal attire. They have medals and pins on them. There are a lot of old people here. Some have medals. Everyone is showing rank. Alpha's and Luna's are dressed up in expensive clothes. I guess this is a big deal.

I get to the throne and the girls spin me around. After I sit, 2 of them stand on each side of me.

A man dressed in a very weird blue and silver outfit and a huge hat, gives a very long speech. Then he takes a small sculpture of a wolf and prays over it. Then a choir sings a song.

Then the man prays over some kind of stick. I'm trying to pay attention, but this is boring.

Then he takes the stick and puts it in the wolf. More prayer. Another song. My dad starts sobbing. Mary has to deal with him. Clayton rolls his eyes. He looks as bored as I feel.

Then the big hat man gets the stick out of the wolf. It's got some kind of liquid on it. He puts the liquid on his fingers, then he puts a symbol on the backs of my hands with it.

It's oil. Nice warm oil.

Then he puts white gloves on me and hands me a staff of some kind. It's about 2 feet long with an orb on the end. It doesn't do anything. The girls adjust it, so I'm holding it right. Then he prays. The audience is all going to have neck problems by the time this is over.

The choir sings again.

Then my dad walks to the side of the throne with a box. The big hat man thanks him and takes the box. Then dad starts crying again. Clayton stands up and drags him back to his seat.

Then we pray over the box. I'm about to start hitting people with this staff.

Then he opens the box. One of the girls beside me puts on gloves and pulls out a tiara. It's so pretty. It has diamonds. She steps in front of me and puts it on my head. Then she curtseys and goes back to her spot.

I have a tiara on my head. I can't help but smile now.

After another prayer and song. They guide me to stand up.

"I present to you. Her Royal Highness, Princess of Darkburn, Althena May-Eve Sage."

Everyone stands up and claps. I feel like I could jump up and down.

Then the big hat man takes the staff and the girls guide me down the aisle. We exit. All the way back to the dressing room.

"Once they clear out the people, you'll have lunch with everyone who is left."

"That took a long time and that was a lot of people."

"Yes, crowning a princess takes time. Most of them will be gone for lunch. Relax for now."

After about 20 minutes, I get guided into a fancy room. The only people left are pack leaders, friends, and family. The girls sit me at a table.

Chris sits beside me 4 seconds later. "That took a long time."

Clayton sits on the other side of me. "I'm surprised she didn't hit anyone with the staff."

"I thought about it."

A few people behind us laugh. I turn around and Jax is standing there with the Winter Moon Delta and a couple of other alphas.

Mike sits a plate of food in front of me and kisses my head. "I'm talking to some people, baby."

"Thank you for the food."

Chris stands up and takes off after him. "You could have brought us food too."

Clayton shakes his head and gives a hand signal to the girls who helped me. Conner dives into Chris's seat. "They are trying to meet you. You need to eat first, or you're not going to be able to."

"I'm sure it'll be fine."

"Eat."

The girls bring Conner and Clayton some food. So, they eat with me.

After we're done, I find Chris. "Yea, she owns a coffee shop. This was all rather shocking."

"I bet." A man smiles at me. "Princess, Althena. It is an honor to meet you. I'm Alpha Thamis from Dancing River Pack. We're located in the river district. We present a gift to you." He hands me a folder.

"Thank you, sir." I open it, and it's a piece of paper.

Chris looks over. "A house?"

The alpha nods. "A home on the river with beautiful views."

"And it's mine?"

"Yes, it's a gift for you."

"Thank you."

"My pleasure."

The delta from Winter Moon takes his place. He holds a box in front of him and smirks. "I'm Delta Drogon from Winter Moon Pack. I brought you a gift, Princess Althena." I cannot take my eyes off the box. It's as big as a school text book. I step towards it as he opens it. It's jewelry. A jewelry set fit for a princess. Lots of pieces. "The stones match your beautiful eyes. That's why I picked it."

I have no idea what he is saying.

Chris grabs my arm. "I've never seen anything so sparkly."

"For me?" I look up at Drogon.

"Yes. For you."

I reach out and touch the necklace. It's so pretty. Diamonds and light blue stones are in a pattern.

"You did well. She is in love with that set, Drogon."

"Thena, you need to say, thank you and take it."

"But dad, it's perfect."

He nearly falls over and starts sobbing.

"If we could get through 1 thing without a scene, I would be impressed." Clayton pulls on his dad.

"She called me dad."

Mary runs over and takes him.

Clayton smiles at Drogon. "It's beautiful. She loves it. Thank you." He tries to take my box.

I grab it and hold it with my folder.

One of the girls come over. "Would you like me to take..."

"NO." I hug my box and folder. "Mine."

"Of course."

Clayton rubs his face. "It's still yours if they take it. You have to give it to them to keep safe."

"I will beat you with a chair."

"You cannot hold everything."

"It's not everything. It's 2 things."

"Fine. When your hands get full, give the stuff to the girls."

Drogon winks at me. "I'm glad you like it." Then the alpha drags him away.

I lean into Chris and whisper, "I liked looking at him too."

Chris looks him up and down. "Too bad he wasn't the gift."

A lady giggles and it brings us back. Her mate talks. "Princess Althena, It is lovely to meet you. We're Alpha and Luna Armad from the Wraith Division. We brought you a gift to welcome you." He hands me an envelope.

I pull some tickets out. "Crystal Fiction. Is this for real?"

The Luna smiles. "Yes, we got the royal box for their concert for you."

Chris and I start jumping up and down at the same time. "We're going to see Crystal Fiction." I'm so excited, everything is ten times higher pitch than I mean it to me. "Thank you. Thank you. Thank you."

"Our pleasure." Luna pulls the alpha's arm away. "I told you, she would love it."

Mike and Jax come running over. "What?"

"I'm going to see Crystal Fiction." I jump up and down and try to shove the tickets into his eyes.

"Lovely. Jax can supervise that."

He laughs. "They're not that bad."

"They make my ears bleed." Mike puts the tickets back in the envelope. "Calm down. Other people still want to meet you. Why don't we put the gifts..."

"No. Mine."

"Fine. But be careful so you don't drop them. Why don't you sit in the chairs over there?"

Chris and I move to some chairs on the side of the room. The girls put a table between us. I sit my gifts on them as a woman walks up. A man carries a big box beside her.

"Hello, Princess. I'm Angelina Safiri. I'm told you love my stores. I had a custom dress designed for you. I was told you like the braiding in the back. So, I did that on a black dress with gold embellishments. I also did matching shoes, as I'm told you love heels."

"I do. I really do." I am barely holding onto the seat.

She winks. "Open it later. I know you'll love it."

"Thank you."

"My pleasure."

The man puts it on the table. I want to open it so badly. Chris is even twitching towards it.

Jax comes over with Drogon following him. "Who is that from and what is it?"

"The owner of safiri. It's a dress and shoes. And I need to open it, or I will explode."

They laugh and walk away.

A few more people give me jewelry. I get some pretty emerald earrings and a ruby heart on a necklace.

Chris leans towards me. "You may have a mate here."

I look at Drogon standing on the other side of the room. He is sexy. He is built for that suit, I can nearly see his muscles through it. "Who are you thinking?" Drogon winks at me and Chris cracks up laughing. "I always get busted. I need sunglasses."

A man stands in front of me laughing. Then he hands me a little box. "It will always lead you home."

It's a necklace with a compass charm. "Thank you. It's beauti..." He's gone. He's nowhere. That is weird.

Then I see Mike with a rose. I put the gifts I'm holding on the big box and stand up. "You did amazing, babygirl. You are so beautiful." He hands me the rose.

I can't stop smiling at him. "You always say that. Even when I wake up with my hair all over."

"You're especially beautiful then." He kisses my head. "This is over. We can go be not formal now. Anywhere special you want to go?"

"My house. I have a house." I hand him the folder.

"We can go see it."