The Lycan king's Hidden Princess

Two woman cleaning crew

Alari‟s pov

I quickly wolfed down my breakfast and washed my plate so I could leave the house.

As much as I hated the pack house, it was a better trade than staying here in this awkward tension.

“See you guys later” I said as I kissed them goodbye.

“Have a good day honey” dad said as I dashed out of the kitchen towards the front door. “I‟ll try” I said grabbing the door knob and twisting it open.

My hand moved up before I could catch the movement with my eyes, saving me from getting hit in the face.

“Oh goddess, I‟m so sorry” Pearl, my best friend, well, maybe my only friend; shrieked with eyes wide open.

I sighed, letting go of the hand that almost hit me. “I swear I was just trying to knock” she rushed out almost panicked, making me smile at how cute she was.

“Don‟t sweat it babe” I said with a small chuckle, watching her exhale in relief.

“How did you even do that?! That was some quick reflex action!” she practically yelled as we walked away from the door, fascination replacing the panic.

“For a wolf-less girl, you sure are fast, how do you do that?” she said with a little pep in her step, making me laugh at her silly, careless attitude.

“That’s something I'd also like to know” I said falling in step with the peppy red head.

I admired her, in such cruel world; she was always smiling, happy. Pearl had lost her parents as an infant to a rogue attack and instead of the pack treating her like the gem she was, they made her an outcast, like me.

“Ooooooh aren’t you excited too Lari? I hope he hasn’t found his mate, maybe I’m his mate. Then I’ll be Luna and make sure you’re treated right” she squealed with a giggle, snapping me back to the present.

“What was that?” I asked, making her raise her eyebrows at me. “Is it that hard for you to not wander off into that little head of yours?” she asked, twisting her lips up. I rolled my eyes and looked ahead, trying not to get lost in my thoughts again.

“I’m back now, what were you saying?” I asked and watched her face light up. “Xavier silly, aren’t you excited about his return? I’m so excited I could scream!” she screamed, laughing at the end but I just groaned.

“Not if it means double my workload” I muttered, feeling my bones ache at the thought of the hell I was about to be put through today.

“You won’t be alone and when I’m Luna, you’ll never lift a finger ever in your life. Everyone will do their own share and no one will be treated bad” she said with a nod, her face as serious as a heart attack.

That was just Pearl, optimistic as ever; she always did see the bright side, the good in people.

She was hopeful and that alone was enough to make me hopeful for better days. She made me hopeful for a kind and loving mate that would take me away from this place.

Even though I was nineteen and almost everybody got their mate at eighteen.

“Who said you‟re going to be Luna?” I teased with a laugh, making her flip her red hair back and point her nose to the sky like the snobby cartoon royals she liked watching on TV.

“I can feel it, Xavier is my mate!” She said, squealing the last part out and I just laughed.

“Well, I really hope you’re his mate, maybe you’d bring a little change to this place” I said, feeling all the happiness get sucked out of me as the pack house came into view.

“And you’ll always be happy” she said taking my hand and giving it a comforting squeeze.

As much as I hated the pack house, I couldn’t deny its beauty, even from the back.

A beautiful garden of a variety of rose bushes that I spent my days taking care of led up to the four story Victorian style mansion that was painted a dark royal blue. It had a large terrace that the Luna used when she wanted to read or admire my garden.

Yes, this was my garden.

The back was nothing like the front though. Yeah the back was more colourful but to me, the lush green grass contrasted beautifully with the grey drive way that circles a water fountain with a mermaid statue in the centre.

“You’re late!” Luna Adele said the second we stepped into the pack house, her frown making us bow our heads in submission. One thing we never did, was make her angry.

“Sorry Luna” we said in unison, hoping she would accept it and let us get on with our work.

“You’re lucky my son is on his way home and absolutely nothing can ruin my mood” she said, her voice sounding anything but pleasant.

“The warriors are done with their breakfast, Pearl, you go clean the kitchen so the cooks can start preparing lunch. Alari, make sure to scrub the entire house spotless, the next two days are going to be extremely busy and I don’t want to see even a speck of dust. Pay extra attention to the Alpha and Beta floors, the King is

also on his way, got it?” she said and we nodded.

“Tsk, can’t even use your words, I knew an education would be wasted on the both of you” she muttered before turning to leave.

I sighed when she was finally out of sight, clenching my hands at her harsh words. What Luna even says that to their pack members? A Luna is supposed to be a mother figure to the pack; she’s supposed to be kind and loving, not hateful and ruthless. And certainly not a grumpy b***h!

“I promise I won’t be so careless with my words when I’m Luna” Pearl said with a sniffle and I turned my head to see her wipe away a tear.

My heart broke for her, as loving as she was, Pearl was also so fragile and quick to tears. Sometimes, I truly wish she had thicker skin, and no one would ever make her cry.

“You’ll make an excellent Luna” I said pulling her to me, giving her a kiss on the top of her head. Yep, her short 5’2 form gave me every opportunity to give her comfort when she needed it.

“Let’s start with the kitchen then take care of the cleaning after” Pearl said, squeezing and breathing in my scent before letting go.

“Pearl, cleaning is my task, you go do the kitchen” I said, making my way to the storage closet to get my supplies but Pearl grabbed my hand yanked me towards the kitchen.

“This house is massive for one person and we get it done faster when we do it together” she said, sounding like a woman on a mission.

Sighing because there was no way I could convince her otherwise, I let her pull me into the massive kitchen.

I felt something burn inside me when I saw the mountain of dirty dishes and pots that the Luna had expected Pearl to do by herself. It would take her the whole morning to get all of these done!

Not wasting even a second, we jumped into washing and drying the dishes and pots while Pearl day dreamed about the changes she would make once she became Luna and honestly, it was quite entertaining listening to her imagination run wild.

We were done cleaning the entire kitchen just in time for the cooks to come back and make another mess that needed us to clean up.

But we didn’t have the luxury of rest as we still had the house to dust and mop.

Deciding to start down going up, we quickly got the ground floor cleaned up because it didn’t have as many rooms and then decided to split up. The first and second floors were the messiest because those rooms housed the unmated warriors and I swear on my life not a single one of them knew how to keep their living space neat.

Pearl took the first and I took the second, picking up clothes from the floor, dirty underwear that I knew I’d be washing when the weekend was over. Some rooms even had used condoms on the bathroom floors, making shivers wreck my body every time I had to pick one up; even with gloves on.

Pearl and I met up on the Beta floor to clean it together so we could do the Alpha floor together as well because she wanted to get a good look at the apartment style living quarters she would be sleeping in when her ‘mate’ finally arrived.

“I wish you’d found your mate when you turned eighteen” she said with a little sadness in her eyes and I just rolled mine.

“This pack is short on good men” I said with a dark chuckle, making her burst into

uncontrollable giggles.

“Don’t forget dirty! Goddess the men in this pack are filthy” she laughed and I shivered in disgust.

“And the fact that they don’t care to keep themselves for their mates? Goddess no!” I said, feeling my non-existent wolf shiver in disgust; at least we agreed on one thing.

“The number of condoms I picked up or found in the trash is astounding!” she gasped with a shiver, while my stomach twisted in disgust; the hunger I’d been feeling now just bile ready to exit.

“Looks like we’re finally done!” Pearl exclaimed, wiping the sweat off of her forehead with a smile on her face and I only felt bad. She was too good a person to ever let me do all this work by myself but it was too much and I hated putting her through all this.

“Let’s go get some food, it’s well past lunch time” I said, hoping we could get some food before being ordered to clean after the kitchen staff and the warriors again.

“Goddess I’m starving!” she exclaimed, pushing her supplies out and I followed closely behind her.

We weren’t offered much to eat in the pack house but I guess it was enough to keep the hunger at bay until we could get home and get some proper food.

Putting away our cleaning supplies, we made a bee line for kitchen only to find two peanut butter and jelly sandwiches left for us.

With a heavy sighed, we sat down and ate the sandwiches and washed them down with water and then began cleaning up the kitchen all over again.

We were just wiping down the counters, ready to call it a day when two omegas came into kitchen carrying two full baskets of sheets that needed to be washed. I swear I almost cried when they left them there and went about their way but as usual, Pearl was there to lift my spirits. Telling me that we’d be done in no time would be able to go home and shower and

eat.

I felt like I’d been hit by a truck by the time I made it home but I couldn’t even drop dead because I felt filthy and was so hungry I could eat a whole cow!

Throwing myself into the shower, I scrubbed my body as best as I could before getting out and drying, not caring to put any lotion on. I put on a pair of sweatpants and a tank top, then a pair of socks.

I rushed down the stairs when I heard the door open and a knock follow shortly after. “The most amazing person in the world is finally here” Pearl called and I heard mom laugh from the kitchen.

“Hello darling, how are you?” mom asked just as I walked into the kitchen. “I’m alright ma’am” Pearl smiled.

“You girls sit down and enjoy a drink while I set the table, I know you must be starving” mom said playing with Pearl’s red curls.

She gave us each a glass of grape juice with a little alcohol inside. She always did this when we’d had a long day at the pack house and honestly, I was grateful.

“Hey girls, how’s it going” dad said taking a seat next to Pearl, putting his wine glass on the table.

“We’re good sir” Pearl answered, making dad frown.

“Pearl, I’ve told you time and time again, there’s no need for formalities” he said sternly; which was the beginning of their

usual banter.