The Forgotten Princess & her Beta Mates

Dallas wishes she could travel back in time. She would prevent her six year old self from wandering into the forest and keep her from finding Lucy.

Unfortunately, she did wander off and she did find Lucy. From that very first day, Lucy takes or gets what belongs to Dallas. Her favorite doll, the last gift from her Mother. Her dress for the Scarlet Ball, she bought with money she had earned herself. Her Mother's necklace, a family heirloom.

Dallas has put up with all of it, because everyone keeps reminding her of the fact that Lucy has no one and nothing.

Dallas swears revenge on the day she finds her Mate in bed with Lucy.

Shadow Valley Pack will regret pushing Dallas aside for Lucy.

My Mate

Even before I am fully awake, I know that this is going to be a day from hell and I have had enough of those in my life.

If just one more thing in my life goes wrong, I am out of here and I will never set foot in this territory again.

“Did the bond form?” I ask Charna, my Lycan, if it did it will make my day better or at least I hope so.

“It did form.” She replies, but her tone of voice tells me that something is wrong.

I turned eighteen a week ago and found a connection with the future Alpha, Nico, one of the people on my list for hurting me, over and over again.

No, he never hit me and neither did anyone else.

Okay, maybe I need to explain something for you to understand what I am talking about.

On my sixth birthday I had been at the lake with my Father, who is our Pack’s Beta, and the Alpha and Gamma family. I had gotten bored with the games they were playing and I had wandered off in to the forest, most of our territory is forest.

I knew to keep an eye out for the markings that tell us where our borders are and I had been picking wild flowers as I was walking around. A soft whimper had gotten my attention and being the curious little Beta, I had gone looking for the source.

If only I had known that one day I would come to hate my sixth birthday, I might have walked in the opposite direction.

I had found a girl in the forest, later it turned out that she was just a little older than me and I had taken her to our Alpha.

Her name was Lucy, but she hadn’t been able to tell us how she had gotten here or where she had come from. She did know that her birthday had just been a few days ago or would be in a few days and that had been the first time that she had gotten something that was mine.

“You have so many dolls, why don’t you give one to Lucy?” my Father had asked and as I had thought about which doll to gift her, I had nodded my head.

My Father had grabbed my favorite doll from the picnic blanket and as I had objected to it, my Father had already given it to Lucy.

I had tried to explain to my Father that I didn’t want to part with that specific doll, but he had just said that I was being selfish and he had placed Lucy next to him on the blanket.

Lucy had lived on the first floor with the Omegas for about a week, when my Father had moved Lucy to our floor. He had said that Lucy didn’t like living with the Omegas and she had asked my Father if she could come live with us.

I doubt now a days that she used the word “us” back then, but I wasn’t there when she had asked and there for I can’t be sure.

Every birthday I had was overshadowed by Lucy, my Father always telling me that she didn’t have parents to throw her a party and I could just share my party with Lucy.

This happened again and again and again, not only due to my Father but also due to the Alpha and Gamma family. Nico was the worst and he would always remind me that Lucy was much prettier than me, at least in his eyes.

So, know you might understand why Nico is on my shitlist.

I train every single day, I have to because I am the future Beta. Well, I was the future Beta and now I am going to be the future Luna.

Nico had been as surprised as me, but he wanted to form a bond with me. After all the Goddess had put the connection there and we needed to respect her decision.

Lucy hadn’t been to happy with it, she had been trying to get Nico’s attention for almost a year now and had failed miserably. She even went out of her way to make sure I knew that she would never accept me as a Luna and I had just laughed in her face.

Being Nico’s Mate will make me the Luna and there is nothing Lucy can do about it, even though she might try.

I have gone through my morning routine and I am rinsing the dishes that I used for breakfast. I hardly ever eat breakfast in the main dining room, because I am usually training during that time.

I see that the door to the master bedroom is wide open and that means that my Father is already downstairs, probably an early morning meeting with the rest of our leadership.

“Why are you so quiet?” I ask Charna, this should be a joyous day for both of us.

She doesn’t answer me, but the moment I leave the Beta floor she starts pacing in my head and she forces me to head up to the Alpha floor. I enter the floor by using the code I was given after I turned sixteen and I am met with complete silence.

Seems I was right about the early morning meeting and Nico is using it to sleep in, just like he does every time his parents are preoccupied or absent.

I hadn’t made any plans with Nico, even though we knew that today would probably be the day that our Mate-bond would be completed. Charna doesn’t understand why we didn’t make any plans and to tell you the truth neither do I.

My steps falter as I stand in front of Nico’s bedroom door and I am glad that our bond hadn’t formed earlier. If it had and we had accepted one another as a Mate, I would be in excruciating pain right now.

Because the Asshole is fucking another female, the sounds coming from his room don’t leave any room for errors and I am not sure what to do right now.

“Is this why he didn’t want to tell anyone just yet?” Charna asks me and I think we both know that that is exactly the reason.

“Ohh, Lucy. That feels so good.” I hear Nico groan, but it is the name he called that has made me furious and I can barely manage to keep myself from bursting in. I need to find away to expose those two and slowly I make my way out of the Alpha floor, back to my own room without shedding a tear.

I am going to make them pay for what they did and everyone will know about our connection, but it ends today.

New Life

I walk into my bedroom and grab my suitcases from the back of my closet, I place them on my bed to start packing the remainder of my belongings. There are only a few sets of clothes left in my closet and only the daily necessities in the bathroom.

Most of the things I want to take with me are already in my suitcases, I made the decision to leave Shadow Valley Pack at my Sweet Sixteen party and I already know where I am going.

I will be going to the Elders, to learn everything I need to learn to become the best Beta I can be and I will find a Pack that will appreciate me for who I am.

My weapons are in the trunk of my car, I take them out every time I need them and place them back after I have cleaned them. All that is left is my luggage and then I will make sure that everyone understands who are responsible for me leaving.

Okay, let’s get introductions out of the way. My name is Dallas, I am eighteen years old and my Lycan, Charna, showed up a year ago. My life hasn’t been a bed of roses and the only reason I stayed this long is the hope of finding my Mate.

Well, we already know that that didn’t go as planned. I am officially done with the people in my life and the leadership of this Pack.

I walk back up to the Alpha floor and to my surprise Nico and Lucy are still at it, but I no longer give a damn.

“Nico, harder.” I hear Lucy moan. “Put a Pup in me, I want you to cum inside me.” I can hear Nico groan, before he yells that he is coming.

I slam open the door and Lucy drops to the floor when Nico pushes her of his cock, startled by my presence. Both making a mess of themselves and the bedroom.

I don’t wait for him to respond, I just turn on my heel and walk down the hallway to the door.

“Please, Dallas. Stop. This is not what it looks like, it just happened.” Nico says, hopping on one leg as he is trying to pull on some sweat pants.

I don’t say anything, I just keep walking down the stairs and I know that Nico and Lucy are right behind me.

Everyone in the main dining room goes quiet the moment they see me walking in and I can hear a few whispers the moment Nico and Lucy walk in behind me, everyone can smell the scent of sex in the air.

“I, Dallas, reject you, Nico, as my Mate.” I say, after I have turned around to look at him.

“I don’t care if you accept it or not. Just know that it won’t stop me from finding my own happiness and you will have to suffer the consequences of not accepting my rejection.” I state.

“Dallas, why are you rejecting our Son?” Alpha Leon asks and I turn around to look at him.

“Because as usual, Lucy wanted what is mine and got it. Your Son fucked Lucy, even though he knew that our Mate-bond was nearly complete and now I know why he didn’t want us to tell anyone.” I say as I look into Alpha Leon’s eyes.

I turn back to Lucy and Nico, he is still staring at me and his hands are pressed against his chest. I don’t feel any pain, but that might change if he accepts my rejection.

“You wanted him, you can have him. You can have everything that was once mine, I hope that the two of you become very happy together and I hope that you enjoy your victory.” I say to Lucy, before I walk past her and out of the main dining room.

“Stop, you can’t leave. You are my Mate.” Nico says and I turn around to see him standing in the doorway.

“I am no longer your Mate, you chose to sleep with her and now you can deal with the consequences. You have always put Lucy before me, just like your family, the Gamma family and even my own Father. You never failed to remind me that you thought that Lucy is prettier than I am.

Our Mate-bond would have made you see that you had been wrong, that you had hurt me with your words and I would have forgiven you, because of our Mate-bond. What I can’t forgive and what I will never forgive, is that you chose to fuck another woman.” I say in a calm, cold voice.

The entire dining room is quiet and everyone is waiting for what is coming next.

“Dallas, there might be a very good explanation…” But I don’t give Alpha Leon the chance to finish his sentence.

“What kind of explanation can your Son have for being buried balls deep in Lucy? Where in this damn universe could this have been an accident?” I growl in his direction.

More Pack-members have gathered in the dining room, all of them curious about the drama unfolding in front of them.

My Father finally gets up from his chair and I am damn curious about what he will have to say.

“Dallas, you are the future Beta. You already have status within Shadow Valley Pack, why not grant Lucy the status of Luna?” My Father says.

Charna is growling in my head, but she keeps to the back of my mind. Neither one of us wants him to know that we already shifted or that we know that he lied about our Mother.

“HAVE YOU LOST YOUR FUCKING MIND? YOU WANT ME TO GIVE LUCY MY MATE, JUST LIKE YOU GAVE HER THE LAST GIFT MOM GAVE ME OR THE FAMILY HEIRLOOM YOU WERE SUPPOSED TO GIVE ME ON MY SIXTEENTH BIRTHDAY.

GET A FUCKING GRIP ON THAT DAMN BRAIN OF YOURS, I HATE YOUR FUCKING GUTS.” I yell at my Father and I take advantage of his shocked state.

“Nico, this is your last chance to accept my rejection. Once I walk out the door, you might never get the chance again.” I state, looking at Nico and it seems to sink in that no one can change my mind.

“I, Nico, accept your rejection.” Nico says, knowing that I will never forgive him.

I walk out of the Pack-house without looking back, I get into my SUV to finally get out of this place and start my new life.

At Fault

Dallas’ p.o.v.

Six months later

I took my time to travel to Scarlet Crescent Pack, I needed time to myself and I wanted to take time to write down all the questions I have had for years.

I arrived at my destination after travelling for almost a week.

Charna enjoyed running around in unknown territory and neither one of us feel sorry for ourselves.

It is almost as if there never was a bond between me and Nico, no pain after he accepted our rejection and no sense of loss for us.

I arrived at Scarlet Crescent Pack in the early morning and I am glad that I had the letter from the Elders printed, it saved a lot of trouble at the gate.

A Squad Captain was waiting for me at the main building, the building that houses the Elders and where I will get my education.

I was given a schedule for the first week and then he showed me the territory we were staying in.

We might live within Scarlet Crescent territory, but we can’t enter the territory that surrounds the Palace. At least not with permission from the Elders or at the request of the King.

I had the rest of the day off and I used it to get settled in, my room is on the top floor of building A. It is a hell of a lot bigger than my room back home and I even have a small balcony.

I placed my laptop on the desk next to the balcony door, I unpacked my suitcases and then I went looking for some breakfast.

My first real day with the Elders consisted of tests, to establish the level of my knowledge on Laws and my skill level in fighting.

I aced every test they gave me and that left the Elders with a challenge, where do you place someone that hardly needs basic training?

After consulting with the Squad Captains, I was assigned to one of the Squads and a costume made study plan was devised.

My studies were more focused on Pack-laws and the consequences they could have for a Pack. It was something I wasn’t taught in Shadow Valley Pack, I didn’t even know that an Alpha could make his own Laws within his territory.

Those Laws can’t be breaking our main Laws, they are usually a stricter version of our main Laws and I was going to need to learn all of them.

I found a few surprises along the way and I actually enjoyed my studies, they were very educational.

Today I will become a full pledged member of Captain Jordan’s Squad and I will be allowed to go on missions with the Squad, my main priority is to make sure we know the Pack-laws of the territories we get send to.

“Good morning, Dallas.” Captain Jordan says as I walk into the living room in our Squad house.

The other Squad members greet me with a smile or a wave and I walk over to the coffee machine to make myself a Latte.

Captain Jordan slides a file in my direction, after I have taken a seat not far from him and I reluctantly open it. I know what is in there and I hate it every time he hands me a file like this.

Captain Jordan was the first one that found out about my past, he had found me cussing and swearing at a phone that was lying on the desk in my room.

It was on my third day as a part of his Squad and I hadn’t come down yet, so he came looking for me. I had finally turned on the old phone with my sim card in it and I had many text and voice messages from my Father.

None of them were an apology for the way he had treated me. No, each of them were telling me that I was childish, selfish and immature.

Captain Jordan took the phone from me and once a month I get a file on the type of messages I have gotten with the name of whoever left them for me.

My Father still leaves me messages that tell me I am being childish, selfish and immature. Nico is begging me to come back, to give him another chance and so do his parents. The only one that hasn’t reach out to me is Lucy and I hope she never does.

My eyes widen when I read a different message from my Father and I hear Charna laughing in my head, I had completely forgotten about this.

“Something funny, Dallas?” I hear Captain Jordan ask and I need a minute before I can answer him.

“Sorry, but it is the last message from my Father.” I reply and I hear a few growls around me.

“I had forgotten that I had changed the password to the program for the Pack funds, I never informed anyone about it and it slipped my mind that it is the annual fund meeting in a few days.” I explain, but apparently I am not making any sense.

“Every Pack makes an annual budget for a variety of Pack related issues, I have been making them since I turned fifteen and my Father would pass them off as his own. He never needed access to the program, so he never needed the new password and now the only ones that can get access are Alpha Leon and his Mate.” I explain.

Captain Jordan has a dumbfounded look on his face and looking around I can see he isn’t the only one.

“Can’t your Father ask Alpha Leon for the password?” I hear Elder Jensen ask.

“And tell Alpha Leon that he hasn’t done any of the financial tasks he was supposed to be doing?” I ask in return.

I hear almost everyone laughing around me, understanding that this would mean losing face for a Beta and no one would want to lose face in front of his Alpha.

“Besides, my Father would never admit that he was at fault. No matter the evidence against him.” I say.

Our Mother

Daxton’s p.o.v.

“Good morning, Daxton.” I hear Carl, our future Alpha, say. I doubt it is a good morning if he is standing behind me, he only comes looking for me if someone told him to come and get me.

“Who send you?” I ask him, as I turn to face him. I want to look into his eyes when he answers me, it will tell me if he is aware of why he was send here.

“My Mother, I believe it has to do with an invitation from Shadow Valley Pack. Between you and me, I think Dad might order you to go.” Carl answers and I know that he is telling the truth.

I am forty seven and I still haven’t found my true Mate-bond, I never met a woman my Lycan felt a connection with. I have been waiting for twenty nine years to find that connection, but so far I haven’t been able to find her and I gave up on finding her years ago.

The people around me are still hoping that I will find her one day, they want me to go to other Packs to look for her. I did that for over a decade with no results and now I no longer want to go through it.

“I am sorry, Daxton. Mom wants you at the Pack-house for lunch, on the Alpha floor.” Carl says and I know that he is sorry, our entire future leadership understands me.

None of them have found their true Mate-bond yet and they have to attend as many events as the Pack gets invited to.

I reluctantly follow Carl to the Pack-house, there is no point in shooting the messenger. I am not sure how this lunch will go, but something tells me that I will have given everyone a piece of my mind before it is over.

Chatter is coming from the dining room and I can already hear my Mother’s voice above the others.

“If he doesn’t find his Mate during that Alpha Ceremony, he will need to take Daniella as his chosen Mate.” Mom says and even though I am not in the room, I know the smirk Daniella will have on her face.

“I will never take Daniella as my chosen Mate. If and that is a big IF I take a chosen Mate, I will decided who becomes my chosen Mate. You don’t have a say in it, Mother.” I say calmly, knowing that this annoys the hell out of her.

Not just my tone of voice, but also the fact that I use the word Mother instead of Mom.

No one says a word as I sit down across the table from my Mother and Daniella, both of them have an annoyed look on their face. Carl sits down in the seat that was meant for me, next to Daniella.

“What is this I hear about an invitation, Luna?” I ask, making sure that everyone understands that I know why I was summoned.

“Shadow Valley Pack will get another Alpha in about seven months, we got invited to attend and to bring along some of our unmated Pack-members.” Our Luna answers and I know there is no way I am getting away with refusing to go.

“I didn’t know that Nico had found his connection yet and why does Alpha Leon think it is smart to hand over the Pack so soon?” I ask the question that is probably running through everyone’s mind.

We had all met Nico over the years and he didn’t strike me as the most competent for the Alpha position, not to mention the woman that was always with him. If I am not mistaken her name is Lucy, but we never found out what her rank is or who her parents are.

The last time Nico was here, was about four months ago and we all had felt that something was off that day. We never figured out what was wrong, but the guy had been jumpy throughout the entire visit and he had eyed every woman in the Pack with suspicion until he was able to see their faces.

“None of us knew he had found a connection, until the invitation arrived that is. As to why Alpha Leon is so eager to step down, any guess could be a good one.” Our Luna answers.

Usually when a future Alpha finds his connection, his parents make it known to every Pack and not just the allied Packs.

For his parents not to make it known immediately, can only mean a few things. He could have gotten someone pregnant that isn’t his true Mate-bond, he could have taken a chosen Mate for an alliance or he broke the connection to his first Mate for whatever reason.

“Why don’t you accompany Daxton to the Alpha Ceremony, Daniella?” My Mother asks, but luckily our Luna is quick to shoot that idea down.

“Sorry, but we have chosen the unmated Pack-members already. Daniella is still young and has all the time in the world to find her connection. We will be bringing Pack-members that have been waiting at least five years to find their connection.” Our Luna responds and I can tell that she is telling the truth.

“We did that on purpose, Daxton.” She tells me through the mind-link and for once I am grateful that our Luna can be conning from time to time.

Unlike most, our Luna isn’t afraid to talk back to my Mother. My Mother knows that most still consider her this Pack’s Beta female and that means she gets away with a lot of her behavior, but even my Mother isn’t stupid enough to go against our Luna.

Our Luna has the final say and no one is going to argue with her about it, not even me.

My Mother and Daniella don’t seem to be too pleased with our Luna, but my twin Brother, Darius, has a damn smirk on his face and hell breaks loose the moment he opens his mouth.

“You seem eager to have her as a Daughter in law. Why don’t I take Daniella as my chosen Mate?” Darius says with a smirk on his face.

Yeah, leave it to my twin Brother to piss off our Mother.

Missing Something?

Darius’ p.o.v.

The moment the invitation came in, I knew it would mean trouble between my Mother and my twin Brother.

And yes, I say my Mother for a reason. Daxton might be my twin Brother, but she always treated him less than me and for the first ten years of our lives we even believed that we were separated by a whole year.

It wasn’t until our former Alpha overheard a conversation between me and Daxton, that we were told that we were twins.

It explained quite a lot of things to the both of us and Daxton has pulled away from our Mother ever since, there even was a time he refused to acknowledge that she was his Mother.

We still don’t understand why she favors me over Daxton and we both doubt that we will ever find out.

I listen to the words my Mother speaks, but I don’t respond and I don’t have to. Daxton can take care of himself, but I am starting to get agitated by Mother’s relentless quest to get Daxton to take a chosen Mate and preferably Daniella.

None of us likes Daniella, it goes back to our childhood and she hasn’t given us a reason yet to change our minds.

Daniella is the Granddaughter of a former Elder and she was always after Preston. No matter what anyone told her, she kept going after him and we thought she might trick him into a chosen Mate-bond.

Daxton, Rayden and I would always be with Preston and we have seen Daniella try a few desperate things to get into Preston’s bed, but thank the Goddess that she never succeeded. It would have been this Pack’s down fall and one of us would have been charged with murder.

Mother stares at me when I suggest that I take Daniella as a chosen Mate, I know she doesn’t think Daniella is good enough to be a Beta’s Mate and she will object to my suggestion.

“Darius, that is ridiculous. Daniella is not cut out to be a Beta’s Mate, she would never be able to support you the way you need your Mate to support you.” Mother replies and I see a devilish look in Rayden’s eyes.

“Then she isn’t suited to be Daxton’s Mate either, after all they are twins and that makes Daxton also a Beta.” Rayden states and normally I would say that no one can argue with that, but I know how my Mother feels about Daxton and Beta in the same sentence.

“Darius is Silver Eclipse’s Beta, Daxton holds no title. Daniella can be his chosen Mate, but not that of my little boy.” My Mother growls and I know Rayden is going to spill the beans.

“What do you mean with Daxton holds no title? I thought that twins always shared everything, their Mate and their rank.” Ruth, Rayden’s Mate, asks.

“Nice safe, Rayden.” I hear Preston say over our mind-link.

I would like to hear how my Mother is going to get herself out of this pickle, either she acknowledges that Daxton is also a Beta or she has to tell a lie.

Daniella has had a disgusted look on her face since Ruth mentioned that twins share a Mate, seems like she hadn’t taken that in to consideration.

“You are right, Ruth. A twin usually shares a Mate and a rank, but Daxton made a mess of his life at the age of twenty. It is a shameful period and I don’t like to get reminded of it. I told Preston that Daxton’s status had been damage and that only Darius had a right to the Beta of Silver Eclipse Pack.” My Mother answers Ruth.

Ruth looks at Daxton for a very long time and I know that he is getting uncomfortable by the way she is looking at him.

“I’m sorry for staring, Daxton. I am just trying to see the monster, because only a monster wouldn’t deserve his rank or a true Mate-bond. I will let you know when I have found that monster, even though I have a feeling that I am looking in the wrong direction.” Ruth says.

Daxton is trying to hide his laughter, but I am not even trying. Ruth knows what so say and when to say it, she always manages to lighten up a tense situation.

“Ruth, I don’t like what you are implying…..” My Mother starts to say, but Ruth just raises her hand to shut her up.

“I am not implying anything. It is just a result of the information that you gave me, the only thing I could come up with is that whatever Daxton did must have painted him as a monster and nothing less. I can’t see that monster in him and I doubt his Mate will.” Ruth replies and I see Daxton shaking with laughter.

Our Mother isn’t used to someone interrupting her or to tell her how they feel about her and Ruth doesn’t have a problem doing both.

“Daxton will never find his connection after all these years, it is time he accepts the fact that he will never have a true Mate-bond.” My Mother says and I have to grit my teeth to keep quiet.

“Okay, let’s see if I can get this straight. You believe that Daxton will never find his Mate, but that also means that Darius will never find his Mate. Because Daxton will never find his Mate, you want him to take a chosen Mate and that means that Darius needs to find a chosen Mate too.

They are twins and that means sharing a Mate, maybe Daniella is willing to take two Mates. Oh, hold on. Her face tells me enough, she is disgusted by the idea of having two Mates. Leaves me with one last question, why settle for the twin that has no right to a High-rank according to his Mother?” Ruth states, her eyes locked with those of my Mother.

Damn, that woman is good. She managed to ask a question that has eluted me all these years.

My Mother is looking a little pale and Daniella looks as if she is about to throw up, why does that deduction from Ruth unsettle them so much. Have I been missing something all these years?

Goddess' Gift

Dallas’ p.o.v.

Okay, this is not what I had been expecting. I don’t believe anyone in our Squad had seen it coming and I am still a little baffled.

Captain Jordan announced his retirement at the ceremony that would make me a full pledged member of the Squad, but it turned out to go a little differently after his announcement.

Elder Jensen had appointed me as the new Squad Captain and everyone had started cheering for me, but I had been unable to say a word. I have been here a little over six months and now I have my own Squad.

I know there have been a few others that made Squad Captain within a year of arriving, but I am not sure if this is what I want or need in my life at the moment.

I mean, it is an honor that they believe that I can handle this. There is a downside to it though, I might have to visit Shadow Valley Pack and I am not sure if I am ready for that at the moment.

“Captain, Elder Jensen wants to see you. He is waiting in your office.” Joshua, my second in command, says and I wonder why Elder Jensen didn’t link me. “You have your block up, Captain.”

I smile at Joshua as I walk out of my room, I didn’t just take over as Captain, I also got Jordan’s room and that means living on the other side of the top floor. Joshua follows me to my office on the ground floor and everyone we pass slightly bows their heads, a sign of respect for my position.

“I wish they wouldn’t do that, it makes me feel uncomfortable. I am still the same person as before and now the same people that ignored me, suddenly show me respect.” I say to Joshua as another woman slightly bows her head.

“It will become even worse, they will start to talk to you.” He replies teasingly and Charna is laughing her ass off.

I softly growl at Joahua and he smart enough to create a little distance between us. He is one of the few people in our Squad that knows about what other members of other Squads have said to me, each and every one of them implicating that I was Jordan’s lover.

It wasn’t until someone said that I had to go and find my own true Mate-bond, that I lost control of my patients and Charna. That fucking Idiot is still in the infirmary and once he has fully recovered, he gets send home.

No one has dared to make a similar remark to me ever since, but I have gotten enough death glares and I prefer it that way. My Squad members know that I got where I am, because of all the hard work I put into it and none of them question my ability to lead this Squad.

“Elder Jensen, I apologize for having my block up. I was just finishing up for my last exam and I didn’t want to get distracted.” I say as I sit down behind my desk.

“No worries, I knew you were studying. I wanted to do this personally and in private, I know this will be difficult for you and it might not.” Elder Jensen says.

Joshua and I are looking at one another, this guy is talking in riddles and I don’t think I have the patience for it today.

Elder Jensen holds out an envelope for me and after a small hesitation, I take it from his outstretched hand. I recognize the Pack emblem and my first instinct is to throw it back at Elder Jensen, but my curiosity wins.

We are proud to announce the Alpha Ceremony for our Son, Nico, and the Luna Ceremony for his Mate, Lucy.

I don’t bother reading the rest of the card, I close the card before putting it in the envelope and I hand it back to Elder Jensen.

“We both know that Nico and Lucy don’t have a true Mate-bond and that causes an issue for the Elders, but we also want to send out a message to every other Pack in the Kingdom. So, we will wait until the Ceremony and you will get the honor of telling them that the Alpha Ceremony is cancelled.” Elder Jensen says.

Joshua looks at me for a moment, before he seems to understand why I am getting the honor of disrupting an Alpha Ceremony.

“How long do we have?” I ask Elder Jensen, I need to prepare myself mentally.

“You have over six months to prepare, you know the rules for an Alpha or Luna Ceremony cancelation. Also make sure that there is a trial date for Alpha Leon, just in case he is willing to fight our decision in front of the King.” Elder Jensen replies.

“Okay, Joshua. Let’s get this Shitshow on the road, I want the cancelation forms filled out. Alpha Leon will ask for them and he will ask for a trial to overturn their own Pack-law.” I say as I show Elder Jensen to the door.

I open the door to let Elder Jensen out and I see my third in command, Jesper, waiting outside the door.

“Get in here, Jesper. We have more than enough to do and luckily a whole lot of time to do it in. I do need some answer though and maybe you can help me with that.” I say as Jesper walks into my office.

Joshua hands him the envelope and I softly growl at the mere sight of the Pack emblem on it.

For a few moments it is quiet in my office, but then Jesper starts laughing his ass off.

“Let me guess, we get to break up the happy shindig?” He asks and starts laughing even harder. Someone seems to be happy to be a party pooper and I actually have to giggle.

I decide to tell both of them why I get the privilege of dealing with the cancelation and both men growl loudly.

Jesper went through a similar situation and Joshua had his connection broken before there was a chance to form a bond.

Why Nico chose Lucy over me is still unknown, Jesper and Joshua both know why they were turned down. Neither of them had a high enough rank, both women wanted an Alpha.

Well, good luck. Most Alphas are arrogant, obnoxious and rude, they truly believe that they are the Goddess’ gift to women.

Divine Intervention

Ever since Dallas walked out of the Pack-house, the atmosphere had gone downhill.

Most Pack-members had witnessed the events in the dining room and those that had been busy with other tasks, had seen the footage. Some had recorded the events and spread them across the territory, making sure that everyone knew what had happened.

Alpha Leon had given his Pack-members the order to never discuss what happened with outsiders, but he knew he had a lose canon in the form of Dallas. He had been to stunned to react quick enough and when he had realized he needed to stop her, she had already been gone.

No one had been able to find a trace of her, pinging her phone had failed too and there was no bank account in her name. It was as if she disappeared into thin air.

They tried to find her browser history, but that had been wiped clean. Not a small trace was found of Dallas or her ever living within the territory, because her file had been gone too.

Alpha Leon had a suspicion that Dallas had been planning her departure for a long rime, but no one had an answer for him. Not her Father, not his Son and when he tried to find any of her friends, he found out she had none.

The only thing he could find on Dallas, was her training schedule and her patrol reports. That girl had been his top Warrior and he had never known about it.

Her Father had been surprised to hear about her status within the Pack, but it hadn’t impressed him much. After all she was a Beta’s Daughter, she had to be a strong Warrior.

After two months of trying everything to find her, Alpha Leon finally gave up. At least on a large scale, but he kept an eye out for any news on a female that came across his desk.

Slowly life went back to some sort of normal in Shadow Valley Pack, but most Pack-members didn’t like what Nico had done to Dallas.

The connection that can lead to a true Mate-bond should be respected and Nico made Dallas believe that he did respect it, only to betray her with Lucy.

Lucy hadn’t been seen much by the Pack-members, it seemed that she was avoiding them. Every time she did show herself, she could hear the whispers and they weren’t friendly words she heard.

She had always wanted everything that belonged to Dallas and she had always succeeded in getting it, but now Pack-members were starting to take Dallas’ side. Even though she wasn’t here to see it, Dallas didn’t know that more and more Pack-members were taking her side.

Lucy swore to herself that she would make them pay, she wasn’t going to give up on her dream of becoming a Luna and once she was their Luna they would have to show her the respect that she believed she deserved.

Nico knew that Pack-members were talking about him behind his back, he could also hear the whispers and like Lucy he thought there would come a day that they would have to show him the respect he deserved as an Alpha.

None of them had given the Pack-laws any thought, none of them anticipated that the Ceremonies they were planning would be for nothing.

Another two months passed without a word from Dallas and they started to breath a little easier, thinking that Nico’s actions would have no consequences for Shadow Valley Pack.

The invitations had been sent out to every Pack and the Elders, it was going to be a huge Ceremony with as many guests as they could hold within their territory.

The decorations had been picked out, but the current Luna wasn’t happy with it. Lucy was a very demanding woman and she knew how to get her way, how to manipulate Nico into giving her everything she wanted.

It wasn’t the cost of the party that the Luna worried about, it was the decorations that worried her and she didn’t know how to bring it up with her Mate or her Son. Nico didn’t want to hear a bad word about Lucy and her Mate always chose the side of their Son.

Lucy had turned down every suggestion the Luna had made on the decorations, she didn’t want the black with golden accented table clothes or any of the other items in their Pack colors.

Everything was in a bright pink color with black accents, from the table clothes to the candle holders and the more the Luna looked at it, the more she realized that this would make them the laughingstock of the Kingdom.

“Let’s just hope that the King doesn’t show up.” The Luna had thought to herself, she would hate it if the Royal family saw this.

When it came to Lucy’s Luna training, well there wasn’t any. Lucy didn’t believe she needed to know what the duties of a Luna are, she had dismissed every attempt of the current Luna to rain her and once again Lucy had managed to manipulate Nico into agreeing with her.

Instead of fighting her Son on his decision, she accepted it with a soft smile. Lucy would fall out of character soon enough and then Nico would realize that he made a huge mistake. A mistake the Luna hoped he could still rectify.

Too bad for Shadow Valley Pack that they were being watched, if only every Shifter would have realized that they are always watched and that everything they did, would eventually have consequences.

There was no hope for Nico to mend his mistake, there was no hope for Shadow Valley Pack to stay a strong and wealthy Pack.

Lucy’s scheming had already cost too much, she had robbed Shadow Valley Pack of the one thing that had kept them so strong and wealthy. But Lucy wasn’t the only one to blame, there were others within that territory that were responsible.

Dallas will find her happiness, she is the key to this Kingdom’s survival. Without Dallas this Kingdom is doomed, without her this Kingdom will parish. A divine intervention is being plotted.

Correct Answer

Darius’ p.o.v.

The entire week I keep thinking about Ruth’s remark, why hadn’t I thought of it myself?

“Too busy with ignoring them, too busy with avoiding them.” Camus, my Lycan, says.

He is right, Daxton and I have been busy with keeping our meddling Mother at bay. If we could stay away from our Mother and Daniella, we would.

“Preston, we need to talk after dinner.” I say, knowing that he will understand that I don’t want anyone else to hear what I have say.

I walk into the dining room to see that our Mother and Daniella are once again sitting at our table, Daxton is standing near the window and the look in his eyes is murderous.

“Daxton, just know that I want what is best for you. You will never find that connection, you are too old and a chosen Mate is your only option.” Mother says and I get brought back to Ruth’s remark.

I know that history tells us that Shifters usually find their connection between eighteen and thirty, but ever since we found our new way of finding a Mate, the age of finding that connection has shifted a lot.

“Mother, stop. I am getting sick and tired of this.” I growl, as I walk over to my seat.

“Darius, I wasn’t talking to you. I was just discussing something with your Brother.” Mom says with an annoyed voice and I want to respond, but I don’t get the chance.

“I have had enough of this, stop bugging Daxton about taking a chosen Mate and using his age as a reason is Bullshit. Preston and I met two years ago, Rayden and Ruth met a year ago and both of them were the same age as Daxton and Darius are now.

You are no longer welcome at this table and I don’t care that you are their Mother. You and Daniella can leave right this minute and if I ever hear you talk to Daxton like that again, I will ban you from the Pack-house. Is that clear?” Luna Pearl asks.

Daniella is smart enough to get moving, after she has acknowledged that she understood Luna Pearl. Mom is unwilling to bow down, but I know who this is going to win and how this will probably end.

“Am I clear?” Luna Pearl asks again, her eyes locked with those of my Mother and I hear her softly mumble a Yes.

“WHAT THE FUCK DID YOU SAY?” Luna Pearl roars and everyone around them takes a step back.

“Yes, Luna.” Mother mumbles, not that she is happy with it. She doesn’t move from her seat though and I can already feel the anger radiating from Luna Pearl.

Two Elite Warriors rush over to pull Mother from her seat, but she tries to fight them and that is a totally wrong move.

“Get her the fuck out of the Pack-house. Madeline, you are banned from the Pack-house for the entire week. One more mistake after that and it will be permanent.” Alpha Preston says.

It takes a while for things to settle down, but once everyone has settled down dinner gets served and it seems to be the cue for all Pack-members to start talking again.

It is quiet at our table, none of us is too happy with the events of the evening and it might take a while before Pearl is back to her calm self.

After we have gotten our dessert, Pearl is finally able to respond again to everything around her and the first thing out of her mouth is “that fucking Bitch.”

We chuckle as she starts cutting in to her slice of cake and it doesn’t take long before we are finished with dinner. We follow Preston and Pearl up to the Alpha floor, I hope that Ruth can shed some light on the remarks she made.

“Okay, Darius. Out with it, what is on your mind?” Preston asks the moment the door closes behind us.

“I have been thinking about Ruth’s remarks. It has kept me preoccupied all week and I don’t understand why I never thought of it myself. Why is Mother pushing Daniella on Daxton and not me? Why does Mother keep pushing Daxton to a chosen Mate and not me?” I ask.

It is quiet for a moment, before all of them start talking at once and I smile as I hear the cacophony of voices.

“Okay, can we do this one at the time? I can’t make head or tails out of this.” I say and suddenly it is quiet again.

“I have always found it strange and that is why I gave it a lot of thought. Always listening to what Madeline said or how she said it and that is what led to my questions.” Ruth says.

“Dad told me that she made the two of you believe that you were born a year apart and that Darius is the oldest, but he couldn’t get her to tell him why she did it. Just to make this even more interesting, Daxton is five minutes older.” Preston says with a smile.

“Hold on, he is older than me?” I ask, not that it matters to me. It just makes things a bit stranger that is all, Mother always acted as if I was the oldest and now I find out that I am not.

Everyone has a dumbfounded look on their faces, it is hard to understand why a Mother would do that to her own Sons.

“I might have the answer though and I think it has to do with your Mother’s upbringing. In her Pack the oldest of a twin got the position of their Father, the youngest got nothing. I am assuming that your Mother believed it works the same here, but we all know it doesn’t.” Preston says.

It would explain why she favored only one of us, but not why she chose me over Daxton.

“What if your Mother is afraid that Daxton will get the Beta Position? After all she is unaware of the fact that I made both you my Beta, she might fear that I will find out the truth and hand over the position to Daxton.” Preston says.

“If she knows our Pack-laws, she will know that a High-rank with a chosen Mate is not accepted.” Pearl responds.

That could be why our Mother is trying to force Daxton to take a chosen Mate, but I don’t believe it is the correct answer.

Slept Longer

Dallas’ p.o.v.

“Did you see the dress code for the Ceremony?” Jesper asks, while turning it towards Joshua.

“No, I didn’t. I don’t need to know, because I will be wearing my uniform.” I reply as I sit down behind my desk.

Usually the dress code for an Alpha and/or Luna Ceremony is similar, you show up in the colors of your Pack. In some cases they just ask you to wear something with your Pack’s emblem on it, for men that usually means a tie with the emblem on it and most women wear a brooch or scarf with the emblem on it.

“No dress code, as long as there is a hint of bright pink.” Jesper says and I roll my eyes at the disrespect Lucy shows to our traditions.

“Let’s just get this started, before we get called away for another mission.” I mumble, not looking forward to the paperwork this involves.

We start with the forms for the Alpha Ceremony, most of the information we have to fill out is easy. It is when we come to the reason for the cancellation that we have to be thoughtful, because if we formulate this incorrectly, it will sound as a challenge towards Alpha Leon.

“The reason for cancelling the Alpha Ceremony is breaking their Pack-law.” I state and both Joshua and Jesper look at me for some answers.

I pull up the information the Elders have on Shadow Valley Pack and I let Joshua and Jesper read it.

“You knew this without having to look it up?” Joshua asks and I just nod my head, there is nothing else to say.

“I didn’t know until I got here, but I also found out that Pack-laws have to be accessible for all Pack-members. Each Pack has to put it into the education of their children, so that no one can say that they didn’t know that they were breaking Pack-laws.

Alpha Leon has admitted reports to the Elders on every child in his Pack that took the class and their grade for that class, but I know that it was never a part of our education.” I state.

Joshua is writing down the reason for cancellation, while Jesper gets the forms for the Luna Ceremony and he starts filling out the information he has.

Once we have filled out all the forms for the cancellation, we start on the forms for a trial and I check the schedule to find a date that will give me some time to prepare, after I have cancelled both Ceremonies.

“Why not chose a date closer to the cancellation?” Jesper asks. “We have all the evidence we need.”

“No, we don’t. There are still a few things I need answers to and I hope to have found them all by the time the trial starts.” I answer him.

“How can we help?” He asks and I hand him the list of questions I wrote on my way over here, most already have an answer. It is the ones without an answer that I need their help with.

“We’ll take this one and I suggest that you talk to Elder Jensen about this question.” Jesper says and I look at the list to see which one Elder Jensen might be able to help me with.

It is a question that I found after starting my studies, it was something one of my classmates had said and it had stuck with me ever since.

I decide to take Jesper advice and go to talk to Elder Jensen, hoping that he can help me out a little bit. Maybe he even has the answer to my question and it will be one more question I can cross off my list, one step closer to find out the truth.

I find Elder Jensen in his office and I close the door behind me, before I walk over to the couch.

“What can I help you with, Dallas?” Elder Jensen asks and I take a moment to gather my courage to ask my question.

“Can you tell me the difference between a Wolf and a Lycan? I was never educated on that subject, but we both know that I am a Lycan and that my Father lied to me. I need to know those differences and particularly about the bond between parents and their children.” I manage to say.

It still hurts to know that my Father lied to me, I grew up believing that my Mother was an Omega Wolf. My time here with the Elders has shown me that he lied about a lot more than just my Mother being a Wolf.

“There is a lot on that subject and we will be here for a few weeks if I have to tell you all of it myself. I will get you a book from my personal library, it deals with all the differences between Wolves and Lycans and it will provide you with all the answers you need.” Elder Jensen says.

I accept his offer, it will be easier to read a book than to ask all the questions that are running through my mind.

“Come to my office in the main building in the morning, I will have it ready for you.” He says, before I walk out of the office.

There is an office for the Elders in each building, just in case they want to work in peace or if a Squad member has asked for a meeting. Their main office is in the main building though, but I have never been in there before and I am actually curious about that office.

I head back up to my room and I lie down on my bed, just staring up at the ceiling. I clear my mind of any thoughts, I need some time without so many questions running through my mind.

Closing my eyes, I take a deep breath and slowly exhale. I keep repeating this until I feel my body becoming heavy and I just lay there without anything running through my mind, I always love this feeling.

The only downside to this state is that I always manage to fall asleep and today isn’t an exception, I slowly drift off the sleep with an empty mind.

Loud knocking on my door wakes me and I jump of the bed to open the door, just to see one of my Squad members standing there.

“Sorry to wake you, Captain. Joshua send me to get you for dinner.” She says, before slightly bowing her head.

Dang, I slept a lot longer than I normally do.

My Answer

Daxton’s p.o.v.

Like every night, I wake up covered in sweat. I had another nightmare, but like always I can’t remember what is was about.

I have had this nightmare for almost twenty seven years and I can’t remember a single detail after waking up, not one single thing that can help me understand this. No sound, no smell, no image.

At first I thought it might have something to do with Sage, but as time passed and details kept alluding me, I gave up hope to find answers in that nightmare.

I say nightmare, because I feel trapped afterwards and it never is a good feeling. The sweat is also telling me that it is a nightmare and even after all these years I hate waking up like this.

Almost as if the events from twenty seven years ago happened all over again, but just like back then I can’t remember a damn thing and it is frustrating the hell out of me.

Cyran growls in my head, he hates this as much as I do and no matter what we have tried, we just can’t remember what happened that night with Sage.

She left the territory a few days later and no one has seen her since. The only thing we know is that she is mated to a Beta and that she hasn’t been in contact with any of her relatives here.

I get out of bed, knowing that I won’t be able to get back to sleep again and get dressed in some training gear. I start with a run through the forest to clear my mind of the nightmare and after that I hit the gym to go through my daily routine, before taking a shower before going to breakfast.

“Another nightmare.” Darius states as I walk out of my room, I don’t have to answer him because he knows what is troubling me.

I was never able to talk to Sage about it, she didn’t want to talk to Darius either and I never found out if Mother talked to her.

Darius always says that if Mother had talked to her, she would have told us and for the first few years I might have believed him. I don’t believe it anymore and I am starting to wonder if the situation with Sage was at the start of all of this.

Even though Darius is her favorite, she still made it clear that we both had to wait for our connection and to form a true Mate-bond out of it. It wasn’t until a few years after that incident that she started to push a chosen Mate on me.

“Damn, I had hoped she wouldn’t show her face for a few more days.” I hear Darius mumble next to me and I actually chuckle at his words.

“Why are you upset? I am the one she is always harassing.” I whisper as I turn my head towards him, I don’t want to see Mother or Daniella.

“You are my Brother and indirectly she is insulting me as well. I don’t want to hear her say that I am getting old.” He whines the last sentence.

We both laugh as we sit down and Preston is looking at us with a brow raised.

“Darius doesn’t want Mother to remind him of the fact that he is getting old and every time she tells me I am getting too old, she is also accusing Darius of getting too old.” I say and we laugh some more.

It has been almost a week since the showdown between Mother and Pearl, but apparently she feels that she can show her face again.

Even though there are enough Pack-members that glare at her to scare someone off, she doesn’t seem to notice and as always Daniella is right there beside her.

Cyran growls in my head, when he sees Daniella waving at me and I allow him to come forward. Making sure that she sees that neither one of us is interested in her, my Lycan has never had an interest for women and I doubt he will, until the day we find our connection that is.

Daniella quickly lowers her head and I see Mother looking at me with a disapproving look in her eyes. She knows that I am not impressed by it and when she realizes that Cyran is near the surface, she turns her attention elsewhere.

“Is your Mother afraid of Cyran?” I hear Pearl ask.

“Yes, Luna Pearl. After I had told her many times to stop bugging me about a chosen Mate, Cyran decided to have a talk with Mother’s Wolf and that is when we found out that she feels the same as Mother. Cyran has completely shut her out, Mother’s Wolf can no longer reach her own child.” I say.

“Cyran made it clear to both of them that we no longer considered them our family, he actually roared it in their face and that in public.” I state with a smile.

I hear gasps coming from my friends, I understand why because that is unheard off. Normally a Wolf or Lycan will always side with their child, most of the times even over their Human and for Mother’s Wolf to agree with her Human is strange.

I believe that this goes for every Shifter, but most of all for Wolves and Lycans. A Shifter is overprotective of their child, even more than of their Mate and that usually never changes.

"Cyran told me that both of them felt that we owed Darius the Beta position, in their eyes we took too much from him during the pregnancy.” I state and as usual Darius is laughing again.

Darius and I are 6”6 in height and most Pack-members can hide behind us, some have even done so.

Pearl us looking at Darius with a mischievous look in her eyes, “Yeah, you probably stolen some of his braincells.” She says teasingly and Darius spits out the food he had in his mouth.

Cyran is rolling around in my head, while I do my best not to have a huge smug look on my face. Preston has his face buried in Pearl’s hair, but we can all see that he is laughing.

Mother is glaring at me, but I don’t really care. Pearl asked a question and I will always answer my Luna with the truth, no matter who might hear my answer.