Chapter 1 - Preparing for the Ball

Ares’s POV

I heard a beautiful woman giggling. She was in the other room, my bedroom. Curious, I slowly stalk towards my bedroom door and open it.

Her body is splayed out on my bed like a sitting dessert, waiting for me to feast on her. Her tits are plump and exposed and she is running her hands down the front of her body slowing even further down when she reaches those tantalizing breasts only a goddess could possess and she squeezes them firmly, cupping them and continuing down the front of her body to her most sensitive spot. 

I can’t see her face, but for some reason I know she's smiling when she moans, “Oh Ares...I need your help…” 

She’s teasing me. I smirk and close the door to my bedroom and walk over to her giving her a sultry look to say, ‘I know exactly what I’m going to do to you.’ 

She’s laying on top of me, and she is kissing down my bare chest, heading south. I can’t wait to feel her warmth. Electricity, tingles, and shocks are firing off every place she touches me. Why is that?

I am falling more and more...what is that?

...love.

“ARES! GET YOUR ASS UP!” Shouts my father from the other room as he busts through my bedroom door.

I jolted awake, rolling and falling face-first on the floor beside my bed. I sat up looking around, realizing I was no longer in the sanctity of my own dream. My shorts were soaked...again. This is the second time this week I’ve had a wet dream about the same woman. It’s really starting to annoy me. Luckily, my father doesn’t notice anything other than the fact that I’m still in bed.

“GET THE FUCK UP SON! PACK! We leave at ten!” My father glares at me, clearly pissed that I’m not already ready to walk out the door. He turns and leaves, slamming the door behind him. 

I drop my head back against the carpet I am now face-first against. “UGH!” 

Today, I leave Freedom Ridge with my father, his beta, and my soon-to-be beta and gamma to head to the Mating Ball and Claiming, a week-long tradition amongst the packs of Wolf Nation where all unmated wolves gather to charm, schmooze and if you’re lucky, find your mate, your one true intended soul mate. 

Being the future alpha of the Freedom Ridge pack had its perks, but more frequently than not, it was not something I enjoyed, since my father treated me like shit behind closed doors. He said very little to me, if not ignored me, in front of everyone else. When I was younger, he was MUCH worse. Thank the goddess I’m much older now. 

My father is not who he used to be and he knows it. He’s ready for me to take over the pack so he can retire to his cabin in the woods by the lake and live out his remaining days wasted. In order for him to do that, I have to find my mate and produce an heir to ensure the success of our pack lives on beyond me. Once that is done, then I can rise to alpha. He won’t have it any other way. 

Until now, he refused to let me ever attend the Mating Ball and Claiming. This will be my first year to attend, and hopefully my last. I hate these sort of things. I’m a no-frills kind of wolf and I don’t have the patience or tolerance for these decadent extravagant charades I am forced to suffer through, but if it is the only means to an end to get my father to leave my life once and for all, I will do what is expected of me, for the sole purpose of getting him out of my life. 

I hear a knock at the door. “Who is it?” I ask.

“DUDE! Are you ready yet?” My future beta shouts from outside my door.

I roll my eyes, “Come in Alec.”

He opens the door and Alessandro, my gamma, follows him in. 

“C`mon Ares! Let’s blow this popsicle stand! We have some serious tail to chase!” Alessandro chuckles tugging at a Twizzler in his mouth he is chewing on.

I pull myself up off the floor, “Chill the fuck out guys. I’m almost ready.” I run my hands over my face to wake up and then run my fingers through my hair as I search for my duffle bag of clothes I packed the night before. 

“Dude…” Alec points to my boxers to indicate I clearly need to change, “Cinderella visit in your dreams again last night?” He jabs and laughs. Alessandro follows his eyes and looks and starts bellowing out a laugh. 

“Both of you can kiss my furry ass!” I toss the duffle bag at Alec as I go into the bathroom to shower and change. They both just laugh as they drag my things down to load into the SUV that will be following us with all our luggage.

“I got fifty on him nailing the first she-wolf he sees that bats her lashes at him the minute we get there!” I hear Alessandro bet Alec.

“Nah...he’s got more control than that. I’ll put a hundred on him, holding out until the night of the ball!” He chuckles as he closes my bedroom door. Fuckers. Ye of little faith sometimes, those two. I really did have the intention of finding my mate, if the Moon Goddess even thought me deserving of one. But that was just it - IF she thought I was deserving. My father likes to remind me frequently of how undeserving I am of anything.

After my shower, I go back into my room to pull on some clothes from my closet. As I pass by my TV, I grab the remote to turn on the news to hear what the circus monkeys are saying these days while I dress. I don’t listen to them often, but since this is the biggest event of the year in Wolf Nation, I KNOW the media circus will have something to say and add to it. 

“With Alpha King Harmon’s only living heir a female, and this being her last valid year before the treaty becomes null and void that the king struck with his council, the heat is on! Will Arianna Erickson find her mate?” I hear the TV news anchor speculate as I rummage through my closet for clothes.

“She isn’t viewed by the nation as a viable candidate to rise to power without a mate to take over for Alpha King Harmon. No other packs will support her without a mate.” One news anchor says while talking to another. 

“Let’s hear what our correspondent reporter has to share with us. Macie Vicious is on the scene at the king's palace waiting for future hopefuls to arrive….Macie to you!”

“Thank you, Robert! I’m here outside the gates of Alpha King Harmon’s estate where this year's Mating Ball and Claiming will take place. So far many have arrived, but the true question on everyone’s mind is - will the most eligible bachelor Alpha Fenry Magnus of Slick Paw Pack find his mate this year? Every she-wolf dreams of being his, but only one can be his true future Luna! Rumors have begun to circulate that after the Claiming, he plans to take the crown from Alpha King Harmon should Princess Arianna be unsuccessful at finding her mate this year.”

“That’s right! We did hear rumors that that was the plan, but we did not get that confirmed. Were you able to confirm that for us, Macie?”

“Not exactly, our contact was, however, able to verify that the elusive and mysterious future Alpha of the Freedom Ridge pack, Ares Cain Martin, will be in attendance for the first time EVER, accompanied by his father, beta, and future beta and gamma this year! This is a real treat since this pack is known to be historically reclusive, keeping to themselves. He is said to be one of the most eligible bachelors of ALL TIME since he seldom leaves his own territory unless he is going to settle pack matters and business for his father with neighboring packs.”

“Wow! What a treat all those she-wolves will have this year for sure! Now tell us this Macie, do you really expect Ms. Erickson to find her mate this season? Do you think we will finally see a change in leadership and power with the likely passing of power going to Alpha Magnus in the upcoming days ahead?”

“I’m not hearing or seeing any talk otherwise guys. It is sounding more and more like the people and wolves of Wolf Nation expect Alpha Fenry Magnus to take over after this year’s Claiming concludes. Not many have had faith in Arianna since her father could not produce a male heir and despite her efforts to train with her pack, prepare her pack warriors for war, and continue to conduct Luna duties for her pack on her father’s behalf, she still is very young and her friends continue to influence her to go to philanthropic events and parties dragging her down in the tabloids.”

I heard enough trash for one sitting. I turned the TV off. I follow the news occasionally, but this just sounds like we are about to walk into a shit show. I may need to let father know we need to bring some extra security details to be on the safe side.

Ari's POV

“Hey, Sally! That decor looks amazing! I love how you’re decorating!” I say in passing to one of the many omegas tasked with maintaining our packhouse, better known by many as the Black Claw Estate, as I head to my bedroom. The media likes to call it a palace, but I don’t see it that way. It is where our pack lives. It is the central hub for all packs and we have so many people come and go all the time, that it really is more like an estate with smaller cottages and houses throughout the area for mated pack members and their families to live. I honestly think the packhouse itself is better compared to a giant luxurious hotel resort because only visiting packs and unmated pack members typically stay in the actual packhouse.

Everyone is busy hurriedly decorating and setting up for the event of the year, the Annual Mates Ball. 

“Oh Lilly, I love that! It’s so pretty!” I smiled complimenting another omega’s placement of decor as I climbed the stairs to my room on the sixth floor. I hated climbing the stairs, but dad refused to install an elevator. With as many guests as we receive, you would have thought he would have been more considerate to everyone, but he is a firm believer in always keeping in top physical fitness. Dad seems to think that having an elevator would make us soft.

This year was the year. I knew it was going to happen and I wasn’t going to let anything stand in my way! This year, I was finally going to actually attend the Mates Ball! Ever since I was a little girl, I have dreamed of one day finding my mate, claiming him, and riding off into the sunset to live happily ever after. But, I’m almost 21, and it hasn’t happened yet.

As I reach my bedroom, my phone rings. I pull it out of my back pocket and answer. “Hey, Ani! What’s up?” I say as I open the door to my room and walk in.

“OH. MY. GOSH. ARI! You are NOT going to believe who is coming to the Mates Ball this year!” My best friend Anika squeals into the phone.

I have to hold the phone away from my ear for a second to protect my eardrums from any damage before responding, “No, but I’ve got a feeling you’re going to tell me,” I laugh going to my closet to grab a fresh change of clothes. I just came back from the afternoon training session with the pack and needed a shower.

“Ugh! Arianna, you take the fun out of the guesswork.” She huffs, the excitement in her voice clearly deflated.

“Sorry - you know I don’t pay attention to guest lists and the news. People do have lives and important things to do other than checking the gossip magazines.” I giggle teasing her as I walk to my bathroom to turn the shower on.

“Oh, just because not everyone is as devoted as you to training and school doesn’t mean we don’t have anything better to do Ari. SOME of us have to keep on our toes to make sure we get into the largest and hottest events of the season so we can find our mates. SOME of us don’t have an Alpha King daddy to throw us our own balls and social events to find our mates you know?” She laughs taunting me back.

“Okay, touche,” I laugh, “So are you ever going to tell me?” I ask as I begin peeling my sweaty training uniform off my body to get in the shower.

“Practically EVERY unmated Alpha and Beta have committed to attending this year’s Mates Ball! Even the Alpha, Beta and their sons from the Freedom Ridge Pack have committed to coming! Do you know what this means Ari?”

“Ummm...that my dad is going to have his hands full keeping everyone’s tempers in check and we need to order a LOT more booze?” I joke as I put my phone on speaker so I can continue getting ready for my shower hands-free.

“Ugh NO! It means we have the absolute highest probable chance than EVER before to actually meet our mates..and it could be an Alpha or Beta!” She squeals. “I still can’t believe that even Alpha Lucian has committed to coming with his son, Ares! Doesn’t your dad like...despise that pack or something?” I literally don’t care about alpha or beta status since I am technically the next Alpha Queen and I will be over them all anyway, but I let her enjoy the excitement.

“Ohhhh yeah...wow....that is exciting. So...2 Alphas and a Beta will be attending then right?” I tease her some more just to add some salt in there. “And he doesn’t despise them, he just dislikes how...openly opinionated Alpha Lucian is...to put it mildly.”

“NOOOOO. Ugh, gosh Arianna you don’t have to kill a girl’s thunder,” She laughs, “and don’t get too excited now. There is plenty for everyone,” She says sarcastically.

I laugh with her as I take my hair down from the ponytail it was in for training. I typically train twice a day with the pack warriors. If I’m going to command them one day, I should be just as prepared as they are and be able to fight like the best of them, if not better.

Being a female Alpha is virtually unheard of and I would be putting it mildly if I didn’t say when my dad declared me his heir despite me not being a male, that it pissed off...well...almost everyone. An alpha queen ruling without a mate is just unorthodox and breaks tradition.

The bloodline is supposed to carry on through the male, not the female, but my dad didn’t care. See, our bloodline is the last pure bloodline that connects directly to the Moon Goddess. We are direct descendants of the Moon Goddess’s bloodline. Everyone else’s bloodlines have been “watered down” through mating with humans and other subspecies. My family bloodline has only mated with pure blood descendants and they have kept it that way, always. What this means is that because our bloodline is the purest, we are also the most powerful and some of us have even been blessed with special abilities like mind reading, levitation, premonition, and the ability to control the elements. The weaker the bloodline, the weaker the wolf in comparison.

Nonetheless, I don’t want my pack to see me as weak, unfit to rule, taking advantage of my position, or taking my position for granted. I want them to see that I AM the best person for the job and no one else can rival my strength and abilities. I can beat everyone in my pack during pack training, except my father.

“What are you doing?” Ani asked, suddenly realizing I’m doing something other than laying in bed waiting to sit and gossip like school girls with her. Anika has been my best friend for as long as I can remember. We’ve been through everything together, from the boyfriend breakups, and jealous classmates to the death of her mom last year. We’ve been through thick and thin together since we were little. It doesn’t hurt that she is the daughter of the gamma of my pack either.

“Huh? Oh! I’m getting ready to take a shower. I just got back from training and I’m all gross and sweaty.”

“Oh! Makes sense... Of course, only Arianna Erickson, daughter to the Alpha King, would be training on the day of her first MATES BALL!” I could hear her eyes roll to the back of her head when she spoke exasperatedly at my dedication to my training. I will admit my dedication to my training could be viewed by some as overzealous, but I don’t see it that way at all. I love to exercise and it keeps me busy for a good portion of my day.

“Hey, someone has to lead this pack and watch over all the packs one day...and last I checked, it was going to be me. I can’t have people thinking I’m a slacker, undeserving, or weak. I want everyone to know I bust my ass every day to be the best future Alpha Queen they could imagine.” I protest.

“I’m just teasing you.” She laughs. “But really, are you coming over here to get ready, or do you want me to come there? Did you make appointments for hair and makeup, or what?”

“Oh...I figured I would just wing it. You know, brush my hair, throw on a nice sundress, and see where the night takes me.” I sarcastically reply.

“Really Arianna? Really? C’mon...be serious.”

“Okay, okay...You can come over and we can leave from here. I made hair appointments for us this afternoon. The makeup artist should be here by the time we are back from getting our hair done, with just enough time to primp, throw on our gowns and go down to the ball.” I explain with an air of confidence.

“Sweeeeaat!” Anika praises. “So, I guess I’ll see you in a few!”

“Yup, I’ll be downstairs when I’m out of this shower. Oh hey, can you call Alexia and let her know. We’re going to be late now thanks to this long phone call if I don’t jump in the shower now.” I joke with her, but seriously hope she will tell Alexia.

“Oh, what-ev-er girl! Yes, I’ll call her and let her know. See you soon!” She laughs.

“Okay, thanks. See you soon. Bye!” I thank her and end the call before jumping in the shower.

Even though this isn’t our first Mates Ball since we turned 18, it is the first one we will actually get to attend. Over the course of the last three years, disaster after drama-filled evening has unfolded resulting in Anika and I never arriving in time to the ball or the claiming.

When I turned 18, my flight was delayed and traffic to the hosting pack territory combined made me arrive by the time they were beginning the celebration days after the ball and claiming. I was devastated because by the time we reach the celebration days, most unmated wolves that did not meet their mate at the ball or the claiming leave, since they don’t have anything to celebrate.

The year of my 19th birthday, Anika and I arrived but it was short-lived because, after 2 flutes of champagne, we passed out in the hotel room. I’ve never been a drinker, but 2 small flutes aren’t enough to even get buzzed. Anika and I woke up the next day vomiting profusely. I could never prove it, but I think one of my “frenemies” roofied our drinks to keep me from competing with them for the attention of unmated ranking males.

Last year, the day before I was supposed to leave to attend, I came down with a serious case of food poisoning that almost landed me a stint in the pack hospital. Anika felt so bad she refused to go if I couldn’t go. I still feel guilty for the possibility that she missed an entire year with her mate. She says she doesn’t care and he can wait. ‘What’s one more year?’ she used to joke, but it still doesn’t change the fact that I feel responsible for her missing the ball.

I’m almost 21, and I know this is my year. My father has had me under lock and key for the last two weeks to make sure nothing happens to me before the events and he has already told me he intends to have at least 2 escorts with me at all times to make sure I don’t get too drunk before the ball even begins. I think he secretly thinks I’m avoiding finding my mate on purpose, but that couldn’t be further from the truth. I want to find my mate. I just have the damnest luck apparently. But my father won’t hear any of it. He can’t entertain anything other than the surety that I will find my mate this year because if I don’t, and I don’t find him before I turn 21, the council will revoke my right to succeed my father and force him to name my cousin, Fenry Magnus, Alpha of the Slick Paw Pack as his successor.

It was the only compromise the council could come to with my father given how upset the entire country was at his declaration that I would be his successor and not a male. If Fenry was the presiding Alpha of his pack by this time, he would be forced to renounce his claim as Alpha of the Slick Paw Pack and name a successor, his Beta most likely, as the new Alpha of Slick Paw so he could assume the position as Alpha King. The council also stipulated that if my mate was an Alpha of another pack at the time of the claiming, he would not be a viable mate to become the next Alpha King thus causing the position to once again default to Fenry. I don’t know why he couldn’t renounce his claim as Alpha of his pack like Fenry would have to do, but apparently, it was part of the compromise and my dad said it was hard enough to get the council to compromise as much as they did. This measure was added at the demand of the council to preserve the balance of power between packs.

Essentially, if I was mate to an alpha of one of the territories, the council was afraid that combining his territory with my father's because he was my mate would launch us into another great war since that would make our territory vastly larger than any other territory. The packs wouldn’t stand for it and it would immediately incite war.

My grandfather, Alpha King Honosis, ended The Great War and led our people into peace. My father has been able to maintain that balance of power among the packs and continue the peace and prosperity throughout the country, but his inability to produce a male heir due to the untimely death of my mother, our Alpha Queen, coupled with his declaration that I would succeed him, created instability among the packs and as I get closer to my 21st birthday, the tensions between packs has been on the rise. The uncertainty of everyone’s future has most people on edge. I think everything will be fine. I’m the alpha, so there is no way the Moon Goddess would pair me with another alpha!

I finished my shower, stepped out, and dried off. Once I put my clothes on and finished getting ready, it wasn’t 5 minutes later that I heard the door to my room burst open.

“I’m here biotch! Where you at?!” Ani declared plopping herself smack dab in the middle of my bed. “Oh...I could never get tired of this bed…” She purrs, getting comfortable.

“I’m just finishing tying my hair back for the appointment. I’m coming!”

“Good! Hurry up, we are gunna be late! Alexia said she would meet us there and ride back with us to finish getting ready here.” Ani filled me in.

“Sounds good.” I threw my shoes on and grabbed my purse. “Let’s go!”

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