Chapter 3: Mates

Lily

The horn signaled for everyone to take their place as the King made his way to the celebration. They were jesters and dancers that were performing for the crowd that stopped immediately. Danielle was just as excited as I to actually see the king in all his glory, as no one had really met the new king since the war. The chandeliers lit the ballroom and, as the sun set off the balcony with the orange and purple settings. The wood musk scent hit my nose and Adina stood up and said, "Mate is here," I told her we would look for him after the king’s introduction.

She was just dancing in my head saying to go find our mate and I blocked her out. Amon, one of the elders, announces the royal beta, gamma, and delta to join them on the stage before announcing the king. The double doors to the ballroom opened and the crowd separated on both sides, allowing the king to freely pass and the scent of my mate grew stronger. The um-mated she-wolves stood up and push up their chest, curtsying as the men bowed to the King as he made his way toward the elevated stage.

Danielle saw my wolf trying to take over and asked what was happening before I blocked her out again. I said, "It's Adina, she says my mate is here, but we can’t search for him until the king makes his speech." "Tell her to calm down, we don’t want to get thrown out," Danielle said before we bowed our heads as the king passed, and the scent was so strong, I started to wonder if the king was my mate. Adina was clawing her way to the front trying to force me back, but I controlled it by telling her, "We will find our mate when the king finishes his speech, if we move now, it will be a sign of disrespect and we don't want to get in trouble."

She eventually calms down as he walks up the stairs to the stage following his beta, gamma, and delta. As the king looked around on stage as Amon gave a slight speech, the beta and gamma said their birthday greetings before the King began to speak, but it was like something was off. He started to sniff out a scent when his delta said, "Are you ok, Your Majesty?" I knew it, and as our eyes met, my wolf said the words, “Mate.” I froze as we stared at each other as if nothing in the room mattered as everyone faded into the background, I didn’t realize the king was in front of me as he said, “Mine.”

*****

Aidan

I was on the stage about to make my speech, and then the scent hit me full force, I saw her, my mate, with the most beautiful face. Her eyes were beautiful, and I couldn't hear anyone around but my Lycan saying, "Go to mate." I knew Ty was talking to me but nothing else mattered at this point I just wanted to hold her, I didn’t know when I ended up in front of her, she looked so innocent, and her scent was driving me crazy. I felt myself getting hard in my pants, she was so beautiful, and the dress held nothing to her beauty, I could hear her rapid heartbeat being in sync with mine. My wolf growled loudly, "MINE," pulling her into me, smelling her neck, and saying, "Mate."

The people in the ballroom gasped and then clapped all around, I could feel jealousy all around as a few alphas and other rank wolves had their minds settled on her to be their chosen, but she was mine. The she-wolves were jealous and disappointed they were not going to be my queen, I looked over her shoulder and saw a she-wolf smiling in total happiness and she was probably a friend of my mate. The elder said loudly, "Our queen has been found," Amon was staring at the happy she-wolf in aww, for a minute you would think that she is his mate and then I heard my best friends in my head congratulating me.

*****

Roman

I couldn’t believe it, he finally found his mate, I mind-linked him, "Congratulations," but I was surprised who his mate was. I hadn’t seen her in years, and I was furious, I always had a crush on her, and I was going to talk to her tonight hoping to make her mychosen mate. I held back my angry aura not to offend Aidan, but I wanted Lily, and nothing was going to stop me from having her. I had spoken to her father when I saw that she was back in the kingdom, he had approved of our mating since she didn’t find her mate and I was sure she wouldn’t. He was happy his daughter would be part of the royal hierarchy, I paid him a lot of money and I was pissed off. Because she was away for a long time, she had no time to sense him when she turned eighteen, we Lycans, have our first shift at thirteen for males and sixteen for females.

Usually, we can sense our mates at eighteen and if we don’t, we can have a chosen mate or wait years until we are ready to get a mate or find our true mate. Aidan was away training with the royal army for years and when he came back, he hardly visited the townspeople in the pack, so they never came across each other. I walked over to them after the initial shock of it all and introduced myself along with Drax and Tyrell, she also met Lora, Drax’s mate and her future gamma female. We then let Aiden take his mate for a walk so they could be alone, Aidan had stolen another thing from me, and my blood boiled. I hated him, I was jealous of him but held it in, I felt a pang in my chest as my wolf Troy whimpered in my head before he blocked me.