Lycan Rising

Princess Luna and Whispers of War

Lydia

Lydia woke up at 5am as she always did. After so many years as Charles' Luna and then assisting Chase with Luna duties, she didn't even need an alarm clock anymore. She used to attend training with her husband every morning at 5:30am, but since he retired he only trained 4 days a week and at 8am. Charles tightened his grasp on her, and she paused to enjoy his pumpkin pie scent. The kids had always laughed about her calling their big, strong alpha father pumpkin, but it was certainly fitting. His smell as their father was simply the pack scent mixed with cinnamon, so they didn't understand it. But to be fair, Charles told her that she smelled like birthday cake, while the kids smelled her pack scent and vanilla.

"Why do you get up so early, still my love?" Charles mumbled, pulling her even closer to him.

"Because that is what I've done since I was old enough to start training, and also my internal alarm wakes me at the same time every day because I've done it so long," Lydia replied.

"Well, now that I'm awake also, I think that I would like a little taste of my sweet mate," Charles told her as he rolled on top of her.

"I think there is always time for that," she replied breathlessly.

As she left the room, an hour later than usual, she wondered if her son and lovely daughter-in-law were up yet. She decided to tactfully make sure that they were awake by having an omega send a breakfast tray up. Besides, she mused to herself, if Chase was anything like his father, Kyrie would need to keep up her strength.

She headed downstairs to check on the progress in the banquet hall and saw that the omegas were finishing up the last-minute touches to the decorations. Seeing that all that was in order, she headed to the kitchen, which was a bit more chaotic but still progressing as well as could be expected, with one group ensuring that the pack dining hall was appropriately stocked, while another group was prepping for the banquet. After seeing that there was nothing pressing needing her attention, and making a mental note to have Chase give the staff a bonus for getting everything together for the royal visit under such short notice, she headed to the living room and picked up a crossword puzzle to wait for Chase and Kyrie.

Chase and Kyrie wandered into the living room about 20 minutes later and set down on the couch across from her chair.

"Good morning mom," Chase said as he went to sip on the cup of coffee that he had brought in with him.

"Good morning Lydia," Kyrie greeted her with a yawn. She, too, had a cup of coffee that she was sipping on.

"Well, hurry up and finish your coffee because we have a lot to do today," Lydia told them, "The hairdresser and make-up artist will be here at 9:30 sharp, and your dress and shoes were delivered this morning, so we need to make sure that the alterations are perfect so we can determine if any last minute adjustments are needed. And Chase, you need to call the royal beta and find out what time they will be arriving so that we are on the stairs and ready to greet them as they arrive."

"Ok, little general," Chase told her with a laugh, "Also what color tie do I need to wear? I know you won't be letting me see Kyrie's dress for the banquet, but I would like to match my sweet mate." Chase lifted Kyrie's hand to his lips.

Kyrie smiled at her handsome mate, wondering why he couldn't see her dress since it wasn't a wedding dress.

"Black suit, black shirt, emerald green tie," Lydia told her son with a smile.

"So what am I wearing for the first part of the day since the fancy dress is for the banquet?" Kyrie asked curiously.

"I actually had set aside a gold button-down blouse and a knee-length black pencil skirt," Lydia replied, "Those are our pack colors and I thought the gold blouse would look beautiful with your complexion."

"I'm going to leave you ladies to it," Chase told them as he stood up and placed a kiss on Kyrie's forehead, "I need to make sure that my side of things are in order."

"A bit of advice, one Luna to another," Lydia said, as she hustled Kyrie from the room, "Always wear dress flats until you are actually ready to greet your guests, then put on low heels for the greeting, and save the high heels for formal occasions. It will keep your feet from hurting as badly on a busy day like today."

"That is actually very good advice. Chase mentioned Luna training to me, and I was actually wondering when we would start?" Kyrie asked her.

"Let's get this visit over with, and then we will get started on your training," Lydia told her.

As they walked past the entertainment room they heard some women there talking. Lydia held up a hand to stop Kyrie as they paused to listen to what was being said.

"I can't believe they are going to all this trouble for her," a she-wolf complained, "Someone like her shouldn't be with our Alpha, and to be honest, I don't really believe she is related to the royal family at all."

"Alpha Chase should have chosen one of us to be his Luna, our looks would be better matched. Besides, we have been trying to convince him to date one of us since we were teenagers," a second she-wolf said.

"You guys are right. You are the two most beautiful she-wolves in the pack, and you are obviously classier than her. Not to mention not so dark-skinned," another girl stated in agreement.

Lydia's face had turned red with anger, and she marched into the room with Kyrie behind her.

"Luna Lydia," one of the girls stammered as the two women flew into the room.

The five she-wolves in the room had jumped to their feet when Lydia and Kyria entered the room.

"That is Dowager Luna to you Sylvia," Lydia snapped angrily, "And this is Princess Luna Kyrie, your Alpha's fated mate!"

"Oh please Luna Lydia," the tall skinny blonde with pale blue eyes said, "You really expect us to believe that our moon goddess paired this mutt with our Alpha, and I don't believe for a moment that she is a princess."

Before Lydia could reply, Kyrie stepped up, and Kahlan pushed forward, "You would dare speak about a royal princess like this," Kahlan raged, "And you think that you should have what is rightfully mine, given to me by the goddess herself!"

At that moment, Kahlan released the full force of her aura at the five girls, all pure-blooded alpha, royal fury, forcing the girls to the floor with their faces pressed onto the carpet. Her aura was so strong, that even with the girls fighting against it, they were unable to move an inch.

Kyrie finally managed to push Kahlan back, and pulled her aura back, finally allowing the girls back up onto their feet. She looked at the five of them before saying, "I would think it's in your best interest to not anger my Lycan like that again. And your Alpha will be hearing about the insult to his mate and Luna." She then turned to Lydia, who gave her a bright smile, "Lydia, do you know the names of these five girls?"

"Yes I do. The two ringleaders here are Erica and Sylvia, and the other three are Missy, Belinda, and Olivia. And just so you know, I will be making sure that Chase finds an adequate punishment for you. It is against pack law to malign your rightful Luna without just cause," Lydia told them sternly.

At least two of the she-wolves had some sense and bared their necks to Kyrie. "I am so sorry for the unkind words spoken against you Princess Luna. It was wrong of us to sit and listen to this without defending you," Missy told her.

"I also apologize, Dowager Luna and Princess Luna. It absolutely will not happen again," Olivia said.

The two women walked out of the entertainment room, and Lydia was already mind-linking Chase about what had happened. He was going to be furious when he realized how inexcusable the behavior of these she-wolves had been.

Declan

"We are going to be attacking the Silver Claw Pack," Declan told Jimmy.

"We would need a whole army for that," Jimmy replied uncertainly.

"And an army we shall have. I know a few Alphas that owe me and I will be collecting on that debt. Plus, we will start recruiting more rogues. If we offer them decent pay, we can probably get a few hundred of them. We can use them as the front line to wear down the Silver Claw Pack, before bring in the real warriors from the other packs," Declan told him.

"They may be less inclined to help when they figure out that she is a princess," Jimmy told him.

"We can leave that part out for now. But in any case, she is mine, and I will have her back," Declan snarled as his eyes turned an inky black.

"Whatever you say Declan. I'll see if I can start recruiting more rogues," Jimmy replied before standing up to leave Declan's office.