Forbidden Lovers

Pack Meeting

It was the first pack meeting Evelyn had to attend to as the supposed Luna she was now, and to say she was a nervous wreck would be the understatement of the century. She was a strong woman, so she would go through this too, she knew that, but for a fact she knew they wouldn't like her one bit either. And she couldn't exactly blame them for it, the only one to blame was King Robert, who apparently wouldn't even attend the meeting today.

Not that she'd want him to be there. Not seeing his ugly wicked face was always for the better.

Arthmael would be there though, he was the Beta and the Commander. Arthmael seemed to be everywhere and this wasn't exactly good for her heart. He could take her breath away just by being there.

"Eve!" She heard Julian's voice behind her back and she couldn't help but smile at the nickname and the fact that both him and Estelle had come to accompany her inside even though she never asked them for it. The fact that they cared about her, no matter the circumstances, no matter that she was slowly taking their mother's place even though she didn't want to, warmed her heart a bit. They definitely didn't deserve to be called King Robert's children; they had most probably taken everything from their mother.

"Hey Julian. Estelle," she greeted them. "Thank you... for not leaving me alone. I really appreciate it."

"Of course we would, you're our friend," Estelle answered with a sincere smiled on her face and this time Evelyn smiled brighter. She hadn't had friends since she was a little kid.

"Don't make that face, they'll come to love you eventually," Julian said this time. "And I'd love to kick their asses if they don't." He winked and Evelyn chuckled, wondering how extra this boy could get. Hadn't he been raised on a castle as a prince or what?

"We're getting late," Estelle said. They were definitely getting late; Evelyn didn't want to leave a bad impression on the most important members of the Royal Blood Moon Pack.

With her head held high and a heart that was beating too fast for her liking, they entered the big pack-hall only to be greeted by dozens of gentlemen and fewer ladies, all holding some judgmental stares in their faces. However, her eyes, as if they had a mind of their own, landed to Arthmael who was doing exactly the same; appreciating her with his eyes only.

"Good evening," she said, but her melodious voice had come out muffled because of dozens of voices talking and gossiping. They weren't even trying to make things a little easier for her, but what had she expected anyway?

"Silence, please," Julian interfered and it seemed that was enough for everyone to keep silent for a second or two.

Evelyn took a deep breath and swallow down the nervousness. "Good evening, Royal Blood Moon Pack, it's really nice to finally meet you all and—"

"Why are you here?" A male voice was heard from the end of the hall.

"Are you really here to act as Luna? We don't accept an elf as our Luna," another one said.

"We don't even see a mark, she isn't connected to this pack."

"A young elf girl can't replace Luna Erica."

"Where is Alpha Robert? He didn't even introduce her to us himself."

"ENOUGH!" Arthmael's voice shook the walls and the glasses of the windows and chandeliers. There was a sudden grave silence in the room and Evelyn just knew she wasn't breathing anymore. The way he screamed power and authority was so much turning on, but she forced herself not to think about that right now. "How dare you insult her like that, your own Queen? This is the way things work in this pack?" He didn't even try to hide the fact that he was standing up for her and Evelyn didn't know if she loved that or if she was scared of that. "This is how you show respect to your Queen?!"

"But Commander—"

"WHAT?" The palm of his hand connected with the wooden table in front of him while his eyes had turned even more black that they already were, his wolf making his appearance.

"Respect is earned, not demanded," this time, it was one of the Elders who spoke. Evelyn didn't know much about wolves and packs and all that, but she knew Elders were always the wisest and most respected men, even by the Alphas and Betas. She just didn't know Arthmael didn't give a damn about all that when it came to her.

"Oh, really?!" He raised his dark brows, giving a small bitter chuckle and the way it did things inside her stomach was unexplainable. "So a young princess who left her house and came here, no matter what happened in the past which we all know about; that hasn't left this room yet even though you keep insulting the one you were supposed to welcome and bow down to, hasn't earned your bloody respect yet? Am I right, Elder Zach?" The Elder kept silent this time. "Something tells me this has nothing to do with earning the respect and everything to do with Queen Evelyn being an elf."

Evelyn's lips trembled, her eyes almost watering as their eyes met once again. No one had stood up for her like that since she was a child. Absolutely no one, and the only thing she wanted to do now was go there and claim his lips as hers, but of course she couldn't do that.

"My brother is right," Julian added, the usual addictive grin of his replaced by a serious look. "Evelyn is our Queen and our Luna and that's no up for discussion so please let's start with the meeting."

Evelyn gave a thank-you smile to him which was returned by a sympathetic one from Julian and Estelle too and in no time, the men started talking about pack stuff Evelyn didn't care about. She only cared to admire Arthmael from afar; the way everyone respected and feared him, even though most of the men were much older. Everything of him was breathtaking.

What draw her attention from him was the new discussion. What she understood was that the Alpha of one of the biggest packs of the kingdom had died and his heir was only fifteen years old. Now, they had to send a man to take the place as the Alpha for three years until the boy reached eighteen, but the pack would not accept an Alpha from another bloodline no matter what, even if they disobeyed the King himself.

"Does the pack have a Luna?" Evelyn interfered out of nowhere, which draw everyone's attention because they honestly weren't expecting her to.

"It does," another Elder answered.

"Then why are we even discussing this?" She asked. "The Luna can clearly lead the pack until her son becomes eighteen."

"It seems you don't understand how wolves' packs work, my Queen," the same man answered, the irony obvious in his voice but she let it slide this time. "The pack are leaded by Alpha males, a she-wolf can never lead a pack."

Anger started building up inside her. Misogyny was so obvious in his voice, it made her sick. "And who told you women cannot lead a pack? Who told you they aren't capable of it just because it isn't in your stupid laws?" Her voice had risen. "I'm sure everyone in that pack would want to be lead by their own Luna much more than by a total stranger. Let's be honest, everybody knows if you send a man there, he won't hand the position to the boy and it'll only bring war. But his mother would gladly do it, so the bloodline doesn't have to change and no man in that pack has to die."

Everyone seemed shocked. How could this woman be this impressive, it was beyond Arthmael but he just knew she was making it harder for him to stand by his words and his morals. She didn't have to be this desirable, and his wolf clearly agreed.

Estelle smiled. "Luna Evelyn is right," she said. "Some of our ways have to change, and one of them is that she-wolves can take the lead. There are many pack that have only females as heiresses and it would be unfair not to give them the place they deserve."

This only brought to other more discussions and Evelyn was happy when Arthmael declared the meeting was over. Some of the ladies approached and thanked her as she knew, eventually, she'd have them on her side.

"Your grace." A man in his fifties bowed down to her and left a kiss in her knuckles.

"Evelyn, this is Sir Vincent, prime advisor of this pack and my father's best friend," Estelle introduced him to her, and Evelyn instantly knew why he gave her the creeps.

"You were... impressive today, my Queen. Honestly, I wasn't sure if Robert had made the right decision, but now I'm more than convinced he has." As a start, he made her uncomfortable. All she wanted to do was run away from his presence as soon as she could.

"Thank you." She faked a smile.

"Your grace." A young brunette girl bowed down to her now, who tried giving her a smile but for a fact Evelyn knew it was even more fake than hers. The girl didn't look as innocent as she wanted to.

"Oh, and this is Lady Katherine, Sir Vincent's only daughter," Estelle continued.

"Sorry for being bold, but you're really pretty, Queen Evelyn." Even that sounded fake as hell. Katherine wasn't even looking at her anymore, her eyes lingered on Julian for a few long seconds.

"It sounds good, coming from you," Evelyn answered. The girl, who was not more than seventeen, was beautiful, she had to admit that.

Estelle almost dragged her out of the hall, and Evelyn was thankful for it. "I don't like her one bit," Estelle said between her gritted teeth. "The girl is bloody sly, plus everyone knows she's head over heels for Julian." So, Evelyn had guessed it right since the beginning. Estelle didn't look that fond of the idea of her brother and Katherine, though. "Not that Julian cares." She smiled suddenly. "He acts like this carefree and flirty boy but I know deep down he's freaking out of turning eighteen next year and finding his mate. He had loved the idea of a mate since he was a little child."

Evelyn couldn't help it, she smiled too. "I admit, I didn't expect Julian to be the romantic type."

"Oh, believe me, he is." Estelle chuckled, but her smile turned into a sad one all of the sudden. "I don't even understand though. There is a high possibility that our mates will be from other species and we won't be allowed to be with them even if we find them. It's better if we just choose a mate for ourselves."

Evelyn's heart fell at that. Frankly, she knew Estelle had a clear candidate on her head when it came to choosing a mate.