Queen, Alpha, Mate

Chapter 2

Diana POV

As I walk to the top of the castle steps, I'm greeted by two of my security guards, Marc and Marie, who are huffing and puffing and clearly not very happy with me. 

"Where have you been?" Marie asks, catching her breath "We've been searching for you all morning! You realize it's our butts getting kicked if you get hurt and we're not there, right?"

"I was hunting with Katie and then I was at granny's. There wasn't any danger." I retort and smile.

"And you didn't think to just let us know?" Marc asks.

"Well, you were still sleeping when I left and you know what they say."

"Never wake a sleeping dog?" 

"Nah, you snooze you lose." I laugh and walk back inside and run straight into my dad. Of course.

"Morning dad! Sleep well?"

"Morning sweetheart, like an old bear and you?" He replies, looking me up and down before making a face. "Have you been hunting again? You know how I feel about the hunting."

"I know how you feel about the hunting, but also how you feel about the meat on our tables recently and personally, I find the second thing more important." I say. As if on cue, Katie comes walking in, covered in dirt, but with our gains from that morning. 

"Ahhh, so that's why the food has been so good lately? No more supermarket meats." Dad says and grins. "I see your friend has been joining you? I suppose that makes it better and safer. Especially given that the two slackers behind you slept straight through all your rummaging this morning."

Marc and Marie rub the backs of their necks in semi-shame and semi-amusement. 

"In any case, I need you to put on something more elegant. We're having a feast later today and I've invited the other alphas from this territory. See it as a belated birthday party for my beloved daughter who happened to hide away for most of the day during her actual birthday party." My dad says, his eyes twinkling.

"Dad!" I pout. "You can't just ambush me like this." 

"Au contraire, my dear. Ambushing you like this, with at least 8 people around me to watch your every step today has insured that I can actually introduce my daughter, the future alpha of this pack and future queen of the territory to the other pack leaders. Besides, you might just meet your mate."

Ugh, right, mating. Apparently a queen needs a king and an alpha woman needs a man to take over her pack as alpha so she can be luna. I'm not okay with it. I don't need a man to tell me what to do. Besides, my job is dangerous. I wouldn't want to pull another person into it. 

"Fine" I sigh, "I'll go put on something pretty, as long as Katie can come too. I want to choose her as my beta when the time comes, so she needs to learn how to behave in these situations as well."

"You what?!" Katie squeals. "You want me to be your beta? I'm so happy!"

My dad, the king, smiles and claps. "That's grand, dear. Katie, Diana, you go freshen up and I'll see you both downstairs for lunch in two hours."

With that, he turns around and walks back upstairs to his office, no doubt to settle some official alpha business.

I grab Katie and take her to my room and send her into the bathroom to freshen up. While she is in the shower, I pick out our outfits for the day. For myself, I pick out a soft, satin jumpsuit with a deep plunging neckline. It's midnight blue and has rhinestones covering it completely. It sparkles like the night sky and it's one of my favourite outfits. I pair it with a plain silver necklace, a rolex and my metallic silver heels. I let my straight, flaming red hair fall loosely over my shoulders and only gather two locks of hair at the back of my head and fasten them with my pretty dragonfly clip. I put on some soft foundation, rouge, lipgloss, and mascara. I want to go for a natural look.  

When Katie comes out of the shower, I style her in a forest green cocktail dress with a sweetheart neckline. It accentuates her figure very nicely. I pair it with a gentle acorn necklace and a golden bracelet. I let her curls fall loosely on her shoulders and face. Her make-up is light like mine, as I want to accentuate her cute freckles. She looks like a forest nimf. People would never see it coming that she is a ridiculously skilled fighter. I'd trust her blindly with my life. 

"All done" I say and pat her on the head. "shall we watch a movie to pass some time? Until we have to grace the other pack leaders with our presence, that is." Katie chuckles nervously. 

"I can still barely believe you chose me as your beta. Aren't there much more skilled fighters in the pack?"

"Meh, none I like as much as you. Besides, you can handle all of them with your hands behind your back. You've got the brains, girl. I wouldn't trust this role to anyone other than you."

She presses her forehead to mine. "Thank you, Diana, for your trust and friendship. I will do you proud."

With that, I turn on a movie to pass the time. We're just into watching Tangled when I see Katie nodding off. I poke her to wake her up. Can't have her ruining my master piece. In fact, I have to do this several times throughout the movie. 

When it's finished, I pull her up from the bed and drag her downstairs. I'm glad to have her with me at this banquet. At least I'll have one sensible person to talk to.