Queen, Alpha, Mate

Chapter 14

Diana POV

I stare at my father and just adore his enthusiasm at his daughter being mated. 'Finally', he must think. I take Joshua's hand and smile at my dad before speaking the words that make his face sink a little bit. 

"Sorry, dad. That'll have to wait until my first shift."

"What do you mean?"

"My wolf told me so. I have to wait until my first shift before I can let Joshua mark me. She got me in quite the panic over it last night."

"Your wolf? What do you mean? She's finally here?"

"Hadn't you noticed yet?"

"Now that you mention it, your aura has become stronger."

I allow Kysandra to have control for a moment, to introduce herself to my father. My pupils turn lilac and I hear Kysandra's voice roll out of my own mouth. 

"Hello there, king." She purrs. "Are you happy to see me?"

The king claps his hands in surprise and happiness. "My dear, of course I am happy to meet you! My own daughter's wolf! What is your name?"

"My name is Kysandra, but you may call me Kys." From the corner of my eye, I notice Joshua's eyes become a beautiful shade of pine green and with a different, more gruff voice he says. "My mate, mine. I want to meer her too". Our heart races at his voice and Kysandra responds. "Hello Rhys, I've been so curious about you. I can't wait to properly introduce myself to you."

"Let's run right now", Rhys says to her. 

"I wish I could, but we have to wait a little while. I promise it'll be worth the wait."

My father clears his throat. "My dear Kysandra, what did Diana mean when she said you had to wait until your first shift before Joshua and Rhys can mark you? I don't quite understand. It's highly unusual, you see."

With the necessary effort, Kysandra peels her eyes away from Rhys's and turns back to the king. "I am a wolf of the full moon. I need the full moon to be able to shift for the first time and I'm currently building up the power to be able to do that. I'm still weak, you see and I won't be strong until then. Thus, marking me before I've shifted during the full moon would drain me of my little energy and kill me, leaving Diana without me. Our human counterparts never recover whenever that happens and often die of heartbreak not long after. All that I do is to protect Diana from such a fate."

Rhys's voice sounds behind us. "So we nearly killed our mate last night?" Shock is clearly audible in his voice. 

"Almost, but luckily you stopped on time. Soon, we can do it properly!" On the inside, it's almost as though Kysandra is wagging her tail as she speaks to these two most important men in her life. At this, I gently ask Kysandra to regain control over my body, at which she gracefully steps aside and lets me back at the wheel. 

"Welcome back, Diana" my father says as he sees my eyes return to normal. Josh's eyes have also returned to their usual brown colour. 

"We have more to discuss." I say. "Josh and I, we're both alphas. I feel it would be wise to discuss our roles in the pack and the territory for when we are officially mated and the time arrives when I take over." 

"That's wise," the king responds "at least in order to manage everyone's expectations. What would you like to propose?"

I look at Josh, who looks at me. He's my equal in every way and I have to handle this delicately. "I think it would be good to, when the time comes, merge our packs into one pack, with Joshua as alpha and myself as luna. When the time comes, then, I can more aptly take up my duties and queen and he his as prince-consort. I feel this would be a good division. The only matter would be that of getting both packs to agree on this. I know some of your pack members feel quite negatively towards the Ruby red pack. What do you think, Josh?"

"I think my mate is wise and correct. My pack will agree if the transition happens gradually and smoothly. Some feel quite negatively towards Ruby red pack, because they feel like they're constantly used as a shield for enemy forces. Still, I think the issue would be resolved with me at the head as alpha, as Diana proposes. That being said, you are my equal, also in ruling. You have alpha blood and I want to respect that."

We both look to the king for his opinion on the matter and he nods in approval. "Yes, I think it would be best this way. We shall call our merged pack 'Ruby moon pack'. The mating and alpha ceremonies shall be combined after the next full moon. It will be a grand celebration. For now, I think it would be best if you both travel to the Crescent moon pack. They will need your leadership, Joshua and they will want to meet their future luna. I will notify the people here of our decisions. Make sure you're back here about two days before the full moon. I want to be able to support my daughter during her first shift."

We respond at the same time. "Understood."

My father hugs me and says "Things are all falling into place. Now go and pack your bags. You have quite a journey ahead of you."