The Lycan King & I

Eleven.

Now I've really done it. Offended the Beta couple. If I wasn't getting sent to prison before,  I was certainly now. I imagine what his reaction is going to be as I allow him to pull me to our waiting car. We are quiet as we pull onto the road.

"W-where are we going, Sir?" I know my voice is probably the last thing he wants to hear, but the silence was going to make me scream.

"Home." He says, nice enough but the way he isn't look at me still has me uneasy.

"Are you upset?" it escapes my lips.

"A bit, I suppose."

"At me?" I squeak. He turns to look at me, the creases in his dewy skin smoothing out.

"Why did you tell Gracie that she's pregnant?" He asks, stopping the car in the driveway of his home and turning it off. We make no move to open the doors. I hope this conversation wouldn't last long, I could already feel the cold creeping on the leather seats.

"Because she is pregnant." I wouldn't have just declared it for jokes and giggles.

"Eliette.... I know Wells told you about Grace's miscarriage days ago." The King sounds chiding. I had been scolded a lot in my life, but his scolding offended me in a way I wasn't familiar with.

"Why did you tell Lady Grace to obey?" I quip back. Instead of keeping my eyes submissively on the floor like normal, I allow myself to meet his gaze. Not romantically, not threateningly. Just... two people speaking in a conversation. The casualness of it was something I thought I'd never reach with the King of the Lycan's.

"She's not Lady Grace to you, just Grace," He corrects.

"I know Lady Esmere told you what my blessing is days ago." I cannot bite back the chiding tone I am returning to him.

There is a long moment between us before he opens the door, "Cmon, let's get you warmed up."

We don't speak of it again, and that doesn't bother me. What was the opinion of an underling anyway? And deep down, I had no doubt that Grace was carrying a pup. The Pack doctors would be able to tell soon.

I pack my clothes into my trunk. As I fell asleep in the giant bed- miles away from the King, of course, I envisioned of whether Grace and Wells would have a boy or a girl. I wake once in the dark of the night, unable to fall back asleep for a long moment. The Kings soft breaths felt deafening.

I rise early the next day, preparing for work once again quietly. The King rises groggily out of the sheets and once again tells me that I am not going to work today before I can ask. 

"King Benjamin?" I ask from the stool at the counter top as the muscles in his back move with his movements preparing for breakfast.

"Mhmm?" The aroma of coffee has my mouth watering.

"Will you tell me where a glass for water is?"

He freezes, his eyes widening when they meet mine. "I'm an i***t. I didn't even show you... come on."

I unleashed some eager, childish energy in him. His azul eyes are ablaze as he grabs my wrists, making me blush, and pulls me around the house. He starts with the basics of the main floor: kitchen we were in, the living room, a modest dinning room, an area for laundry that led to the garage, a small bathroom. Next he pridefully spoke of the second level, where his bedroom was. There were two guest bedrooms with a bathroom in the hallway.

I learn there is yet another third floor to the cabin; Complete with a home office and library, and another small room full of storage and boxes. Which led to yet another level, with a small sunroof overlooking the snow covered tips of the trees.

It wasn't extravagant, but it was all spacious and made of glossy wood. There was a fireplace in every room. The tour goes on to explain even more minute details I couldn't possibly remember so fast; where each dish was kept, where the cleaning supplies were kept, to the types of trees used on the floors.

I've never heard the King speak so much; or so fast. And It dawns on me that he handmade this house; designed it from the ground up. That's the only way how he can babble on of every minute detail with such pride. His grasp on his wrist tightens reflexively when he's extra excited about a feature, but I do not mind.

He finally comes up for air when he is thrusting some remote in my hand and directing me. I had never watched a TV, they were considered just for royalty in the Middle Kingdom. I bet the South didn't even have one.

"Press the play, then home," He is standing over my shoulder.

"Oh, no." I set the remote down neatly onto the couch, "I will not use the TV."

"Well, I have to do some work in my office today, you might want to watch some movies."

"I don't know any movies." I shake my head.

"None?" His eyebrows raise.

"We don't have TV in the South." I am ashamed, once again the lowlife land of the South paling next to the rich and luxurious North.

He shakes his head, "Of course you wouldn't, do you all even have electricity?"

The statement makes the back of my neck prickle- not in the normal good way, but in annoyance. I felt a small defensiveness to my home, even if it what he was saying was right. I'm lucky he doesn't expect an answer because he just goes back to preparing breakfast.

He explains to me that being King means he has a lot he's in charge of. He normally worked in the pack house or the dungeons, but he was going to be working from the office he showed up upstairs. He said he had other plans for us later, but some business needed his attention.

I don't know why he seemed sheepish to be telling me he was retreating upstairs to work, he was a King, after all. As I stare at the remote thrust in my hand yet again, 'do you all even have electricity?' echos in my head. It takes all of two seconds for me to drop it to the floor in disgust.

So pass the time, I refold all my things in my trunk nicely, and make the grand bed. I straighten up around the house, doing the dishes from breakfast before starting a load of laundry that was in the hamper.

I am mid-sweep in the kitchen when the King reappears, "Sorry that took so.... long."

I look up at his disappointed expression. I don't like the way it makes his eyes gleam, or the way his lips curve downward slightly. I wondered if I pulled on his curly ringlets, if he'd smile. I redden at the thought.

"You cleaned the kitchen,"

"Yes, sir."

His ears perk, not much unlike a wolf, "And did the laundry."

"Yes, sir."

He sighs, "Eliette, you aren't here to work. Did you even turn on the TV?"

"I'm sorry." I politely say, because it seems like what I should say.

"You don't have to, never mind- cmon." He grabs the broom from my hand. The night goes by quietly through dinner and cleanup, King Benjamin filling the long silences with comments and questions. I don't speak much. I fall asleep quickly, and once again wake up at night unable to fall back asleep.

The next morning I do not rise at dawn and dress, when my eyes open, the light is somewhat up in the sky. I am embarrassed I slept in so late, but Benjamin doesn't seem to mind. He is scribbling into a leather bound notebook when my eyes flutter open.

He makes me a cup of coffee and directs me to where the fruit is kept, before retreating to his office upstairs for a call. I eat slowly. There wasn't much to clean I hadn't straightened up from the day before, beyond making the bed. So I turn on the TV, and leave it on in the background as I fuss around the kitchen.

I knock hesitantly on the door of his office when I'm done making lunch.

"Come in," The King calls, and I hope the door to the room that holds his magnificent desk. It's covered in stacks of file folders and papers, and I wait by the door until he hangs up his call.

"I brought you lunch, King Benjamin." I bow politely, setting the plate on to his lap.

"Eliette, you don't have to serve me." He chastises, but takes a hungry bite out of the sandwich I had made him. I smirk as he takes a second bite, feeling proud he enjoys what I've prepared.

"I've been watching the TV like you wanted, Sir."

He looks up, mouth full and chuckles. "It wasn't an order, I just thought you'd want to watch TV so you wouldn't be bored while I was working."

"Oh."

I'm not sure if I should be dismissed or not, so I stand there. I hadn't heard him talk much today, due to him being in his office. I missed his voice. I wanted him to speak to me more. The lack of attention was making me feel uneasy.

"I like your office." I offer.

He takes the bait, quirking up, "Do you want one? I can build you an office just like this."

"No thank you, Sir." I shake my head, he deflates at my words so I try to pique his interest again. "Did you build this yourself?"

"The whole house," He proudly confirms, "I wanted a home for my mate and I to live in someday, I finished it last Spring. Check this out,"

He puts the last of his sandwich in his mouth and directs me to the sliding wooden doors on the patio, "I won't open them," He assures me as I brace myself in my long sleeved shirt for the arctic chill, "I like to take phone calls out on the patio. Being inside too long makes my wolf go mad."

"I like being outside." I agree, this is probably the first thing we have in common.

"The sun room has a porch as well," He informs me, "It has a better look of the mountains."

Before I can respond, the phone is ringing again. He shoots me an apologetic look before answering the phone. I grab his finished plate and take care of it. I find myself wandering to the sun room, opening the porch doors and looking out.

It's freezing, and I'm shivering right away. But the cold helps me think, I can hear King Benjamin on the porch below me on his call. I stay out there until I hear Benjamin's call end and he calls for me to get out of the cold.

"You can't be out on the mountains with bare legs," He scolds me, closing the sun room door behind me and wrapping a blanket around my shivering shoulders. "Tomorrow we will get you what you need for the cold. Maybe some jeans."

Jeans. There wasn't a reason for jeans in the South, with the hot sun.

"I don't think I can afford jeans." I stammer out, embarrassed. I spent most of my money on the red coat that apparently wasn't appropriate to wear until I was mated. Benjamin laughs at my words like it's a joke. I'm confused.

So that's how the next day, before King Benjamin can go to work in his office, I am instructed to dress in my warmest clothes. By the time I am ready and downstairs, Grace is waiting by the front door, speaking to King Benjamin.

King Benjamin smiles, "Grace is going to help us do some shopping in town today."

"Good morning, Luna Eliette." Grace curtsy a bit. I am amazed at how graceful she is, tall with long limbs, she reminds me of a beautiful tree swaying in the wind.

I am uncomfortable as we make our way up the cobblestone sidewalks of town, everyone we pass gawks and bows. Grace and Alpha Benjamin seem at ease though. They chat btween themselves as we meander in and out of the stores. Grace grabs a handful of things from each store and Alpha Benjamin meets her at the counter to pay. I stay to the back.

"She isn't much of a talker, is she?" Grace comments.

"You're telling me." The King mutters back, holding up a thick woven sock and looking confused by it.

"Eliette," Grace calls out to me in the third or forth store, "I don't know what you like to wear."

"There's some soft sweaters here," Alpha Benjamin encourages next to a table of woolen throw overs. "Is this what you like?"

I reach my hands into the pockets of my skirt, and pull out the few coins I had left. I outstretch my hand, "This is all I have, I do not think there's anything here for me."

Grace and King Benjamin exchange a look. Grace smiles sweetly at the King, "Benjamin, perhaps you can give us some space. Let me have some time to get to know my Queen."

Benjamin does not look on board with the plan, until Grace rolls her eyes, "You can wait right outside and eavesdrop, if you like."

"No no no," Alpha Benjamin shakes his head. "I'll just... go then."

"Ahem." Grace gives him another expectant look, before Alpha Benjamin reaches into his pocket and hands Grace his leather wallet. Once he leaves the store, Grace continues browsing through the racks, holding things up for my approval. It's hard because I am so tired, I had woken up for a few hours last night and been unable to fall back asleep.

"What about this?" Grace holds up a scarf.

"Beta Grace," I bow my head, "I am sorry about what I said at dinner, and I am willing to accept any punishment you see fit." 

Instead of addressing the elephant in the room, Grace laughs. The chiming sound is like a lot of little bells, I can see why she is a Baitor. Everything about her was approachable and welcoming. 

"You realize you're the boss in charge here, right?" Grace smiles warmly at me. We often heard tales of baitors being promiscuous, selling their body for secrets and to manipulate. But one conversation with Grace proves that that isn't true, Grace seemed to draw people in with her friendliness. "You tell me what to do. Like which dress you'd like to wear to your first pack dinner?"

"F-first pack dinner?" My eyebrows crinkle as she holds a emerald green velvet number up to me. 

"Yes, the pack is itching to meet you." She then grabs the same dress in a dark maroon, and suddenly sighs a bit sullenly. "No pack run with the Luna just yet." 

"Absolutely not." I shake my head, my brain already felt mushy from all these changes, so I send that worry out of my head as soon as it enters. 

She forces me into a small roped off area of the store to try on the dresses. I am in just my underwire bra when the curtain flashes open and shut in a second, and I'm smooshed up against the cold brick wall of the building.

I make an eek at the sudden coolness against my bare shoulder, but Grace's hand presses softly against my lips. "Shhhh!"

"Grace-" 

"How did you know?" She whispers.

The baby.

"I just did." I shrug.

"I went to the pack doctor last night, and I'm pregnant." The gleam in her eyes sends a smile through me. She was going to be a great mother, I could tell already. "You knew before any of the tests, how?"

I shift from foot to foot, wishing she'd let me cover up a bit. Wolves didn't seem to even notice nude bodies.

She sits back, my silence confirming her thoughts. "So it's true. Your Underling gift, you're a midwife."

"Kind of." Midwife didn't feel like it did it justice. "I really am not anything special, it's just a small feeling-"

"I miscarried." Her eyes bored into mine, her happy glow turning fierce. "And I'm not the only one. Other Baitor's did too. And do you know what everyone whispers? That it's our fault. That it's the Goddess punishing us for being baitors, do you know how humiliating that is? Especially for a Beta?"

I did, I was an Underling sleeping next to a King. But I frowned with her. 

"But you can help me have my baby. You know things the Pack Doctor doesn't. And once Wells and I have our beautiful baby.... no one will look down on us anymore." She's so determined with this plan that I'm not sure if it's an order, or a question. 

So I just stare at her, still in my bra. 

"So will you do it?" Grace grasps my hands in desperation, "As my Luna, will you help me complete my family?"  

"S-sure." I stutter. 

When we return home later that a, afternoon he amount of clothes we've accumulated for me feels shameful. I don't carry a thing, and Benjamin grunts as he drops all the bags on the floor of the bedroom. 

"Thank you for the clothes, Sir." I hadn't spent any of my coins.

"Of course, Eliette." He beams at me, "I'm going to make a few calls, I'll let you unpack." 

I am lucky that my trunk is roomy, because it is a job to fold every article of clothing we bought and cram it to fit with the rest of my things. But I finally do it, wiping a drop of sweat from my forehead at the effort. Perhaps that meant it was the right time to visit the patio King Benjamin had mentioned.

I look out at at the snow dusted mountains in the distance. It was crazy how I couldn't tell where the clouds ended and mountain began. The cold air is welcoming against my flushed skin. I jump slightly when I hear the door on the patio below me slam open. 

I wait a moment, and ease when I hear the voice. Just King Benjamin on a call. I listen to his voice in the stillness of the voice.

".....alliances.... he's being difficult, like always..." And other words I pick up, but I don't pay much mind until I hear him grumble, "She's going to take a lot of work, I can already tell."

My head snaps downward.

"I just have to remind myself that the Goddess wanted an Underling here for a reason... what that reason is, we will learn." 

His words aren't unkind. Or said in spite. But they still feel like they stung me. 

"Oh." Falls from my lips. So was it all a facade? Was he disappointed I was an Underling? At my small mutter, the King's head snaps up at me from the story below. His eyes are wide, like he's been caught.

"Eliette, it's freezing!" He calls up, and mutters something into the phone before hanging up quickly. "Get inside!"

But I just keep my eyes locked on his; they seem bluer in the whiteness of the surrounding snow. We are breathless as we stare at one another, before I look down momentarily. I needed to do this, something was pushing me. 

With eyes meeting his again, I step forward off of the fourth story of the cabin.