The Lycan King & I

Seven.

"Take a drink of this, my Queen." Wells holds out a tin mug to me, steam arises from it as I take it from his grasp. "It's Grace's favorite when she's not feeling well." 

I look down at the hot, dark brew warily. I was in the same canvas tent that I had stayed in last night, where the same cot was set up. Wells had carried me here through my loud sobs, much gentler than he had handled me the first day we met. The King and the rest of his guard were nowhere to be seen our entire walk here. Were they close-by? 

Wells had set me on the corner of my bed and waited patiently as my breathing slowed. My shaking eased. Seeing my trunk at the end of my bed was a slight comfort. Once my panic stopped, and my tears had dried, Wells left momentarily. He had returned with the tea.

I didn't feel safe around Wells, but I feel the most comfortable around him out of any the Lycans' i had met so far. I hadn't seen his eyes turn black once, nor did he ever growl. He always seemed to be at ease, but not immature. It was infectious. 

"G-grace?" I sniffle, the steam from the tea was hitting my nose. 

"My mate," Wells nodds eagerly. His eyes lit up to a new degree at the mention of his mate, like a puppy when his owner returned home after a long day. "I knew Grace the one early on." 

"But how?" I scrunch up my face. 

"How what?" 

"How did you know you were each others mates," I repeat, I didn't feel worried about the repercussions of being informal with Wells. I couldn't picture someone who constantly antagonized his superiors to be strict about respect. But then again.... I was an underling.

Wells chuckles a bit, taking a long drink from his own canteen, before his eyes widen mid gulp. "You're kidding. Didn't you go to school as a cub?" 

"I'm only a human." I lower my head shamefully. I hadn't gone to school, I had always been assigned work. Sometimes as a nanny for Pack consulates who had families in the South, sometimes as a midwife. 

"I suppose humans don't have instincts," Wells comments thoughtfully to himself, before shaking his head, "Big Wolf probably doesn't want me talking about this with you, so I'll just give you the basics. When you're a Lycan, you know who your mate is. That's not something you question. To questions another's mate... it's punishable." 

I shudder. I supposed I'd learn the North's punishments soon enough. 

"But you're not a regular old human," His eyes narrow slightly, as if he was just remembering something important. Here we go."What's your blessing?"

What he really means: what usefulness did I have to his pack. I knew this question would come up, and honestly estimated it to happen much sooner than now. I was one of the humans who e had developed certain strong instincts to help carry on our dwindling kind. It wasn't a super power, or anything that made me more than an Underling. It was just something I had a natural inclination for.

"So what do you do?" He's excited like the pet dog again, his knees bouncing, making his metal stool squeak. It was ridiculously small compared to his massive frame. "Fix bones? Predict the weather? Heal wounds?"

"No, Sir." I shake my head, "None of those." 

"Well, what is it then?" He quizzes, "You were an underling working in one of the most reputable Middle Kingdom packs, there has to be a pretty damn good reason why." 

I shrug, "I don't know. I grew up with a lot of children around me. In my orphanage, there were so many babies. I'm just... I do well with children, I guess."

"Do well with children," Wells repeats, impatience obvious. I suppose I didn't give much away to his prying mind. "Like.... a mother?"

I shake my head frantically, "I do not have any children. But I just get this feeling- well, I have a feeling for them." It was hard to explain out loud something that I felt so much on the inside. I was never great with words. "Especially before they are born. I believe bringing a life into the world is a careful journey."  

He stares at me for a long moment. So long that I contemplate risking a sip of the tea to escape the blankness in his stare. He blinks a few times before his eyes shift to the ceiling in bemusement, "The Goddess provides."

"Huh?" I'm confused. He is staring at me now, like all of his dreams have come true. I am uncomfortable again. 

"Grace..." He blinks a few times with a new sadness, again much like a pet dog being scolded. "Grace and I lost our first child last year... we lost our pup during birth," 

"I am sorry." I am solemn with him, genuinely saddened. I had witnessed this before, and had detected it a few times among other mothers who had come to me for help with their pregnancies. Losing a child felt like most unnatural balance in the world. 

"The thing about Lycan society, Queen Eliette," Wells explains, "is that everything happens for a reason. Everything is decided by the Goddess. To question that is a crime of nature, much like questioning a mate." He says pointedly with a smirk towards me. "It's kind of like how the Shifters in the Middle Kingdom were all born into their status. Lycan's are like that, but it's stronger. It's in our bloodlines." 

I had heard that the Northern Kingdom was overkill with the pack mentality: full of mysterious ceremonies and rituals and customs. It was divinely given to them, they believed. 

"Anyway," Wells pulls my attention back from my newly developing fear of packs, "What happened to my Grace- she's not the only one. There's a few others, it's not a coincidence that we find a Luna gifted in midwifery. It happened for a reason.."

I'm not sure what to say about his speech. Was it a question? What was the correct response? His words were a bit too strong for this time of night. I already felt unsettled and embarrassed from my panic attack earlier. Now I felt confused, and had a lot to ruminate. 

"Though, some say it's all the Goddess punishing us for how long it took Old Ben to find you," Wells mock confides to me, and I'm reminded of how Esmere used to gossip with her visitors over little cupcakes. "Being almost twenty-five and not finding your mate yet... whew. That was getting rough." 

I suppose the fact that there was such an age difference between the King and I shouldn't surprise me, with his stubbled chin and gigantic frame. But six years felt like a lifetime. Growing up around Wolves, I always felt like the youngest and smallest in the room. 

Ben as in Benjamin as in the King. Is that what his friends called him? His family? Wells certainly seemed like a friend to the Alpha King. The word didn't sound real as I said it over in my head. Ben...Ben...Ben...Ben. It sounded worlds away from the large man who held my hand in his face the day we met.

"Whatever it was," Wells shrugs, "Guess we'll never know." 

We both shift towards the canvas entrance of the tent as it swings open, bringing in with it an icy breeze and the King. The King with white snowflakes dashed on his black sweater and black fur hat that covered his ears. The black of the fur mixed perfectly with his black curls. I was secretly glad that the Lycans had begun feeling the chill with me, I was getting worried for death by hypothermia before I'd ever make it to the top of the mountains.

The King stood at the foot of the tent, close to my leather trunk. The look on his face was questioning between Wells and I, in his hand was a tin plate of some foods. I actually recognized some of them; the fruit. I loved fruit. Most meat was reserved for the wolves, so fruits were a reminder of the south. There were cut up apples, plums, pears, cherries... my lack of food was catching up to me. My stomach agreed.

But... who was I to assume the plate was for me? An old teacher of mine had once taught me as a young girl that never assume a wolf owes an underling anything ever. We were in debt to them, and it was best to act that way in mind. 

I stand at once, a slight jump down from the height of the comfortable cot. "Y-your highness," I bow, "I-i will give you two privacy." 

Wells smirks, "He's here for you, Queenie." 

The king smiles sheepishly, not denying it. He waits for me to lift myself back onto the cot, before holding out the plate to me. Half of it has some steaming meat and casserole I don't recognize and would never touch. I nod and let him place it on my lap, and I feel shameful that I've accepted the plate. Like I'm taking from them.

"It's okay." He encourages, "I sent my men to find some fruits for you- I know you grow a lot of it in the South." 

He wasn't wrong, we grew lots of fruit in the South. Still, I am quiet, the gesture has me stunned. The men did something nice for me. Why couldn't I stop seeing them as monsters? 

"Perhaps I should drive tomorrow." Wells ponders aloud, I know he is offering this for my benefit. He is giving me a way to avoid Axle. But the King just shakes his head at the idea.

"You've already been banned from the car, Wells." 

"But Eliette had so many questions for me, that way you can help me answer them." I did had so many questions, but it's an exaggeration. 

"Questions?"

"Yes. Sound good, Luna?"  

"Y-y-yes, Sir." I bow my head.

The King rolls his eyes, "You do not need to address this fool as Sir, ever. Now that I think about it, aren't you late for your job?" 

"Harsh, harsh, but not incorrect." Wells argues but stands obediently, nodding to me, "Night, my Luna." 

"Goodnight Wells," The King calls loudly. The word Ben comes into my mind again, it feels almost sinful to be thinking the name in his presence. 

The king sighs, "I... apologize for what happened earlier.  I shouldn't have let you wander off that far when I know you are new to the the mountains. Are you feeling better?" 

I am confused as to why he is apologizing. Aren't I the one who needed to apologizing for screaming and disrespecting his men? I am unsure what to say, "I am much better, I am.... sorry for going crazy."

"You are not crazy. I forget that the North is a different world from South, it can be a hard adjustment." He rationalizes, like I hadn't just completely had a panic attack because his Gamma looked at me. Literally, just looked at me. 

"We also would never hang you under any circumstance. Or any underling." He addresses the elephant in the room. I knew this would come up, "We do not hang in the North. I cannot tell you we do not kill, but we never harm innocents." He puffs his chest out slightly, I notice.

"Yes, Sir." 

His chest falls. "I will let you eat, please try to rest. I will be next door." 

And another icy chill as he leaves. I look down at the plate, quickly inhaling the fruits. I was thrilled to find there were peas as well, another familiar comfort. After that, I stopped at the meat I didn't recognize. That was plenty for tonight, I decided. I set the plate down on the stool Wells had brought in earlier before sinking back into the comfortable cot. 

Ben. Ben. Ben. I could feel it on the tip of my tongue.