Beyond A King

The Atwood’s

( Lyla pov )

Three hours after dad and Tyler got me into the house I was finally in the safety of my bedroom and beginning to feel more relaxed. It was dark outside now but the banging of the music below signalled the party was still in full swing.

Dad had got into telling old war stories with his warrior buddies and at some point the whole thing had turned into a memorial to the late king magnus. Now everyone just seemed to be drowning their sorrows.

After months of searching and Beta Ben’s death confirmed it was obvious to everyone that king magnus had perished with his men during the attack on the palace.

It was sad for the kingdom but I was grateful the attention had shifted. Parties weren't exactly my thing. I always found the idea of them more fun than they actually were. Ironically I enjoyed the preparation more but during not so much unless you were a social butterfly like the rest of my family that is.

When I had entered the house I was quickly scooped up by my step mother Cora, a tiny woman compared to my fathers imposing size. She had wavy dark hair similar to my own. Only hers was almost black unlike my chocolate brown curls.

Next were my other two knucklehead brothers Theo and Marcus, also my dads clones like Tyler only unlike Tyler the other two had gotten dads blonde hair. As soon as Cora let me go the boys sandwiched me between them, squishing me and nuzzling my neck until I couldn’t stop laughing.

Marcus was two years older than Tyler and had started warrior training while I was away also, changing his body drastically. Theo was a different story. He was the serious one in the family so sometimes it was like having a second dad especially since he was the voice of reason before Cora had come along. Theo had been training for years so he was as big as dad. He was a great warrior and there had even been rumours about the new king wanting to pick his own titled members which would put Theo in the running for gamma. We all had our fingers crossed but level headed Theo told us he was happy just being a warrior.

After my brothers were done with me they passed me off to my oldest sister penny. She hugged me stiffly. When she pulled back she eyed me up and down and I knew the sqrutranising was coming. “ You look pale, don't they have sun in the uk?” she quipped dryly like she was talking about the weather and not insulting her sister who she hadn’t seen in years . I held back my instinct to roll my eyes at her.

“ Well they don’t get sun like we do” I answered without adding an insult. I didn’t want to start my first day back bickering. We weren't kids anymore.

I suppose it’s easy to see with so many siblings that we wouldn’t all get along but the truth is I always go along better with my brothers than my sisters. Brothers are easy if you fight, you lay it all out there and then and it’s over quickly but sisters, they let things fester until they become hateful.

Case in point… penny. Penelope. She’s the second oldest after Theo. She and Theo are actually only three months apart, different mothers of course, bit of a sore point actually. Theo’s mother and penny’s were best friends when they were in high school, that is until our dad started dating them both at the same time. You can see where I’m going with this story can’t you.

Anyway both she wolves parents were less than thrilled about their non mated daughters being impregnated in high school none the less, Theo’s mom was sent away shortly after he was born and found her mate in another pack. Theo gets calls and letters from time to time but he never really had a relationship with his mother. Penny’s mom remained in the pack but had held onto hopes dad would make an honest she wolf of her, she’s actually still very bitter about it and I have no doubt it’s been passed on to my sister over the years.

We have never seen eye to eye. I’m not sure if it’s because she’s older and I came into the family late and as a teen or if I just irritate her for being her little sister.

She already had an established relationship with the others when I arrived and being the oldest female she probably just saw me as another pup to look after. Dad had relied on her far too much before Cora came along and took over as mom. I guess I could understand the resentment.

Penny is the typical trophy wife; beautiful, blonde, perfect. She has a body to die for and it’s always wrapped in the finest of designer clothes. Never a hair out of place or a broken unmanicured nail insight she was the mom that other moms secretly hated because whereas they are running around after their children and getting caked in whatever substance they had rolled in, my sister somehow could manage to be the super mom and still look flawless doing it.

Case in point she was wearing a beautiful white silk Summer dress to a party that was filled with bustling pack members and pups running wild.

Penny met her mate Steve at her eighteenth birthday party just six months after I arrived in the pack; Steve worked as a lawyer at one of our pack's law firms in the city after leaving his old pack. When he laid eyes on my sister their bond was instant and in a typical movie style moment everyone applauded as they embraced on the dance floor, a week later they were happily mated and moved into their own place together.

They later had two pups, archer was four and jade was three. Although Penny claims she’s happy, I know she had bigger dreams than just being a housewife and mother. My sister wasn’t the type to talk about her feelings though.

The pups ran around us playing and they both stood still long enough to say hi before running off again. Steve was conveniently working which was nothing knew. Penny always came to family functions alone even before she had the pups. I knew it bothered her but when I had asked why he was working she got pissy.

“ Steven works to provide for his family lyla, so sorry if it upsets you that he’s missing hearing all about your vacation but he’s there for his family, something you would know nothing about” she stormed off after that. she left at some point but I didn’t see her again. No doubt she is waiting for an apology because nothing is ever Penny's fault, I couldn’t deal with her attitude right now. We had jumped straight back to bickering. Somehow I felt heartbroken by that, I thought maybe she would have missed me or time apart would have changed her irritation towards me but no.

After that awkward stand off I was handed over to my first younger sister Kayla. She was a classic middle child even though she isn’t the middle child at all but her tell for getting attention is to fake some kind of illness that’s inevitably going to lead her to her death bed. She found out at an early age dad gave extra attention to us when we were injured or sick so she took advantage of it. At least until dad caught on.

After saying hi Kayla spent the rest of the party on the couch moaning about how sick she was and I had to come to her if I wanted to talk. When she isn’t feigning illness she’s actually fun to be around but it seems the fear of rejection has turned her into a bit of a lonner. She’s twenty three and still searching for her mate it was always a bit of a blow to her that penny found her mate immediately after she turned eighteen and she’s still looking. All the times I’d pointed out that I had no mate either and I was older, she informed me I didn’t count because I wasn’t a wolf and probably had no mate.

Ouch, yea that one had hurt.

It was an unspoken thing in our house. We knew with me being a witch meant I would likely not have a mate.

It had been hard though living in a pack of werewolves who would all eventually meet their soulmate.

Over the years I watched as people in the pack found their fated love.it was an incredible thing to witness. Yes I’ll admit the idea of someone that would have loved me and no one else had been a dream I couldn’t quite grasp at. To find that one person that made you whole and spent their life making you happy. Who wouldn’t want that.

That was just a child’s dream though, one that I had let go of a long time ago.

Now seeing Penny have her future dreams obliterated for some males' idea of how women should become servants to them and kayla seeming to put so much pressure on meeting her mate was enough for me to think more level headed.

Without a mate I could do what I want, be the master of my own life which was to become the best doctor I could be and serve my pack. I had real life goals that had nothing to do with having some controlling male in my life. No thank you.

It never made sense why Kayla wouldn’t do the same. She was a smart girl, Life was about so much more than finding a mate.

Now Sophia, she was the youngest girl so in dads eyes the baby of the family, fifteen going on twenty. Sophia somehow thinks that means she can do whatever she wants and get away with it.

So you can imagine she’s a bit of a princess and doesn’t like the attention being on anyone else, we used to be really close and have sleepovers in our rooms all the time but since I left I barely heard from her. She at least gave me a genuine hug but then the whole party she’s been talking to the pack teens or rather flirting. Sophia was beautiful and has developed some womanly curves since I was gone. She didn’t sport her trademark pigtails any more either her dark blonde hair had now been dyed a platinum blonde, I don’t doubt penny was responsible for that. Unlike myself and Kayla who gave off a bit of a nerdy vibe, Kayla’s from her quiet demeanour and glasses, mine from keeping secrets and being air quite human.

I found it was easier to keep people at arms length.

Sophia was more like penny it seemed, cared a lot about her imagine and being loved by the pack. I guessed Sophia was young and would find her own way but I didn’t like the way the men in the room were looking at her. It wasn’t just the teens, all unmated males too, some a lot older than school age and I wasn’t liking the skimpy skirt and crop top she had on, the guys were blatantly checking her out which made me want to unleash my magic on them all.

I had watched her like a hawk for an hour wondering how my dad and brothers hadn’t killed any of these males. Sophia had flirted away with a boy completely oblivious to my stewing. When the boy wrapped his arm around her waist and pulled her to him so she was completely flush against him I almost lost it. She was fifteen.

When the guy began whispering in her ear and she giggled like he was the most interesting thing in the world I couldn’t watch any more without making a spit roast of the boy.

Lastly there was the actual baby in the family. Elliot. He was only five and the only pup dad and Cora shared biologically. Honestly he had been the only one I had expected reluctance from since he probably wouldn’t remember me but after some coaxing from Cora he wrapped his little arms around me to give me a hug after that he became my shadow, Elliot proceeded to crawl into my lap and ask questions about England until he fell asleep in my arms and Cora had taken him to bed.

Our house had always been a crowded place growing up with so many pups, my father and my step mother all under one roof not to mention all our extended family and officials coming and going. My father had never really been able to let go of his Gamma position and apparently king magnus had never taken to dad’s replacement so dad often did some work on the side. Not that there was much since we never had a queen. The gamma’s main purpose is to protect the Luna/ queen. It was a noble position since she was the mother of the pack and the alpha’s weakness.

Dad always said he didn’t regret stepping down from his position but we knew he missed it. He didn’t meet Cora until later in life and although the pack helped he couldn’t keep up with his duties at home and for the pack, he knew he was giving both jobs half his attention. Something had to give but he never really let go. It made the sacrifice for us all that more special knowing how much he loved it.

With my father the unofficial kingdoms gamma our house was like a second pack house. Usually the gamma family would live in the palace to be close to the queen but there were just too many of us. At least that’s what the king had felt even though the palace was more than big enough to house us it was considered a security risk. I think it had more to do with his current gamma feeling bitter.

So as an alternative the king had this house built close to the palace. Looking out of my bedroom window while I unpacked the bag on my bed I had a clear view of the place.

My phone began buzzing in my pocket. I quickly pulled it out and smiled at the name.

“ I thought you were going to call me when you got home?” The familiar voice of Alisha Becker, Luna of silver moon pack, sang through the phone. I loved her even when she was trying to be authoritative. Her voice couldn’t help but sound loving and motherly. She had become one of my closest friends during my time in england and was also the sister of my cousin Megan’s mate Johnny. So she was also family.

“ I’m sorry my dad organised a party and I only just escaped” I said honestly, she knew how I preferred being in the background of a party and not the centre.

“ they pulled out all the stops then, how was it?” She asked. I wasn’t sure how to feel about coming home. It had been so long and I’ll admit part of the reason I’d stayed so long in England was because I had been worried about coming home and things being too different. Now I was here I was actually glad to be home.

“ it’s a little strange being back after so long and my sisters were a little too normal but I met Theo’s mate and she’s amazing” after Theo and Marcus had sandwiched me I’d been jumped on by Stella Theo’s mate they had actually found each other last year when theo went to set Tyler up at training camp with with Marcus before that Theo had been as much a player as the others, they had half the pack girls in our house just pining for the chance to jump their bones it was pathetic the lack of self respect these she wolves had.

Once upon a time ago Theo would have been right beside our brothers with a pack female sat in his lap but now he only had eyes for Stella. she was a beautiful mousey stick of a girl that could do with a good meal and a little timid. I always thought Theo would mate someone that was more like him daring, authoritative and never backed down but the goddess knew best and I’m sure Stella was perfect for Theo in her own right. she had a great sense of humour and I could see us being friends. I could tell right away that Theo wanted us to become close.

“ she’s offered to take me dress shopping for some fancy ball the palace is throwing”

“ oh yea I forgot about that, it’s serving as an introduction to the new king since he refused a coronation, he felt it was poor taste to have a big ceremony while the kingdom was still mourning alpha magnus” that was a subject that was sore for all werewolves at the moment. Dad and Theo were one of the first ones on the scene when it happened. Theo said beta Ben had been ripped apart. I can’t imagine how devastating it had been for dad to see one of his closest friends like that.

Obviously the kingdom had to announce a successor but it had still felt wrong to have a lavish coronation so instead the palace was holding a ball for all supernatural leaders and packs. Most of them were here for the alpha sumit so it made sense.

” your here?” I asked, knowing Alisha was now heavily pregnant with her and mitchels pup I didn’t think she would be coming with him.

“ how did you even get here before me?” I queried, she had put me in the taxi when I left the pack.

“ The king pulled some strings and had a private jet sent out, we thought we’d surprise you” I gasped, I couldn’t wait to see them, even though I hadn’t long left their pack I already felt like I missed them and the pups.

“ I’m so happy your here, how is the sumit going?” There was a pause that lasted a beat too long.

“ it was going well, the new laws I told you about were passed, Lucas is really working hard to make changes but you know as well as I do change isn’t always welcomed” I did know, I’d been in her pack when she had first become Luna and she and Mitchell changed a lot of the old policies within the pack.

one being that monstrosity called ‘ the blocks’ a block of flats built specifically to house mistresses for pack members, the women and pups lived off scraps and were shunned by the pack because they had mates that had already taken chosen mates.

It was disgusting and I was glad when Alisha had ordered it to be demolished and the families given proper homes. Ofcourse it had created problems for the pack members with mates and pups living there. Most of their chosen families knew nothing about their secret mate. More than a few left the pack. One mistress moved herself and her pups in with her mate and his chosen female. Awkward much.

“ sounds like the king is making changes for the better though” he had my vote, a lot of leaders didn’t have their people in mind when making decisions and it was nice to know the king was promoting women’s rights.

“ there was some serious drama just as he ended the meeting” she said peeking my interest.

“ oh?” I quipped unsure if I should ask.

“ I’ll tell you about it later, go spend time with your family” she dodged the question.

After promising to call again tomorow and hang out we disconnected and I carried on unpacking. I was almost done with the hold-all when a knock came at my door. Assuming it was my dad or Cora I opened it without thinking and was met with the face of someone I hadn’t been ready to face yet.

“ hello chips”

“ Sebastian” I murmured.

He was still as handsome as the day I’d left.

His honey blonde hair tousled in that just out of bed look, his muscles stretching the white designer dress shirt that a few years ago he wouldn’t have been seen dead in and I knew it was HER influence, he had worn it for HER and I hated that he looked so damn good in it , he’d never worn any of the clothes I had tried to buy him. Always preferring novelty joke T-shirts that borderlines insulting. The smile that creeped across his face showed he had noticed me checking him out. I was so angry with myself for getting caught. Is that why he was here just to flaunt how well things had turned out for him. Did he really need to rub it in my face, wasn’t it enough I’d had to watch him play happy families downstairs.

Yes I had seen him with his beautiful mate and pup down there. They had turned up not long before I made my exit. I glanced across the room to see him with his arm wrapped around the beautiful blonde delilah, who last time I’d seen either of them had been when I’d caught them in bed together, when Sebastian had still been my boyfriend, yea the pain of that day had ripped through me as fresh as the day it happens, as soon as I’d seen the happy family I’d needed to get out. They had been laughing with my dad while their beautiful daughter sat on Delilah’s hip twirling her fingers around her mothers blonde hair.

How could he even have the nerve to stand there like nothing had ever happened. How could he use my nickname?

I could feel the heat in my palms and clenched my hands tight to try and stop the fire coming forward. Tears swelled in my eyes from trying to force my magic back and I hated seeing the look on Sebastian’s face when he noticed.

Obviously he thought I was crying over him and I couldn’t tell him otherwise. No one outside my family knew I was a witch.

Sebastian reached up to touch my face, no I didn’t want him touching me, there was a time when his touch had brought me nothing but comfort but I couldn’t handle it right now, he wasn’t mine anymore, never would be again. The mark on his neck was proof enough of that.

a voice boomed through the hallway stunning us both and pausing Sebastian hand mid decent “ Seb why are you here?” I looked to the left to see a pissed looking Tyler stalking towards us like a man possessed.

Tyler knew the real reason things had ended between Sebastian and me. It wasn’t because he had found his fated mate like the rest of the pack thought. It was because the day I’d left I found my boyfriend of three years I bed with Delilah the head warrior's daughter.

Before Sebastian uttered another word I slammed my bedroom door shut. Ok not my finest moment.

Definitely not the ‘ yea you cheated on me but you can suck it loser because you don’t have me anymore’ moment.

I leaned against the door gasping for air feeling like there wasn’t enough in the world to calm me down right now. I could hear Tyler and Sebastian arguing and hated that I was too much of a coward to go out there and tell Sebastian to piss off myself. My room was suddenly stifling, needing to escape.

Yep the witch that can unleash all kinds of badass magic including fire from the palms of her hands just in the latest new development is running like a little coward because she can’t face her ex.

Going to the windows I yanked them open and climbed out onto the ledge. My room overlooked the porch on the front of our house so it made for an easy escape. I could always use it to shuffle across and use the trellising on the side of the house to climb down. Seb and I had used it to sneak out together after dark when we were teens, ironic how I was now using it to escape him.

My foot slipped on the wet branch just as I reached the bottom causing me to lose my grip and fall, I let out a gasp preparing for the pain of the impact when strong arms caught me I looked to the face of my rescuer expecting one of my brothers or even dad but the handsome man in front of me was a complete stranger.

He didn't make any attempt to put me down,only smiled intently at me, a dazzling swoon worthy smile, complete with blonde locks that came over his forehead drawing attention to his beautiful green eyes. That was the only way I could describe him; he was just dazzling.

Shouting from above caused us both to look back at my bedroom window. Sebastian's voice was closer and I could easily tell he was in my room now but still seemed to be having a shouting match with my brother “ ex boyfriend or new boyfriend….or both” The stranger asked gesturing to the window.

“ What gave you that impression? ” I pushed at his hard chest and he lowered me gently to the ground, keeping his eyes on me the whole time.

“ scrambling out the bedroom window was a bit of a give away” he chuckled putting his hands into his pockets. I didn’t recognise him. He definitely wasn’t a pack member when I left but he didn’t smell like a rouge. My senses weren't as good as werewolves but I still had some of my fathers traits.

“ Besides I saw him watching you all night, then saw him follow you upstairs, I thought it might be a red flag situation so I told Tyler.” He told me, so he was the one who had sent Tyler upstairs. Why should he care ?

“ thanks” I said, not hiding my confusion, he didn’t know me, why would he help, maybe he was Tyler’s friend.

“ though I’ll admit I’m confused I thought that blonde with him was his mate” was this guy fishing, did he really think I was going to start gossiping to a stranger.

“ she is” that’s it lyla short answers. Get rid of this guy and get back upstairs. Once Sebastian had gone I could return to the safety of my room.

“ no way is a guy staring at a beautiful woman like you the way he did if he had his mate hanging off his arm” he studied me waiting for any kind of inclination that there was truth to his words. I hadn’t seen Sebastian look at me once downstairs.

The stranger began laughing to himself as if i'd said something hilarious “ oh I get it, their not fated” bingo this guy was good.

I shrugged feeling bitter , screw it. “ he was sleeping with her while we were together”

He frowned for a moment “ ouch that’s cold” the guy chuckled dryly to himself “ seems like he’s not moved on though”

I shrugged he was wrong seb was probably hoping just to rub it in my face how happy he was “ they are mated, end of ” I muttered.

It wasn’t like my story was anything special. A similar thing had happened with Megan’s mate which had left her heart broken for a time. Johnny had been a player back in his teens and had gotten a female from his pack pregnant. Megan had been a waiter at his wedding so you can imagine how awful it was for her. Meeting your fated mate only to find he’s married another hours earlier.

Thankfully things had worked out for them and they now had two beautiful little boys but there was a time I had been planning Johnny's slow painful death. The only thing that stopped me was my dear cousin making me swear not to hurt him. I never understood why these wolves slept around the way they did knowing they had a fated mate out there. My father was a prime example he had spread his seed far and wide and as a result had many illegitimate children, myself included. My father never told me much about his and my mother only that they had a whirlwind romance that ended before I was even born, mom had told dad about me but with her being a witch it made things difficult because werewolves generally aren't welcoming of other species into the pack and there was still so much animosity between witches and werewolves.

Hence why it was always so important that no one in the pack ever suspected me to be anything other than human. You might wonder why my father never was forced to mate any of the females he impregnated over the years. Well when you are gamma to the king you can pretty much get away with anything and now my big brother is set to become the new king's gamma. My family would be untouchable.