The Wolf God’s Mate

Chapter Six

Eyes snapping open, Amelia lets out an excited squeal, throws off her blankets and scrambles out of bed. She rushes to the window and snaps both curtains open. Bright sunlight streams into the room, bathing her in the morning sun’s glow. She kneels on the window seat and pushes open the window flaps. She places both hands on the window sill and leans half her body out of it. Amelia then raises her head, closes her eyes and takes in a big breath- basking in the sun’s rays, breathing in the fresh morning air tinged with dew and lets out a happy sign.

The door opens and in walks Martha. She looks at Amelia in pleasant surprise, amazed that she was actually able to wake up without someone else having to wake her up.

“Princess!” she exclaims. “You’re up!” she says with a cheery smile.

Amelia leans her body back in and glances behind her. She looks at Martha and gives a big toothy smile. “Martha, good morning!” she greets happily. The young woman hastily gives a curtsy; it was the first thing she was supposed to do but forgot in her excitement.

“Good Morning Princess Amelia. How was your night?” she greets back courteously.

“It was absolutely wonderful”, Amelia answers. Face glowing with happiness.

Knowing what it was all about, Martha says with a clap to her hands, “Happy birthday Princess. It’s your big day today”.

“Thank you!” she replies, grinning widely. She sits down properly on the window seat and takes a proper look at Martha. She then says with head tilted cutely, “You look really pretty today Martha”, she compliments.

Martha’s face lightens up at the compliment and her face reddens a little bit, “Oh, Princess, don’t be silly. I don’t look that different”, she answers shyly, hand over her mouth.

“No, no, no, I’m quite serious”, she looks her up and down again. Her maid’s uniform looked new and was finely-pressed; the fitting also greatly complemented her figure. She had on some light makeup and her thick auburn hair was done in a French braid falling down her back with tiny little flower shaped pins dotted all around it. Her eyes were bright and her expression was rosy. She was practically glowing.

“Something is definitely up. It’s understandable for me to be so happy- it’s my birthday. But what’s your excuse?” Amelia asks, greatly curious and Martha fidgets in place.

“N-nothing”, she stammers out, looking anywhere but at the princess.

“Come on…tell me”, Amelia prods some more, and then a look of realization appears on her face. “Could it be…Darwin is coming home?” she asks slowly. The answering deep blush on Martha’s face answers her question. The only time that Amelia had ever seen Martha put in any effort into her appearance, apart from looking “presentable” was only when Darwin was coming home.

Darwin was an Enforcer; a member of an elite force of the Royal Guards tasked with carrying out the independent duty of keeping check of pack members guilty of insubordination as well as other offences which pose a threat to the werewolf community. He was also Martha’s mate.

Amelia then smirks at Martha and wiggles her eye brows at her.

“Princess…” she whines exasperatedly in embarrassment.

“Alright, alright, I’ll stop”, she accedes.

She turns her head towards the window and looks out again; admiring the great weather for a little bit more. She jumps down from the window seat, walks around the bed and goes to the wardroom on the opposite side of the room. She opens it up and rummages around for a little bit, at the back, she finds a pair of old knee high brown boots that were faded and scuffed. She pulls them on and makes to run out of the room. Martha, who had gotten over her embarrassment and was watching her with curiosity, quickly holds her back.

“Where are you going, Princess”, she asks, looking at Amelia’s get-up of white floor-length cotton nightdress and boots.

“I’m going to the garden to pick Marcy’s flowers”, she answers brightly. “They’re going to be part of the decorations today. It’s Marcy’s contribution to the feast”, she adds. Her face looks sad for a bit at the mention of her favorite relative who was away but clears up in a split-second- the happiness brought by knowing that it was her birthday too heavy to be dampened by other thoughts.

“Not like that you’re not”, Martha chuckles. “You’re going to have to change”, she says. “But first, you have to wash your face and rinse your mouth”, she then pulls Amelia’s arm and leads her to do just that.

Amelia emerges on top of the stair case wearing a brown dress and the same brown boots she had previously pulled on and her hair was tied up in a ponytail with a little ribbon, and as she walked, the ponytail swung from side to side. Looking down, she could see servants running around from room to room and busying from one place to the other, cleaning up the castle and bringing out decorations for the birthday feast that was going to happen later in the evening.

Grandpa Jude as the Head Butler was also issuing orders on what they were supposed to do and those that got careless received stern reprimands.

“Make haste! In a few hours at least, some of the guests will start to arrive!”

“Hey you! What the hell are you doing?! Are you deaf? I said to bring out the red one, not the green one!! Where the hell is that supposed to go then?!”

“John! This is the third time I’m correcting you on the same mistake. Would perhaps prefer I carve it your forehead?”

Butler Jude was generally a nice and genial old man but whenever a task was to be carried out, he would turn really scary- just like now. After all, he hadn’t held the position of Royal Head Butler for six decades for nothing. Seeing a figure in his periphery, he turns his head and sees Amelia coming down the stairs. Suddenly, his face warms up and his voice softens.

“Good morning Princess Amelia,” he says, looking and sounding totally like a different person from the one that had been scolding people just now.

The servants at the side look on in envy and one of them even whispers under his breath why the old man was never that kind to him before. Another servant standing right beside him who overheard his mutterings looks at him disdainfully and answers, “Maybe if he had watched you grow up right from when you were born, you would receive the same treatment”, and pats his shoulder in sympathy, wondering how this person grew up to be so stupid.

“Good Morning Grandpa Jude”, answers Amelia with a big smile. “Good morning everyone”, she greets the rest. A flurry of “good mornings” echoes back. She skips down the rest of the way down and comes to a stop in front of the butler.

“Today is my birthday Grandpa Jude”, she brags.

“I know”, he chuckles. “Happy Birthday Princess Amelia”, he says with a gentlemanly bow.

“Thank you Grandpa Jude”, she grins back, satisfied. “What are you giving me Grandpa Jude?” she asks excitedly. “You promised you’ll get me something special for my thirteenth birthday”, she reminds. “You didn’t forget did you?” she asks suspiciously.

Laughing heartily, he shakes his head and answers, “No, Princess, I did not forget”

“Well, what is it?” she wheedles.

“It’s a surprise”, he responds. “You’ll have to wait until after the feast when you open up the rest of your presents”, he says.

She pouts a bit but accepts it, and with a disappointed sigh, answers “If you insist”, and heaves another dramatic sigh.

This makes him laugh and unable to resist, he rubs the top of her head lovingly and says, “Patience, my dear. Now why don’t you go on and get something to eat?”

Rubbing her tummy, she smiles up at him and nods, completely forgetting her earlier disappointment and turns around, heading for the dining room.

The moment she leaves, Butler Jude looks at the servants who had stopped to watch the exchange and snaps, “Well?!” “What are you all waiting for? Get on with it!!” and they all scurry away.

In the dining room Queen Josephine was seated at the head of the table, holding a table knife and elegantly buttering a slice of bread. To the side was Prince Adrian with his head lowered, speaking in soft tones to a woman seated beside him and as Amelia walks in, they all turn their heads towards her direction. The Queen places the bread on her plate and the knife to its side and smiles warmly at her.

“Come here child”, she beckons. Amelia walks further into the room and walks to her mother’s side.

“Good morning, Mother”, she greets sweetly.

“Good morning, my love”, she answers, pulling her into a warm hug. Freeing her, she holds her by the shoulders and congratulates, “Happy birthday Amelia”.

“Thank you”, says Amelia, and her smile becomes even brighter.

“Happy birthday Amelia” she hears coming from the side. It is her brother as well as the woman beside him. The woman’s name was Amanda. She was Prince Adrian’s mate and thus, the Crown Princess. She had beautiful red hair and green eyes with an extremely fair complexion and freckles dotting her face. She was also heavily pregnant. Turning towards them, Amelia gives them similarly bright smiles and answers with a heartfelt “Thank you”.

“Alright, take a seat and have some breakfast Amelia”, orders her mother. “Judging from the way you’re dressed, I’m guessing you’re going frolicking in the dirt again”, she adds, wrinkling her nose in disgust.

For a werewolf, Queen Josephine really didn’t like getting dirty. It was fine when she was in her wolf form; she ran on instincts that way and would not mind it. But in human form, the mere thought of getting her body or her clothes dirty really did not appeal to her. It was not ladylike at all.

Taking a seat beside her mother, Amelia stretches out her hand to get strawberry jam but Adrian quickly hands it over to her. She smiles at him in gratitude and smearing a heap on a biscuit answers her mother. “I’m going out to the gardens to get Marcy’s flowers, Mother”, and takes a bite out of the jam-smeared biscuit- eyes squinting delightedly at the sweetness. “After I put them in vases around the castle, it’ll be like he’s here for the feast too”, she adds sentimentally.

“That’s wonderful dear”, answers Queen Josephine, knowing how attached Amelia was to her uncle and how it devastated her that he would be missing her birthday.

“What element do you think your Magéia will be Amelia”, cuts in Adrian, unwilling to see her get sad. It works and she is successfully distracted.

The thought of getting her powers that day thrills Amelia and she squeals in her chair, while clapping her hands. “I hope it is Fire”, she answers, voice high with excitement.

The Queen and Prince Adrian look at each other thoughtfully and Adrian sounds out a, “That’s…possible” and the rest nod in agreement.

Royal werewolves were gifted control over any of the four elements, which were; Earth, Fire, Water and Air. This power manifested on a Royal’s thirteenth birthday, at the exact time and second they were born. This element was not hereditary either, just because the parent got an element, did not mean that their child would receive the same element. The power that emerged was entirely based on the personality of the individual- their inner hearts. That is to say, what determined a Royal’s element was their disposition and temperament. That is the Magéia.

Take for example, King Damien was a decisive leader; a man of integrity who was openhearted, trustworthy and brave. However, he was a man who was also prone to anger and so had quite an explosive temper. His element was Fire.

His twin brother Prince Marcus, due to his great wisdom, was a reasonable and grounded man who would never lose his cool under pressure and could always come up with the best strategy under every stressful situation and so what he got when he turned thirteen was the Earth element.

Prince Adrian’s temperament was generally like the King’s, however, he did not have that explosive temper that his father had and thus, his element was also Earth, just like his uncle.

Prince Adam had a gentle temperament and was an extremely easy person to get along with. His disposition was just like the Queen’s and so when he turned thirteen, he developed the Water element.

Unfortunately, the Queen herself had no Magéia, as she was not born a Royal. She was the daughter of the Alpha of the Evimería Pack. King Damien had met her when he had gone on official business to her pack. They had taken one look at each other and felt the mating bond zap between them.

Lastly is Prince Alexander who is a free-spirited, fun-loving person. He was extremely unpredictable and prone to spontaneous actions. And just like his nature, his element was Air.

Now when Amelia says that she wants Fire as her element, they can see the possibility of it happening. This is because even though she is another fun-loving person just like brother, mostly she is sweet. She can also be quite mischievous a times too. However, she actually has almost no control over her anger. When she really got angry, it was a total disaster. So yes, Fire was definitely a possibility.

Amelia giggles to herself, lost in day dreams of all the wonderful things she could do when she got her ability.

“I am going to burn Alexander’s hair off!” and she claps to herself in glee. She quickly finishes breakfast, says good bye and takes her leave.

As she steps out the front doors, she takes a deep breath, smiles brightly and says, “It’s going to be a wonderful day today. I can feel it!” and walks towards the gardens.

If only she knew how wrong she was.